My Energy use Diary

A_fiend_for_life

@nyk

I'm surprised at my values this week tbh. I expect they will go up next week and settle on a D again in about 3 or 4 weeks. I suspect part of it is also less computer and more reading too.

The imeasure cost is an underestimate as I also have standing charges and a flat rate per kwh. Both my gas and elctricity are slightly higher per kwh compared to the imeasure values too. I have just provided my current readings as the bill was an overestimate.

My total for 211 days, I think, by bills is £234 (£85 + £149).

My parents are paying £15 a bag of coal. The delivery guy said it was the price of transport but i don't see the price settling down. I've suggested to my parents they should buy more over summer when hopefully the prices are lower.

lingojingo

gas usage has rocketed here the past two (freezing) weeks, alsp DD has exams at college and can't be expected to study wrapped in quilts etc.

however, based on the similarity of imeasure figures to my actual bill in October (£2 out!) I'm hoping my bill next week could be up to £100 less than the same time last year!!!!!!

How has my energy spend been calculated?
Last week you spent:

• £23.03 on gas
• £9.96 on electricity

Total you have spent on energy since starting imeasure (25 weeks ago):

• £198.62 on gas
• £179.52 on electricity

imeasure total for 25 weeks £378.14 - my bill for mid Oct to mid Jan last year was £326.67 for the 13 weeks:eek:

cw18

gas down a bit this last week

electricity back up a bit - but no great surprise there as elder DS was here until Sunday afternoon (and I've seen a difference while he's been home, and a dip when he went to stay with friends for 10 days!)

still on a 'C' rating, and showing as 30/50 in the Carbon Club

setmefree2

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

EDIT** also meant to say that I got an electric bill last week and my usage for the oct-jan period has gone down from 1169kwh last year to 955 this year. This is the first full period I've been using Imeasure so some of the suggestions I've been taking have obviously helped, thanks everyone for all the tips.

Well done belfastgirl

cw18

Nipped into Mr T (paper/dvd and a couple of bits) this morning, and spotted their latest offer on energy efficient lightbulbs....

They have a display of mixed wattages (screw & bayonet) by the door, marked up at 5 for 40p -- BUT they put them through at £1 each, then knock off 11p for the VAT adjustment, and THEN knock off the £4.60...... so you actually end up paying 29p for 5 bulbs :T

I got one lot of 5 'squat' 9w/40w bulbs (have a lot of uplighters, so find these the best for us) today, and may grab more tomorrow -- that way I have a complete set of spares for the house

setmefree2

cw18 wrote: »

Nipped into Mr T (paper/dvd and a couple of bits) this morning, and spotted their latest offer on energy efficient lightbulbs....

They have a display of mixed wattages (screw & bayonet) by the door, marked up at 5 for 40p -- BUT they put them through at £1 each, then knock off 11p for the VAT adjustment, and THEN knock off the £4.60...... so you actually end up paying 29p for 5 bulbs :T

I got one lot of 5 'squat' 9w/40w bulbs (have a lot of uplighters, so find these the best for us) today, and may grab more tomorrow -- that way I have a complete set of spares for the house

Well done on that:D

cw18

Grrrrrrr!!!

When I read my meters on Tuesday I submitted the readings to my energy provider (have a totally on-line account) as well as i-measure -- have started to submit to them every 4 weeks, as this should give me a clearer picture how I'm doing for usage on a year-on-year basis by the tail end of next Summer.

Just been and checked the bill on-line (to update my s/sheet with the calorific value for the last 4 weeks), and as I was about to log out I spotted they're increasing my Direct Debit.

By the time I'd done some checks on this it was just after 7pm, so they're closed for the night -- so I'm going to have to call them tomorrow !!

When my DH passed away in November I called and asked them if I could drop my D/Deb. They'd wanted to do this in the Summer, but I'd asked them not to as I knew I'd need to keep the house much warmer for DH over the winter -- so they left if where it was. They were wanting to drop me from £72.50 to £58.50 starting in August (and the August one actually went through at the lower rate before being changed back up).

When I called in November (and explained I was no longer going to need such a high temperature over the cold months) the chap looked at my account, and said the best offer the system was making on past usage (and credit on my account) was £62.50 -- but that given the change in circumstances there was some scope to negotiate on that. So I asked him to set it to £60pcm, and the system let him. He actually asked if I wanted to set it lower than that, but I said I'd rather have a round figure I could remember -- and I could always adjust it again after the cold months....

So I've paid that for 2 months, during which time my credit has dropped by £29.77 -- and is now a 'mere' £125.08. So that's an average of less than £3.73 a week from my credit, meaning at that rate the remaining balance will top up my D/Deb for another 33 weeks...... so well into the (hopefully) warmer seasons.

The note on this latest bill says they're increasing my D/Deb to £62.50 effective as of 1st Feb

So tomorrow I shall have to phone them, and explain AGAIN that there has been a major change in circumstances -- and that the increase in gas usage over the last couple of months has purely been in line with everyone else as the weather has been so cold :eek:

(according to i-measure, compared with detached g&e housholds in our Carbon Group I've used 310kWh of gas and 76kWh of electricity as against 592kWh and 174kwh respectively. compared to all g&e households the figures we're being compared against are 538kWh and 134kWh. So I really don't think we're on a high enough usage to merit an increase in the D/Debit!)

Is NOT a happy bunny at having to discuss my bereavement with a utility company for the second time in a shade over 8 weeks :mad:

setmefree2

Cheryl - I feel very sorry for you. I hope they sort it out soon and with tact...:o

cw18

It's taken me over 4 hours of trying on and off to get through to my supplier (kept telling me there was a high demand for customer services -- I wonder why :rolleyes2 ), but the lady I spoke to was lovely

I explained the situation to her regarding my refusal to have the D/Deb dropped in the summer, but request to drop in it November -- and why it was dropped below the level the system "suggested". She had a look at my account and said it would allow her to drop it back to the £60 I'd agreed then but no lower -- and I said I was fine with that, and it was what I wanted. She also warned me the system is set to do another D/Deb review on my account in April, so I'll have to watch for a change in it again then.......

She then looked at my useage on the last bill, and nearly fainted at how low my gas was for 4 weeks -- she said hers runs at that a week!! And when she spotted the cost for my electricity was even lower (pre vat, discounts and IGT charges the gas was £41.87 against £32.20 for the electricity) she got really flustered :rotfl:

She asked if the house is empty most of the time, and was gob-smacked when I said there's someone home about 23 hours a day So she was asking what I'm doing to keep the bills so low --- at which I mentioned both MSE and i-measure, and also dropped into the conversation I've recently replaced an old freezer that was using 3x the power of my new (bigger) one. She admitted she has a very old chest freezer...... and said she's going home to order a replacement tonight as hers is at least as old as mine was When I mentioned I'd changed my kitchen spots to energy efficient ones this week she asked where I'd got them from -- as she has spots but has never seen or heard of these !!!!!!!

Fire_Fox

cw18 wrote: »

When I mentioned I'd changed my kitchen spots to energy efficient ones this week she asked where I'd got them from -- as she has spots but has never seen or heard of these !!!!!!!

Do you have MR16 or GU10 lamps? I am trying to reduce the lighting portion of my energy bill (estimate is half!), but am struggling to find suitable replacements for the eight 50W MR16s in my living area without losing light - I have a north-facing flat. The lamps I have found (Osram/ Philips) will all take eight months for me to break even on cost.