Winter is coming - are people ready?

Keu

I have made a lot of effort cutting back my energy usage, currently my Electricity is close to half what I was USING and my Gas is between a quarter to 1/7th of previous USAGE for same months, despite this the cost is still higher, especially because of standing charge hikes.

I put the emphasis on USAGE because most of the people I speak to think only in terms of a fixed direct debit or topping up a prepayment meter, they do not appear to be intimate with how much they are using per day, what devices are making up that use and what they can do about it.

I see the posts on here and the amount of energy some people say they are using seems huge to me.  I have been reducing energy all year so that I have the money to get through the winter, although I plan to be frugal all the way.  I did not put heating on until December last year and even then only used it on the very cold sub zero days.

So this leads me to question whether people actually realise how expensive it will be, there will not be the nice £67 credit this winter and those who do get something will actually be getting less than they did last year.

Couple that with petrol price increases and supermarket which is still increasing prices every time I go in (loo rolls up 40%).

I am not asking the Government to step in for every household again, I am just wondering whether people are actually ready?  Have they got to grips with their energy and are they really cutting back enough?

I think prices could bounce back because last year EU stored a lot but did not use it, also some of them cut back on manufacturing, this year things may be different which could lead to a run on energy,

badmemory

I would be wary of trusting the gas usage too strongly.  My heating is always on thermostat at the same temp all yr round.  It has only come on once in the last 4 months, which is absolutely unheard of.  The nearest I have come to that in the last decade is once for 2 full months.  I am prepared for large bills but frankly hoping we don't have a winter of -10 degs again.

dunstonh

I see the posts on here and the amount of energy some people say they are using seems huge to me.  I have been reducing energy all year so that I have the money to get through the winter, although I plan to be frugal all the way.  I did not put heating on until December last year and even then only used it on the very cold sub zero days.

We got our electricity use down from 17,000 kWh to 14,000 kWh last year.     Mainly on the back of learning about how we use energy and working on kWh rather than pence.   Oil use was down from 3500 litres  to about 2,200 but that was mainly due mild weather, mothballing a wing of the house over winter and a large increase in wood burning to give targeted heat.     So, I do agree with you.  Although no chance of getting through to December.   I suspect our heating will be on within a couple of weeks and the burners are close to being fired up on short burns to take the chill off.

So this leads me to question whether people actually realise how expensive it will be, there will not be the nice £67 credit this winter and those who do get something will actually be getting less than they did last year.

For us, it will be cheaper than 2019, mainly on the back of Eastern Regions very low off peak rate and oil being in the same ballpark.

Couple that with petrol price increases and supermarket which is still increasing prices every time I go in (loo rolls up 40%).

I'm not seeing large fuel increases in our area.  Slightly up on recent lows but not by much.   

I am not asking the Government to step in for every household again, I am just wondering whether people are actually ready?  Have they got to grips with their energy and are they really cutting back enough?

The government shouldn't have stepped in to begin with.   It disincentived self control and learning and ways to reduce use.      

I suspect most regular posters here have a good understanding of their energy use but the rest of the populus either don't care or are not interested enough.

Last summer, before support packages were announced these forums were full of people trying to understand their use and find ways to reduce it.    Some of the threads were a joy to read and contribute on as people were genuinely interested.     As soon as the Government decided to do some more wealth transfers, those posts stopped appearing and the interest went away.    

FreeBear

I've managed to get my gas consumption down to around a quarter of the "average" for my property type. Electricity, I could shave a few more watts off if I didn't turn the computers on each day. Also haven't purchased any coal this year due to the cost. However, have plenty of seasoned wood in the shed, and even more stacked outside under cover.

Even if the new gas boiler doesn't live up to expectations, I'm not going to freeze.

QrizB

dunstonh said:

Last summer, before support packages were announced these forums were full of people trying to understand their use and find ways to reduce it.

Not quite the circumstance you describe, but you've reminded me of @Happy_Sloth and their "crazy energy bill" thread:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6325370/crazy-energy-bill

They haven't posted on the forum for a year or so, but I wonder if they ever got things under control?

Spoonie_Turtle

We're fortunate that we can afford whatever the bills will be fairly comfortably.  I'm slightly horrified by how much our baseload is already and some circumstances around for have changed that we're now using more energy for cooking, but it's a balance between not being needlessly wasteful with energy whilst everyone being reasonably comfortable.  So aside from keeping an eye on the heat pump usage stats, and making sure all the curtains are closed when they need to be, I may just be in ostrich mode for a few months.

I came across where to set the hot water to heat only on certain days, but I think that's an experiment for spring now (if I can find it again).  And turning off a) the heating and b) the whole heat pump in summer, maybe, because it has a vampire load.  But energy reductions need the whole family on board and it's not really going to happen in winter, especially as there's no longer much of an economic case for it.  [Except if Tracker has a few expensive weeks, maybe, but those will no doubt still be outweighed by the entire year+ of savings by that point.]

MattMattMattUK

In terms of paying my bills I will be fine unless we get a winter so cold that we start to see supply failures, of course that does not mean that I want to spend more on energy that I have to, I would rather overpay my mortgage. I have not noticed large increases in petrol costs or food recently, petrol is up 3p a litre looking at a June receipt vs one from last week, do about two percent, and food, whilst still increasing is only ticking up slightly. 

Some people will be entirely aware, some people will have no clue and there will be plenty of others of varying degrees in the middle, the big issue will be if we have a cold winter. We have had a run of mild winters and if we have a cold one the increase in cost could seriously shock some people. 

MultiFuelBurner

Duplicate post,.posted this on the wrongish thread

Prepare for El Niño

We expect to use 500-1000kwh more energy this winter and have budgeted for such. Plus a delivery of seasoned logs costing £160

For Winter 2023-24, we see the El Niño phase peaking around December and previous El Niño winters for the UK normally deliver colder weather but also drier winters, we’ve also seen some rather severe cold spells during a El Niño phase in winter.

Will UK winter 2023-24 be a cold one?

Based on current long range data, UK Winter 2023-24 is likely to be generally drier compared to previous winters and colder, increasing the risk of more snowfall events.

Robin9

For my part I created a  buffer last Winter and put the £400  and the Winter Payment  of £300 on one side - my 2 year Elec fix ends at the end of the month so I'm expecting a  rise there, lessened by a solar installation this summer.

Dolor

lessened by a solar installation this summer.

Prepare to be a little disappointed come Winter. My 6.35kWp array produced 110kWh in December last year. My best day was 10kWh and my worst day was 350Wh.

Krakkkers

Dolor said:

lessened by a solar installation this summer.

Prepare to be a little disappointed come Winter. My 6.35kWp array produced 110kWh in December last year. My best day was 10kWh and my worst day was 350Wh.

Yes, but still worth having, my 4kwp system gives around 110kwh in Dec/Jan peaking at around 600kwh in May/June/July.