I'm not in the UK but energy prices have done exactly the same here, except here there is no price cap, no protection whatsoever. two years ago we were paying about 31p per kwh, now our standard rate is 48p per kwh but between 5pm and 8pm it's £1.82 per kWh.
Which means cooking dinner using the oven and a single hob costs over £5 (my pay is £9.20 after taxes)
What this means is our freezer and fridge freezer now has a timer that switches off between those hours and we've dragged in our old cooker with a gas hob from the barn. any meals cooked between 5 and 8pm which lets face it is all of them are now cooked on bottled gas, which hasn't really gone up and doesn't care what time of day it is used.
I think your post has gone slightly wonky, philippa - it looks like you're directing it to hosta, and I don't think that was what you meant
I don't think anyone knows at the moment where energy prices are going. There's no expectation they'll come down quickly, they may stop going up as quickly. But the things driving them are so variable, anything might happen. All you can do is hunker down, reduce your use as much as you sensibly can and ask for help if you need it - the energy companies are obliged to help you if you are genuinely struggling. And insulate and especially draught proof, all that you possibly can
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I think your post has gone slightly wonky, philippa - it looks like you're directing it to hosta, and I don't think that was what you meant
Thanks @raisingirl - for some reason the first line of my post in which I agreed with @hostafan1 went missing. Hopefully Hosta will know what I meant to say. Let's hope this one works ! I either need new fingers or a new Lap top - either of which will be a bit expensive.
We don't have central heating so we don't have the bills our neighbours do. Of course it's a worry, though. There's no point filling the freezer before meat prices rocket, either, as if there are blackouts we'll lose it.
They’ve just put our electric up from £33.00 to £48. Per month. We heat our bungalow with oil. We cook on bottle gas which adds another £100. Per year. I'm satisfied with that at the moment.
We live very frugally here. Our shopping bill is under £50.00 per week that includes everything, cat food and under sink.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I paid £460 for a tank of heating oil in Nov last year, in March it was £970. Unlike "mains" it has to be paid upfront. I've no idea what it'll be when I next need to fill up. There are some dead Ash trees which will be going into the woodburner this winter. I might take to sleeping in the sitting room
October seems to be crunch time. I'm keeping close tabs on how much gas I use. The lec usage doesn't change much through the year.
I can well imagine a lot of people trying to heat their homes with wood this winter, which doesn't bode well - I can foresee stories of chimney fires and attempts at warming gone horribly wrong. I remember moving in to my current home and wanting to make a fire in the hearth, not realising there was a plastic baulk in the chimney.
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I don't think anyone knows at the moment where energy prices are going. There's no expectation they'll come down quickly, they may stop going up as quickly. But the things driving them are so variable, anything might happen. All you can do is hunker down, reduce your use as much as you sensibly can and ask for help if you need it - the energy companies are obliged to help you if you are genuinely struggling. And insulate and especially draught proof, all that you possibly can
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I either need new fingers or a new Lap top - either of which will be a bit expensive.
We cook on bottle gas which adds another £100. Per year.
I'm satisfied with that at the moment.
There are some dead Ash trees which will be going into the woodburner this winter. I might take to sleeping in the sitting room