Gas & Electricity

[remember arthur mann]

Just caught the program on ITV that says changing boiler flow temperature down to 60° helps save up to 12% gas usage. (I think it may have been mentioned on here previously)

Has anyone tried it and noticed a difference?

Just turned ours down, it was at 82°, now at 60° , will see how we get on.

You need TomKat TV. Good luck !

 

[gandalfthebrave]

It's absolutely crippling us and causing arguments between me and the other half. Going through about £8 gas a day. The other half is going mad because I'm turning the boiler down and she's saying the water isn't hot enough to wash up yet she's then adding cold water when I turn it back up. If I'm home alone, the heating doesn't go on yet when I went out on Saturday to watch England, its the most we've used all week. We've got 2 young kids, close to Christmas and we're probably gonna use another £150 before the end of the year

I have a solution: Take her Christmas present back, get a refund. And when she moans, just say sorry kid, I did tell you we needed to turn the boiler down to save some money.

On a more serious note I’m in a similar boat with three young kids and a mrs who doesn’t grasp how wasteful she is with energy (and ultimately money). But what can you do? I’ve stopped going on about it otherwise one of us would end up walking out and then we’d all be deeper in the mire.

 

[Blue Maverick]

Just caught the program on ITV that says changing boiler flow temperature down to 60° helps save up to 12% gas usage. (I think it may have been mentioned on here previously)

Has anyone tried it and noticed a difference?

Just turned ours down, it was at 82°, now at 60° , will see how we get on.

Let’s us know I put ours down ages ago so have nothing to compare it to that video nearly made my head explode I’m only halfway through it!

 

[fulabeer]

(Long post alert)

Whatever is happening, it is making us all realise just how wasteful we have been in the past.
My gas/electric has gone from £260 to £700+ per month. We do have a small outside pool, but the airsource heater was used sparingly this year (was also switched on much later). It was also completely switched off in August. (normally end of September)
There are three boys and two adults (one adult according to the wife!)
The gas central heating has been turned right down. But the gas use is surprisingly low anyway. It's mainly the electric bumping up the bills.

The interesting bit is my electric use didn't seem to fall much by limiting the pool heater.
I have also been busy over the last few years converting all the lights/lighting to low energy LED.
I have been doing the dad bit of moaning at the boys to switch TVs/gaming consoles/lights off when not using them.
I've found all these USB chargers and gadgets (10+ Alexa's) in standby mode are still chewing through electric.

I've eventually tracked down the biggest usage.
The electric dryer is the main culprit. Both that and the washer are almost never off when we are home.
The need to have clean clothes for school/PE/work means waiting for dry days isn't and option.
Either is using radiators. The condensation in a modernised (sealed) house can be a real problem. That and the house looking like a launderette.

I built a laundry room last year at the back of the garage. It's partitioned off. Has multiple drying racks.
The drying racks work fine in the summer months. But on cold wet winter days, the humidity and cold means the clothes just don't dry. I did install a wall mounted electric fan heater. But that itself uses between 1-2kw.

So i just installed a (Chinese) diesel air heater (£99 - See Youtube videos). It's the same as fitted to motorhomes. Uses red diesel. Installed in the garage bit and piped through to the laundry room.
What a revelation!
Really cheap to run (12p an hour). And with red diesel dropping in price, is set to get even cheaper.
Keeps the room around 15C. But the main benefit is the super dry air it provides.
Since it forces fresh dry heated air into the room. The wet cold air is pushed out the door vents.
The clothes are now drying super fast, meaning the dryer hardly needs to be on. (only urgent use now)

 

[AKA 55 year old teenager]

Just caught the program on ITV that says changing boiler flow temperature down to 60° helps save up to 12% gas usage. (I think it may have been mentioned on here previously)



Has anyone tried it and noticed a difference?



Just turned ours down, it was at 82°, now at 60° , will see how we g

I tried that and it took about 2 hours just to get to 17 degrees.

et on.

 

[Brewster's millions]

What he means is that the price is capped by the government until April.

Yes, the more you use the more you will pay, but everybody will pay the current unit rate until April and no amount of companies putting the price up in the background between now and April will make a difference.

