Energy bill increases

[midlife]

Bills just in, combined gas and electric.
Last bill was £126
This bill is £114
I expected it to be higher seeing we have our son back at home, more baths, electric, TV etc etc.
Now £730 on credit...which seems criminally high (we like to be in credit but never that much) but given further price rises and oncoming winter, it seems prudent.

£114, I guess that's a month? Seems very cheap.

 

[fossyant]

I've changed the default preferences on my account in that it would refund on the 'annual renewal', which is in October - stupid - options were refund in full, refund over £75 credit (which was default) and offset future bills. I've reset to 'offset future bills', so the £500 credit wil help.

Further experiments - the hot tub . Just replaced the impeller on the filter pump as the old one had just packed up after getting a little rattly (the spindle wears). On 'pump' only, it's consuming about 45w (the sticker on the pump says 50w so accurate). Pop on the heating and it's 2 KWh, so that's going to be a quid an hour, and will take 12 hours to get to temperature (from around 20c to 39c) - £12 at 50p a KWh. It was costing about £3 to heat for once a week use, which isn't too bad - heating is switched off after use, and takes 3 days to drop to 20c. Leaving it running at temperature will probably cost £6 per day , averaging the heater being on 1/4 the time. As it stands I'll be leaving the pump on to keep the water filtered, then just switch off and drain come November when water temp drops below 10c. Bearing in mind we've had the tub for four years, it's going to be switched off this year. Just impossible to afford these days.

 

[gbb]

£114, I guess that's a month? Seems very cheap.

We work moderately hard (but are not obsessed with it) to limit usage.
Tv doesn't get used that much anyway, Sky box gets turned off when not in use (I read they consume a fair bit on standby) the boiler times has been turned down again with the aim of not heating water to cool off unused, quite a few little things. Plus the house is quite well insulated and modern construction (although built in the late 60s)
My daughters house, similar area, age and design, with solar panels, her last combined bill was circa £80 odd
Monthly bills, yes.

 

[cyberknight]

We work moderately hard (but are not obsessed with it) to limit usage.
Tv doesn't get used that much anyway, Sky box gets turned off when not in use (I read they consume a fair bit on standby) the boiler times has been turned down again with the aim of not heating water to cool off unused, quite a few little things. Plus the house is quite well insulated and modern construction (although built in the late 60s)
My daughters house, similar area, age and design, with solar panels, her last combined bill was circa £80 odd
Monthly bills, yes.

currently 165 a month for me with a similar house but 2 kids so im basically going around turning stuff off all the time thats been left on by everyone
convinced mrs ck she doesnt need to use a 155 min wash for clothes at last !

 

[midlife]

We work moderately hard (but are not obsessed with it) to limit usage.
Tv doesn't get used that much anyway, Sky box gets turned off when not in use (I read they consume a fair bit on standby) the boiler times has been turned down again with the aim of not heating water to cool off unused, quite a few little things. Plus the house is quite well insulated and modern construction (although built in the late 60s)
My daughters house, similar area, age and design, with solar panels, her last combined bill was circa £80 odd
Monthly bills, yes.

I think my electric must be leaking out of the sockets somewhere lol

3 person household here and not profligate but oil/electric a month nowhere near your dual fuel bill.

Haircut for the boy this morning (school holidays ending) and hairdresser said prices going up quite a bit to cover the cost of the shops electric bill

 

[gbb]

I think my electric must be leaking out of the sockets somewhere lol

3 person household here and not profligate but oil/electric a month nowhere near your dual fuel bill.

Haircut for the boy this morning (school holidays ending) and hairdresser said prices going up quite a bit to cover the cost of the shops electric bill

Tbf, 2 now 3 adults who each spend a fair amount of time away from the house each day. I'm sure if we had kids in the house, out bills would be significantly higher .

 

[gbb]

currently 165 a month for me with a similar house but 2 kids so im basically going around turning stuff off all the time thats been left on by everyone
convinced mrs ck she doesnt need to use a 155 min wash for clothes at last !

When you say 155 minute wash, is that an economy mode ?
We always used quick wash programs ,(washing or dishwaher), now switched to economy programs (up to 3 hours long) but the logic is your washing longer at a lower temperature. All (or most) of the power these machines use is heating, the most expensive bit. The motor uses comparatively little, so it's better to wash cooler for longer. Switching to eco modes has certainly contributed to lower bills here.

 

[cyberknight]

When you say 155 minute wash, is that an economy mode ?
We always used quick wash programs ,(washing or dishwaher), now switched to economy programs (up to 3 hours long) but the logic is your washing longer at a lower temperature. All (or most) of the power these machines use is heating, the most expensive bit. The motor uses comparatively little, so it's better to wash cooler for longer. Switching to eco modes has certainly contributed to lower bills here.

that was a 40 c wash ! because shes always used that and hasnt had the thought process to try better programs

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Back in the day all washing machines used to have a hot feed into them, presumably it was easier/cheaper for the manufacturers to do it this way, but it would make sense to have hot fill again.

 

[fossyant]

We always use the eco modes - 59 minute wash defaults to 60c, so one press of the temp and it drops it to 40c or 30c with two presses. Other is quick wash and that's 15,30 and 45 mins at 30c - ideal for cycling kit. Big washes are done on the longer modes, and the machine weighs the load, and washes at 30c or 40c depending upon programme.

 

[numbnuts]

My clothes are not dirty as such and I've been using 20c at 59 minutes so far so good

 

[PK99]

Back in the day all washing machines used to have a hot feed into them, presumably it was easier/cheaper for the manufacturers to do it this way, but it would make sense to have hot fill again.

Apparently not.
1. Even hotfill mainly uses the cold water standing in the pipes between hot tank and machine.

2. Enzymes in biological detergents can be deactrivated by a brief exposure to hot water.

3. Similarly, some modern materials are damaged by partial exposure to hot water.

 

[cyberknight]

We always use the eco modes - 59 minute wash defaults to 60c, so one press of the temp and it drops it to 40c or 30c with two presses. Other is quick wash and that's 15,30 and 45 mins at 30c - ideal for cycling kit. Big washes are done on the longer modes, and the machine weighs the load, and washes at 30c or 40c depending upon programme.

sounds like our machine

 

[fossyant]

I do think this 'cost' crisis has caused us all to look at use - we were very lazy last winter as the dryer was on with most washes - no longer, it's only for 'emergencies'. We'd turned the heating down, including reduced hours last winter as we'd completely borded the loft (having only been 50% done) and this made a big difference to heat retention in the bedrooms below the new boarding (despite decent insulation).

My SIL runs a small electrical shop, god knows what their electric will be like as they have lighting displays - I suspect they will be switched off unless a customer want's to see them.

 

[numbnuts]

Candle light dinners brings a new meaning, it would be funny, but it's not
Still it does sort out the Christmas presents