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Energy prices - gone nuts.

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The price cap rates changes slightly depending on where you are in the country so probably wont exactly match mine but will be in the same ball park,
 
Fixing for me is extra 1k for me so will just ride the variable rate, also looking at solar so not to bothered about the electric rate.
 
I thought Octopus were supposed to be £50 under the price cap, the rate and standing charge for your electric are higher than what I'm paying at EonNext.
I think it only applied for people on Octupus' "Flexible' tarif. I dont have a bill handy to check, but the email said they're going to do it by reducing the standing charge.
 
Best time to hike up the price just before winter :)
 
Can anyone tell me of this is a smart meter.

It’s on a new build house I’ve just purchased as a holiday let but we have nothing in the house that displays anything.

I’m guessing it is as it has a LAN light that flashes on the small box to the right.
 

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Can anyone tell me of this is a smart meter.

It’s on a new build house I’ve just purchased as a holiday let but we have nothing in the house that displays anything.

I’m guessing it is as it has a LAN light that flashes on the small box to the right.

Looks pretty similar to mine so I would say it is
20220408_073029.jpg
 
We had that type of smart meter fitted by British Gas. If your not with BG then they are unlikely to be compatible with any other supplier.
If you want smart meters then they will need to be replaced with a more modern compatible type.
 
We had that type of smart meter fitted by British Gas. If your not with BG then they are unlikely to be compatible with any other supplier.
If you want smart meters then they will need to be replaced with a more modern compatible type.
Yes apparently I’m with British Gas but had no post yet with any details on.

So do they not give you the smart display to put in your house?
 
Yes apparently I’m with British Gas but had no post yet with any details on.

So do they not give you the smart display to put in your house?
When the meters were originally fitted you got a remote display to show you what you were using. It was a nifty colour display - I only recently threw it away. We now have up to date smart meters but my monitor doesn’t show any details regarding the gas - told my supplier Shell Energy about it numerous times but they are effin useless!
 
When the meters were originally fitted you got a remote display to show you what you were using. It was a nifty colour display - I only recently threw it away. We now have up to date smart meters but my monitor doesn’t show any details regarding the gas - told my supplier Shell Energy about it numerous times but they are effin useless!
Yeah it’s a new build but didn’t get anything will ask the developers. I don’t live in it so not as bothered but still responsible for paying the bills so would like to have a good idea of cost.
 
When I moved in nearly two years ago I got used to £82 dual fuel.

Up to £240 before Christmas last year.
Now its £355

Usually when I budget each month I have a few hundred spare for savings but not anymore 😒
Might have to start doing overtime at work just to have the ability to do things!
 
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its definitely going to get worse. These companies work by buying futures and the futures market is dead nobody is risking selling and when it does its in limited amounts. The futures that have sold are all well above todays current rate.

Neil.
 
When I moved in nearly two years ago I got used to £82 dual fuel.

Up to £240 before Christmas last year.
Now its £355

Usually when I budget each month I have a few hundred spare for savings but not anymore 😒
Might have to start doing overtime at work just to have the ability to do things!

We were on £161 dual fuel a couple of years ago (1940's built semi with good loft insulation etc..), then £186 up until November 2021, then up to £271, and as of this month up to £388 per month. It's having a significant impact on future planning, as I was hoping to be able manage fairly comfortably on a pension as of next summer, but the sums are not looking quite so good now - especially with further price rises in the offing.

The price rises are despite already managing to reduce our gas usage fairly significantly by dropping central heating temp at the boiler by 5 degrees, and hot water temp also by a few degrees. We only heat the rooms we are using as have TRVs on all radiators. The bars on the graph are this year, the lines last year:

Screen Shot 2022-04-08 at 14.26.21.png

Unfortunately, in terms of cost, the gas is around 35% of total, so in an effort to reduce the electricity, I have gone round turning off at the plug anything electrical that may normally be on standby, and am now monitoring for a few days at a time what is being used by various items in the house with a plug-in meter like this one. I'll see at the end of April what (if any) impact that is having on electricity usage...

Screen Shot 2022-04-08 at 14.40.29.png

A few years ago I already replaced all the lights with LEDs, and stuff like the pinball machines are only switched on when I'm actually using them, so not sure what further improvements will be possible, short of actually changing some kit for more modern stuff, which in itself will be costly not to mention the environmental impact of creating more electronic "waste".

About the only inefficient items really are stuff like hifi kit (2 x 35 year old Sugden power amps I got when at college), and maybe my main computer (2009 Mac Pro), but these are still performing admirably for my needs, and in any case are only switched on when actually in use.

May need to look at rigging a generator up to the cross trainer and bicycle turbo trainer, and of course then actually use them a lot more!! 🤣
 
if you've got old pins with incandescent bulbs turn them off, those things drink power.
 
if you've got old pins with incandescent bulbs turn them off, those things drink power.
I don't - all LED, but good advice for those with incandescent bulbs.

God knows what the electricity consumption must be at Pinball Republic! 😲
 
I don't - all LED, but good advice for those with incandescent bulbs.

God knows what the electricity consumption must be at Pinball Republic! 😲

Well based upon Star Trek TNGs going on fire quite high :D just kidding.

We are lucky in that its included as a flat fee!

Neil.
 
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I've got two and a half on incandescent still.
But they're the newest ones to the house so I don't think they've had any impact on the latest readings.

I saw someone did a test on YouTube and it halved the consumption with LEDs. I thought it was a lot more than that.

Tempted to get one of those plugs @C&C , can you check them after only a few hours or is there a more scientific way to use them?

Now @Lecari has officially moved in, she might take the edge off but I'd have hoped the money saved would go towards good things like pinball events and getting the house done not more bills.

Can only hope I can bring it down a bit or this madness won't last forever?
 
I nearly lost power to my gamesroom and outbuilding, planting some leylandii’s around the perimeter and forgot about a 100amp cable I laid 22 years ago.
Made of good stuff because I thought it was a rock and I was jumping on the SS spade with nearly 18 stone of me, thanks Southern Electric great cable😂
 

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Tempted to get one of those plugs @C&C , can you check them after only a few hours or is there a more scientific way to use them?
They give both a readout of the consumption (in amps and watts) for an instant reading, and also a cumulative usage count if you want to monitor usage over a period of time. The cumulative usage is useful for monitoring stuff that doesn't have a constant draw - for example a fridge or freezer, which turn on and off periodically.
 
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They give both a readout of the consumption (in amps and watts) for an instant reading, and also a cumulative usage count if you want to monitor usage over a period of time. The cumulative usage is useful for monitoring stuff that doesn't have a constant draw - for example a fridge or freezer, which turn on and off periodically.

I'm not sure how it'll work for me as my sockets are hidden behind the machines. I suppose I could use an extension just to try it.
 
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