Energy prices

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Nov 6, 2005
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I face the dilemma in a couple of months of my current fixed price contract coming to an end and having to decide what to do next. I'll search around but it's crossed my mind wether or not to go onto a Standard Variable Tarriff in the hope prices come down. Then again there' s the prospect of another price hike later this year.

Any thoughts?
Check Martin Lewis's Money Saving Expert website - the present recommendation is that standard variable tariff is best at present - and likely to remain so for another year given the expected rise in October.
 
Jul 18, 2017
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Well, that's the $6m question at the moment.
I recently decided to take a 12 month fixed price contract. I saw that prices since the last hike had already gone up by 30 odd percent and with the Ukraine situation not looking to be resolved any time soon I decided it may be the best route for now.
The contract I took has no penalty for leaving early IIRC. But it really is anyone's guess.
If we look at the previous war in Chechnya it took two years to subdue the Chechenians so the Ukrainian war may last a lot longer with the West supplying arms.
If one can get a deal on a fixed price contract for energy, it may be worth serious considering. Wed are on variable and our energy costs will escalate almost 95% since this time last year when the new rates kick in next month never mind another increase in Oct.
Our daughter's family are emigrating over here as in their country the have numerous load shedding and can be without power for many hours. He is in IT and she is a teacher. No power no work! I think they are in for a big shock when they get their first electric bill which will be well over £100 more than they are currently paying. No such thing as variable or fixed contracts in their country as only one distributor and supplier for the whole country!
 
Jul 19, 2021
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From Martin Lewis


  • October's price cap is looking to be much higher: Due to the terrible events in Ukraine, on 2 March 2022 energy analysts at Cornwall Insight issued an emergency update of their prediction. It's now forecasting that the rise in October could be a shocking 47%. That would mean it is worth fixing, if you can, at a price no more than around 25% (was 15%) above April's price cap.

    Even that is now looking like a conservative estimate with what has happened to wholesale rates since. I wish I could give a firmer answer but we are in a position of energy uncertainty like none I've seen in my professional memory.
I got my fixed rate at 15% above capped , so fingers crossed I've made the right decision
 
May 7, 2012
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Sounded wrong but I took the fixed price two year contract in September despite what was recommended by Martin Lewis. Given the predictions it looks like I made the right decision as I will be paying less than the new price cap come April, and it looks like far less than that next Winter.
 
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Nov 11, 2009
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If we look at the previous war in Chechnya it took two years to subdue the Chechenians so the Ukrainian war may last a lot longer with the West supplying arms.
If one can get a deal on a fixed price contract for energy, it may be worth serious considering. Wed are on variable and our energy costs will escalate almost 95% since this time last year when the new rates kick in next month never mind another increase in Oct.
Our daughter's family are emigrating over here as in their country the have numerous load shedding and can be without power for many hours. He is in IT and she is a teacher. No power no work! I think they are in for a big shock when they get their first electric bill which will be well over £100 more than they are currently paying. No such thing as variable or fixed contracts in their country as only one distributor and supplier for the whole country!
Assume that is £100 per month. It’s strange going to live in a new country. I went to Canada for a year with the family remaining in Britain. When I first arrived I would compare Canadian prices for things against British ones. But quite quickly I implicitly realised that it was irrelevant. Living in another company you just have to adapt to that country’s cost of living and norms. Unfortunately my pay was still at British rates and not Canadian ones, HMG only provided assistance with rent up to a certain capped rate.
 
Jul 18, 2017
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Assume that is £100 per month. It’s strange going to live in a new country. I went to Canada for a year with the family remaining in Britain. When I first arrived I would compare Canadian prices for things against British ones. But quite quickly I implicitly realised that it was irrelevant. Living in another company you just have to adapt to that country’s cost of living and norms. Unfortunately my pay was still at British rates and not Canadian ones, HMG only provided assistance with rent up to a certain capped rate.

We came from South Africa where an item cost i.e. R10, but over here it was only £2 so initially the thinking was it was cheaper. Very soon learnt the hard way! :D
 
Jun 20, 2005
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Its not just items switched to standby. Any plug in power brick or "wall wart" will consume some power even if the actual appliance is turned off. Every USB charger is consuming some power if its plugged into a live socket even if its not connected to a phone or what ever.

