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

[MickiQ]

Tradespeople.

I'm using the word as a noun in its own right without any gender based connotations

 

[teuchter]

I'm using the word as a noun in its own right without any gender based connotations

So a word with "man" in it, which has a commonly used and well understood alternative, has no gender based connotations? OK.

 

[Cat Fan]

Tradies

 

[Elpenor]

Trades as I call folk who are on the tools

 

[two sheds]

Sounds like you have the same Cyclopean walls as I do - 3 foot of random rubble mortared with mud and straw Drilling holes has been no problem, you just need to use core drill bits and a very powerful drill. And I also used a professional to operate it . Takes a good couple of hours to get through, but the holes are clean and neat.

Sounds like cob? Mine's rab apparently - same construction as Cornish hedges but with lime mortar although previous owners have introduced a fair bit of cement.

Ideally I'd like to take the air inlet from down the chimney if it was lined but somehow I don't think it would be allowed and I'd be a bit embarrassed to ask in case they laugh at me

 

[Pickman's model]

So a word with "man" in it, which has a commonly used and well understood alternative, has no gender based connotations? OK.

manager for example

 

[Pickman's model]

Tradesmen generally seem to be backed up for months these days.

try a tradeswoman

 

[Pickman's model]

Hmm! I've just had our first "new rate" bill in, £105'ish they've based this on an estimated reading for April, which, surprise, surprise, is too high

So, given that I've got nothing better to do, I'm going to give them DAILY readingsa

And in other news, my OWL meter "maybe" reading a little high, but I'm not 100% sure as I've not got a direct comparison, so that's another set of readings I'm going to take . . . OWL vs Consumer unit . . . but the plus is that I may have tracked down the ghost electricity consumption, or at least the lions share of it

mind you don't let the birthdays slip, not with an important one at the end of the month.

 

[High Voltage]

See if you can spot when I started "giving a fuck" about how much electricity we're using

 

[MickiQ]

try a tradeswoman

Not much chance of that round here, Here in True Blue Yokeland we live in a solid bastion of sexism, misogyny and 1950's era stereotyping. Flipping through the local Help ads all of the adverts (where an actual name is published) bar the nice lady who bakes cakes have male names.

 

[cupid_stunt]

See if you can spot when High Voltage's obsession started to cause concern to izz.

 

[High Voltage]

See if you can spot when High Voltage's obsession started to cause concern to izz.

View attachment 320172

She'll thank me . . . in the long run . . . maybe

 

[WouldBe]

Ideally I'd like to take the air inlet from down the chimney if it was lined but somehow I don't think it would be allowed and I'd be a bit embarrassed to ask in case they laugh at me

Not sure that would work. Wouldn't the cold air exit into the room after going through the heat pump defeating the point?

 

[MrCurry]

See if you can spot when I started "giving a fuck" about how much electricity we're using

I started giving a fuck about 4 years ago, and have mostly been able to improve on the preceding year’s consumption.

Our winter consumption is heavily influenced by the weather (since the heating and hot water runs on electric via a borehole heatpump), so it’s not always going to be lower than the year before even if the baseline consumption rate improved (eg. finding more things which can be switched off / used more efficiently)

 

[High Voltage]

I started giving a fuck about 4 years ago, and have mostly been able to improve on the preceding year’s consumption.

Our winter consumption is heavily influenced by the weather (since the heating and hot water runs on electric via a borehole heatpump), so it’s not always going to be lower than the year before even if the baseline consumption rate improved (eg. finding more things which can be switched off / used more efficiently)
View attachment 320178

So looking at your figures, am I right in saying that 2021's usage was just over 5,000KWh??

