Gas & Electricity

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

I think a lot of people will be using far less heating so far this year to previous ones.

Once it gets too cold to cope without heating, bills will begin to soar.

Yeah possibly. I am using it but only later on in day. I’m being much more careful with electric. Cooking stuff in slow cooker and on the hob rather than in the oven, which was eating electric when I used it the other day. I think the cost of cooking the food in the oven is more than the food in some instances!

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

We are currently £685 in credit, to date this month we have spent a combined toatal of £60. Our DD is £257 but they want to up it to £350. Is it me or are they just trying to use us as their bank?

That's my own belief. My existing direct debit covers my current expenditure and I am also heavily in credit, yet they want me to increase my monthly outgoing an extra £50.

And how they are 'refunding' me £66 a month, it's my money from my positive balance accrued over the last 12 months?

 

[jrb]

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.

Of course it is! I know exactly what I’m using in gas and electricity daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. I can set a budget on the smart meter and try and stay under or around that budget. I don’t have to send a gas or electricity meter reading as it goes straight to Bulb via the smart meter every day.

The only things left on 24/7 are the fridge freezer, the combi boiler, the nest thermostat, and the house alarm. I could turn the house alarm and Nest thermostat off if I want to. I have remote plugs on my tv, internet hub, etc. I’ve pretty much slashed my gas and electricity bills as much as I can. I’ve even bought a clothes maiden and a clothes line(in the garden) to save on using the tumble dryer. I’ve also bought an air fryer instead of using the electric oven. I do a full clothes wash once a week at 30 degrees. Google energy and money saving tips.

You’ll probably save enough money by June for a flight to Istanbul. ;-)

 

[jrb]

That's my own belief. My existing direct debit covers my current expenditure and I am also heavily in credit, yet they want me to increase my monthly outgoing an extra £50.

And how they are 'refunding' me £66 a month, it's my money from my positive balance accrued over the last 12 months?

Bulb allow you to set your monthly payments. They do set a minimum amount you have to pay, which they revise if your energy and payments are less than that, but I pay £200 a month, regardless. The last time I looked I was nearly £300 in credit.

 

[jrb]

If you don’t bank online go into your bank and building Society and ask them to print out all your direct debits and standing orders. You might be amazed at the amount of money going out of your account that you’ve forgotten about or you might be able to reduce. Stop and Clear all the direct debits and standing orders you don’t need. I’ve stopped and renegotiated numerous standing orders and direct debits.

If you can afford it pay all your outgoings at once instead of monthly. Car insurance, road tax, house insurance, etc. It’s cheaper and once you’ve paid them off they won’t be going out each month. Always renegotiate any yearly insurance policies. If your current insurance provider can’t beat or better another quote, which most will try and do, go elsewhere.

If you don’t need a credit card, don’t use one. If you do use one and you’ve racked up a large amount do a balance transfer. It May cost you 3% in fees initially, but you can get up to 3 years interest free credit on a balance transfer, if you qualify, so you can spread that amount over 3 years without paying any interest. Whatever you do don’t use the new credit card. Cut it up and pay off your outstanding balance each month.

 

[Two Gun Bob]

Energy saving time.

​

Hi Gunny, You'll earn 1800 OctoPoints – that's £2.25 worth – for every unit of electricity you cut down between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM on 15th November. Opt in now to save power and earn rewards in this Session. You'll go into a draw to win an extra 400,000 OctoPoints – that's £500 worth! – just for opting in. ​ Important: you need to opt in before the Session starts if you want to earn rewards. We've got an extra challenge for your first Session: cut down even more power to earn our Super Saver Bonus. The top 10% of Savers in this Session (i.e those who reduce the highest % of their normal power use) will each earn an extra 1,000 bonus OctoPoints – worth £1.25. What do I do in the Saving Session? Cut down your electricity use between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM on 15th November. You'll earn 1800 OctoPoints for every kilowatt hour of electricity you don't use compared to what you normally use. Don't worry about sending us readings: your smart meter will do this for you. How do you calculate what I normally use? We look at your smart meter readings to find out how much electricity you typically used at the same time of day over the previous 10 days (excluding days when there's been a Saving Session). Find out more in our FAQs. How much are OctoPoints worth? If you manage to save a kilowatt hour of electricity in this Session, you'll earn 1800 OctoPoints - that's £2.25. You can turn your OctoPoints into account credit online at any time. When will I get my OctoPoints? In the few days after a Session, we'll use your smart meter readings to work out how much power you saved. You'll be able to see how you did on your Saving Sessions dashboard, and any earnings will be added to your OctoPoints page within two weeks. Love & power, Pete Miller Head of Customer Experience Octopus Energy

 

[Gremlin]

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.

The older type 1 smart meters couldn't be switched between suppliers but the newer type 2 (and that is the only type they are allowed to fit now) can be switched.

 

[Rammy Blue]

Bulb allow you to set your monthly payments. They do set a minimum amount you have to pay, which they revise if your energy and payments are less than that, but I pay £200 a month, regardless. The last time I looked I was nearly £300 in credit.

Bulb went tits up, you’ll be with Octopus once the transfer is processed.

 

[Claytop]

Anyone with a smart meter had one of those money saving days yet where you get paid to not use energy during peak times?

As if by magic we have our first one today been 5-6pm.

 

[Kompany Car]

Energy saving time.

​

Hi Gunny, You'll earn 1800 OctoPoints – that's £2.25 worth – for every unit of electricity you cut down between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM on 15th November. Opt in now to save power and earn rewards in this Session. You'll go into a draw to win an extra 400,000 OctoPoints – that's £500 worth! – just for opting in. ​ Important: you need to opt in before the Session starts if you want to earn rewards. We've got an extra challenge for your first Session: cut down even more power to earn our Super Saver Bonus. The top 10% of Savers in this Session (i.e those who reduce the highest % of their normal power use) will each earn an extra 1,000 bonus OctoPoints – worth £1.25. What do I do in the Saving Session? Cut down your electricity use between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM on 15th November. You'll earn 1800 OctoPoints for every kilowatt hour of electricity you don't use compared to what you normally use. Don't worry about sending us readings: your smart meter will do this for you. How do you calculate what I normally use? We look at your smart meter readings to find out how much electricity you typically used at the same time of day over the previous 10 days (excluding days when there's been a Saving Session). Find out more in our FAQs. How much are OctoPoints worth? If you manage to save a kilowatt hour of electricity in this Session, you'll earn 1800 OctoPoints - that's £2.25. You can turn your OctoPoints into account credit online at any time. When will I get my OctoPoints? In the few days after a Session, we'll use your smart meter readings to work out how much power you saved. You'll be able to see how you did on your Saving Sessions dashboard, and any earnings will be added to your OctoPoints page within two weeks. Love & power, Pete Miller Head of Customer Experience Octopus Energy

The problem with all this is it sounds good, but the average house only uses 11kWh in an entire 24hr period. So if you go back to living like someone from the 18th Century between 5 and 6 pm you might get £2.25 back but it’s unlikely to be that much, particularly as it’s based on what you have been using recently i.e. after everyone has already cut back.