Heating the house worries

MrManor · 10-02-2021, 02:00 PM

It’s chilly the last few days so I’ve put the heating on, family of 5 including 2 young children, it’s a no brainer, keep everyone comfortable.

Mate of mine who isn’t exactly on the breadline is saying he’s not putting it on at all due to price hikes, I would say he’s taking the piss somewhat but he really is tight as cramp over this.

My gas and leccy are £175 a month, nobody at home during the day, realistically how much can it go up by before you really notice?

Armaan · 10-02-2021, 02:15 PM

My bills have gone up too, having recently come out of a fixed tariff, gas unit price increased 2.5 fold, which is madness but fortunately we are ok financially.

My advice would be to get a few oil filled heaters that run on electricity and dot them around the house to maintain heat levels - on electricity rather than gas, so that it works out cheaper.

Just bought one myself from Delonghi, but that's more of a premium brand.

Armaan

Ennoch · 10-02-2021, 02:22 PM

Well my single occupancy bills were about £60-70 a month before working from home and are now about £80 before these hikes. My dad goes full geek a lot of the time so has a full spreadsheet of all his unit usage going back about twenty years and has worked out the 'leccy hike will add between £1000 and £1200 to their annual bill. They're retired and comfortable but even then, they're still going to notice it. I'll notice it to a degree but not enough to change my habits as I already have the house at about 18c anyway, and the windows are regularly open throughout the winter. I can imagine how after 18 months of 80% wages and no tips etc a lot of people will be struggling if they're already hitting the buffers of their finances, particularly if they have dependants. Fortunately I'm in a position where I don't have massive monthly outgoings and no dependants so can absorb it without any real pain as although I am definitely not in the top earners on this forum, I don't do badly.

JR1664 · 10-02-2021, 02:26 PM

Stick another layer on

The better half is starting to make 'representations' but it's a bit early no ? If she can last until Thursday all good as we're off to the Caribbean for a few weeks.

We're paying £130 for gas and electric, thats for a mid 90's 5 bed with an annexe. Naturally I expect that to go up at least £20 a month once octupus start insisting on more meter readings . No kiddies mind, they've all flown the nest which is a result as the daughters were sods for ramming the heating up, must have learnt it from their mum.

isleaiw1 · 10-02-2021, 02:54 PM

Discussions already started in ours about a reasonable temp, I'm an 18 to 19 sort, daughter wants 22 "for the kids"...

Its only money. Cant be arsed worrying about it. Will do that when I have to.....

225 · 10-02-2021, 03:23 PM

Let's be honest I doubt many on here would notice an extra 50 quid a month on heating baring in mind the other threads around car spec, retirement pots etc!

Our energy supplier has just gone pop so waiting to see who we are moved to and the inevitable rise.

We have started being stricter with the kids and switching stuff off but that's not a bad habit anyway.

MrManor · 10-02-2021, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Discussions already started in ours about a reasonable temp, I'm an 18 to 19 sort, daughter wants 22 "for the kids"...

Its only money. Cant be arsed worrying about it. Will do that when I have to.....

You may well have spoilt them

NanasBack · 10-02-2021, 03:53 PM

It's very unlikely you are paying less for electricity energy than gas.

So don't use electric oil heaters.

Check your unit rate for each.

Our fixed rate is due to end in November.
Pence per unit rates at the moment are:-
Gas 2.82
Elec 16.08

So our electricity is 5.5 times more expensive to use than gas.

Gas rates will need to increase by more than 5.5 times for it to be more beneficial to use electric.

I bloody hope they don't rise by that much!

Ennoch · 10-02-2021, 03:56 PM

To add to this, there are now shortages of all heat logs/hardwood logs etc for wood burners up here in the north as people have made the jump to using more logs for heating. You change one thing and from that a multitude of shit storms occur... Probably not a likely issue to have in the cities, but I can imagine other rural areas will be the same.

HighlandPete · 10-02-2021, 04:01 PM

Cost what it does up here, with an all electric (THTC) home. No mains gas, so all other options all have a premium as well. Do have propane cylinders for the hob.

