We still pay the same £67 a month for gas/electricity. We checked what we had used on the last day in March, and it turned out that we had used only half the gas. Electricity was also a bit less. What we did was we had in average 16 to 17 C, and I only turned it on in the morning/evening for an hour. We had a warm winter here in the South West that helped. Interestingly, we saved 50% only with lowering between 2 and 3 degrees (but it was too cold for me). We also emptied the freezer gradually. We have now only the essentials in the freezer. The fridge/freezer normally takes about 25% of our bill.
The only problem with that "save the money" is that the energy companies will never go down again with the price. The less we use, the more expensive it gets. At the end, even we use nothing, we still have to give them our income. I'm speaking out of experience .... the Germans are the worst ones... they take it from the deaths...
In the two months since the price cap increase I've accrued £165 in credit on my account. I asked the provider to reduce my direct debit amount and give me a partial refund but they've refused to review my account for at least another two months and they say I'm under the threshold for a refund. They also won't use my credit to pay next month's bill. I suspect this doesn't bode well for the financial health of the company. I did a comparison check and it came up with one of their fixed rates which is £200 more a month with a £600 exit fee. The next cheapest deal was OVO Energy which was "only" an extra £60 a month.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
The new government aid package sounds better. Twice as much money and no need to pay it back. I still don't understand how it works though. We pay high prices now and the energy companies make record profits off it. The government then taxes those excess profits (once the energy companies have had a chance to reduce their visible profits by any means possible) and then give us the money back for us to give to the energy companies again. And they give the money to everyone including people who are getting big bonuses and dividends from the energy companies because of the enormous profits they're making.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Well it was one thing to say that cutting energy company profits might mean less investment in working towards net zero and energy independance but now they're saying they might actually tax Bezos so he can't go on a jolly to space as often. When will the madness end?
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
The companies that are doing the leg work for net zero are the District Network Operators and the National Grid. They're the ones doing the work to upgrade the system to take more renewables, store the energy and supply EVs and heat pumps. That's where reducing investment might have consequences. Shell and BP are spending their research budget trying to find something they can spin as 'green' to sell to us, like hydrogen or biofuels.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I presume we're all paying roughly the same per unit/daily charge given the cap. My provider (Shell - who comically provide only 'green' electricity) quoted:
'...
Your electricity rates are changing from 29.484p to 35.314p per kWh and your standing charge per day is changing from 41.65p to 42.67p.
Your gas rates are changing from 7.319p to 10.295p per kWh and your standing charge per day is changing from 27.22p to 28.48p
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We checked what we had used on the last day in March, and it turned out that we had used only half the gas. Electricity was also a bit less.
What we did was we had in average 16 to 17 C, and I only turned it on in the morning/evening for an hour. We had a warm winter here in the South West that helped.
Interestingly, we saved 50% only with lowering between 2 and 3 degrees (but it was too cold for me).
We also emptied the freezer gradually. We have now only the essentials in the freezer.
The fridge/freezer normally takes about 25% of our bill.
The only problem with that "save the money" is that the energy companies will never go down again with the price. The less we use, the more expensive it gets. At the end, even we use nothing, we still have to give them our income. I'm speaking out of experience .... the Germans are the worst ones... they take it from the deaths...
I ♥ my garden.
Thought not
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”