General Chat

Mary, I think you have to have solar panels for a long time before they pay off.

We havent recieved ours yet !! I switched but im dreading the worst !! It cant be right that we are both working full time and worrying how we are going to pay the gas bill !!! I live in Wales and for the past 3 months the temperature was below freezing but I suspect it is the same for all of us. What a country we live in when we are worried about keeping warm ,fuel is sky high and the Mp.s worrying about their expenses and bankers about their bonuses . Im beinging THINK WE ARE ALL FOOLS !

Hi everyone to answer my replies - Yes we switched using u switch about a year ago might be worth using their site to compare again. I always put the dishwasher on and washer on with a load before going to bed but normally I have at least 2 if not 3 loads a day to wash thats without extras bedding/curtains/coats/pe kits etc . Summer is better as I line dry everything so the tumble dryers hardly used then. I dont do direct debits instead just put money into another account to pay bills when they come in. Thinking of looking into solar panels to bring bills down a bit, as for insulation our house was built before 1920 and although we have loft insulation, we were told the wasnt the cavity in the wall to put insulation in. I also think maybes our flooring has a big part to play in our heating bill being so high as our house has wooden floors apart from the kitchen and utility and they have a tiled floor which is even colder.

Pat,

The same principle applies with your bolier. Even if well insulated it's losing energy so turning it off at night will save money.

There are tankless heaters that provide hot water only when you need it, eliminating the standby energy losses of a storage water heater.

Rose

Oh right, yes in a previous house we had night storage heaters. May look into that then. Thanks.

Ann when we moved in here the people before us had those storage heaters (night storage) and hence the cheaper tariff at night (we got rid of the night heaters) but still kept the cheaper night tarriff.

I think if you contact your elec supplier you can ask about different tariffs.

As said, i just have timers plugged into my machines and they come on when we're asleep and hence, with the lower electicity rate. It does make a difference and it all helps:)

I am glad somebody has queried the leaving on all day theory, I couldn't think we had got it wrong. We have our heating and hot water on from 7am until 0930 then from 4pm until 10.30. I have to say in the very cold weather we do sometimes over ride it and switch it on, being retired we are home more and sitting around. But the thermostat is turned down to 18/19 unless very cold. Never thought of turning the freezer off for a couple of hours over night. Ours is an upright, I think I would be concerned in case something went wrong and it didn't switch back on.
Did you have to apply for the cheaper tariff for the washing machine or is that automatic Whirley? I am sure I should know the answer to that question but I don't.

The best thing we did was to have cavity wall insulation our bills certainly went down after that.

I agree with what you have said there Rose too, We were told by a heating specialist you should only have your heating on when you actually need it and leaving it on all day with the rads turned down etc, isn't cost effective etc.

Ann, I get cheaper electricity after midnight (i think it is) so my washing machine, dishwasher comes on then via timers that I have in place. I also have a big chest freezer and that goes off for a couple of hours too after midnight. It all makes a difference when you use the cheaper tarriff.

Tumble driers and washing machines do take a lot of electricity, but I can understand your problem with four children. Would you be better paying your bills monthly on standing order, a big bill wouldn't suddenly hit you then. Is it still possible to run washing machines on a cheaper tariff at night time? If so you could do a wash on a timer. Are you with the cheapest providers? Have you done a check on line? It is easy enough to change.

Thought mine were high at £176 gas and £174 electricity..,

Rose what about turning the water of at night ! would that be cheaper my oh always did but I was told it costs more for the boiler to heat water when turned on...

blimey mines is over 200 and im a southener lol .. tis warmer here that up t there lol x

Hi, No it wasnt estimated it was a reading. I cook with a gas hob and elec cooker. I do use my tumble dryer a lot as we have 4 children so the washer is never off either. We live 5 minutes from the beach so it is cold here but even still didnt expect the bills to be this high. Our bills in summer are about £100-£150 each . Roll on summer, saying that maybes not, Im just getting over paying the winter utility bills without the summer ones arriving too!

The myth that it takes more energy to heat up a cold house than to keep a warm house warm is not correct.

Turning the heating off or right down at night or when you're not around WILL save money.

Heat loss is a function of temperature difference. The warmer the inside of the house, the faster heat is lost to the outside.

If you heat your home all night, some of that heat is lost through the walls to the outside, so your heater has to keep working to keep the temperature up. So overnight your heater is heating your home over and over and over again. If you turn it on in the morning then it's heating it only once. It might seem like it has to work really hard, but it's less than if it were running all night.

Think of your house as an oven. You wouldn't leave it on all day just because you intend to bake a cake for a few hours.

Rose

omg mary that is high, but electric fires and electric heaters are expensive to run,

i havent had my electric bill, im dreading it lol, xxx

Gosh Mary that is high, haven't had an adjustment to our Standing order yet but working yours out it is £255 a month and ours with N Power is £69 a month. Was it an estimated bill or a true reading? If estimated I would check it. What do you cook with?

Hi everyone, Well if it make anyone feel better we just got our British Gas bill last week and it was £336.52.(Ouch!!!) I few days after getting over the shock of that bill we got our Electric bill which was, wait for it £431.24. These are for 3 months usage. I know we have a electric fireplace in our living room and I did buy a blow air heater for in the kitchen during all the snow but even still?? My excuse was that the tiled kitchen floor was too cold to walk on but it would of been far cheaper to of worn slippers:) Hope its a warm summer dont want to see any more utility bills like that for a while:(

I don,t think Whirley has much of a problem, she gets warm by wearing her" Red Hot, Red Wellies".**M**.:o)>>.pmsl.

omg whirley so im not the only one payign lots for heating lol,

im gon ado tht merlin im gona turn all me radiators down an only have it on when i HVE to lol xxx

It6 helps if you have thermostats on each radiator and keep it low in the rooms you dont use all the time about 18, as Teresa says it does,nt take so much to get up to the temperature you need when kept at a constant heat.**M**. we have 11 rads. and its a big house with high ceilings.