I'm amazed how cheap some of you guys run decent sized homes. I was paying £70 a month 25 years ago. My next period is £305 per month for electric.

As to temperatures...my wife feels the cold since her cancer treatment.

isleaiw1 · 10-02-2021, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrManor

You may well have spoilt them

Probably. My wife's illness meant thin blood so she felt the cold, house was always too hot for me but its what the kids are used to.....

Armaan · 10-02-2021, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NanasBack

It's very unlikely you are paying less for electricity energy than gas.

So don't use electric oil heaters.

Check your unit rate for each.

Our fixed rate is due to end in November.
Pence per unit rates at the moment are:-
Gas 2.82
Elec 16.08

So our electricity is 5.5 times more expensive to use than gas.

Gas rates will need to increase by more than 5.5 times for it to be more beneficial to use electric.

I bloody hope they don't rise by that much!

Depends on your usage. Our gas consumption is 5x our electricity use, so cost wise probably on par given they are now fixed at 5.5p and 25p odd.

Generally I think households use more gas than electricity and I think it's far more energy efficient to have a oil filled heater on through the night to maintain heat upstairs, rather than kicking on a full gas boiler system in rooms we aren't using.

Who knows.

Armaan

Tengocity · 10-02-2021, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 225

Let's be honest I doubt many on here would notice an extra 50 quid a month on heating baring in mind the other threads around car spec, retirement pots etc!

Our energy supplier has just gone pop so waiting to see who we are moved to and the inevitable rise.

We have started being stricter with the kids and switching stuff off but that's not a bad habit anyway.

Couldn't agree more. Energy costs are a small proportion of monthly costs for most households who are buying newish cars. And if they aren't then they shouldn't be buying newish cars.
Not putting on the heating because I was skint isn't something I've done since I was a student!

isleaiw1 · 10-02-2021, 05:18 PM

If you are worrying about heating bills, god knows how you will go on when you come out of your current fixed rate period and see the increase in your mortgage...

Its life, everything has been cheaper than expected for at least 2 years.... time to start repaying!

Pentland · 10-02-2021, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Armaan

Depends on your usage. Our gas consumption is 5x our electricity use, so cost wise probably on par given they are now fixed at 5.5p and 25p odd.

Generally I think households use more gas than electricity and I think it's far more energy efficient to have a oil filled heater on through the night to maintain heat upstairs, rather than kicking on a full gas boiler system in rooms we aren't using.

Who knows.

Armaan

You might find this informative: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ut...-saving-myths/

It’s more efficient to heat using gas than electricity and there is nothing stopping you only heating the rooms you need to. Just adjust the radiator valves.

For info, my records show I use 3 times the amount of gas than sparks each year and my gas is 1/5th my electricity cost per Kw. Gas runs the hob, heating and water. No way I’d have the immersion heating the water similarly I wouldn’t heat my house with sparks either.

Never really understood the need to heat a home when you’re asleep but ETTO.

gangzoom · 10-03-2021, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ennoch

To add to this, there are now shortages of all heat logs/hardwood logs etc for wood burners up here in the north as people have made the jump to using more logs for heating. You change one thing and from that a multitude of shit storms occur... Probably not a likely issue to have in the cities, but I can imagine other rural areas will be the same.

Using logs for heating is probably the most expensive and inefficient way to heat a room if you already have gas heating.

Gas heating is by far the most efficient and cheapest way to heat a traditional house. Am glad not to have an air source heat pump, even E7 electricity rate is now 14p per kWh, the cost of running a heat pump 24/7 is going to be horrific this winter.

Am just thankful we have the home battery + solar PV, the 'cheap' EV charging tariffs are still around at 5p per kWh for 4 hrs than 20p+ per kWh at other times. I can put 12kWh easily into the home battery over 4hrs, add in solar and most days I should be able to run the house on cheap rates exclusivity.

