My electricity bill has just tripled: how about yours? Alternative suppliers?

[DotCommunist]

yeah tealights is 20 packs to the pound from your usual sites.

Like a quid a pack from Tiger I think

 

[existentialist]

yeah tealights is 20 packs to the pound from your usual sites.

Ah well, at that price they might be competitive! I'd order loads in, though, because they're essentially petrochemical-based, and oil price rises are going to feed through sooner or later

 

[emanymton]

I think it’s fairly safe because the candles are under the pot. When I’ve done it I’ve not plugged the drainage hole. This allows an air flow. There’s a surprising amount of heat in those candles.

Well if you say it's safe...

 

[StoneRoad]

Actually, that pot & tea-lights looks like an idea ... but with added citronella to deter insects ...

Might try that in our undertree conversation area ...
If I do, I'll report back.

 

[contadino]

Well if you say it's safe...

It's fairly safe. Gardeners have been doing it since before WW2 to warm greenhouses.

 

[Hollis]

My electricity and gas bill dd has just been put up from £42 to £138 a month.

However, based on the last few weeks of not having the gas heating on at all... my monthly spend is about £30 on electricity and £15 on gas..

So I guess I'll have to wait till they adjust again..

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

My electricity direct debit has been upped from £22 to £37 a month :[
Waiting for news about the heating/hot water to be forthcoming.

 

[High Voltage]

My electricity and gas bill dd has just been put up from £42 to £138 a month.

However, based on the last few weeks of not having the gas heating on at all... my monthly spend is about £30 on electricity and £15 on gas..

So I guess I'll have to wait till they adjust again..

Y'see ^^^^ this is what I don't get, not disputing the figures one second mind, I just don't "get" how little power you're using compared to how much power we're using

If you're using £30 / month of electricity and let's say your KWh price is (finger in the air) 25p / KWh then that's "about" 120KWh / month so 1,440 KWh annually

HOW??

So far, this month, our LOWEST daily figure has been 6.2KWh and that's basically, background usage. NO hot water heating, no dishwasher, no washer/dryer, no underfloor heating, no oven usage. The fridge freezer uses 1KWh / day, a shower "may" use 1KWh, kettle/toaster used during the day .5KWh

There's nothing in the house that I can identify that uses "lots" of electricity and the other things, like lighting, simply can't use that amount of electricity in a 24 hour period. What am I missing???

 

[WouldBe]

Grow lamps?

Are you powering next door as well? When I rewired the attic bedroom there was a cable headed off towards next doors loft conversion.

 

[High Voltage]

. . . Are you powering next door as well? . . .

Nope

Right at the very beginning I switched EVERY THING off at the consumer box and monitored the consumption for 15 minutes and nothing was used at all. Also, it's a detached cottage. But I had given it serious consideration as a possible . . . but, no.

 

[gentlegreen]

My daily summer usage has always been about 8 units for years and it's just me, my very slow PC, cooking, lighting - hot water only for an occasional bath ... I only recently added a small, but inefficient fridge.

 

[High Voltage]

My daily summer usage has always been about 8 units for years and it's just me, my very slow PC, cooking, lighting - hot water only for an occasional bath ... I only recently added a small, but inefficient fridge.

WHAT!!!

8KWh per day / week / month??

 

[gentlegreen]

WHAT!!!

8KWh per day / week / month??

8 per day - always seemed to be that for years even when I was working and didn't even have breakfast at home ...

I suppose I ought to work out what I spend it on.
One cup of coffee, toast, single hotplate for up to an hour ...

I've used 3597 units in the past year - including heating - avg 9.85 including a 1kw fan heater

Winter months 1326 units over 107 days = 12.4 per day

my lighting is usually 5 watts, but I have a bad habit of wasting maybe 10 watts elsewhere ...

 

[High Voltage]

8 per day - always seemed to be that for years even when I was working and didn't even have breakfast at home ...

I suppose I ought to work out what I spend it on.
One cup of coffee, toast, single hotplate for up to an hour ...

I've used 3597 units in the past year - including heating - avg 9.85 including a 1kw fan heater

Winter months 1326 units over 107 days = 12.4 per day

my lighting is usually 5 watts, but I have a bad habit of wasting maybe 10 watts elsewhere ...

And then you compare Hollis usage not 10 posts above this one and he's using HALF of what you're using. OK he's using gas for some "stuff" but . . . HALF!!111!1

Can you, honestly, see a way of reducing your energy consumption by 50% because I sure as shit can't and I don't feel that we are profligate in our energy usage

 

[gentlegreen]

Annoyingly I bought an appliance power use thing and it packed up almost immediately so I never replaced it.
I have weird spending habits so electricity never seemed an area where I could make a difference ...

