Energy bills dated end of December 2022

[Jacob]

Nov/Dec
£308 per month all in. 2000+ square feet but lots and lots of insulation. Some free heat from wood stove; sawdust, scraps, pallets etc

 

[Dibs-h]

Did you have any success with that?
Was the camera worth the outlay - on reflection?

I bought a thermal camera - think it was about £250. Well worth it for going round the house and finding "opportunities" to bring the draughts\etc down.

It has a temp function so can use it a bit like a laser (or whatever they are) non-contact thermometer.

I can also use it in the garage when working on cars\motorcycles\engine\etc.

 

[ian33a]

Did you have any success with that?
Was the camera worth the outlay - on reflection?

It's too soon to conclude anything much.

In theory, I could have borrowed or rented one and got a snapshot in time under a relatively fixed set of conditions. Instead, I wanted something that I could use to measure and gradually improve the thermal makeup of our house.

So far we've been around much of the house and discovered that it's much better insulated than we feared. We've identified a few key areas and improved things - a couple of cases in point being the front, back and kitchen doors. We also found howling gales coming through at the base of one of our chimneys - improved with additional lime mortar. A recently installed but yet to be finished tilt and turn window in our bedroom has a cold spot in the corner - the installers have been told that this needs to be addressed when they are able to complete the external lime rendering. It has also caused us to investigate the loft hatch more and this, in turn (using our wild life camera) alerted us to starlings getting into one of our roof sections - result: all (or most) holes left by the previous owner have been blocked up.

There are a number of areas which will need further consideration. As an example, there are a couple of sections underneath a double storey bay window. Both of these have shown up as cold spots and both are single and thin brick. We could just slap some Kingspan on there but we'd rather think about how to approach it and do it sympathetically. Same is true for the thick single back walls in the Victorian section on the back of the house.

It has also helped us double check the under floor heating. I've shown my wife the warm orange snake which extends under the carpet in her office and she has accepted that the UFH is working in there!

If it will monetarily pay for itself is hard to say. However, it's proving to be a useful tool and will be a slow burn (no temperature pun intended).

 

[NormanB]

Were cold at a cost of £350 p/month, gas and elect, and Ive now passed responsibility for being the “heating monitor” to my wife who was constantly complaining about the temp,,so goodness knows what the next bill will be!
Ive read several times in the Guardian that the cost of oil on the international markets is now below the price it was before war in Ukrain,,,so when is the price of our gas and elect going to return to more normal levels?

Prices will not go back to ‘normal levels’.The key factor is we need gas for swing electrical production. Europe has turned its back on Russian Gas. In large measure (apart from pipeline gas from Norway) the gap has to be filled via LNG which is infrastructure dependent and takes time to put in place. So the availability of pipeline gas will continue at premium pricing and LNG will also command a premium until full infrastructure capacity comes on line. Next winter will be tough for Europe, prior to this winter they largely topped up storage using Russian pipeline gas - which will not be available in preparation for the winter.
For U.K. consumers energy costs will impact fully next winter as government intervention will reduce to zero for those who are not on ‘social benefits’

 

[NormanB]

6 bedroom 1910 3 storey detached, in excess of 2000 sq ft, 3 adults.
For the period 13/11/22 to 12/12/22:
Gas £71.40p (one gas fire). Economy 7 Electric £283.70p (Immersion heater, 4 fan heaters, appliances). Total £355.10p.
We using fan heaters in lieu of central heating.
I have track suit bottoms under my trousers and 4 layers up top plus my faithful cap ( we lose 25% body heat through our heads).
Still feel cold at times!

Are you avoiding using gas central heating? Or is it not fitted?

 

[croft36]

We are avoiding using central heating.

 

[NormanB]

We are avoiding using central heating.

That must be pretty miserable.

 

[Jacob]

Does a thermal camera show up holes where air gets exchanged? In terms of heat loss probably more important than cold spots in otherwise solid constructions.