When the caps come off in April, well, that's a different matter.

The Energy Price Guarantee doesn’t finish in April, as the Autumn Statement extended it for a further year, so that it is now planned to finish in April 2024.

However in April next year, the effective cap on the average household bill will rise to £3,000 per annum from the current £2,500, if of course the OFGEM price cap level still sits above £3,000 next April. If the OFGEM price cap falls below £3,000, then the government guarantee scheme would become redundant.

For reference the OFGEM cap level for January to March next year has been set at £4,279, so there would need to be a major, major drop off in wholesale prices in the next couple of months for the OFGEM cap level for the April to June period next year to fall below the £3,000 level. In fact, given what’s happened to wholesale prices since this cold snap hit, it’s likely that the OFGEM cap level will increase in April next year. So the government guarantee price will very likely be needed, and therefore for your average punter that means a 20% increase in prices next April.

Also, it’s not quite true that prices can’t rise next month, although I’m splitting hairs here a bit. The government has published the maximum per unit rates suppliers can charge as part of the guarantee scheme for Q1 next year - these effectively replace the OFGEM price cap levels - and some of these will increase fractionally in January, but the impact will be very small for the average person and they’re still consistent with the £2,500 annual bill. And of course suppliers don’t have to change their tariffs if they don’t want to, but most will presumably adjust them to the new maximum levels.

 

[RobMCFC]

The Energy Price Guarantee doesn’t finish in April, as the Autumn Statement extended it for a further year, so that it is now planned to finish in April 2024.

However in April next year, the effective cap on the average household bill will rise to £3,000 per annum from the current £2,500, if of course the OFGEM price cap level still sits above £3,000 next April. If the OFGEM price cap falls below £3,000, then the government guarantee scheme would become redundant.

For reference the OFGEM cap level for January to March next year has been set at £4,279, so there would need to be a major, major drop off in wholesale prices in the next couple of months for the OFGEM cap level for the April to June period next year to fall below the £3,000 level. In fact, given what’s happened to wholesale prices since this cold snap hit, it’s likely that the OFGEM cap level will increase in April next year. So the government guarantee price will very likely be needed, and therefore for your average punter that means a 25% increase in prices next April.

Also, it’s not quite true that prices can’t rise next month, although I’m splitting hairs here a bit. The government has published the maximum per unit rates suppliers can charge as part of the guarantee scheme for Q1 next year - these effectively replace the OFGEM price cap levels - and some of these will increase fractionally in January, but the impact will be very small for the average person and they’re still consistent with the £2,500 annual bill. And of course suppliers don’t have to change their tariffs if they don’t want to, but most will presumably adjust them to the new maximum levels.

Thanks - I’d either missed the extension to April 2024 or forgotten about it. We ‘re on a fix (just below the gov cap) until May 2024 anyway, but it’s good to know that everybody gets at least some protection (although it will be too high for some).

 

[Brewster's millions]

Thanks - I’d either missed the extension to April 2024 or forgotten about it. We ‘re on a fix (just below the gov cap) until May 2024 anyway, but it’s good to know that everybody gets at least some protection (although it will be too high for some).

Yep - I think the extension was overshadowed a bit by the other announcements, and also because wholesale prices were falling so sharply at the time, so it looked like it wouldn’t be required.

Hopefully by the end of June next year it won’t be required, but that might just be wishful thinking.

 

[Blue Maverick]

You need TomKat TV. Good luck !

Great video and I’d already done many of these things, unfortunately for us we have 8mm pipes to double radiators, also trvs on radiators where the thermostat is but I suppose nothing can be perfect. I’ve set ours to 60 degrees I did this a while ago but we have open plan downstairs so that’s a pain in the arse. I can’t get on the loft to do the insulation because if my back but come January that’s my first job, by next winter I’m determined to get this house ready for any shit they throw at us. We don’t have cavity insulation but I’ve heard bad things about it anyway.

 

[Centurions]

Woken up to an inch of snow and a sky so dark that I've had to put the lights on, it's going to be a cold one again.