 

[High Voltage]

Annoyingly I bought an appliance power use thing and it packed up almost immediately so I never replaced it.
I have weird spending habits so electricity never seemed an area where I could make a difference ...

As I've mentioned previously I use an OWL system to get my "readings". It's an old system, the newer ones stream data so you can create, I think, a usage graph. I can do this off my system, but I'd have to take the readings and that would get "old" quite quickly

I've also got a couple of plug in readers that tell me what's being used through a particular plug and I'm going round the house to try and find the magic "something" but so far, to no avail

I would say that our average daily usage for this month is 8KWh / day, so basically what you're using and there's 2 of us, with all the usual kitchen white goods being used a bit more sparingly

 

[Artaxerxes]

 

[Leafster]

Y'see ^^^^ this is what I don't get, not disputing the figures one second mind, I just don't "get" how little power you're using compared to how much power we're using

If you're using £30 / month of electricity and let's say your KWh price is (finger in the air) 25p / KWh then that's "about" 120KWh / month so 1,440 KWh annually

HOW??

So far, this month, our LOWEST daily figure has been 6.2KWh and that's basically, background usage. NO hot water heating, no dishwasher, no washer/dryer, no underfloor heating, no oven usage. The fridge freezer uses 1KWh / day, a shower "may" use 1KWh, kettle/toaster used during the day .5KWh

There's nothing in the house that I can identify that uses "lots" of electricity and the other things, like lighting, simply can't use that amount of electricity in a 24 hour period. What am I missing???

6.2Kwh does seem high if it's just background usage.

I average around 7Kwh per day all in. I have gas CH and a gas hob but everything else is electric.

Looking at what's on all the time, it's the fridge, freezer and the mini-server in the loft (for the smart house functions), the smoke, heat and movement sensors, the router and a small controller unit for the CCTV. This time of the year I have a seed propagator with heating and that's also on all the time.

There's stuff on stand-by like the TV and Blu-ray player (they don't have an on/off switches ), the printer, Sonos speakers/AMP in the lounge, study, kitchen and bedroom, an amazon device in the kitchen and the cordless phone bases.

During the day I have the PC on and listen to music/radio via the Sonos speakers as I work from home. The TV will probably be on at some point in the evening.

I use the electric oven probably 3 or 4 days a week and I have a combination microwave which probably gets used more frequently but for less time.

I boil the kettle multiple times throughout the day and there are some other kitchen gadgets that get used occasionally like a deep fat fryer or food processor.

The dishwasher gets used every other day and the washing machine maybe once or twice a week.

For about six months of the year the heating may be on at some point during the day so the pump pushing water around the radiators will be working.

If I'm drying clothes in the winter then I have a dehumidifier which I may use but often don't bother.

There are extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom which come on if the humidity reaches a set level and they can be over-ridden to remove "unwanted smells".

I charge up the phone, tablet, laptop, camera batteries and other rechargeable batteries when they need it.

Apart from that, it's the lawnmower once a week for maybe 9 months of the year and a water feature in the garden.

I have a Dyson Hot/Cool thing which gets used from time to time. It uses a lot to heat but not so much to cool.

Then it's just lights inside and out - all of them with one exception are LEDs.

 

[Ranbay]

Mines fixed till sept 2022 I'm so lucky.... for now.

 

[cybershot]

I live on my own. I use about 3.75kWh of electric per day according to readings from last 28 days. 2 bed semi detached. Usual stuff on standby and periodic use of oven (3-5 times a week time obv vary)/washing machine 2 to 3 times a week on an eco setting that is done and dusted in 59 mins. and slim dish washer used about once a week on an eco cycle that takes almost 4 hours! )

Might go up a bit in summer maybe for lawn mower (takes less than an hour to do) and when I use the jet wash.

 

[Leafster]

I live on my own. I use about 3.75kWh of electric per day according to readings from last 28 days. 2 bed semi detached. Usual stuff on standby and periodic use of oven (3-5 times a week time obv vary)/washing machine 2 to 3 times a week on an eco setting that is done and dusted in 59 mins. and slim dish washer used about once a week on an eco cycle that takes almost 4 hours! )

Might go up a bit in summer maybe for lawn mower (takes less than an hour to do) and when I use the jet wash.

