Humph! It's not true!

[Milims]

I read in the green bit in the paper that if you followed their suggestions for being greener you could save money on your energy bills. So I totted it up and if I followed what they said I'd save over £1000 Yippeee!
So:
Loft insulation - check
Cavity wall insulation - check
Switch off things on stand by - check
Close curtains at dusk - check
Water saver thingy in the toilet cystern - check
Energy saving light bulbs - check
Turn down thermostat - check
Shower instead of bath - check
Yippee - I'm saving money - not! The cost of energy has gone up so much since I've done all these things that my bills are pretty much the same as they were 4 years ago!

[StripyPixieSocks]

I really hate energy companies... ooh they couldn't wait to ram up the prices when oil was high but now it's dropped they seem to be dragging their heels a little in passing on the benefits!

It costs is one week of our benefits to pay the electric and gas £82 / month in a ONE bedroomed flat... if we cut back anymore we'll be cooking by candle flame

... and they still want to put it up... why? because "errr... oil MIGHT go up again" < an actual quote when we asked them why it went up £30 last month!

It's about time the Government tapped them on the shoulder and said "err... knock it down a bit people are struggling to feed themselves"

It's about time they put a ceiling on energy company profits in my humble opinion!

[Thomzo]

On the TV this morning they were saying about the cost of fuel whilst showing a family boiling a couple of potatoes in the bottom of a huge pan of water with no lid on

Like you guys, I really don't know what else I can do - apart from switching the heating off altogether - oh Check! it's not working at the moment. That'll keep the cost down then

Zoe

[pumpy]

Hello Stripy, i agree with what you say, but is your £82 fuel bill a average,or for the heavy quarter? Seems a bit steep,otherwise.

[Clara]

Yikes truly astounding.

Is thisthe only way to beat the b**tards, in the urban environment?

[StripyPixieSocks]

Hello Stripy, i agree with what you say, but is your £82 fuel bill a average,or for the heavy quarter? Seems a bit steep,otherwise.

It's £82 / month!

We have no TV, we hardly put the heating on, we have energy efficient lights, we cook in bulk and re-heat, we wash clothes once a week... I mean there's hardly anything left to cut back on at all apart from living in the dark!!

We're with Eon currently and they are just taking the mickey at the moment...

[SarahJane]

My electric works out at over £100 a month!! Granted i dont have gas or oil to pay for but I live in a small cottage, all I have heating wise is 3 storage heaters and I use economy 7 for them! There is only me here so I dont have lights burning all the time and tvs and stereos blasting from each room. I am at work all day....use energy saving lightbulbs, rarely watch tv , although the pc is usually on when I am in...

I even rang the electric company up and made them come out and check the meter!

Its just not fair!

[baldowrie]

Hello Stripy, i agree with what you say, but is your £82 fuel bill a average,or for the heavy quarter? Seems a bit steep,otherwise.

It's £82 / month!

We have no TV, we hardly put the heating on, we have energy efficient lights, we cook in bulk and re-heat, we wash clothes once a week... I mean there's hardly anything left to cut back on at all apart from living in the dark!!

We're with Eon currently and they are just taking the mickey at the moment...

I shall PM you with some information that may well help you in your situtation

[Trace45]

I live in an old 4 bed stone house so no cavity wall insulation here. But i do all the other energy saving stuff. My gas and electric a month is £96 together but i am using a lot less now as determined not to let the fat cats have my money! Gas would be a lot lot higher if i wasn't scared of central heating bill, so only have that on about a couple of hours a day.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

We're paying very little for heating oil at the moment since the oil bolier was removed at the end of September to make way for a brand spanking new woodburning stove. Happily, we're not using much wood either because the useless, useless sods cocked up the order and the stove might arrive before Christmas.

"Might" as in "ce sera bien possible que la cuisinère soit arrivée avent Noël" - very subtle language French: the ...possible que...soit bit means that "I've only kind of made a commitment to you, dear customer, but I am in no way expecting to honour it, because I can't, but you are evidently so completely p**sed at me that I had really better say something at least remotely comforting before you hit me."

And we've no water for three weeks, hot or cold.

Still, we've loads of jumpers, we're saving tonnes of cash and the weather is set fair. Until the weekend.

[mrsflibble]

our gas bills have rocketed yet we've got a superefficient boiler, wooly jumpers, extra blankets and if I put the oven on I make sure there's more than one thing in it or it doesn't go on lol!!

our electric is now £40 p/m direct debit, and the gas has gone up to £80 on direct debit. it's a 2bed house with two adults and a toddler ffs, surely we can't be using THAT much?!

[Millymollymandy]

My electricity is about €600 per annum and we spent about €850 p.a. on wood and about €30 on paraffin for the bathroom heaters.

It would be less for the wood but we unfortunately live in one of the most expensive parts of France for wood. If I lived in the next department I'd probably save €100 on that.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

What are you paying per stère, if you don't mind my asking MMM? For the top end stuff (well seasoned ash, oak, beech & hornbeam) I use to "dilute" the stuff I cut myself (mostly old fruit trees and lime wood coppice) I pay €60 for 50cm logs. I pay a bit more because the supplier I have now actually delivers what I ask for

[JulieSherris]

Our first leccy bill will be here within the next fortnight & it will interesting to see what it is exactly.

We're billed every 2 months here - which makes it a bit more affordable than the UK quarterly bills.

Now I have the range figured out, the heating is on 24/7, with hot water at all times & my stove kettle is always minutes away from a boil.
This time last year, we were in the bog standard irish new-build 4 bed, 4 bath detached house, in the middle of a field & were spending 200 euros every 3 weeks just for oil for the heating & hot water & the house was still hard to heat

I'm hoping that the bills will be a lot lower here in this house - we have an electric oven which isn't used....a gas hob on a bottle, which was nearly empty when we moved in & is still nearly empty... but also not getting used.... so that leaves the lights, tv, PC, washer & dishwasher..... fingers crossed for a low bill!

Julie.

[Penny Lane]

Our electric bill averages out to about £40 per month but I can't be accurate as that's based on a bill divided over 6 months - we pay monthly direct debits.

I was really chuffed with our gas bill this quarter - £26 for 3 months! It seems my strictness about not turning on the central heating has worked! They actually owed us a huge chunk of money!