My electricity bill has just tripled: how about yours? Alternative suppliers?
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emanymton
A cat politely sat on the flaming gardener.
Bagpipes you can turn up to 11.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
That's the great privatisation success story for you...
cupid_stunt
Merry fecking Christmas.
It's a bloody mess, the trouble is the government had to step in to prevent customers losing supply and their credit balances, of course, the government doesn't actually have any money, so it was going to cost us anyway, via taxes or our electricity standing charges.
It's worth mentioning again that the supply companies make very little money, hence the likes of SSE and Shell off loading their supply businesses.
It's the energy producers that make the massive profits.
barlimo
Well-Known Member
We can thank thatcher for that.
barlimo
Well-Known Member
But the useless OFGEM twats who were supposed to be regulating the energy companies failed miserably which is why I assert the mess is wholly down to the last government.
We have exactly the same situation with water - useless regulators!
Saul Goodman
It's all good, man
Thatcher's finest work. Unfortunately, future leaders stood on the shoulders of that giant cunt.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
The regulators aren't "useless". You're just making the wrong assumptions about who they are being useful to...
cupid_stunt
Merry fecking Christmas.
The energy suppliers are subject to OFGEM's price cap, which is based on the wholesale prices for electric & gas on the international markets.
Chz
Stark Raving Sane
Compared to us, that's roughly 33% higher standing fee for a 40% reduction in tariff. As a high user, I'm all for it. Who's it from?
cupid_stunt
Merry fecking Christmas.
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
Or a veeerrry long extension cable.Get a VPN and you can get your supply from whom you like
MrCurry
right after this urgent rest
Apologies for not mentioning that pricing is from a Swedish supplier. It’s been a wet summer and we have so much hydroelectric capacity, prices always come down in years when it rains a lot.
As a low user, I think the standing charge sucks personally, but short of cutting the cable and going off grid, all I can do is moan
MrCurry
right after this urgent rest
Thanks to receiving some new “smart sockets” which have a built in power metering function and make it super easy to see the consumption per day/month of what’s plugged into them, I’ve become an electricity measuring nerd the past week.
So far I’ve discovered my “side by side” style combined fridge freezer in the kitchen uses around 0.9kWh per day at 21C ambient temperature and the chest freezer in the garage uses more than that despite being in 17C ambient. I’m going to continue posting /amazing/ stats like this until someone stops me, so for god sake stick me on ignore to preserve your own sanity.
However joking (not joking) apart, I do recommend these devices which cost under £10 and join with wifi so you can use an app to control and monitor. I’m using the Tuya product with Smartlife app, but I’m sure others are available.
So far I’ve discovered my “side by side” style combined fridge freezer in the kitchen uses around 0.9kWh per day at 21C ambient temperature and the chest freezer in the garage uses more than that despite being in 17C ambient. I’m going to continue posting /amazing/ stats like this until someone stops me, so for god sake stick me on ignore to preserve your own sanity.
However joking (not joking) apart, I do recommend these devices which cost under £10 and join with wifi so you can use an app to control and monitor. I’m using the Tuya product with Smartlife app, but I’m sure others are available.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
One small caveat here - there are a lot of devices out there that will ONLY operate with the manufacturer's client app, and many that require an account with the manufacturer. These can have difficulties, and there are already issues with some devices which become unsupported, or just stop working...quite apart from the risks of having IOT devices talking across firewalls to the cloud.
Also, if you get devices from different manufacturers, you'll almost certainly have trouble getting them to interoperate seamlessly, if that's your bag.
Anyone who thinks they might be wanting to go for a longer-term strategy would do well to consider checking whether the devices they are looking at are capable of working independently, or with apps like Home Assistant, as it would be a big PITA to have to replace them if you decide to upgrade to a more comprehensive system.
I have standardised (mostly) on Zigbee devices, and use a Zigbee controller that plugs into a little PC running Home Assistant, which is incredibly reliable and dependable, considering it's open source software being maintained by volunteers in their spare time. And I'm not in hock to any Chinese hardware manufacturers.
Your mileage may vary - if it's just for a bit of monitoring, or mere curiosity, you're fine...
farmerbarleymow
I'm Petee's spirit animal
Octopus are saying they suggest increasing my monthly DD to £100 - which is £15 more than currently. And then in the same e-mail say if I don't do this, my account will be in arrears in a years time of £21.
I think they need to go back to maths lessons.
I think they need to go back to maths lessons.
20Bees
Well-Known Member
Does anyone here have experience of switching to Fuse? Electricity only. EDF want to increase my monthly dd by £15 and while I wait for their response to my (emailed) objection, I’m looking at comparison websites. I can’t see whether Fuse insist on a smart meter, but they look worth considering.
cupid_stunt
Merry fecking Christmas.
Have you looked at Octopus?
If that's an option, I can give you a referral code, which will give us both a £50 credit.
20Bees
Well-Known Member
Thank you for the offer, I’ll let you know! On the various comparison sites Octopus are about £4/month more than Fuse for a 12 month fixed rate, and obviously they’re a much more established supplier, apparently no insistence on a smart meter either.Have you looked at Octopus?
If that's an option, I can give you a referral code, which will give us both a £50 credit.
cupid_stunt
Merry fecking Christmas.
Oh, that's interesting, although I see Fuse only launched last year, which makes me a little nervous, but I'll certainly take a look.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Fuse certainly go for segmented advertising.
There was an enormously long Fuse plug at the beginning of "The Rest is Politics" (Alastair Campbell/Rory Stewart podcast) the other day.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
I have no complaints re octopus - they certainly allow me to manage my credit with them - not that it's a real issue for me.
Energy is energy and my aim for the rest of my days is to use as little as possible even if they claim to be supporting renewables.
I'm about to enter a new phase where I buy gas from them.
I can't be arsed with a smart meter given I doubt I can get the data directly onto my PC via WIFI
I would only have one to piss off the conspiracy nuts...
Energy is energy and my aim for the rest of my days is to use as little as possible even if they claim to be supporting renewables.
I'm about to enter a new phase where I buy gas from them.
I can't be arsed with a smart meter given I doubt I can get the data directly onto my PC via WIFI
I would only have one to piss off the conspiracy nuts...
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20Bees
Well-Known Member
EDF have responded this morning and agreed to cancel the increase to my monthly DD that was to start from November, provided I clear any debit. The account is currently around £20 in debit, and my usage increased in august when family from abroad came to stay. I’m inclined to see how it goes over the next three months into winter, then review again, but I think Fuse might be a bit niche to risk!
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