We are ultra low on Electricity and ultra ultra low on Gas

Looking at those "industry" standards we seem to be doing OK for gas (low to medium) but our electric could be described as ultra high !!!!

I think I'll have to sit down tomorrow and work out where all our electrickery is going !!

Felicity King-Evans:

Low = 1,650kwh Electric 10,000kwh Gas
Medium = 3,300kwh Electric 20,500kwh Gas
High = 4,950kwh Electric 28,000kwh Gas

That's interesting. We're low gas but medium electricity. I'm mystified as to what we need to do to reduce electricity further.

Seperately, I heard today that OFGEM are imposing further "customer friendly" measures on suppliers but I haven't seen what exactly.

Twee:

I would be interested if MSM could carry out a poll to see roughly what others pay for their combined power .... Felicity ??

Hello threadsters,

Reading this, I realised I had no idea how we worked out our average bills, so thanks for kicking me into gear on this one.

I spoke to Scott Byrom, our energy manager, and he says the entire industry works from the same figures when it comes to average consumption.

This is:

Low = 1,650kwh Electric 10,000kwh Gas
Medium = 3,300kwh Electric 20,500kwh Gas
High = 4,950kwh Electric 28,000kwh Gas

These were worked out by Ofgem. So we work out average bills etc based on the medium users. We then look at the energy costs presented by various tariffs and are able to work out an average bill.

My bill is also nowhere near £1,000 - but then there's just two of us (and the cat) (who fortunately cannot turn the heating on herself), we're in a very energy-efficient newbuild, we have very efficient appliances etc.

I can see how a family of five, living in an older, draftier home, with appliances around five years old would easily use far more energy than my household.

A poll might be interesting, though, although we would have to continue using the industry approved figures for our sums. It'd be interesting to see what the MSM forum members are paying and whether they consider themselves to be low, medium or high users.

I'll give some thought as to how to structure it but if you have any ideas - please wing them to me in an email or via this post.

Thanks,

Felicity

BREWERDAVE1:

I keep threatening to take the dial off the thermostat!!

What! You're still using a thermosat with a dial?

Investige whether a programmeable stat could help your energy efficiency.

It would be interesting to see the actual range of usages in kwh as well as £££s; I know I use more electricity than average because we use the dishwasher/tumble dryer/washing m/c probably more often than we should and I'm an intensive user of the PC as well as the music system and TV in the Winter. We have used ~ 6800kwh in the past year and I'm targetting a reduction to 6500kwh this year.

Gas usage last year was ~ 16800kwh, particularly bad in Jan and Feb.- again I'm hoping to knock that back to 16000kwh- but much depends on the severity of the weather and her indoors (I keep threatening to take the dial off the thermostat!!)

I'm surprised there aren't any independent statistics available - or perhaps there are???

We live in a 1950's 3 bed semi - with a new Combi Boiler and use Electricity for Lighting, Cooking and Washing - so I don't see anything out of the ordinary - we are on Scottish Powers "on-line energy saver" tarriff

We did get our bills down from a peak of £52 per month last year - but that is nowhere near £1300 or even £800

We are not misers or cold - the house is double glazed and well insulated.....

I would be interested if MSM could carry out a poll to see roughly what others pay for their combined power .... Felicity ??

Twee, I spend ~ £1300 pa on combined gas and electric - I live in a 5 bed detached , I'm at home full time since I retired and my wife doesn't like the cold !! I've talked to others in my area living in both detached and semi detached properties and most have a power bill well over £1000, particularly those with children. My daughter lives on her own in a modern 2 bed terrace and hasn't used her heating since April yet her annual bill will be ~ £800 ( £65 pm)

I'm not sure how you live on £43 pm since my gas bills are more than that with no heating at all for ~ 6 months - do you leave the country for the Winter???

Felicity,

Where do you get these figures from - £1000+ average power bill ?