 

[Agent_zed]

I don't understand how others bills are so high. I pay £180/m (uncapped) which assuming I did my maths correctly has covered everything I've been using since the price increase in sept (I was on £114).

Gas and elec. think its about 10p gas 33p elec (28p 49p standing charge)

3 bed detached 1955 brick, underfloor heating pretty much always at 18c. cavity wall insulated on 3 walls (one wasn't done due to old garage roof). 300mm loft glass fibre. 75mm celotex under the downstairs floor. Double glazing is pretty old now. Front door and side panel is completely uninsulated and mostly holding together with luck.

I do have solar PV which is the only thing I can think is making the difference, as we are pretty good at putting various things on in order when the sun shines.

Also have a wood burner but that doesn't always go on and only heats the one room a few degrees over the ufh setting (normally to about 20c).

Electric cooker and hob. Fridge freezer and separate freezer. TV and box etc

 

[ian33a]

Does a thermal camera show up holes where air gets exchanged? In terms of heat loss probably more important than cold spots in otherwise solid constructions.

A thermal camera shows the temperature of surfaces. Most domestic cameras do not have a zoom lens so the user needs to physically get nearer to a cold spot in order to find the pin point source of it (if there is one). Unlike a mobile phone camera a thermal camera has a rather crude resolution so, viewed too far away it's very hard to work out precisely where a cold spot is.

Once the centre of the cold spot has been found it's generally a matter of interpretation from there on in. Sometimes, for example, you can run your hand in the vicinity of the cold spot and feel a rush of cold air. That's generally the the source of a hole where hot and cold swap. If the general area is cold then it's often conduction through materials.

Where we have solid walls, the general surface of the wall is colder (as long as it's colder outside). With cavities we see more in terms of cold spots, such as in the corners of windows while the wall surface is that much warmer.

I don't understand how others bills are so high. I pay £180/m (uncapped) which assuming I did my maths correctly has covered everything I've been using since the price increase in sept (I was on £114).

Gas and elec. think its about 10p gas 33p elec (28p 49p standing charge)

3 bed detached 1955 brick, underfloor heating pretty much always at 18c. cavity wall insulated on 3 walls (one wasn't done due to old garage roof). 300mm loft glass fibre. 75mm celotex under the downstairs floor. Double glazing is pretty old now. Front door and side panel is completely uninsulated and mostly holding together with luck.

I do have solar PV which is the only thing I can think is making the difference, as we are pretty good at putting various things on in order when the sun shines.

Also have a wood burner but that doesn't always go on and only heats the one room a few degrees over the ufh setting (normally to about 20c).

Electric cooker and hob. Fridge freezer and separate freezer. TV and box etc

If the house is detached, doesn't have cavity walls, perhaps is single glazed and, probably majorly important, has a large habitable area, then it will be more expensive to heat that a relatively modern, decently insulated, semi or terraced. You also run your UFH at a modest temperature - many people like to have the heating much higher and are reliant upon radiant heat from hot radiators rather than the more gentle heat from UFH.

 

[croft36]

That must be pretty miserable.

My first 25 years were spent in a 1939 3 bedroom semi with just one coal fire. Regularly ice on inside of bedroom windows during winter but I don’t recall being miserable. Currently we are using fan heaters in the living rooms and a hot water bottle in bed.

 

[ey_tony]

I live in a modest 25 year old 4 bed detached house. My October bill was £176.00 but we'd rarely used the central heating since April 2022.
The November bill was £257.00 with minimal use of the heating.
The December bill was £322.00 with a fair use of the C/H due to the earlier cold spell. Those bills do not include the £66 rebate paid each month by the energy provider.
I'm at home each day so I have to keep warm. I didn't work all of my life to end up risking suffering from hypothermia in order to save a few pounds but at the same time while I'm not poor, I'm not exactly made of money and like most people, I now watch more closely what I spend on energy.