I try to use the eco cycle on the dishwasher too. Mine takes 3 1/4 hours but there's also a "vario speed" button which apparently tells the dishwasher to work out how dirty the stuff is and can reduce the time down to about 2 1/2 hours.

 

[muscovyduck]

I managed to sort my bill out and now I'm just getting hammered by the standing charge. As in like 75% of the bill is me paying for the fact I might turn something on. Ffs

 

[BigTom]

I try to use the eco cycle on the dishwasher too. Mine takes 3 1/4 hours but there's also a "vario speed" button which apparently tells the dishwasher to work out how dirty the stuff is and can reduce the time down to about 2 1/2 hours.

These work by having an optical sensor on the water outflow and doing cycles until the water is clean enough for the optical sensor to not get disrupted.

It's a clever thing.

 

[cupid_stunt]

I've had to chase up OVO today, they seem to still be struggling with getting those clowns at SSE to sort out the over charging issue OVO inherited when I was transferred over.

ATM my electricity account is showing a estimated meter reading of 17412 compared to the actual reading of 14114, some 3298kWh more than it should be, which at £0.2053kWh equals an overcharge of £677.

My joint electricity/gas account balance is currently showing -£108, and an estimate that I'll be at -£639 in 12 months at the new rates, so that £677 credit plus a reduction in my estimated usage over the coming 12 months should result in my DD being reduced even further than they have already done since I first complained.

 

[WouldBe]

I try to use the eco cycle on the dishwasher too. Mine takes 3 1/4 hours but there's also a "vario speed" button which apparently tells the dishwasher to work out how dirty the stuff is and can reduce the time down to about 2 1/2 hours.

I use mine on a quick wash. Takes 30 ish mins.

 

[Artaxerxes]

I use a sink and cold water

 

[two sheds]

If the rayburn isn't on I boil the electric kettle with enough for a large mug for washing and a smallish bowl for rinsing.

Sometimes when there's loads to do I have to fill them twice

 

[StoneRoad]

As with using the dishwasher on shorter cycles, I've taken to doing a lot of my laundry on the '30minutes' setting and being more economical with the powder, especially if there's only a half load.
Every few washes I give the towels & sheets their full "official" cycle.

Looking forward to some decent weather, so I can do most of the drying on the line.

 

[Saunders]

I use a sink and cold water

Luxury

 

[Saunders]

6.2Kwh does seem high if it's just background usage.

I average around 7Kwh per day all in. I have gas CH and a gas hob but everything else is electric.

Looking at what's on all the time, it's the fridge, freezer and the mini-server in the loft (for the smart house functions), the smoke, heat and movement sensors, the router and a small controller unit for the CCTV. This time of the year I have a seed propagator with heating and that's also on all the time.

There's stuff on stand-by like the TV and Blu-ray player (they don't have an on/off switches ), the printer, Sonos speakers/AMP in the lounge, study, kitchen and bedroom, an amazon device in the kitchen and the cordless phone bases.

During the day I have the PC on and listen to music/radio via the Sonos speakers as I work from home. The TV will probably be on at some point in the evening.

I use the electric oven probably 3 or 4 days a week and I have a combination microwave which probably gets used more frequently but for less time.

I boil the kettle multiple times throughout the day and there are some other kitchen gadgets that get used occasionally like a deep fat fryer or food processor.

The dishwasher gets used every other day and the washing machine maybe once or twice a week.

For about six months of the year the heating may be on at some point during the day so the pump pushing water around the radiators will be working.

If I'm drying clothes in the winter then I have a dehumidifier which I may use but often don't bother.

There are extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom which come on if the humidity reaches a set level and they can be over-ridden to remove "unwanted smells".

I charge up the phone, tablet, laptop, camera batteries and other rechargeable batteries when they need it.

Apart from that, it's the lawnmower once a week for maybe 9 months of the year and a water feature in the garden.

I have a Dyson Hot/Cool thing which gets used from time to time. It uses a lot to heat but not so much to cool.

Then it's just lights inside and out - all of them with one exception are LEDs.

Thanks for that comprehensive list, it’s really helpful. You don’t mention hot water. My usage is similar to High Voltage and I’m struggling to find how to reduce it. Apart from the switched spur that I’d left on and turned out to be an electric underfloor heating system in the conservatory that I’d been running for a couple of months. At least I now know all that heat wasn’t just solar gain because it was very warm in early March and I was fearing it would be unusable in the warmer months. Coupla hundred pounds wasted but a lesson learned. Tralala. (I’m in a new to me house and finding out how it works)