As Ray says each item on their own may only be consuming a fraction of a Watt, but it all adds up. For every Watt of power continually consumed over a years (8760 hours) will use nearly 9kW hours of power.
Now I’m worried Prof! Both my EVs are plugged in and have been since last night🙀🙀🙀
 
Nov 16, 2015
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Hello folks, although our new BBQ is way to heavy to take away in the Caravan, it has been Great, With a ceramic plate above the coals you can cook Food without burning, I love my new, Bit of kit and I think it will last for many years, I bet the price of Charcol will go up now.
20220326_180824.jpg20220326_180943.jpg20220326_180959.jpg
 
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That will be for Breakfast with Smoked Salmon, . A nice bit of kit. I would like to knows Buckmans thought on it, Him being a from SA.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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We presently have a dual whammy related to energy price and availability, and one of the ways we can reduce our energy costs, and make especially electrical resourced go further is to improve our efficiency of using the energy.

A major proportion of the energy used in domestic premises ( and caravans) goes into heating, so if we could reduce our electrical energy consumption it would help both our costs and the environment.

I have come across this Youtube video which tackles and explains the use of air source heating and looks at both the economics of running it and its impact on the environment in a refreshing honest way.

I feel this should be very relevant to at least on forum member who has a domestic Air source heating system, which he finds to be ineffective, so it might give him some ideas on how to challenge his installers to improve his system, and in a more general context thoughts on how to improve more domestic heating solutions.

Do bear in mind the video uses Fahrenheit figures, but in general the systems being discussed have to work in more adverse conditions than found in the UK.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFEHFsO-XSI
 
Jan 3, 2012
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i have a electric wheelchair and a mobility scooter plug left in off position but charge them overnight .The Combi Boiler on stand by when we need it for hot water and heating . Table top freezer that left on all the time because we use it .
 
Jul 18, 2017
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We presently have a dual whammy related to energy price and availability, and one of the ways we can reduce our energy costs, and make especially electrical resourced go further is to improve our efficiency of using the energy.

A major proportion of the energy used in domestic premises ( and caravans) goes into heating, so if we could reduce our electrical energy consumption it would help both our costs and the environment.

I have come across this Youtube video which tackles and explains the use of air source heating and looks at both the economics of running it and its impact on the environment in a refreshing honest way.

I feel this should be very relevant to at least on forum member who has a domestic Air source heating system, which he finds to be ineffective, so it might give him some ideas on how to challenge his installers to improve his system, and in a more general context thoughts on how to improve more domestic heating solutions.

Do bear in mind the video uses Fahrenheit figures, but in general the systems being discussed have to work in more adverse conditions than found in the UK.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFEHFsO-XSI
Thanks for the link and will view it. We have had a mild winter however it can end up with a lot more ice on it than in the picture. It is supposed to automatically defrost, but sometimes in the past it could stay like this for 2 - 3 days and the ice gets even thicker.
They did attend to it in Nov and since then it does seem to be working better as hardly iced up this winter.

Air source heating.jpg
 
Nov 11, 2009
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We presently have a dual whammy related to energy price and availability, and one of the ways we can reduce our energy costs, and make especially electrical resourced go further is to improve our efficiency of using the energy.

A major proportion of the energy used in domestic premises ( and caravans) goes into heating, so if we could reduce our electrical energy consumption it would help both our costs and the environment.

I have come across this Youtube video which tackles and explains the use of air source heating and looks at both the economics of running it and its impact on the environment in a refreshing honest way.

I feel this should be very relevant to at least on forum member who has a domestic Air source heating system, which he finds to be ineffective, so it might give him some ideas on how to challenge his installers to improve his system, and in a more general context thoughts on how to improve more domestic heating solutions.

