[News] Energy bills to top £4200 at the start of next year

[LamieRobertson]

Last week, jolted by energy costs, we replaced a 5 year old tumble dryer (heat pump, A+++, but it had become rubbish at drying thicker items), with another heat pump A+++ model.

Drying time down from 6 hours to 2.

Still hanging washing out where we can, but damp days are now with us.

Oven the oven and integrated fridge-freezer, I think we've done all we can now on elec.

No tumble dryer unfortunately..and as you say it’s getting harder to get the washing dry outside ..small enclosed north facibg back garden .be a point when the sun won’t be high enough to touch it …first mention of having the heating on once a day to help get it dried

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

We have solar panels and so for a few years now have learnt to do high energy tasks during daylight [dishwasher / washing machine / ironing / tumble-dryer / etc] but the one [anytime] device is the kettle.
This winter we plan to boil up a full-ish kettle late afternoon [still daylight] and store in a large thermos flask so the evening coffee will not require a non-solar assisted kettle boil.
This feels like really small / fiddley change but if it saves me 365 kettle boils per year, here are my sums:

1 kettle boil takes 2 minutes and our kettle is 2Kw so 365 boils is ~12KwH per year at 34p [new 2 year cap KwH unit charge] will save me errrm £4
If you have to buy the flask [say £4], payback will start at the beginning of year 2.
Is it worthwhile?

 

[Weststander]

No tumble dryer unfortunately..and as you say it’s getting harder to get the washing dry outside ..small enclosed north facibg back garden .be a point when the sun won’t be high enough to touch it …first mention of having the heating on once a day to help get it dried

Found a top rated appliance through Which? which cost about 40% of that for the Miele/AEG driers. Running cost per annum is something like £50, but I’m doubling that in my thinking, as this hotel for teens churns out laundry.

 

[erkan]

We have solar panels and so for a few years now have learnt to do high energy tasks during daylight [dishwasher / washing machine / ironing / tumble-dryer / etc] but the one [anytime] device is the kettle.
This winter we plan to boil up a full-ish kettle late afternoon [still daylight] and store in a large thermos flask so the evening coffee will not require a non-solar assisted kettle boil.
This feels like really small / fiddley change but if it saves me 365 kettle boils per year, here are my sums:

1 kettle boil takes 2 minutes and our kettle is 2Kw so 365 boils is ~12KwH per year at 34p [new 2 year cap KwH unit charge] will save me errrm £4
If you have to buy the flask [say £4], payback will start at the beginning of year 2.
Is it worthwhile?

Helpful analysis. I fear a lot of people are going to waste a lot of time and angst trying to save themselves only a few quid.

My understanding is that our gas bill (central heating and hot water) is where we should best focus our efforts in order to get close to a 4 figure annual cost difference.

 

[nicko31]

Since we've become more "energy focused", we've been averaging around 6.5 kWh of electricity per day this month.

Flicking back to September 2021 in the Hugo app I can see we were at around 10.5 kWh in September last year.

6.5 * 365 = 2,372 kWh, so our current usage puts us below the average used in the "£2,500/year calc" which is 2,900 kWh.

I still think we might be using more than we could though. When I look at the smart meter monitor thing when I get up around 7am, we're already close to 1kWh most days, which feels high and I still suspect our old fridge freezer as the chief culprit.

6.5kw/h is impressive, can't seem to get much below 8 and that's cooking on the gas. I was a bit disturbed my house averaged 4kw/h even when away on holiday

 

[Uncle C]

Boil the water in a microwave. Just about every therm goes into heating the water and not the kettle itself and the surrounding air.

 

[beorhthelm]

We have solar panels and so for a few years now have learnt to do high energy tasks during daylight [dishwasher / washing machine / ironing / tumble-dryer / etc] but the one [anytime] device is the kettle.
This winter we plan to boil up a full-ish kettle late afternoon [still daylight] and store in a large thermos flask so the evening coffee will not require a non-solar assisted kettle boil.
This feels like really small / fiddley change but if it saves me 365 kettle boils per year, here are my sums:

1 kettle boil takes 2 minutes and our kettle is 2Kw so 365 boils is ~12KwH per year at 34p [new 2 year cap KwH unit charge] will save me errrm £4
If you have to buy the flask [say £4], payback will start at the beginning of year 2.
Is it worthwhile?

doesnt sound like it, unless you like warm coffee. theres a point where you are saving for the sake of it and ignoring the utility gained. you're offsetting a whole load of electricity consumption with solar, so view the pennies for an evening brew as been saved already.

 

[schmunk]

1 kettle boil takes 2 minutes and our kettle is 2Kw so 365 boils is ~12KwH per year at 34p [new 2 year cap KwH unit charge] will save me errrm £4
If you have to buy the flask [say £4], payback will start at the beginning of year 2.
Is it worthwhile?

Given the FAFF, I think you know the answer to that.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Found a top rated appliance through Which? which cost about 40% of that for the Miele/AEG driers. Running cost per annum is something like £50, but I’m doubling that in my thinking, as this hotel for teens churns out laundry.

I have one ‘child’ that hasn’t fledged and unfortunately the laundry churning doesn’t stop

Ps no space in kitchen

 

[schmunk]

I have one ‘child’ that hasn’t fledged and unfortunately the laundry churning doesn’t stop

Ps no space in kitchen

We have a heat pump tumble dryer - A++ rated - 1kW and a load takes 1-2 hours - under our stairs. The only faff is emptying the tank and fluff container every couple of loads, but that's hardly a problem.*



*oh, and I had to cut off some of the door frame to get it in there, but YMMV...

 

[CHAPPERS]

Dehumidifiers are worth looking into for drying clothes.

 

[beorhthelm]

announced surprisingly broad fixed energy price for business.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

This isn't going to help. Three out of four of the Nordstream pipelines are leaking, with sabotage suspected.


https://www.businessinsider.com/vid...tural-gas-geysers-baltic-sea-2022-9?r=US&IR=T

 

[carlzeiss]

Dehumidifiers are worth looking into for drying clothes.

We have four running all day in the Winter , powered by Solar they also warm the air and save on gas heating

 

[Weststander]

This isn't going to help. Three out of four of the Nordstream pipelines are leaking, with sabotage suspected.


https://www.businessinsider.com/vid...tural-gas-geysers-baltic-sea-2022-9?r=US&IR=T

Thankfully the kWh price cap is already set in stone until October 2024.

Regarding supply, before Putin’s bloodlust, the UK only imported 4% of its gas from Russia.

 

[pb21]

Saw an article the other day about LNG vessels queuing up to offload LNG supplies.

The ships full of gas waiting off Europe’s coast

In the middle of an energy crisis, giant ships full of liquefied natural gas are waiting off Europe's coast.

www.bbc.co.uk

Also see that the price of gas is back to 2021 levels, albeit well above 2020 levels.

Past Year

Past Two Years

Wonder how this will affect future prices in 6-months when the current price cap expires, I guess a lot depends on how cold it is this winter...

 

[Da Man Clay]

Thankfully the kWh price cap is already set in stone until October 2024.

Edit - ignore. Hadn’t picked up the date.

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Thought that was only the case until
April now?

You are talking to a month old post

 

[LamieRobertson]

edited

 

[Da Man Clay]

You are talking to a month old post

Haha yes so I am. Apologies. NSC took me to that as the newest post and hadn’t picked up the age.