Energy companies and direct debits

[nw42]

@Two Gun Bob
Same here, Baxi 105E, this isn't mine as my photo wouldn't upload but it's exactly the same boiler. I noticed from other stock photos that some look the same but don't have the pre-heat option although the dials are the same. Anyway I set that dial to off. The only time the light 2nd left at the bottom comes on is when we use the taps, but if I turn the pre-heat to on then it comes on periodically to heat the water stored in the boiler, which seems a waste to me.

 

[Man_City_Loyal]

No one.
The govt are keeping it going.

so they not going bust now?

 

[Centurions]

Finally had our account and refund transfered to Octopus from Avro with all bills present and correct. We have now requested £250 back to account and Octopus have said that as we pay by DD are in credit and have submitted a meter reading within the last 14 days we qualify to make the request.

I mentioned to the service agent it wasnt a request but more an actual demand for the £250 from £300 to be repaid back to our account and he said that the request would be submitted to the relevant department and a decision made within 7 days. A decision?

In support of Octopus their hub works a treat and is very informative showing our consumption data both daily and weekly helping us stay in control of our usage. It also allows us to increase our D.D accordingly.

If the £250 request is not sanctioned then we shall close down the account and simply move on. There is no way we're running up a credit as we did with Avro.

Apart from keeping us in limbo for 4 months with our Avro transfer all now appears to be well and fair to say they answer the phone lines within 10 minutes and answer emails promptly which is a plus. And everytime you submit a meter reading you get to spin their wheel of fortune with big cash prizes : /

I wouldn't be getting snarky with the front line agents, it will probably be sorted by someone in the back office. Just give them time to sort things out. I've never used Octopus mind, we're with EDF.

As regards heating the house, as long as your thermostats are working correctly I'd leave it to them, closing all your doors is perhaps not healthy as regards air circulation.

We don't have a pre heater for the hot water but I'd suggest that's swings & roundabouts and will come down to your usage pattern. If you use it often (especially short bursts) then without a pre heater it will need to run for a bit to get hot water through every time (very wasteful of water too). It will be a small volume held in an insulated chamber within the boiler presumably?

 

[Kompany Car]

I struggle with numbers but here is what it says on our most recent Octopus bill,
Gas Tariff Name Flexible Avro October 2021 v1
Product Type Variable
Payment Method Direct Debit
Unit Rate 3.83p/kWh
Standing Charge 24.87p/day (£90.78/year)
Price Guaranteed Until Not applicable
Early Exit Fee None
Estimated Annual Usage* 27255 kWh

I'm not too fussed about the electric as its much less than the Gas. Been paying £120pm (both gas & electric) for yonks and had built up a credit of £160 with AVRO but as I said we've burnt that up since Sept and are now £65 in debit. So I've upped the dd to £150 on the basis that it would even out in the warmer months, this obviously doesn't take into account the increases you have mentioned. Either way it's going to get worse and we are probably looking at circa £200pm soon enough.

Here is what Octopus have assessed us at on the latest bill,
£608.31 a year for electricity
£1191.37 a year for gas

That seems the wrong way around as electricity is far more expensive than gas.

 

[stonerblue]

That seems the wrong way around as electricity is far more expensive than gas.

Octopus leccy is all from renewable source

 

[stonerblue]

@Two Gun Bob
Same here, Baxi 105E, this isn't mine as my photo wouldn't upload but it's exactly the same boiler. I noticed from other stock photos that some look the same but don't have the pre-heat option although the dials are the same. Anyway I set that dial to off. The only time the light 2nd left at the bottom comes on is when we use the taps, but if I turn the pre-heat to on then it comes on periodically to heat the water stored in the boiler, which seems a waste to me.

I never have that 'keep water warm' setting on.
I would imagine those fancy taps that give instant hot/cold/freezing water cost an absolute fortune to run.

 

[Centurions]

I never have that 'keep water warm' setting on.
I would imagine those fancy taps that give instant hot/cold/freezing water cost an absolute fortune to run.

I thought the instant taps were literally that? They don't actually store anything?

 

[nw42]

That seems the wrong way around as electricity is far more expensive than gas.

No idea but we only use electric for the lights, tv & computers, heating/water & cooker is gas.

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

I never have that 'keep water warm' setting on.
I would imagine those fancy taps that give instant hot/cold/freezing water cost an absolute fortune to run.

I think the idea of it is when the combi boiler is not near where you want instant hot water, such as my house. The water inlet is in the kitchen but it has to go upstairs to be heated then back down again to the kitchen sink, otherwise it can take upto a minute to get hot water. That said, even when that feature is switched on there's still a delay so hardly worth it. Next time I get a new boiler I'm getting it moved to the kitchen.

Those taps look quite cheap to run power-wise but the inital cost and the filters and servicing seem very expensive.

 

[Two Gun Bob]

I wouldn't be getting snarky with the front line agents, it will probably be sorted by someone in the back office. Just give them time to sort things out. I've never used Octopus mind, we're with EDF.

As regards heating the house, as long as your thermostats are working correctly I'd leave it to them, closing all your doors is perhaps not healthy as regards air circulation.

We don't have a pre heater for the hot water but I'd suggest that's swings & roundabouts and will come down to your usage pattern. If you use it often (especially short bursts) then without a pre heater it will need to run for a bit to get hot water through every time (very wasteful of water too). It will be a small volume held in an insulated chamber within the boiler presumably?

I wasn't .. I was laughing and interacting with the gentlman throughout in a jovial sort of way. Maybe my tongue in cheek demand was wrong but so was their terminology of a request when it's actually our money they're sat on. Three and a half ton was eaten up by Avro and that was our Xmas savings plan money.

I don't think our boiler has a pre warmer like @nw42. Just two switches with one for heat and the other with a tap on which Im guessing is for pressure.