Do bear in mind the video uses Fahrenheit figures, but in general the systems being discussed have to work in more adverse conditions than found in the UK.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFEHFsO-XSI
We were over in Wales yesterday visiting our son and his partner. They have recently bought a Beko heat pump condensing tumble drier. They dry all of their washing indoors. They are very pleased with it and although the drying cycles are longer than with the conventional tumble drier the total electric costs are much reduced.
 
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Jan 3, 2012
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We were over in Wales yesterday visiting our son and his partner. They have recently bought a Beko heat pump condensing tumble drier. They dry all of their washing indoors. They are very pleased with it and although the drying cycles are longer than with the conventional tumble drier the total electric costs are much reduced.
Might have a look at one at a future date at (present we have a Candy condenser tumble dryer)
 
Jul 18, 2017
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We were over in Wales yesterday visiting our son and his partner. They have recently bought a Beko heat pump condensing tumble drier. They dry all of their washing indoors. They are very pleased with it and although the drying cycles are longer than with the conventional tumble drier the total electric costs are much reduced.

We have learnt to live with the much longer drying cycle even though it is over an hour longer than the previous vented tumble drier. No issues with Eco washing machine, dish washer or fridge.
 

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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Surely a heat pump tumble drier has to extract its heat energy from somewhere, and in most cases that will be from within the home?
That means the home is cooled if that energy is not recovered somehow, probably meaning setting up a circle where the home heating has to work harder to recover set temperatures.

On the face of it, a bit robbing Peter to pay Paul situation, at least in the colder months where home heating is needed, the very colder weather the tumble dried would be used rather than outside drying?
 
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Jul 18, 2017
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Surely a heat pump tumble drier has to extract its heat energy from somewhere, and in most cases that will be from within the home?
That means the home is cooled if that energy is not recovered somehow, probably meaning setting up a circle where the home heating has to work harder to recover set temperatures.
You are told to install the heat pump drier away from any source of heating. Ours is in the conservatory and technician told us it was probably the best place for it.
 

JTQ

May 7, 2005
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You are told to install the heat pump drier away from any source of heating. Ours is in the conservatory and technician told us it was probably the best place for it.

Okay, so one accepts they are a burden on space heating leading to their use where that burden is tolerated.
Not an option for us where the tumble dried, lives in the kitchen extension, which also has only a modest volume of air to yield up its thermal energy.

This push for air heat pumps along with dense home building "estates", seems domed to be a "cold old place" to live with the ambient energy being pulled out and secured within well insulated boxes. It does get me thinking about how well thought through some dictates are.
 
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Nov 11, 2009
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You are told to install the heat pump drier away from any source of heating. Ours is in the conservatory and technician told us it was probably the best place for it.
Our sons heat source tumble drier is on the ground floor area which has a garage, workshop and utility room. The living areas are on floors two and three. Although there are central heating radiators in the utility and workshop they are set low.
 
Jun 20, 2005
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An extract from my consumer magazine is interesting. Our basic dryer is 15 now. Beko came out as the best eco heat pump dryer at just over £500.

With the average price of a heat-pump dryer (£678) being much more than that of a condenser dryer (£310), it will take some time for those energy savings to add up. But using these average prices you’ll see your extra investment start to pay off in the seventh year of ownership. Tumble dryers are one of those products with a long expected lifespan – our most recent survey shows that a tumble dryer should last you around 20 years. That means if your machine lasts this long, it will add up to a £663 saving on your energy bills compared to a condenser dryer over the machine’s lifetime.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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An extract from my consumer magazine is interesting. Our basic dryer is 15 now. Beko came out as the best eco heat pump dryer at just over £500.

With the average price of a heat-pump dryer (£678) being much more than that of a condenser dryer (£310), it will take some time for those energy savings to add up. But using these average prices you’ll see your extra investment start to pay off in the seventh year of ownership. Tumble dryers are one of those products with a long expected lifespan – our most recent survey shows that a tumble dryer should last you around 20 years. That means if your machine lasts this long, it will add up to a £663 saving on your energy bills compared to a condenser dryer over the machine’s lifetime.
That’s the reason our sons partner opted for the BEKO. with her scientific background she can analyse things to the “ nth” degree. Might be easier to buy her a Which subscription 😂
 

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