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

[prunus]

Octopus’s prices aren’t changing til midnight on Saturday 2nd in any case - and I’m pretty sure that you can backdate the date of a reading up to 5 days (maybe more?) on their site, so you’ve got all next week to get the reading in.

More info (and slightly more accurate info at that) on this for other octopus customers: prices change from 00:00 (midnight) on Saturday, indeed, but that means in about 2 hours and 20 minutes from now (I’d assumed 24 hours later, erroneously).

However if you submit them a reading taken on Saturday (on Saturday, or up to 5 days later*) they will apply it from that time (ie the beginning of Saturday) at the old rate. So you can effectively get your Saturday usage (up to the point of reading) at a discount to the then applicable rate.

* I’m not 100% certain about the 5 days later, so for safety read and submit on Saturday.

 

[two sheds]

this is the low noise one I found (indoor unit, no outdoor unit): actually 33 - 41 dB

Olimpia Splendid Unico Smart 12HP 2.6kW All-In-One Air Conditioning

Buy Olimpia Splendid Unico Smart 12HP 2.6kW All-In-One Air Conditioning Unit from Sunbelt Sales, we promise to match any price you find elsewhere

www.sunbeltsales.co.uk

Is 40 dB fan loud? 40dB is generally considers to be as loud as most people want to have a constant noise level .. as in background noise in home environment.

I have a fan heater on upstairs next to me in cold periods, not sure what that noise level is but I'd assume around 40dB and I can live with that.

unfortunately nearly 1m across, 200mm deep, 500mm high would stick out at the bottom of the stairs. Alternative is to install it just above the Rayburn in the middle of the kitchen if I'm not using the Rayburn any more. Would need two large holes drilling in the wall though.

Would need to be on 7 hours a day = 7 kWh = £2.5/day or £250ish for the winter, assuming the heat goes upstairs.

/sorry just trying to work out whether worthwhile

 

[cupid_stunt]

this is the low noise one I found (indoor unit, no outdoor unit): actually 33 - 41 dB

Olimpia Splendid Unico Smart 12HP 2.6kW All-In-One Air Conditioning

Buy Olimpia Splendid Unico Smart 12HP 2.6kW All-In-One Air Conditioning Unit from Sunbelt Sales, we promise to match any price you find elsewhere

www.sunbeltsales.co.uk

I have a fan heater on upstairs next to me in cold periods, not sure what that noise level is but I'd assume around 40dB and I can live with that.

unfortunately nearly 1m across, 200mm deep, 500mm high would stick out at the bottom of the stairs. Alternative is to install it just above the Rayburn in the middle of the kitchen if I'm not using the Rayburn any more. Would need two large holes drilling in the wall though.

Would need to be on 7 hours a day = 7 kWh = £2.5/day or £250ish for the winter, assuming the heat goes upstairs.

/sorry just trying to work out whether worthwhile

I may have missed something, but I thought you were after a heat pump, that says it's a 'cooling only air conditioner'.

 

[two sheds]

There's a heat pump version, hopefully similar specs (although now see COP only 2.5).

HP version - Fitted with a heat pump - thanks to this feature, you can replace or support your traditional heating in intermediate seasons.

Although must admit I hadn't noticed the 'cooling only' bit this time I looked at it.

 

[not a trot]

Just looked at the reading on our smart meter. £4.70 at the moment for today, it's usually around the £2 mark.

 

[HoratioCuthbert]

And therein lies the one massive flaw in that plan

I might be wrong but I think they sometimes ask for it back if you use a load of leccy on the old rate after the rates change, I read a warning to that effect recently and not sure which providers it applies to. So make absolutely sure that won't happen if anyone is planning this.

 

[Storm Fox]

Regarding Heat pumps, I just looked at my Tariff prices this morning 7.8p a kWh for gas and 30p for Electricity. So you are going to need a heat pump with a greater than 4.2 COP* to save money
So unfortunately even with the most efficient heat pumps the return on investment is going to be years.

*The amount of heat moved for each unit of electricity. See the Technology Connections youtube vid for more details

 

[StoneRoad]

Just checked on our electric.
Ouch.
It will be going up from about £175 to £250 per month.
on an estimate of around 10,250 kWh p.a.