Again, without getting into "personal" details - a quick Google gives "average" annual consumption for either a 3 bed OR a 3 person family (can't remember which) of "around" 3200KWh, so in a massive over simplification "about" 1100KWh / person - so a guess would be you're a household of either 4 or 5

I KNOW the figures don't work like that but we were "projected" by Bulb for this coming year as using 5200KWh and there's only the two of us in a 2 bed detached cottage, that's what started this for me

MY current projections for the two of us is now closer to 2900KWh, so still "maybe" a little bit high, but certainly a damned sight better than Bulb's "guess"

 

[MrCurry]

So looking at your figures, am I right in saying that 2021's usage was just over 5,000KWh??

Again, without getting into "personal" details - a quick Google gives "average" annual consumption for either a 3 bed OR a 3 person family (can't remember which) of "around" 3200KWh, so in a massive over simplification "about" 1100KWh / person - so a guess would be you're a household of either 4 or 5

I KNOW the figures don't work like that but we were "projected" by Bulb for this coming year as using 5200KWh and there's only the two of us in a 2 bed detached cottage, that's what started this for me

MY current projections for the two of us is now closer to 2900KWh, so still "maybe" a little bit high, but certainly a damned sight better than Bulb's "guess"

I doubt the figures you’re googling take account of house heating being electric, they will be based on standard U.K. arrangement of gas fired central heating, so it’s not really comparable. If I extrapolate our summer consumption and add a bit for extra lighting in winter, then I’d guess we would be using 2,600-2,800kWh annually excluding heating. So that stacks up reasonably favourably.

 

[two sheds]

Not sure that would work. Wouldn't the cold air exit into the room after going through the heat pump defeating the point?

How do you mean? It would only work with a single indoor unit but I don't think it would be any different from having the air coming through a duct in the wall. I'm assuming coming down the chimney would be too long a run for the air to come through.

 

[JoeyBoy]

I've been taking a shower here at work whenever possible to save money using the cyclists shower but the bosses reckon too many of us are doing it and have a put a lock on the door to stop us. If you come on a bike you have to go and sign the key out.
Bunch of cheap bastards.

 

[teuchter]

I've been taking a shower here at work whenever possible to save money using the cyclists shower but the bosses reckon too many of us are doing it and have a put a lock on the door to stop us. If you come on a bike you have to go and sign the key out.
Bunch of cheap bastards.

If you're arriving by car then that's fair enough and you should be punished. If you walk or use public transport, tell them that you run part of the way as an effort to improve your fitness and thereby productivity.

 

[Artaxerxes]

I've been taking a shower here at work whenever possible to save money using the cyclists shower but the bosses reckon too many of us are doing it and have a put a lock on the door to stop us. If you come on a bike you have to go and sign the key out.
Bunch of cheap bastards.

That’s taking the piss the tight bastards

 

[JoeyBoy]

If you're arriving by car then that's fair enough and you should be punished. If you walk or use public transport, tell them that you run part of the way as an effort to improve your fitness and thereby productivity.

I walk if I could afford a car I could probably afford to shower at home all the time.

 

[WouldBe]

How do you mean? It would only work with a single indoor unit but I don't think it would be any different from having the air coming through a duct in the wall. I'm assuming coming down the chimney would be too long a run for the air to come through.

A normal heat pump with an outside unit draws air in the front, past the heat exchanger and the cooled air exits out of the back of the unit into the outside air.
An air to air heat pump must work in a similar manner so if you drew the air in through the chimney (length of flue shouldn't be a problem) then the cooled air would be expelled into the room which would be colder than the outside air and counteract the warmed air from the other side of the heat pump.

E2a: usually the need for a hole in the wall is for the pipes from the outside unit to the inside unit not for an air duct.

 

[prunus]

How do you mean? It would only work with a single indoor unit but I don't think it would be any different from having the air coming through a duct in the wall. I'm assuming coming down the chimney would be too long a run for the air to come through.

