Utility Bills

[RBailey]

Probably a little of " thread drift", but why are the tariffs rising so much, the country is covered with wind turbines, solar farms, biomass power stations, and digester plants, have we not been told there have been days when only renewables have been used? My log supplier tells me that the wood prices will have to increase "in line with energy prices", why? are sun wind, and trees more expensive?

This is how I understand it, I'm not saying it is fair or right.

Energy is sold into the market and the market rate is X p/kwh and the same for all sources. The high oil prices means hydrocarbon energy cost is high and then renewable then get to sell at this higher market rate.

Renewable energy packages (we are on a 100% renewable tariff) effectively just takes capacity from the renewable suppliers but they still sell it at the market rate which high.

Cheers,
Richard B.

 

[CliffordPope]

"My log supplier tells me that the wood prices will have to increase "in line with energy prices", why? are sun wind, and trees more expensive?"

The price of buying my logs has gone up by precisely 10% since a year ago.
That seems very reasonable, considering the inputs are presumably the costs of chain saws, petrol, oil, transport from site to depot, plus delivery costs, staff, general company expenses, undercover storage for seasoning. The cost of the trees themselves is probably negligible.

We spend £900 on a year's wood supply, which heats the downstairs, provides hot water, and all the cooking costs for half the year. One large gas cylinder at £81 does the remainder of the year's cooking. A year's electricity costs £2,700 at current prices, for a large house plus cottage annexe.

 

[philpjuk100]

10% sounds very fair, I can see extra costs in fuel for vehicles and chainsaws, log splitters, and also increased profits in line with inflation, etc but "in line with increased energy costs" means at least double maybe more. "Mr logs" told me he had to increase prices or everyone would buy a logburner and there would not be enough logs to go around ( looking for a new supplier)

 

[Cubist]

10% is reasonable I agree but... many fire-wood suppliers use gas fired kilns to dry the timber to meet the regulatory requirements imposed a year or so ago. My guess is that many of them will, sooner or later, be increasing their prices by perhaps much more.

 

[a twig]

So, as the market re-aligns to reflect reality…. Logs only make sense if you have access to managed woodland

Or plant your garden full of hazel trees and coppice the wotsits out of them

 

[TudorCottage]

Thanks for all the input.

I appreciate heating a circa 16c cottage presents a challenge we’ve not faced before, but my concerns arise from the fact that other than for testing purposes we haven’t had the heating on since we moved in, in April. And my gas bill so far has been more than acceptable, it’s the electric costs that concern me.

Kids have long flown the nest so just the 2 of us. Both not into electric gizmos so just standard stuff really.

Regarding heating, boiler and hot water tank both scored high percentages in the home buyers report, well over 90% from memory and both are only a few years old. There’s enough insulation in the loft for 2 houses and on testing the system the radiators were too hot to touch, so they can be turned down.

If I can afford to turn the heating on I don’t think it will be a cold house in the winter.

I’ve got an electrician friend popping over to take a peek and see if I’ve overlooked something obvious.

 

[Me!]

I send readings weekly but nailing down a particular drain could be challenging

Can you post here some of your weekly electricity readings and their dates please to give us an idea of the scale of your problems. My wife and I together seem to use about 10kWh per day on average.

I'm currently going through a check around the house using a plug socket type of power meter (much more useful than a smart meter). Most things I've found have been pleasantly low readings, except for one. We have an old 42" plasma TV which I found uses 350W, or 380W if I include the audio amplifier we use for the sound. Compare that with a more modern (smaller) TV we have that only uses 21W. However, even though the plasma TV uses 350W, it is in a room that doesn't get used a lot except for December and January, and in those winter months the huge amount of heat generated by the TV is very welcome and not wasted energy at all. So I have no plans to change it.

For built in appliances such as the oven, yesterday evening my wife went out and I turned off every circuit in the house except for the cooker. I took a meter reading and then put the oven on 180C for exactly 1 hour and then took another meter reading. After that hour the oven had used exactly 0.95kWh and I had two very nice jacket potatoes

However, when checking appliances for my parents, I found a freezer that was using a huge amount of power. After checking it for several days, it became apparent that its compressor never switched off despite the internal temperature in the freezer being fine. I could only assume that either the thermal insulation had degraded or it was low on refrigerant gas, but either way it has now been replaced and the readings on the new one are much lower.

 

[wobs]

We often cook a single meal in the oven for our daughter. Its an old gas cooker, so I dread to think how much gas it uses.
We are looking at using a worktop device, which is smaller to do it in. We have a Remoska Electric Cooker (see link), which is about 400w and far smaller. Hoping this will use less energy compared to a gas oven to offset the fact that electric costs more than gas.

Standard Remoska Electric Cooker with Glass Lid

Perfect alternative to an oven, bread maker and for baking cakes. Order the Standard Remoska Electric Cooker 2L online at Lakeland. 3 year guarantee.

www.lakeland.co.uk

We already had it in the campervan, as we use it for her meals when camping.

I appreciate that there is a limit to how low you can get the number of watts to cook a meal, but this seems a good way to go, as its so much smaller. When you have a small amount to cook, it should in theory use less energy.

