Need help re extotionate fuel bills

gingerwhinger

Hi

I've not really posted much before but have been reading with interest other peoples SOA's - particularly regarding Gas & Electric bills. We've just had notice that our direct debt (with Scottish Power) is going up to 222.50 per month! This is dual foal and the rears are minimal - a hundred quid at most. This is usage! The least we've ever paid was £160 per month with Npower and that was about 2 years ago. What on earth are we doing that’s so drastically wrong?

I know I like my home warm but we have thermostats on every radiator in the house, all energy saving bulbs. No wall insulation cos apparently the house is too old and there are no cavities to insulate. Also no loft insulallation cos we don't have a loft - it’s an attic which is used for bedrooms. I do really try to save energy though - I switch lights off when not in use, try and dry at least half the washing on either radiators or outside (other half in tumble dryer). What on earth am I doing so wrong that my bills are 5x other normal households? I even wear cardigans a lot of the time rather than turn heating up.

Any help gratefully received...

PasturesNew

It does sound a lot. I've known small guesthouses use less.

What sort of heating system is it?
How many rooms are in the house?
How many radiators?

How many TVs?
Stereos?

How often do you use the tumble drier per week?

How is your water heated?
Do you have electric showers?
Power showers?
How many times are they used per week?
For how long?

How many people are living in the house?

You should start by taking daily readings of the meters. See/check how much you're using each day and try to reduce that item by item.

Sue-UU

Hi gingerwhinger,

That is astronomical, especially at this time of year and I'll be interested to see the answers to PN's questions. What sort of prices do you pay in the winter? Do you really need radiators on at this time of year?

One thing for certain though is that the tumble drier will DRINK it up very, very quickly! Next time you put a load in watch the clock go round and you'll see what I mean. If you're working then I know it can be a bit of a bind not to use it at times, but it'll certainly help you so much at present, so only use it IF it's really necessary!

Take care and try not to worry, but beware of that tumble drier please!

Sue

gingerwhinger

PasturesNew wrote: »

It does sound a lot. I've known small guesthouses use less.

What sort of heating system is it? gas central heating, combi boiler - all new about a year ago. Sorry can't be more specific
How many rooms are in the house? There are 2 rooms downstairs which are warm, plus 5 beds and 2 baths on the next 2 floors which are much cooler
How many radiators? In total 10 on the gas central heating, 1 electric which is hardly ever on, 1 under floow heating in the tiny attic bathroom which can't be on much, and another elcectric heater in the porch/ smoking den which I only put on in the depths of winter

How many TVs? 4 TVs - 1 switched off and very rarely on, 1 on for about 4 hours per day and switched off properly when not in use. 2 more in kids room which are quite often just left on standby now I think about it. Plus sons got a playstation which he never turns off hiself and I only do when I notice it so I think that probably uses a fair bit...
Stereos? Just one and it's not on much cos I'm either working or looking after kids.

How often do you use the tumble drier per week? Probably once a day

How is your water heated? Through combi boiler
Do you have electric showers? Husband does but me and kids prefer baths. (3 kids) Twins do use same water though
Power showers? Not sure - think its just a normal shower
How many times are they used per week? we all bath/ shower daily - so 1 shower, 1 deep bath for me, 1 deep bath for twins & 1 shallow bath for baby
For how long? shower - not long - he's in and out in 10 minutes

How many people are living in the house? 2 adults 3 kids
You should start by taking daily readings of the meters. See/check how much you're using each day and try to reduce that item by item.

Thanks very much for your rely

Sue-UU

You mean you have 9 radiators on at THIS time of year for 5 people???? Have I got that right? :eek: Your bill will be through the roof in the winter then obviously! Can't you turn all of them off when the weather's good? Even on a day like today there's no need for radiators, especially bedroom ones! We never, ever us them in ours, we couldn't afford to.

Do try to get over to your son just how vital it is to turn the playstation OFF when he's not using it, he needs to be responsible for that at least and it'll be good for him as he grows.

As well as your tumble drier, another area your money is going on is in baths as 2 deep baths per day takes an awful lot of heating which means a great deal of money! If I'm reading all the above right then in all honesty it's not too expensive at all.

Please - review all your electricity items and ask yourself, hubby too, do you wish to save money or not because as you're going now, you won't be. Sorry if that sounds a little blunt as I don't really mean it to be, though I'm shocked you think you're paying so much as I don't feel you are at all.

Sue

tyllwyd

gingerwhinger wrote: »

Hi

No wall insulation cos apparently the house is too old and there are no cavities to insulate. Also no loft insulallation cos we don't have a loft - it’s an attic which is used for bedrooms.

We had an extension built last year (and obviously insulated to current standards), and the difference in warmth between the old and new parts of the house is very noticable. Is there anything you could do, perhaps by adding insulation to the inside of the walls. And the loft conversion - was that done a fair while ago? You might be losing a lot of heat through the roof - it might be worth having a look at the ceiling there, at least, and thinking about updating the insulation.

What about your windows, are they up to date?

doodledo_2

Have you got any pumps, ponds, lighting in your garden.

My inlaws have a huge bill each month and they had someone come round and view their property to see why it was so high and it turned out to be the water pump in their pond and the lighting on their decking that was killing them.

Jacks_xxx

:wave: We pay £90 a month for gas and leccy on our drafty old three bed victorian terrace,

It was more but I finally got my head round the complex tariff we were on and found out that they were over charging us.

I also took daily meter readings and ran around the house switching things off and muttered darkly about Blackpool illuminations whenever anybody left a light on.

Is it the gas or the electric that costing the most money do you think?

Keeping an eye on your useage should give you some clues about where you could use less.

We use more electric at the weekends when the hot water is on most of the time and lots of electric guitars/ hair styling implements. mobile chargers/ Tv's / Pcs etc are in use - although the meter goes around super fast between 6am and 8am on work days too!

And we use much more gas in the autumn / winter cos of the cold.

Knowledge is power honey! Find out what your hot spots are and sort 'em out!

Love Jacks xxx

Belnahua

I'd try turning everything off in the house and see if the meter's still going round?

Then turn things on bit by bit and see if anything jumps the useage? Could be a faulty electrical appliance, such as the freezer on all the time and not cutting out when down to temperature?

Failing that I'd call the leccy company in a get the meter changed as it could be faulty?

LouiseJ

Yes I would second what Jacks says. I got a whopping bill in last year so for the past 8 months I have been taking monthly meter readings of my electricity (our house runs on bottled LPG as we are rural)....that costs a fortune!

In the first month I took daily readings to find out jsut how much we were using a day and which appliances were "culprits" of eating the leccy.

I even worked out how much it was to run certain things for an hour (a bit sad I know) but the results were astounding.........our hot water emmersion heater cost 1.25p an hour to run..............and once it was left on overnight by accident!!!!!

I decided to get rid of the tumble drier as that was a big eater of electric and now only line dry or use clothes airers next to radiators in the winter. I thought it would be impossible to do this but with a bit of forward planning I manage OK for a family of 4.

tyllwyd

LouiseJ wrote: »

I decided to get rid of the tumble drier as that was a big eater of electric and now only line dry or use clothes airers next to radiators in the winter. I thought it would be impossible to do this but with a bit of forward planning I manage OK for a family of 4.

I've kept the tumble drier but do my best never to use it to dry stuff from scratch, just to get stuff dry enough to put away after its been outside or airing inside overnight. Also, I've got a new tumble drier which has a sensor in it, so it stops tumbling when it thinks the clothes are dry enough (although I don't always agree with it!) but it does stop me wasting heat on overdrying stuff.