Well that was a slap in the face with a wet fish - Electric & Gas Costs - Some Thoughts

[AsleepInYorkshire]

A couple of days ago I read the meters.

I entered the two meter readings and the date into my [very slick] spreadsheet . All good. Inside budget and very few chillblains to show for the reduction in use of the central heating. I also updated the meter reading with our provider, Octopus.

Yesterday the revised statement arrived by email. I compared this to my spreadsheet [as you do]. I stared at the both my [great ] spreadsheet and the [frightening ] statement. Our energy bill had increased by, give or take few quid, £110 per month.

I checked a few numbers and it became clear that the increased price cap was behind the rise. Three years ago our dual utility bill was hovering around £100 to £120 per month. The revised price cap showed it was as good as £400 per month.

Short of rippint the boiler off the wall and building a candle factory in the garden shed all I could do was issues some extreme profanities and be grateful that we can afford to pay this bill. I'm aware that we're getting £400 from government to help with the annual bill. I'm not going to be disengenuous about this.

But ... the sinews could not rest and I spent some time in deep review.

Captain Obvious

1. I checked the fridge temperature. It should be set to 3-5 degrees. It was set at 1. So I reset it to 4 degrees
2. The small freezer was set to -21 degrees. It is as effective at -18 degrees. So it was reset.
3. The large freezer was set to -20 degrees and was reset to -18 degrees.
4. The dishwasher was set to run for 45 minutes per wash with an additional 16 minutes to super dry the pots. The superdry setting has been turned off and the dishwasher will run for 29 minutes per wash.
5. We have LED lights throughout our home so can achieve no great savings other than using lights only when in a room
6. We have recently acquired an air fryer which cooks more efficiently than our single oven. PS the wedges are to die for.
7. We turned the radiators off in two bedrooms we dont use and the thermostat in the hall is now down to 13.5 degrees. The heating is on for 5.5hrs per day. We've managed to reduce our gas usage by 26%.
8. Our electric usage remains stubbornly fixed. Most, if not all of our electrical equipment was rated very highly for energy use when purchased. However, since then, the EU have rerated electrical goods and what was an A rated fridge freezer has now become an F.
9. My daughter has two fish tanks and all the equipment was bought with energy efficiency in mind. However, today we are tweaking a few settings which won't add up to a great deal but every little helps

I put together a cost of each appliance in the kitchen based on our usage.

Description	£/WK
Tumble Dryer	3.40
Dishwasher	3.40
Single Oven	3.11
American F/F	2.53
Air Fryer	2.01
Tall Freezer	1.97
Washing Machine	1.28
Slow Cooker	1.06
Microwave	0.85
Instant Pot	0.63
Food Processor	0.63
Food Mixer	0.38

The fish tanks energy consumption looks reasonable, although I should check the setting on the heaters and I suspect my assumption of how long they are on for is probably excessive.

Item	£/WK
Air Pump	0.36
FX6 Filter	2.28
FX4 Filters	3.18
Water Heaters	7.95
Int. Filter	1.06
Lighting 	0.52

With "tweaks" I anticpate the monthly bill will fall by about £55/month. I've not factored in savings from reductions in electrical appliances in the kitchen and I expect that during the Christmas holidays our central heating will be on for a little more than 5.5hrs per day. If I include the £67/monthy government subsidy we get then we are using about £270/month. We pay £288 and are currently £650 in credit.

I'm not complaining about the size of the bill. It is what it is. But I feel we've now done our bit to help with energy reduction and in some small way helped. And maybe there's something above which, in sharing, is helpful.

All the best

AiY(D)
LBYM

[DrFfybes]

We turned the radiators off in two bedrooms we dont use and the thermostat in the hall is now down to 13.5 degrees. The heating is on for 5.5hrs per day. We've managed to reduce our gas usage by 26%.

Our heating is on for 90 min in the morning, and 30 min before bed. Up until today ir was 60 min in the morning, but we tend to sit around a bit more after breaksast.
Stat is set to 12.5, but it always comes on anyway.
The only rads on are lounge, befroom, kitches, and on the days MrsF works her office is heated in the mroning.
We have a living flame gas fire in the lounge which comes on about 5:30 on low abd uses circa 10-15kWh of gas over the evening.
We use a calor gas heater in MrsF's office for a while in the day, and the woodburner in the room next door.