Edit: We also have a plug-in energy monitor, so will be interesting how that pans out (pun intended).

Edit2: We were in Lakeland the other day, and they were promoting a dual basket dry fryer. 1500w, again, it appears to be a mini oven, but geared towards oven chips. Could be wrong in that.

 

[Cubist]

All this talk of alternative, low(er) energy cooking systems has reminded me of a couple of things.

A few years back I built/installed a pizza oven near(ish) - 30 metres - to the house. Its been great for the odd Italianate evening and on a couple of occasions for bread-making and slow casseroles. While I can I'll be making more use of that resource and the barbecue installed beside it. For fuel I have a significant limb from a forty foot apple tree that came down in the storms a couple of years back. But.... its going to get a bit chilly up there during the winter. Ah well, beggars and choosers choices I suppose.

The other thing I recalled was a steel box of about a foot on each side that I found here when we moved in. When we discovered this item I remembered a lesson from my boyhood days Venture Scouting concerning how to improvise an oven using an old biscuit tin. Hmmm.. the First Lady has a few cake storage tins secreted about the kitchen... I wonder if I can use one of those to cook a meal if it was heated over on of our wood-burners. I'll let you know.

 

[TudorCottage]

I‘m ashamed to say that I never really paid much attention to the ‘actual’ cost of energy in my last house. I paid a Direct Debit every month which was reasonable and every year the utility company of choice would give me back a fair chunk because I’d overpaid.

Fast forward to our cottage and the DD has doubled and we’re only breaking even.

But I think we might have nailed one of the issues. I was convinced I had turned the underfloor heating off completely but on closer inspection it appears one of the 4 sections was still drawing a current. Not enough to notice any real heat but enough to take some juice. It’s now completely shut down and the meter is definitely turning slower. Factor in that it was all on for a few weeks when we first moved in even though it wasn’t required and I think we’re moving in the right direction.

It obviously throws a spanner in the works for when it does get cold as my plan of building up credit for the winter months has not been planned very well

Lesson learned and all that.

 

[CliffordPope]

The traditonal way to cook using no external heat is a hay box:

Making and using a Hay Box to cook in – Woodland Ways Blog – Bushcraft and Survival

www.woodland-ways.co.uk

You can certainly cook using a metal box on a woodburner. It's just an improvised way, like an Aga or Rayburn.

 

[wobs]

Mrs Wobs has just taken delivery of some warm looking throws. Turns out it was cheaper than buying the fabric, and she's going to make them into hoodies for she and the the kids. (And maybe me).

https://www.homebase.co.uk/storage-home/bedding/bedspreads-throws.list

£5 each

 

[malcolm]

Turns out it was cheaper than buying the fabric, and she's going to make them into hoodies for she and the the kids. (And maybe me).

That's a good find. I have a sewing machine and they do look very much cheaper than material. I'll order a few.

 

[Lacan07]

I'll be investing in a pair of long johns this winter, whether i manage to slide my skinny jeans over them is debatable though.

Looking at all the doom and gloom in the media right now I think I might just build a Wendy house out of rigid foam board in my living room and install my telly and little foot heater.

 

[Zebra]

I'll be investing in a pair of long johns this winter, whether i manage to slide my skinny jeans over them is debatable though.

 

[Cubist]

I'll be investing in a pair of long johns this winter, whether i manage to slide my skinny jeans over them is debatable though.

No, no, no.

Skinny jeans entirely pointless and a complete waste. You need baggy trews to trap more air, provide room to bendzeknees, avoid embarrassing splits and allow for personal expansion resulting from muscular development or tea absorption.

 

[Zebra]

Also, skinny jeans don't stop sawdust from falling in your shoes. Bootcut much better for that.

 

[88v8]

Solid wall insulation is generally a no-no in a period house, obscuring period fabric and in any case uneconomical.
However, the owners of this house have been fairly successful, I would say, as seen in pics 2 and 9.

Check out this 9 bedroom detached house for sale on Rightmove

9 bedroom detached house for sale in South Brent, Devon, TQ10 for £2,500,000. Marketed by Marchand Petit, Totnes

www.rightmove.co.uk

Ivor

 

[Lacan07]

No, no, no.

Skinny jeans entirely pointless and a complete waste. You need baggy trews to trap more air, provide room to bendzeknees, avoid embarrassing splits and allow for personal expansion resulting from muscular development or tea absorption.

Exactly right, I can testify they're both useless at keeping your legs warm and a menace on the building site. I don't know how some builders manage to wear them for any length of time.

 

[Lacan07]

Solid wall insulation is generally a no-no in a period house, obscuring period fabric and in any case uneconomical.
However, the owners of this house have been fairly successful, I would say, as seen in pics 2 and 9.

Check out this 9 bedroom detached house for sale on Rightmove

9 bedroom detached house for sale in South Brent, Devon, TQ10 for £2,500,000. Marketed by Marchand Petit, Totnes

www.rightmove.co.uk

Ivor

Oh my! That's an assault on the eyes.