I manage to get by on a combined gas and electricity bill of £43 per month (around £500 per year) as does virtually everyone that I ask - I was just wondering if these stated amounts are not just HYPE from the energy companies ?

Sadly, Mr IT Boss doesn't allow me to view video from work so i'll try and take a peek from home and see if an oscar is in the making!!

Hello,

As mentioned, here's my video about using online energy tariffs - Cheaper energy at your fingertips

Comments about my rather odd swagger will be frowned upon!

Felicity

http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=6720 is the future - using NANO CRYSTALS to produce thin films that can provide all the electricity that we will ever need

All this will take is research and time (and money) .....

Hi Mynewt,

You make some good points - but I stand by my 'bleak' comment - price rises of the sort outlined by Ofgem will hurt many people.

Interestingly enough, I've just finished recording a video on the benefits of switching to an online tariff, which should be up on the site tomorrow.

I'll post a link here once it's live.

Thanks for the reply,

Felicity

Thank you Felicty,

Not quite as bleak as the picture you first painted - eh? 60% price rise versus any one of 3 other scenario's with increases of smaller percentages.

That said while an increase does look to be on the cards and there is a fair amount the consumer can do to "help" protect themselves from any increase whatever it may be. Being energy efficient is definately one option that should be explored. In addition customer should be scrutinising their bills a whole lot more, a brief glance at the various problems posted here is testament to that fact alone, and finally there's prices, make sure you're getting the biggest bang for your buck.

With regards to some energy efficiency measure you're quite right some are no where enar as efficient as we'd like or even may need them to be. But there are many measures that will provide a substantial decrease in both consumption and reliance on conventional energy sources. Cavity Wall and Loft Insulation, EE Light bulbs, Hot Water jackets, lagging are all good starts. You can go a step further and add insualtion beneath carpets and flooring, relfective panels behind radiators and invest in triple and/or secondary glazing. While PV solar panels are not worth the investment, the older style that simply help to heat water are very much worth the time and money spent at this time.

And finally with regards to pricing whichever supplier you with ensure you're on any of their online tariffs as these will generally be cheaper than any of their non-online offerings, and of course continue to shop around to make sure your rpovider is offering the better prices and if not -- switch. It's also worthwhile investigating capped/protected/fixed prices if you feel that there might be a price increase in the very near future, but i'd do a lot of research before jumping on the capped-price bandwagon.

So, as mentioned, Ofgem has outlined four potential scenarios, which it claims highlight the various risks the country faces.

Ofgem chief executive Alistair Buchanan explained: "Our scenarios suggest that Britain faces a tough challenge in maintaining secure supplies whilst at the same time meeting its climate change targets.

“However, there is still time to act. Ofgem will be putting forward proposals in the New Year based on today's consultation to ensure that Britain's energy industry can meet the challenges ahead."

So what are the four scenarios? Here’s a brief outline.

Green transition – in this possible future, household energy bills rise by 23% by 2020.

There’s rapid economic recovery and a big investment into green measures. Gas demand falls, electricity demand rises (to power all the electric cars we’ll be driving) and domestic renewables targets are met.

Green stimulus – in this scenario, household bills rise by 14% by 2020.

The high cost of carbon and international policies boost investment in renewables, nuclear and carbon capture. Governments around the world implement green stimulus packages to reach environmental goals while supporting economic activity.

Dash for energy – in this worst-case scenario, consumer bills rise by 60% before 2016, before falling back.

The global economies recover but energy security fears prevail over environmental challenges. That means the UK misses its renewables targets and carbon budgets.

Competition between countries causes fuel prices to rocket but planning and supply issues prevent new nuclear plants being operational before 2020.

Slow growth – in this scenario we see little effect on bills for a few years but then a rise of around 22% by 2020.

The recession goes on and there’s less investment in the gas and electricity infrastructures. Low cost power alongside low carbon prices mean there’s little incentive to build nuclear or renewable power plants. The country becomes more reliant on imported gas to fuel new gas-fired power stations.