Our gas use is similar to last year, as that is what we did then as well

The fish tanks energy consumption looks reasonable, although I should check the setting on the heaters and I suspect my assumption of how long they are on for is probably excessive.

Ours is in the lounge. I regard it as a storage heater as the heat isn't lost

We did get a new boiler over summer, a modern 20-odd kWh one instead of the 1980s 30kWh one. However as we have the heating on so infrequently, it always runs flat out (as did the old one) so gas use per hour is about the same. The difference is the old one used to warm up the kitchen, and the new one doesn't go out in high winds as it has no pilot light.

A couple of winters ago we ran the heating 'like mum does' to heat the whole house adequately all day. It used £15-17 of gas per day. That was at under 3p/kWh, so doing that now would be (tappety tap) about 2 grand a month.

Ahhh, the joys of old houses

[monabri]

Based on annual uage, your fish use more electric than our heating and immersion tank.... are they subletting?

[scrumpyjack]

I'm lighting our wood burning fire each day. It produces an incredible amount of heat and the large brick fireplace acts as a storage radiator.
We have enough of our own wood to last many many years fortunately and it has been drying for years so it is well seasoned.

This must cut the use of oil for our central heating a lot!

Very nice too to sit in front of it!

ps I'm ignoring the doomsters who claim the minute smoke particles will kill us

[AsleepInYorkshire]

Based on annual uage, your fish use more electric than our heating and immersion tank.... are they subletting?

A few pic's.

AiY(D)

[GeoffF100]

Tumble Dryer - do not have
Dishwasher - do not have
Single Oven - do not use
American F/F - do not know what it is
Air Fryer - do not have
Tall Freezer - do not have, but fridge and freezer £1.95 according to AEG
Washing Machine £0.46 according to Bosch
Slow Cooker - do not have
Microwave - negligible
Instant Pot - do not know what it is
Food Processor - negligible
Food Mixer - do not have

I cook on the gas hob. In winter, the "waste heat" heats up the house. I hang clothes up to dry.

[doolally]

Minor correction....

I'm aware that we're getting £400 from the taxes I pay to the government to help with the annual bill. I'm not going to be disengenuous about this.

AiY(D)
LBYM

The government's money is really our money
doolally

[SebsCat]

We had gas connected in Oct 21 (previously oil CH and didn't have a smart meter for the electric before then) so November was the first time we could do an accurate comparison.

Electricity use is down 7.5%, probably in part that my wife has since retired so is using her office equipment much less. Not specifically made any other changes although our vented tumble dryer broke last week and we've just replaced it with a new heat pump one that - in theory - should pay for itself in reduced costs within 3 years.

Gas is down 24%. Part of that will be milder weather (although it's been cold enough here to have had the heating on since late September) but we've also reduced the thermostat. We have the heating on from 06:30 until 21:30 unless we're both going to be out. The thermostat is at 18 C until 17:30 and 19 after that. Anything less than that is into uncomfortable territory for us & our house.

Despite the reduced usage, cost is up 74%...

[bluedonkey]

I'm lighting our wood burning fire each day. It produces an incredible amount of heat and the large brick fireplace acts as a storage radiator.
We have enough of our own wood to last many many years fortunately and it has been drying for years so it is well seasoned.

This must cut the use of oil for our central heating a lot!

Very nice too to sit in front of it!

ps I'm ignoring the doomsters who claim the minute smoke particles will kill us

True, I'm afraid. I do love a wood burner though!

[bluedonkey]

Thanks for a great post Aiy.

You use a dryer a lot it seems, maybe try just hanging the clothes up indoors, they dry in 24/48 hours.

[Lootman]

We turned the radiators off in two bedrooms we dont use and the thermostat in the hall is now down to 13.5 degrees. The heating is on for 5.5hrs per day. We've managed to reduce our gas usage by 26%.

Wait, your house is heated to only 13.5 C? That is 56 F in old money. Borderline freezing.

No wonder you are using much less gas! Our thermostat is set to 18 C and I thought I was being cheap. I guess I could never pass as being a Yorkshireman.

I have no idea what each of our appliances uses. My one concession has been that I now do a cold wash of laundry. Seems to work fine.

