Calypso-E34 Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 (edited) I've been hearing day in day out about the scary and imminent further increases in the cost of energy, and I've been trying to work out how it will affect us. We use a combination of electricity, gas (bottled - for the cooker) and oil for the central heating. We use a prepayment meter for the electricity, not because we have to, but for convenience. SO I bought a couple of large propane cylinders before they went up in price, so I'll be OK there for a few years. We filled up with oil before the war started, and still have over half a tank. Oil prices went through the roof, but seem to be on the way down now. We increased our monthly direct debit a while ago too, so should be able to cover the next fill ok We packed the prepayment meter (NOT a smart meter) with credit before it went up last time, and will do so again at the end of September. So I hope we have managed to make the best of things. How is everyone else doing? Edited August 18, 2022 by Calypso-E34 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 All I know is that we've got c500kg of coal and a cubic meter of kiln dried birch on its way to us; we'll be avoiding using the central heating as much as we can We're not short of money; but we're also not prepared to be ripped off whilst the fat-cats roll home with their £millions in bonuses etc I'm a pyromaniac anyways; so over the winter period the fire is usually lit 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 Scavenging wood for my log fire. I have a cube drying in the garage loft and a further cube drying outside in log stores. I have a builder bulk bag full of kiln dried birch for starting it up. Also given the amount of Amazon purchases we (my Mrs) makes, there will be plenty of cardboard to cut up and burn too. Which when the burner is on at full chat with the house doors open, will heat most of the downstairs and the effects of it can be felt at the top of the stairs too. Working out how I can fire it on used LL04 as I get 6.5 litres of it each year to re-use. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 4 hours ago, Andrew said: Scavenging wood for my log fire. I have a cube drying in the garage loft and a further cube drying outside in log stores. I have a builder bulk bag full of kiln dried birch for starting it up. Also given the amount of Amazon purchases we (my Mrs) makes, there will be plenty of cardboard to cut up and burn too. Which when the burner is on at full chat with the house doors open, will heat most of the downstairs and the effects of it can be felt at the top of the stairs too. Working out how I can fire it on used LL04 as I get 6.5 litres of it each year to re-use. 👍 Yup; I was out in the woods earlier this year scavenging the fallen oak branches from a year or so ago; found the top of one tree too... Lovely and dry (bar the outer most parts) It's all been cut up and in the wood storage boxes staying nice & dry. But it'll not last long, so the birch is a superb back up plus I use the birch bark to get the fires going as it catches a flame brilliantly We don't burn cardboard or paper; you'll find a lot of it has fire retardant in it; so it smoulders more than it burns etc... Same with us for the heating; the open fire is superb for getting downstairs nice & warm; more so my office at the back of the house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caesar Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Just put a request in for smart meters as I saw an article stating there could be a reduced electricity tariff introduced for use outside peak times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 Smart meters are a con! Don't get them fitted! We got a pair fitted by Scottish Power. We changed energy supplier a few months later and the smart function was lost. The different energy companies use different smart meters. One companies smart meters cannot be read by others. This was not advertised when they were first launched and as a result of many complaints the Scottish Government stopped advertising them on telebox because they do not work. The gas smart meter has a battery in it to power what is essentially a sim card in it so that it can communicate with the original supplier, which will run out eventually and need replaced, increasing the cost. Submit your meter readings monthly to your energy supplier so they don't 'assume' usage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calypso-E34 Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 2 hours ago, Andrew said: Smart meters are a con! Don't get them fitted! 100% agree. Our lot have tried unsuccessfully to bully us into fitting them. Not happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caesar Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 I held off for the same reason but I believe the second generation meters should work with any supplier. This Which article even suggests the first gen meters will eventually work too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 (edited) I have piped gas and hmm, wired electricity 😁 and managed to get a good 2 year deal last November so only paying £135 per month for both. We had a smart meter fitted when originally with British Gas, moved to Bulb energy and back to British Gas. Smartness stopped while at Bulb but back up and running now with British Gas again. I was speaking to my Data Centre provider a couple of weeks ago and they buy electricity 76% on a pre bought lump and 24% variable. The 76% was at around £40 per MWH and the variable shot up to £115. March 2023 they go to pure variable and are having to budget £400 per mWH! 10fold increase and hopefully it doesn’t come to that. Edited August 23, 2022 by Matthew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caesar Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 6 minutes ago, Matthew said: 2 year deal last November Good call Matthew! I had a good fixed rate with Avro. It went under and so did my fixed rate so now with Octopus, which seems a good company and paying a variable tariff very slightly below the cap. I had an uncle once who had a very cheap fixed tariff: he connected to the lamppost outside his house. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 On 23/08/2022 at 17:23, Matthew said: so only paying £135 per month for both. That all?! I suppose if I lived as far south as you do, I’d use less leccie and gas too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Percha Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 @MatthewI am also similar to you £142 a month and that's 3yr fixed with EDF. I had gen1 smart meters they didn't transfer when I changed supplier, now on gen2 and they do. I like them just purely on mindset point of view when consuming a lot is it really needed... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted September 7, 2022 Share Posted September 7, 2022 (edited) On 24/08/2022 at 21:53, Andrew said: That all?! I suppose if I lived as far south as you do, I’d use less leccie and gas too! Yes, slightly warmer down here but I only let the family eat cold food and bathing is rather uncomfortable in cold water. They still seem to love me though, although my food is starting to taste odd, maybe poison?? Edited September 7, 2022 by Matthew 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted September 7, 2022 Share Posted September 7, 2022 12 minutes ago, Matthew said: although my food is starting to taste odd, maybe poison?? Or maybe Covid19? Loosing your taste is a symptom of the dreaded lurgy? 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobA Posted September 7, 2022 Share Posted September 7, 2022 We installed solar panels last year. Too late for the big payback dividends so we end up selling the excess to the leccy company (Octopus) at a quarter of what they sell it to us. But the big benefit is what we save by using as much as we can ourselves, so washing machine, tumble drier, dishwasher, slow cooker etc. all on in the middle of the day has almost halved our leccy bill despite the ‘occasional’ dreich Scots days when little is generated. Apparently the installers are snowed under just now as people latch on. They’re pretty cheap now compared with a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Percha Posted September 10, 2022 Share Posted September 10, 2022 Who did you use out of interest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobA Posted September 20, 2022 Share Posted September 20, 2022 (edited) I’m a Fifer, used a local company - R B Grant - I recommend them. And Octopus have just doubled their export rate to 15p/kW. Every little helps! 😀 Edited September 21, 2022 by BobA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KennyP Posted October 1, 2022 Share Posted October 1, 2022 Hullo Bob, I'm just over the Tay on the correct side (!!) from you. We did a solar system just coming on 2 years ago as part of a house project and wouldn't be without it. Keep getting snotty emails from Octopus as to why we've not used 'enough' electricity despite telling them the situation. I went down the battery storage route initially with 4.8kwh but recently extended that to 11.8 kwh storage rather than send back to supplier. Only time will tell whether it was worth the cost but so far so good! Mrs P has been trained in using all the white goods when its sunny 😏 Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobA Posted October 8, 2022 Share Posted October 8, 2022 (edited) Ah yes I like Dundee, you go through it on the way to so many nice places. 😉 I swithered about storage but I didn’t think the numbers made much sense at the time - but if batteries keep going down and leccy up who knows, the equation has already improved by some 30% or so! TBH we never expected to recover the outlay as we’re ‘getting on a bit’ but the way things are going the payback rate is escalating. Edited October 8, 2022 by BobA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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