However 4hrs isn't enough to charge up the EV cheap......but with 'free for life' Supercharging on the car I might actually start using the Supercharger down the road to top up the battery to 80% weekly and than charge at home mid week. Not sure yet saving £20/week is worth the time/effort, Teams meeting from in the car

.

AndyCKent · 10-03-2021, 01:45 AM

Ours has come on in the mornings over the past few days. Think it’s set on 21 degrees in the mornings and evenings so if it drops below that, it kicks in. That’s when I know the outside temp is getting below 10 degrees as that’s when our heating starts to kick in.

We have those digital thermostats, one upstairs and one down.

Gas/Electric is about £80pm at the moment (new build) so expecting that to go up by about 50% come January when it renews.

Wolverine · 10-03-2021, 02:07 AM

We're one of the ones who's supplier has gone bust. We are being moved to British Gas on their standard variable rates (which are roughly 30-60% more than what we were paying).

I've already had enquiries from the ladies in the house to show them how to use the heating (not falling for that one again as they regularly put the thermostat up to 30 in the last house). I've told them to layer up as I'm not putting the heating on until the clocks go back (unless it's really dire before then). We'll be off to Tenerife soon and back at the end of the month so that should do us until the clocks change.

Even so, I've warned them that there will likely be some tough choices. We may even need to turn the hot tub down

Rbrown · 10-03-2021, 02:57 AM

Fuel poverty is a real issue - especially in the sector I work in (ie social housing).

The reality is that some people just cannot afford to have heating on - it may be a decision to eat or get heat. And that heating may be an elderly person have "one bar" of a heater on for an hour.

Can only hope things get better for everyone.

Wolverine · 10-03-2021, 03:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rbrown

Fuel poverty is a real issue - especially in the sector I work in (ie social housing).

The reality is that some people just cannot afford to have heating on - it may be a decision to eat or get heat. And that heating may be an elderly person have "one bar" of a heater on for an hour.

Can only hope things get better for everyone.

Whilst I have been somewhat flippant with my contribution to this thread, my other half has been told to expect to be visiting families who have to choose between heating and eating as part of her job. It isn't an enviable thing to have to do.

EvilDrPorkChop · 10-03-2021, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

If you are worrying about heating bills, god knows how you will go on when you come out of your current fixed rate period and see the increase in your mortgage...

Its life, everything has been cheaper than expected for at least 2 years.... time to start repaying!

And everyone reckoned interest rates wouldn't go up massively

Think we might be in for a shock.

Gas is far the cheapest way to heat your home, a modern condensing boiler is a round 89/90% efficient throw in the cost of gas compared to electric.

The most best money spent is insulating your home, drafts are the worst for causing a chill or cooler temperature. And for the £100 or so for extra loft insulation it's the best value for money in what you'll save in heat.

Consett Mag · 10-03-2021, 04:42 AM

We pay just £90 a month for gas and leccy - but soon to go up - for our detached house, and already mitigate the use of gas a little bit by using our solar pv to heat the water in the cylinder with a smart switch that detects when we're exporting electricity. We've had three months of virtually no gas use. October signals an end to that happy time!

I replaced our open fronted and noisy /inefficient gas fire with a glass fronted 5KW jobby that's super brilliant and silent.

We had our wool cavity wall insulation replaced FREE a few weeks ago for better stuff - from a government plan if someone in the house earns less than £26k. Can be your 16 year old child!

Today I'm going to increase the lagging in the loft - I boarded some of it years ago - and compressed the 6" lagging - so I'm hopefully going to fix this in the next couple of days. Our bills won't go down, but hopefully will only suffer a mild increase.