We were using and wasting far too much energy until April 2022 when we decided to cut back on especially heating and by just wearing one extra garment when we felt chilly indoors (for me it was a sweater), 95% of the time we didn't need the heating on. We'd got so used to having it on that we were becoming too dependent upon it and we were getting soft.
As the weather got colder a pair of Long Johns under my trousers was a great addition.

Since using the heating more, I've knocked a few degrees off the thermostat setting and with wearing an extra clothing layer, we don't use the heating nearly as much and my OH now complains that she is too warm at settings where she would once have complained about feeling cold at those settings.
During the day I find that if I advance the heating to run for just one hour, that is enough to get the house warm enough to be comfortable for the next couple or even three hours and then advance it for another hour so, that again is enough for the next 2-3 hours. My OH still works and when she gets in from he social services job I have the house just nicely warm for her.

To save on energy for cooking instead of using the main oven unless absolutely necessary, I mostly use our combi microwave/convection oven when making pies, Yorkshire puds, cakes etc. The main oven takes about 15 minutes to reach working temperature whereas the combi oven takes only 5 minutes or less. Unlike previous combi ovens we've owned, this one actually works as a convection oven too so we use that rather than the main oven.

I now use a pressure cooker instead of regular pans for cooking veg which take about 4 minutes to cook in a pressure cooker and our latest addition to the cooking armoury is a twin drawer Ninja air fryer which is another energy saver not to mention a healthier way of cooking.
Yesterday I cooked a small 1kg ham in the pressure cooker and it only took 32 minutes to cook and it came out perfect.

Our other firm favourite is the modern take on the traditional hot water bottle which my OH discovered. We have a couple of those corn-filled bags which you heat in the microwave for a minute or so and they really do get the bed nice and warm. You can even wear them on your body to give you direct heat.
The other thing I invested in a year ago was a down-filled 15 tog duvet. It's the best ever investment I've made and once under there we never feel cold.
It's a far cry from when I was a child. We had only open fires, no central heating, draughty sliding sash windows, single glazing with ice on the inside in winter and yet that was normal to us. Parents would pile coats onto the bedding to keep their kids warm, it was just how it was and yet most of us survived.

 

[Superduner]

I was at university in London during the seventies, and for two years lived in a tenement block that had been condemned some decades earlier. The GLC had lent them to a few universities prior to demolition.
Heating was electric fires, one bar and I can remember several nights when the water froze in the toilets and contact lenses froze in the soaking solution.
I don't think that even a TOG30 duvet would have helped there.
Still, it was character building, I suppose

 

[Bristol_Rob]

1960's 3 bed linked detached with 4 adults.

I do have an electric Plug-in Hybrid car.

I work from home, so there is always someone here

For Dec:
Gas = £300
Electric = £191

 

[minotauruk]

EonNext standard tariff, £100 per week for gas during December, £50PW for electric. We have had a log burner installed (running all day and night) and current Gas usage is £1.50!

 

[Superduner]

Here in France near Toulouse, 40€/week for wood, 170€/month for electricity. No gas.

 

[NormanB]

My first 25 years were spent in a 1939 3 bedroom semi with just one coal fire. Regularly ice on inside of bedroom windows during winter but I don’t recall being miserable. Currently we are using fan heaters in the living rooms and a hot water bottle in bed.

Yeah me too, similar upbringing and not at all untypical for the working class, probably until the 70s’.

I tend to not use my central heating at all if the ambient temperature is above 12C, however once it drops consistently below 10 for three or more days, the heat loss really kicks in, that just gets a bit ‘miserable’ and I succumb to putting the heating on.

I have a modern condensing boiler which I control with weather compensation which has excellent modulation and just burbles along putting in the minimum of energy consistent to requirement. I aim to keep the living spaces at 17C, bedrooms 16C with a 2 degree setback overnight. My gas bill which also covers cooking and hot water was £210 (not including standing charge) for December, which is horrifying compared to last year BUT in context of prevailing tariff prices and I am in a large detached it is about as economic as I can achieve.