[scotview]

We haven't changed our heating temperatures. Comparing gas and electricity usage for two similar months, March & November, the cost has gone from £140 to £280, that's a difference of £140.

I expect January 2021 v January 2022 will be £150 V £400, that's £250 difference. We still won't change our heating habits and I consider heating costs, certainly up here in NE Scotland, still to be exceptionally good value for money.

Certainly better value for money than a good bottle of champaign, £80 or a fresh lobster £35, or two good ribeyes £15, or a good meal out £100.

I cannot see why folkies are freaking out. We are willingly keeping the heating on and not grudging it. Much rather cut out some other expensive, non-essential stuff.

A far bigger factor for me is whether we have enforced power cuts, that's a problem of a different order of magnitude.

[Lootman]

fresh lobster £35

You can get fresh lobster in NE Scotland in winter?

[scotview]

fresh lobster £35

You can get fresh lobster in NE Scotland in winter?

Aye, your right, the creels are all in for the season.

OTOH our fisherman neighbour has our next order of huge, clean prawn tails for £10 a kg, now that's of equal value for money to our heating bill.

[DrFfybes]

Thanks for a great post Aiy.

You use a dryer a lot it seems, maybe try just hanging the clothes up indoors, they dry in 24/48 hours.

Aye - I think it would take us a lifetime to get payback at the couple of hours or so we use ours each year.

Dry quicker if you use a desk fan on the airer, circa £15 from toolstation/Argos/etc. Or you can get one of those heated vented airers, just make sure you leave the room they're in ventilated

Paul

[BullDog]

Experience here is that by taking a bit more care over controlling the central heating we have reduced the gas consumption so far this winter by about 20% compared to 2021. The heating is on every day from 6.00am to 10.00pm. If I go to bed earlier then I switch the heating off on the way upstairs. The central thermostat is set to 20, was 21 last year. During the day we have started notching it down to 19 or 19.5 if we feel comfortable enough. So, having reduced the gas use by about a fifth we just have the price increase of 3.5x times to deal with. Our gas was 3p last year. The next three months are going to be quite expensive but it's 2022 and I am not going to feel cold in the house. I really feel for low income families or families with one wage and a mortgage. It's going to be a tough winter for them.

We have tried in previous years leaving the heating on and cycling on the central thermostat versus turning it off during the day. The difference in gas consumption over the winter was pretty much identical both ways. Hence we now leave it on as described above.

[Stompa]

Dry quicker if you use a desk fan on the airer, circa £15 from toolstation/Argos/etc. Or you can get one of those heated vented airers, just make sure you leave the room they're in ventilated

A dehumidifier does a pretty good job, preferably in an unventilated room.

[UncleEbenezer]

We turned the radiators off in two bedrooms we dont use and the thermostat in the hall is now down to 13.5 degrees. The heating is on for 5.5hrs per day. We've managed to reduce our gas usage by 26%.

Wait, your house is heated to only 13.5 C? That is 56 F in old money. Borderline freezing.

I'm living warmer than I have done in the past, as age catches up with me while money is no longer so tight.

But I can't imagine setting it that warm, unless I'm ill and lose my body's capacity to regulate temperature. As happened in Feb.2005, when I found out that the heating didn't work.

[UncleEbenezer]

Dry quicker if you use a desk fan on the airer, circa £15 from toolstation/Argos/etc. Or you can get one of those heated vented airers, just make sure you leave the room they're in ventilated

A dehumidifier does a pretty good job, preferably in an unventilated room.

Mine normally lives in the guest bedroom. I keep the door open (as with every internal door in the house, and it does a great job drying the laundry. Even now when long darkness and weak daylight mean bugger all help from nature.

[DrFfybes]

There appears to be a pattern here.

I think TLF (or certainky this thread) is largely populated by middle aged (or older) retired wealthy people who've been brought up not to waste money, which is probably how many became wealthy in the first place. We are now testing how little we can spend in order whilst maintaining the comfort levels of the 1970s, in order to pass wealth down to the next generation in the vain hope/belief that they won't pour it all away on the consumer lifestyle that seems the norm for anyone born since 1980.

Anyway, back to perusing sports cars I'll never buy on Autotrader.

Paul