10-02-2021, 02:00 PM	#1
MrManor Captain 544 Rep 619 Posts Drives: Fiat Stilo estate mapped Join Date: Aug 2021 Location: North West UK iTrader: (0)	Heating the house worries It’s chilly the last few days so I’ve put the heating on, family of 5 including 2 young children, it’s a no brainer, keep everyone comfortable. Mate of mine who isn’t exactly on the breadline is saying he’s not putting it on at all due to price hikes, I would say he’s taking the piss somewhat but he really is tight as cramp over this. My gas and leccy are £175 a month, nobody at home during the day, realistically how much can it go up by before you really notice?
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10-02-2021, 02:15 PM	#2
Armaan Major 715 Rep 1,162 Posts Drives: F30 320i Sport Remapped Join Date: Feb 2020 Location: Birmingham iTrader: (0)	My bills have gone up too, having recently come out of a fixed tariff, gas unit price increased 2.5 fold, which is madness but fortunately we are ok financially. My advice would be to get a few oil filled heaters that run on electricity and dot them around the house to maintain heat levels - on electricity rather than gas, so that it works out cheaper. Just bought one myself from Delonghi, but that's more of a premium brand. Armaan
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10-02-2021, 02:22 PM	#3
Ennoch Colonel 2263 Rep 2,055 Posts Drives: F31 335D XDrive Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: Scotland iTrader: (0)	Well my single occupancy bills were about £60-70 a month before working from home and are now about £80 before these hikes. My dad goes full geek a lot of the time so has a full spreadsheet of all his unit usage going back about twenty years and has worked out the 'leccy hike will add between £1000 and £1200 to their annual bill. They're retired and comfortable but even then, they're still going to notice it. I'll notice it to a degree but not enough to change my habits as I already have the house at about 18c anyway, and the windows are regularly open throughout the winter. I can imagine how after 18 months of 80% wages and no tips etc a lot of people will be struggling if they're already hitting the buffers of their finances, particularly if they have dependants. Fortunately I'm in a position where I don't have massive monthly outgoings and no dependants so can absorb it without any real pain as although I am definitely not in the top earners on this forum, I don't do badly.
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10-02-2021, 02:26 PM	#4
JR1664 Major 1147 Rep 1,264 Posts Drives: F30 340i Join Date: Oct 2019 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Stick another layer on The better half is starting to make 'representations' but it's a bit early no ? If she can last until Thursday all good as we're off to the Caribbean for a few weeks. We're paying £130 for gas and electric, thats for a mid 90's 5 bed with an annexe. Naturally I expect that to go up at least £20 a month once octupus start insisting on more meter readings . No kiddies mind, they've all flown the nest which is a result as the daughters were sods for ramming the heating up, must have learnt it from their mum.
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10-02-2021, 02:54 PM	#5
isleaiw1 Lieutenant General 8852 Rep 12,303 Posts Drives: iPace / Mini Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Discussions already started in ours about a reasonable temp, I'm an 18 to 19 sort, daughter wants 22 "for the kids"... Its only money. Cant be arsed worrying about it. Will do that when I have to.....
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10-02-2021, 03:23 PM	#6
225 Brigadier General 2290 Rep 4,945 Posts Drives: 340i Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Uk iTrader: (0)	Let's be honest I doubt many on here would notice an extra 50 quid a month on heating baring in mind the other threads around car spec, retirement pots etc! Our energy supplier has just gone pop so waiting to see who we are moved to and the inevitable rise. We have started being stricter with the kids and switching stuff off but that's not a bad habit anyway.
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10-02-2021, 03:53 PM	#8
NanasBack Lieutenant 200 Rep 543 Posts Drives: EB 335 oil burner Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: Staffs, UK iTrader: (0)	It's very unlikely you are paying less for electricity energy than gas. So don't use electric oil heaters. Check your unit rate for each. Our fixed rate is due to end in November. Pence per unit rates at the moment are:- Gas 2.82 Elec 16.08 So our electricity is 5.5 times more expensive to use than gas. Gas rates will need to increase by more than 5.5 times for it to be more beneficial to use electric. I bloody hope they don't rise by that much! __________________ 335d xDrive
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10-02-2021, 03:56 PM	#9