I don't think that that setup would work, certainly not with any of the air source heat pumps I looked at (but I mostly concentrated on GS, so not an exahaustive search) - they all require clearance of at least 30cm all round the unit itself to allow exchange of cooled air for warmer external air. The ducting carrying the produced warm air inside from the unit can be very long, in theory, if well insulated - figures of 50m I seem to remember - but I don't recall any that used ducting to carry the external air in and out (NB you'd need 2 - one to bring the 'warm' external air in, and one to send it back out cooled e2a: oh and I guess you'd want them well insulated from each other too, if running alongside in eg a chimney. And the outflow/inflow ends to be a long way apart so you're not just sucking back in the cooled air you've just ejected).

 

[two sheds]

A normal heat pump with an outside unit draws air in the front, past the heat exchanger and the cooled air exits out of the back of the unit into the outside air.
An air to air heat pump must work in a similar manner so if you drew the air in through the chimney (length of flue shouldn't be a problem) then the cooled air would be expelled into the room which would be colder than the outside air and counteract the warmed air from the other side of the heat pump.

E2a: usually the need for a hole in the wall is for the pipes from the outside unit to the inside unit not for an air duct.

Apparently there are two types of portable air-air heat pumps: single hose and dual hose:

Single-Hose Heat Pumps​

These are the most basic types of portable heat pumps, with only one hose that needs to be extended to the outside. This heat pump sucks in air from inside the room and cools or heats it through the compressor. The moisture and heat which needs to be expelled from the room are then routed outdoors through the hose.


A disadvantage of such a system is that with air continually being pulled into the portable heat pump, the room creates negative air pressure and needs to be continuously replenished with more air. This is warm air (or cold air during winter), which can seep in through small gaps under the doors or windows.


These units are lower in cost and are much easier to move around. They are adequate for small areas.

Dual-Hose Heat Pumps​

As evident from the name, a dual-hose portable heat pump uses two separate hoses, one for the exhaust air and one for the inlet air. Instead of pulling air in from within the room like a single-hose heat pump, the dual-hose heat pump gets its air from the outside. When the indoor air has been cooled down, the compressor and other heat pump components heat up.


To cool down the components, the outside air is pulled through the intake hose and used to cool the compressor. This air is then ejected outside through the exhaust hose, leading to much greater efficiency than a single-hose heat pump.


If you wish to cool or heat a larger room, then a dual hose heat pump is your ideal choice. These portable air conditioners cost more and use more energy, but they are also more efficient.

Are Portable Heat Pumps An Excellent Choice for Your Heating and Cooling?

Portable heat pumps are compact, yet powerful heating & cooling appliances. You can also make them smart using smart AC controllers.

www.cielowigle.com

The single-hose explanation doesn't seem quite right, but it's actually expelling cold air which I hadn't realized. I presume there's a fan to move the warm air from the compressor into the house.

I'd likely go for a dual-hose heat pump, although I'd have to check the diameters of the hoses. As has been said the hoses would have to be insulated from each other if there's a long run.

That article also mentions a window heat pump where the external unit is mounted on the outside of the window, which would seem good for me. If I can get a grant though I'd probably be best going for the most efficient & quietest version I can get whatever that is.

 

[pesh]

I've been taking a shower here at work whenever possible to save money using the cyclists shower but the bosses reckon too many of us are doing it and have a put a lock on the door to stop us. If you come on a bike you have to go and sign the key out.
Bunch of cheap bastards.

get duplicates cut

 

[two sheds]

the old wax impressions eh?

 

[pesh]

get a doormat or pot plant to keep it under outside the door

 

[MBV]

What the approximate cost of a 5 min shower at home?

 

[Cat Fan]

I've been taking a shower here at work whenever possible to save money using the cyclists shower but the bosses reckon too many of us are doing it and have a put a lock on the door to stop us. If you come on a bike you have to go and sign the key out.
Bunch of cheap bastards.

So you can turn up to work in cycling gear and then you're sorted?

 

[JoeyBoy]

What the approximate cost of a 5 min shower at home?

dunno but I've noticed I'm going to the Co-Op and putting £20 on my meter key a LOT more frequently these days.