Energy cost and usage

Emma_vogelmann_scope
Emma_vogelmann_scope Online Community Member Posts: 7 Connected
edited October 2021 in Benefits and income
Hello everyone! I am a Policy Advisor at Scope and I am doing some research on energy. It would be so helpful if anyone could tell me about their Energy cost and usage - has it gone up in recent months? Are you concerned about it increasing in the winter months? 

Please feel free to post your thoughts and concerns here or Inbox me if you'd prefer. Thanks!

Comments

  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,611 Championing
    Hi @Emma_vogelmann_scope and welcome to the community :) 

    Thanks for posting this opportunity. For me personally energy bills have gone up in the last month or two as we use more central heating and lighting. But thankfully we are with one of the cheapest providers, Bulb, so our prices aren't extortionate 
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Online Community Member Posts: 21,922 Championing
    Hi I dont really notice than change in usage as I pay monthly direct debit the same amount each month so it spreads the cost over the year, I prefer this so I can budget for the amount I pay rather than get a big bill for the winter months
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    I changed to octopus energy almost 2 years ago and will never look back. Of course energy bills will have started to increase now because of the colder weather and darker nights. Although with a new energy saving boiler and cheap prices with octopus energy my bills remain low. I also pay by monthly DD which makes the bills easier to swollow.
  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Online Community Member Posts: 17,155 Championing
    I love where I live a few houses away from my son & daughter-in-law, however it's a Park home & we use LPG & have to pay the Park owner for the electricity we use with whom he has a contract. So we can't search for better energy suppliers unfortunately, as far as electricity goes. I did get a deal for LPG for all of of our Park homes a couple of years ago, which has now ended, altho it's still slightly cheaper than other nationwide suppliers, & definitely cheaper than our local supplier. The one good thing about LPG is that you pay for it beforehand. I'm not too concerned about this as the recent milder winters have meant it lasts quite a while. Electricity, however is another matter.
  • Emma_vogelmann_scope
    Emma_vogelmann_scope Online Community Member Posts: 7 Connected
    @chiarieds has your electricity gone up recently? 

    @Ross_Scope
    would you say your increase has been normal for this time of year or has the pandemic impacted it?
  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Online Community Member Posts: 17,155 Championing
    Hi - No, my electricity hasn't gone up as the Park owner got a 3 year contract with the energy supplier he uses, & we're probably over half way through that. The LPG which we buy went up on September 1st.
  • Emma_vogelmann_scope
    Emma_vogelmann_scope Online Community Member Posts: 7 Connected
    Thank you! 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    woodbine said:

    Our LPG was £59.81 for 47kg cylinder it went up in September to £62.92 and has gone back down to £59.81, we can use a cylinder every 2 weeks in winter but in summer they last 4 months
    Yikes, that's extremely expensive! My gas during the summer is between £8 - £10.50 per month. During the winter it's between £40 - £50 and i have my heating on about 16 hours a day.

  • Emma_vogelmann_scope
    Emma_vogelmann_scope Online Community Member Posts: 7 Connected
    woodbine said:

    Our LPG was £59.81 for 47kg cylinder it went up in September to £62.92 and has gone back down to £59.81, we can use a cylinder every 2 weeks in winter but in summer they last 4 months
    Yikes, that's extremely expensive! My gas during the summer is between £8 - £10.50 per month. During the winter it's between £40 - £50 and i have my heating on about 16 hours a day.

    Has this changed at all due to the pandemic?
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    woodbine said:

    Our LPG was £59.81 for 47kg cylinder it went up in September to £62.92 and has gone back down to £59.81, we can use a cylinder every 2 weeks in winter but in summer they last 4 months
    Yikes, that's extremely expensive! My gas during the summer is between £8 - £10.50 per month. During the winter it's between £40 - £50 and i have my heating on about 16 hours a day.

    Has this changed at all due to the pandemic?

    Nope not at all.  I don't work anyway because of my health condition so the pandemic would make no difference to me or my energy bills.
  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,611 Championing
    @chiarieds has your electricity gone up recently? 

    @Ross_Scope
    would you say your increase has been normal for this time of year or has the pandemic impacted it?
    The pandemic has undoubtedly impacted it due to working from home and going out much less in general. Therefore we've had heating on more, as well as the lighting and devices like laptops and such.
  • Garza
    Garza Online Community Member Posts: 146 Empowering
    I live alone and often go for a fixed price duel fuel tariff, I am lucky that I dont need any medical equipment that relies on electricity, that said I have recently gone onto a new fixed tariff and my costs have doubled, as a person on benifits, this will mean that I will have to make cuts somewhere and I will certainly be less inclined to have the heating on unless it is totally necessary