Gas & Electricity

[jrb]

Had a smart meter fitted last Monday. I will find out my first weeks total cost for gas and electricity tomorrow afternoon.

I’m still with Bulb, but they have been bought off the Government by Octopus Energy.

A big thanks to the Bulb staff who were brilliant. My calls were always answered straight away. The staff were helpful and knowledgable. Hence why I stayed with Bulb. Plus Bulb were cheap at the time.

Also a big thanks to North West Electricity for taking out my old 1930’s metal case electric unit and replacing it with a new modern one free of charge

 

[Uncle Wally One Ball]

I think drastic things have to be done, I’d say every house that’s built must have solar panels, not one or two in the row, everyone. High rise buildings similar.

Id go further. In the UK we normally live on streets, in estates or wherever. Its daft for every house in terraced houses to have a boiler each and its daft for those little new build estates to have them too. There must be scope for a central thing that everyone pays rates too and you can adjust to suit. I bet that would be more economical and green than every individual house running their own, feet away from the next

 

[pizzaman]

Gas bill DD gone up from £63 to £196 pm, electric £107 to £147, £560 in credit with gas, so glad it's been mild recently, need to keep house warm as 4 yr old grandson lives with us. Wife WFH, I work nights, she bought one of those Oodle things to wear instead of putting central heating on, hope this winter ain't a bad one..
Energy DDs not far short of a week's wage, I pay the bills, wife mortgage and council tax, not well off, but comfortable, but still watch the smart meters.

 

[Blue Maverick]

EDF still not fixed my smart meter, seems now we are trapped with companies they don’t give a shit, I’ll be leaving them as soon as possible, twats.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

I shaved my head once for charity , i liked it , keep my hair really short since then , i look like a lesbian but never mind , lol

That's a very misogynist and narrow view of lesbians kaz. The ones I watch cavorting on the internet tend to be very feminine looking.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Had a smart meter fitted last Monday. I will find out my first weeks total cost for gas and electricity tomorrow afternoon.

I’m still with Bulb, but they have been bought off the Government by Octopus Energy.

A big thanks to the Bulb staff who were brilliant. My calls were always answered straight away. The staff were helpful and knowledgable. Hence why I stayed with Bulb. Plus Bulb were cheap at the time.

Also a big thanks to North West Electricity for taking out my old 1930’s metal case electric unit and replacing it with a new modern one free of charge

Octopus have not bought Bulb yet.
The high court have put the sale on hold after complaints from rival companies.

 

[denislawsbackheel]

Id go further. In the UK we normally live on streets, in estates or wherever. Its daft for every house in terraced houses to have a boiler each and its daft for those little new build estates to have them too. There must be scope for a central thing that everyone pays rates too and you can adjust to suit. I bet that would be more economical and green than every individual house running their own, feet away from the next

Like Bristol?

Bristol's Heat Network - The Bristol Mayor

Councillor Nicola Beech, Cabinet Member for Climate, Ecology, Energy, and Waste, shares how we're investing in Bristol's Heat Network.

thebristolmayor.com

 

[jrb]

First week of combined gas and electricity used, £26.50. 2 of us.

Would have been under £25, but I did all the clothes washing yesterday. Hung most of the washing out to dry, but some of it was still damp so I had to use the tumble dryer for a bit. Hoping to get the costs down under £25 a week, if possible?

 

[Claytop]

Tumble dryer seems to be our biggest expense currently, managing without much heating but Dryer costing £2-£3 per day when we need to use it.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Tumble dryer seems to be our biggest expense currently, managing without much heating but Dryer costing £2-£3 per day when we need to use it.

We bought a Dry Soon drying pod from Lakeland. Not cheap at £150, but does the job brilliantly.

 

[Gremlin]

Tumble dryer seems to be our biggest expense currently, managing without much heating but Dryer costing £2-£3 per day when we need to use it.

We've been using a dehumidifier in a back room with a clothes horse. Works very well on a very low energy use.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Bulb/Octopus are continually telling us to reduce bills... gone from at one stage £250 DD to now £110

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

I love how OVO have my bill as receiving a £66 monthly refund and seem to be deducting/showing it as coming off my £560 in credit?

Surely that money is mine in the first place, so how can it be listed as a refund?

I assumed the £66 I started getting last month was the government assistance money?

We've spent £48 this month so far on gas and electric, yet they are saying we will be -£350 in the next 12 months.

My maths aren't the best but surely the £95 a month we are paying at present pretty much covers that £48 spent so far this month.

So why the fuck do they want us to increase our direct debit to £125 a month?

 

[denislawsbackheel]

For next April’s 70% + hike in the cap prices and the abolition, for most of us, of the £66 rebate.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Tumble dryer seems to be our biggest expense currently, managing without much heating but Dryer costing £2-£3 per day when we need to use it.

We bought a condenser dryer in the summer and drying 2 lots of washing a week costs about 75p.

The dishwasher is more expensive to run for us, but is still cheaper than washing everything by hand. economic dishwashers are really expensive to buy.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

I love how OVO have my bill as receiving a £66 monthly refund and seem to be deducting/showing it as coming off my £560 in credit?

Surely that money is mine in the first place, so how can it be listed as a refund?

I assumed the £66 I started getting last month was the government assistance money?

We've spent £48 this month so far on gas and electric, yet they are saying we will be -£350 in the next 12 months.

My maths aren't the best but surely the £95 a month we are paying at present pretty much covers that £48 spent so far this month.

So why the fuck do they want us to increase our direct debit to £125 a month?

They will expect you (and all of us) to use a lot more gas as the temperature drops.

We’re trying to cope with electric throws when sitting in the evenings. So far, so good, but who knows when it’s really cold.

Similar usage for us has gone from £90p/m to £125p/m.

Thats with minimal central heating used though.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

They will expect you (and all of us) to use a lot more gas as the temperature drops.

We’re trying to cope with electric throws when sitting in the evenings. So far, so good, but who knows when it’s really cold.

Similar usage for us has gone from £90p/m to £125p/m.

Thats with minimal central heating used though.

We only started putting ours on last week, for half an hour when the kids get up and then I sit in my coat during the day working at my laptop.

I've even started buying ready-made, microwaveable mash, instead of potatoes, as it takes too long on the hob to cook them!

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

We only started putting ours on last week, for half an hour when the kids get up and then I sit in my coat during the day working at my laptop.

I've even started buying ready-made, microwaveable mash, instead of potatoes, as it takes too long on the hob to cook them!

We have a gas cooker too. I’m making more batch meals that can easily be reheated, but cooking a meal from scratch costs us about 50p in gas.

The other thing that people might not know about is that the CofE Manchester diocese has allocated funds for their churches to be open as warm hubs at certain times. It might be worth checking to see if a church near you is open if you are struggling to keep warm. (Not aimed at you TH, but for anyone who needs it. It could also bring communities closer together again)

I don‘t know if other dioceses are offering the warm hub, but wherever you are in the U.K., it might be worth an ask if you need some assistance.

 

[M18CTID]

EDF still not fixed my smart meter, seems now we are trapped with companies they don’t give a shit, I’ll be leaving them as soon as possible, twats.

Is a smart meter a good idea? I'm with EDF and keep fucking them off every time they suggest fitting one! I thought there were issues with them when switching suppliers so was holding off as long as possible.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

Is a smart meter a good idea? I'm with EDF and keep fucking them off every time they suggest fitting one! I thought there were issues with them when switching suppliers so was holding off as long as possible.

We have an older smart meter. We don’t have live usage, but we can see the previous day’s usage through Bulb’s app.

I check it once a day to make sure there are no anomalies, but then don’t think about it until the next day.