Ennoch Colonel 2263 Rep 2,055 Posts Drives: F31 335D XDrive Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: Scotland iTrader: (0)	To add to this, there are now shortages of all heat logs/hardwood logs etc for wood burners up here in the north as people have made the jump to using more logs for heating. You change one thing and from that a multitude of shit storms occur... Probably not a likely issue to have in the cities, but I can imagine other rural areas will be the same.
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10-02-2021, 04:01 PM	#10
HighlandPete Lieutenant General 6663 Rep 15,858 Posts Drives: BMW F11 535i Touring Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Scotland, Highland Region iTrader: (0)	Cost what it does up here, with an all electric (THTC) home. No mains gas, so all other options all have a premium as well. Do have propane cylinders for the hob. I'm amazed how cheap some of you guys run decent sized homes. I was paying £70 a month 25 years ago. My next period is £305 per month for electric. As to temperatures...my wife feels the cold since her cancer treatment.
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10-02-2021, 05:18 PM	#14
isleaiw1 Lieutenant General 8852 Rep 12,303 Posts Drives: iPace / Mini Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	If you are worrying about heating bills, god knows how you will go on when you come out of your current fixed rate period and see the increase in your mortgage... Its life, everything has been cheaper than expected for at least 2 years.... time to start repaying!
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10-03-2021, 01:45 AM	#17
AndyCKent Private First Class 36 Rep 103 Posts Drives: BMW 320d F30 Join Date: Jul 2021 Location: UK iTrader: (0)	Ours has come on in the mornings over the past few days. Think it’s set on 21 degrees in the mornings and evenings so if it drops below that, it kicks in. That’s when I know the outside temp is getting below 10 degrees as that’s when our heating starts to kick in. We have those digital thermostats, one upstairs and one down. Gas/Electric is about £80pm at the moment (new build) so expecting that to go up by about 50% come January when it renews.
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10-03-2021, 02:07 AM	#18
Wolverine Lieutenant 492 Rep 431 Posts Drives: F36 420D GC M-Sport Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Gosport iTrader: (0)	We're one of the ones who's supplier has gone bust. We are being moved to British Gas on their standard variable rates (which are roughly 30-60% more than what we were paying). I've already had enquiries from the ladies in the house to show them how to use the heating (not falling for that one again as they regularly put the thermostat up to 30 in the last house). I've told them to layer up as I'm not putting the heating on until the clocks go back (unless it's really dire before then). We'll be off to Tenerife soon and back at the end of the month so that should do us until the clocks change. Even so, I've warned them that there will likely be some tough choices. We may even need to turn the hot tub down __________________ NEW CAR '15' BMW 420D M-Sport Gran Coupe//Sapphire Black SOLD'63' BMW 318D Sport//Jet Black SOLD'59' Honda Civic Type R GT Championship White Edition
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10-03-2021, 02:57 AM	#19
Rbrown Brigadier General 2790 Rep 4,581 Posts Drives: X3 M40i Join Date: Jun 2015 Location: Glasgow iTrader: (0)	Fuel poverty is a real issue - especially in the sector I work in (ie social housing). The reality is that some people just cannot afford to have heating on - it may be a decision to eat or get heat. And that heating may be an elderly person have "one bar" of a heater on for an hour. Can only hope things get better for everyone.
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10-03-2021, 04:42 AM	#22
Consett Mag Major 369 Rep 1,409 Posts Drives: F31 330d M Sport Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Durham. UK iTrader: (0)	We pay just £90 a month for gas and leccy - but soon to go up - for our detached house, and already mitigate the use of gas a little bit by using our solar pv to heat the water in the cylinder with a smart switch that detects when we're exporting electricity. We've had three months of virtually no gas use. October signals an end to that happy time! I replaced our open fronted and noisy /inefficient gas fire with a glass fronted 5KW jobby that's super brilliant and silent. We had our wool cavity wall insulation replaced FREE a few weeks ago for better stuff - from a government plan if someone in the house earns less than £26k. Can be your 16 year old child! Today I'm going to increase the lagging in the loft - I boarded some of it years ago - and compressed the 6" lagging - so I'm hopefully going to fix this in the next couple of days. Our bills won't go down, but hopefully will only suffer a mild increase.
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