Energy Bills

[Guest av1]

14 minutes ago, The Fun Factory said:

Have had my standard British Gas letter today saying my payments are spot on, just before the cap price rise on Thursday when no doubt I will have to lube up and bend over.

Don’t bother with the lube, the words removed are going in dry. 

[one_ian_taylor]

51 minutes ago, ender4 said:

Gas heating, gas hot water, gas cooking.

But i do work from home and there are 2 adults & 2 kids so maybe that makes a difference? 1 load of washing, 1 load of tumble dryer, 1 load of dishwasher per day. 

I guess an old fridge feeezer would use a reasonable  amount, so with a few other things on while you're away, 4 kWh sounds  high-ish but not ridiculous.

Tumble dryer is a big culprit, but obviously that won't have been on while you  were away. 1 load per day will be around 4 kWh I'd  guess. Dishwasher and washing machine maybe 3 kWh between them (depending on setting/cycle). That leaves 4-10 kWh per day on other appliances, which is really high - if you have a plug power meter (costs under a tenner) it's worth going round and seeing how much you're  using for different  things. Do you have an electric shower?

Everyone is different and has different needs, but for comparison, we're  a family of 4, one newborn so at home a lot with plenty of washing. Typical daily use during the  summer is 8-10 kWh including hot water and cooking. Washing  always  dried outside in summer. In winter we have a heated  drying rack, which probably  doesn't  use loads less than a tumble dryer, but does mostly heat the kitchen. 

 

 

[turvontour]

There you go, Cap at £6500 from April.

[ender4]

3 hours ago, one_ian_taylor said:

I guess an old fridge feeezer would use a reasonable  amount, so with a few other things on while you're away, 4 kWh sounds  high-ish but not ridiculous.

Tumble dryer is a big culprit, but obviously that won't have been on while you  were away. 1 load per day will be around 4 kWh I'd  guess. Dishwasher and washing machine maybe 3 kWh between them (depending on setting/cycle). That leaves 4-10 kWh per day on other appliances, which is really high - if you have a plug power meter (costs under a tenner) it's worth going round and seeing how much you're  using for different  things. Do you have an electric shower?

Everyone is different and has different needs, but for comparison, we're  a family of 4, one newborn so at home a lot with plenty of washing. Typical daily use during the  summer is 8-10 kWh including hot water and cooking. Washing  always  dried outside in summer. In winter we have a heated  drying rack, which probably  doesn't  use loads less than a tumble dryer, but does mostly heat the kitchen. 

 

 

Maybe the fridge freezer then - We have a 15 year old large american fridge freezer in the kitchen and then a smaller cheap freezer in the garage.  I guess they must use a lot of power.

[lapal_fan]

Do I switch from BG paying £250 a month NOW, to £366 a month for a guaranteed year (until Aug 23)?

  

[bickster]

3 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

Do I switch from BG paying £250 a month NOW, to £366 a month for a guaranteed year (until Aug 23)?

  

You are kinda the expert here, why ask us  

[lapal_fan]

Just now, bickster said:

You are kinda the expert here, why ask us  

Ha - I don't do domestic! 

And it was only 2 years ago (in April) when I managed to save the Worcester NHS Trust £1,000,000 a year on their (at the time) existing contract.. I bet they'll be saving close to £3.5 for the next year! 

That said "look after my bills" who I was a big champion of a couple of years ago (Seamless switching if they found you a better deal) have now stopped this service full stop, when initially it was only whilst this "crisis" was here..

I'm not going to switch, looking into it, it was still a variable tariff! 

[AshVilla]

49 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

Do I switch from BG paying £250 a month NOW, to £366 a month for a guaranteed year (until Aug 23)?

  

The fact that were debating if £366 a month is a good price for gas in the first place is madness.

They need to freeze the cap asap it's ridiculous.

[Genie]

1 minute ago, AshVilla said:

The fact that were debating if £366 a month is a good price for gas in the first place is madness.

They need to freeze the cap asap it's ridiculous.

Imagine the fallout now though, because the government have done nothing for so long many people have jumped into very expensive fixed deals.

Massive IF the government freeze the cap everyone on these fixed deals are going to be furious.

What a mess.

[Guest av1]

Does everyone actually think the predictions will come to pass? 
 

I have absolutely no faith in this flipping government so I’m certainly not trying to give them preemptive credit, but the vast majority of people simply can’t afford £500/600 monthly bills. I earn a decent salary and I’d really struggle so I dread to think what a lot of families earning less are going through. It will literally be a decision of food or heating. 
 

You get to a point whereby it’s irrelevant if it’s £600pm or £6kpm, people can’t pay it. As I said, though I’ve little faith in the government they will have to do something or there will be riots. And there must be someone in the Conservative party that remembers how the poll tax idea killed off their queen. 

[Xela]

4 hours ago, lapal_fan said:

Do I switch from BG paying £250 a month NOW, to £366 a month for a guaranteed year (until Aug 23)?

  

£116 increase x 12 = £1,392

Less £400 'help' from October at £66 per month for 6 months. 

In reality - £992 annual increase or £82.66 per month - 33%

Not too bad all things considered? 

[Xela]

5 hours ago, turvontour said:

There you go, Cap at £6500 from April.

No deal

[Demitri_C]

Im predicting riots in the winter

[Genie]

25 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Im predicting riots in the winter

I’m predicting government backed loans to ensure Shell and BP get £12b of profit each per quarter 

[foreveryoung]

2 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Im predicting riots in the winter

There won't be riots, kids riot these days and they don't pay bills. 

In all seriousness, people just won't pay, like the Poll tax, an we won then!

[tinker]

Once Putin turns the gas off to Europe the wholesale price will rocket. I don't think it will matter what tarrif your on. Gas will be so scarce it could lead to power cuts. 

[rjw63]

3 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Im predicting riots 

[Mozzavfc]

9 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

Im predicting riots in the winter

At least we could burn some stuff and keep warm

[It's Your Round]

Has anyone, that’s with Octopus Energy, looked at the new Crystal Ball Mode bill predictor thingy?

It makes for grim reading, the highlight being a £990 bill for the month of January. With the rest ranging from £600-£900. 

With bills more than doubling, after already being doubled this year. I really don’t think small energy saving tips will cut it. Unless you’re prepared to switch your heating off for the winter and limit your electricity use to a few hours a day, it won’t make a significant difference. And who wants to pay £400 a month to be cold?

 

[claretman]

This is going to get messy. 

My mortgage is fixed at the moment until March 2023-to change now will mean a hefty repayment fee and if I wait until nearer the time I’m then unlikely to pass the affordability checks for a new mortgage due to the rising costs of everything else and the wife’s business which has been bumpy during COVID.

There are plenty in the same boat who will just have to move onto the standard variable rate and see how it pans out.  With  predicted rises that is not good.