Will be looking to reduce that consumption as much as possible, but with four adults ...
especially as most have the bad habit of leaving lights, radio/TV etc running.

 

[gentlegreen]

I suppose my perspective is a bit warped ... there was an embarrassing phase where "Innocent smoothies" were my number 1 outgoing ...
But my total outgoings (no rent) amount to just a bit more than my prospective state pension...
Once I relocate to somewhere with a large garden, I am definitely going to grow a lot of my own food - at the moment I'm focussing on salads - which would cost me a lot to buy but provide nutrients I'm already covered for ... I could of course save a lot of money by eating Iceland frozen veggies and cheap carbs instead of fresh veggies ... and a multivit for insurance ...

Getting my internet charges massively reduced is my current priority ...

food - 8.50 per day - roughly national average for single people.
council tax 3.3
comms 3
energy 2.38 - now 3.31
wine - 2
(income tax 1.36)
teeth 1
water 1
house insurance 0.6
coffee 0.50

 

[xenon]

Dum question.

If price rises this April have been capped at 54%, why are there loads of stories about people's bills trippling.

 

[gentlegreen]

Dum question.

If price rises this April have been capped at 54%, why are there loads of stories about people's bills trippling.

End of locked contracts ?

 

[xenon]

Anyway I can't read my meter so yeah, fun times ahead I reckon. Have told BG this already. I thought the smart meter meant it reported readings back to base. And SMETS 2 smart meters were able to be used by a new supplier when you changed anyway.

 

[xenon]

End of locked contracts ?

Ah I see. The 54% being above what ever the rate per unit is now. not 54% on top of what you were paying. Gotya. Cheers.

 

[Artaxerxes]

I don't think that 200 quid loan is going to do much to help.

 

[existentialist]

Just checked on our electric.
Ouch.
It will be going up from about £175 to £250 per month.
on an estimate of around 10,250 kWh p.a.

Will be looking to reduce that consumption as much as possible, but with four adults ...
especially as most have the bad habit of leaving lights, radio/TV etc running.

LED light bulbs are your friend, here. And they just get cheaper and cheaper...

 

[skyscraper101]

The sudden drop in temperature and outbreaks of snow in the U.K. after last week’s balmy temperatures feels like somewhat of a well timed pisstake tbh.

 

[gentlegreen]

LED light bulbs are your friend, here. And they just get cheaper and cheaper...

So far the LAP ones from Screwfix are working well for me - both the 9 watt BC ones and the 5 watt MR16s ..
Previous ones I sourced elsewhere have not lasted ...

After watching Big Clive's video again, I think I may confect a couple of very low power ones for nocturnal bathroom visits ...

 

[StoneRoad]

LED light bulbs are your friend, here. And they just get cheaper and cheaper...

Already fully equipped with said devices - apart from a couple of floods for the garden, which are only used very rarely.
[The last time was some years pre-covid, we were looking for a stray hedgepig, a friend dropped one off in a carrier for some TLC as he was woefully underweight after hibernating. He got out and went up the garden for a walk. Picked him up after about 15minutes ... We fed him up for a few weeks then released him in a small wood, not far from where he had been found.]

 

[cupid_stunt]

Just got in, put the news on, wish I hadn't, an expert was suggesting if wholesale prices remain as they are, we should expect another £500 per year increase in 6 months for the average household.

Of course, if Russia stops supplying gas to Europe, wholesale prices are likely to sky rocket from their current level.

 

[StoneRoad]

Still trying to work out what I can do to make extra savings, as we are all here 24/7.
Either wfh or retired and on fixed incomes.

Us four are already doing things like all LED lighting - well, almost all.
Will start trying to economise on car journey, shopping etc

 

[High Voltage]

Still trying to work out what I can do to make extra savings, as we are all here 24/7.
Either wfh or retired and on fixed incomes.

