How is your month and year going December 2023?

MultiFuelBurner

We started off pretty cold at the start of the month and the beast from the east was on my mind for a harsh winter (still could happen in the New Year) but as the month went on it became milder and we are on to use 10% less to electricity than December 2022. (All electric house)

The biggest saver this year was moving from a fixed tariff to Octopus Tracker in monetary terms not energy used. In fact we are 400kWh over my estimate at the start of the year but I can put that down to cheap tracker prices and that leading to a relaxation of energy use in the household and we have
found our comfort level.

Projected £1376.28 for Jan 1st 2023-31st Dec 2023 including standing charges. 6442kWh electricity total. I didn't think it would be this cheap of a year but with a smart meter and smart tariffs this and better is what you can achieve.

Swipe

So far much better than the last two Decembers even after the cold start to the month:

JSHarris

Been very mild here this month, better than November in terms of heating cost.  Last night was the third night running we've not had the heating come on, as the house was still sat above 22°C from when the heating last fired up at the weekend.  I can't remember a December where we've had the heating off for three days in a row before.  Looking at the local forecast it's set to stay like this for another day or two I think.

pensionpawn

From a solar pv perspective teeing up to be my worst December since my panels were installed 8 years ago this Saturday coming. Also, 2023 will be my second worst year. Trending year on year is tricky for me as in each of the last four years I've replaced all my windows and installed a new Viessmann condensing gas boiler and two of my daughters have moved out, each with a dramatic lowering of energy consumption. Also over those four year my wife and I have transitioned from both working 100% to, in steps, her being fully retired in the summer of 2022 and myself down to a 50% contract. This coupled with another big (fiscal, though not big consumption) change (moving to Octopus Flux) has now allowed us to convert the bulk of ~4.5Mwhrs of deemed export into metered to offset bills (+£500 so far). However, in summary, 2023 has been a !!!!!! solar year!

pensionpawn

Nothing that happens today will prevent this December from being my worst ever for pv and this year being my second worst over the last 8 years. That said, gas this Dec is 30% lower than 2022 and 17% lower than 2021 (before my new Viessmann condensing boiler). Fingers crossed for a better 2024!

Netexporter

It's been a year of 2 halves. The first half on the SVT, the second half on Agile, with the addition of an EV, and I'm paying no more, in total, than in the first half.

Next year I should have a heat-pump, solar and batteries, plus income from my wind-farm share, to totally change the equation.

Will the cash flow be in my favour? Tune in this time next year to find out.

pensionpawn

pensionpawn said:

Nothing that happens today will prevent this December from being my worst ever for pv and this year being my second worst over the last 8 years. That said, gas this Dec is 30% lower than 2022 and 17% lower than 2021 (before my new Viessmann condensing boiler). Fingers crossed for a better 2024!

Having just checked the Met Office data last Dec was significantly colder than this year although Dec 2021 was similar to 2023. However I've just been reminded by Mrs PP that some / most of the 17% difference with 2021 was due to having the gas on less. It's very tricky to perform year on year calculations when there are so many variables changing!

JSHarris

Netexporter said:

It's been a year of 2 halves. The first half on the SVT, the second half on Agile, with the addition of an EV, and I'm paying no more, in total, than in the first half.

Next year I should have a heat-pump, solar and batteries, plus income from my wind-farm share, to totally change the equation.

Will the cash flow be in my favour? Tune in this time next year to find out.

I've had a battery system for nearly three years now.  Overall benefit (mix of only using off-peak in winter, being able to use more solar in summer and being better able to charge the car in summer because of the battery) is worth about £750 to £800 per year.  I reckon the system will have paid for itself in about another two or three years, depending on what happens to the electricity price.

On topic, this years been pretty good for solar for me, but December has been very grim.  I reckon November and December have been the worst solar months in the nine years we've had the system.  December was good in terms of energy use though, the mild spell meant we had many days with no heating use at all.  Didn't compensate for the poor solar generation though!

Novice_investor101

I’ve lost my historic data from British Gas when they changed systems but I remember last December 2022 I spent £225 on Gas & Electric. This month my spreadsheet is telling me it’ll be around £150-£160 by the end of today for both fuels. So I’ve used less due to the mild temps (& cheaper prices). 

In terms of cash, I’m spending the same as I was last year because I was using the monthly £66 from the Gov to pay for the higher costs. Unless Jan & Feb have a long, hard cold snap the £100 extra a month I’d planned to put aside for heating won’t be needed. My DD & credit balance is covering my usage so far.  

peter3hg

These are my rough figures for the year:

Electricity Import - 3,650kWh
Electricity Export - 525kWh
PV Generation - 2,030kWh
Gas - 3,550kWh

Electricity includes charging electric car for approximately 10,000 miles.

Money wise it is around £975 for the year excluding any government support at the start of the year and money back from the saving sessions.

JSHarris

Just finished checking my spreadsheet for the year.  Only electricity for me (I don't have gas, oil or solid fuel) but but it includes electric car charging (mostly charge it at home, about 4,000 miles/year) as well as heating, cooking, hot water etc:

Peak electricity consumption = 10kWh

Off-peak electricity consumption = 4,286kWh

PV system generation = 6,122kWh

Total electricity cost for the year, broken down by item:

Peak rate electricity cost = £4.61

Off-peak rate electricity cost = £604.11

Standing charge = £174.57

Total electricity import cost = £783.29

The above excludes the government payments at the start of the year and excludes the FiT payments I get for the PV exported.

The average unit price I paid for electricity in 2023 was 14.169p/kWh.  I'm on a standard variable rate Economy 7 tariff, but have had two suppliers during 2023.