Us four are already doing things like all LED lighting - well, almost all.
Will start trying to economise on car journey, shopping etc

Do you have a Smart Meter? if not would you consider getting something like an OWL electricity measuring device? - You don't "need" one as it's easy enough to simply look at the existing meter and time usage over a known period and factor it up

Also, get some of those plug in electricity measuring meters - they'll tell you exactly what a plug is using over a period of time

I found that understanding where the power was being used and just switching stuff off and seeing my usage reduce from a projected 5200KW / annum down to an HV projected annual usage of 2900KW (OK that's extrapolating mild weather for the year but . . . yunno, it's less) - that was great

 

[existentialist]

Do you have a Smart Meter? if not would you consider getting something like an OWL electricity measuring device? - You don't "need" one as it's easy enough to simply look at the existing meter and time usage over a known period and factor it up

Also, get some of those plug in electricity measuring meters - they'll tell you exactly what a plug is using over a period of time

I found that understanding where the power was being used and just switching stuff off and seeing my usage reduce from a projected 5200KW / annum down to an HV projected annual usage of 2900KW (OK that's extrapolating mild weather for the year but . . . yunno, it's less) - that was great

It's certainly made me look a lot more askance at my heater usage...

 

[two sheds]

Also, get some of those plug in electricity measuring meters - they'll tell you exactly what a plug is using over a period of time

yep useful, but you only really need one. I went round checking consumption of appliances and once you've done it once, you know.

 

[Saunders]

Do you have a Smart Meter? if not would you consider getting something like an OWL electricity measuring device? - You don't "need" one as it's easy enough to simply look at the existing meter and time usage over a known period and factor it up

Also, get some of those plug in electricity measuring meters - they'll tell you exactly what a plug is using over a period of time

I found that understanding where the power was being used and just switching stuff off and seeing my usage reduce from a projected 5200KW / annum down to an HV projected annual usage of 2900KW (OK that's extrapolating mild weather for the year but . . . yunno, it's less) - that was great

I had a look at OWL meters. Is there any one you’d particularly recommend?

 

[High Voltage]

I had a look at OWL meters. Is there any one you’d particularly recommend?

The one I've got is the "manual" one - I "think" that the sender unit that clips round the +ve wire to the main consumer unit is common - it's only the reader unit that's different. To fit the sender unit, with the provision that you've got half decent access to the consumer unit and the cables leading into it, really is a 30 second thing . . . as long as you can see 5cm / 2" of the red cable it is simplicity itself . . . and I say this as a complete DIY putz

This then sends readings to the reader unit and "programming" that really is a case of Reading The Fucking Manual (or in this case 2 x A5 pages . . . about 10 instruction lines, again, piece of piss really (this coming from someone who rarely RTFM

OR

if you've got access to your consumer unit just taking regular readings from that

What I did first of all though was to switch EVERYTHING OFF at the consumer unit for 15-20 minutes just to make sure that NO power was being consumed, it's nice to know that when everything is switched off you're not paying for next doors heated pool, for example

And from there I switched on the kitchen utilities circuit . . . just to get the fridge / freezer back on line and from there we switched on other stuff

I take a daily reading and put it into a spread sheet with associated graph so can see our energy usage going down over the month and making notes of what I've switched off. Once you start to get a hang of what's using what I made a few predictions as to what would be the following days usage assuming, for example, the dishwasher was going to be used . . . it's nice when your predictions is right

It's not exactly "fun" but it's useful

 

[High Voltage]

OR if you get the "better" one then that looks like it exported "stuff" to an app(?) and plots your usage for you

 

[cupid_stunt]

OR if you get the "better" one then that looks like it exported "stuff" to an app(?) and plots your usage for you

<awaits izz popping up to say how obsessed you are>

 

[prunus]

Well, heat pump is in and working, it’s early days yet but so far output is 17.8kWh for 3.3kWh of electricity input, for a performance factor of 5.4 or thereabouts. If it continues like this that’ll be a winner.

8 days in running hot water (50C) and underfloor heating (this still getting to temperature, been on for 3 days - at 19C, target 35C):

29.1kWh in, 145.3kWh out, COP/SPF 5.0

 

[High Voltage]

<awaits izz popping up to say how obsessed you are>

I prefer "focused"

 

[izz]

<awaits izz popping up to say how obsessed you are>

Thanks for the tag, obsessed isn't the fucking word frankly