RedSquirrelUK
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,899
Location: The UK's beautiful West Country
Aug 2, 2014 13:03:45 GMT
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Post by RedSquirrelUK on Jun 11, 2022 20:15:10 GMT
DH was hopping mad when our latest communication came from the fuel company. It said our household bill had been adjusted to reflect our change in consumption. In reality, our consumption has gone down, but the prices have gone up, and our monthly bill is now £100 higher. Yes, £100 per month MORE. Isn't that adding insult to injury?
So we've been thinking how we can cut down usage. The 2 appliances that use the most electricity are the dehumidifier and the TV, an old plasma from 2005 which is electricity-hungry. We now only run the dehumidifier on a timer 1 hour a day, and we haven't put the TV on at all today. It's now 9:15pm and I think we'll watch one show before bed. I quite like not having it on. This may be the push we need to replace it with one that is cheaper to run, as it is becoming more temperamental as it ages. We've been saying that for 10 years though, and it keeps going!
What changes are you making to save fuel?
Has anyone any ideas on how to save energy?
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Post by christine58 on Jun 11, 2022 20:22:13 GMT
Only our gasoline prices have gone up here in the US. My house is heated with natural gas and appliances run on electricity.Electricity is cheap here because of Niagara Falls.
As far as gasoline costs, I am limiting my travels at this point. My mom and I may at some point decide to go grocery shopping/Costco trips together.
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Post by katlady on Jun 11, 2022 20:26:09 GMT
If you really want to save on electricity, you need to unplug everything you are not using. Even when turned off, a TV for example can use electricity because newer TV's don't completely shut off, they go into a standby mode.
We are more concerned right now with saving money on gas for the car. We don't go out as much, and we combine errands. Unfortunately, I am back in the office a few times a week, so I am back to filling up my car more often. I haven't noticed our utility bills going up too much. We are in the lull between using the heater and the A/C. Our utility bills are probably the lowest between March and July.
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Post by Lexica on Jun 11, 2022 20:33:29 GMT
I hadn't purchased gas in quite some time because I haven't been going anywhere lately other than a quick trip to the grocery store or a local restaurant to pick up dinner. The full tank that I had put in a few months ago was lasting me for the little trips I was making. I went to get another full tank and saw the price of gas at my normal station was $6.97 per gallon!!! I was shocked. Truly shocked. I only put in $20 worth and plan to go to Costco to fill it in the next few days. I don't know Costco's current price, but it has to be cheaper than $7 a gallon, right?
I have planned on driving to Oregon after my house sells and taking my 3 cats and small dog in the car with me. I figured flying would be too expensive when I added in the critters. But now with the price of gas, I might have to sit down and figure out which would be a better option. Flying is appealing because it would have my cats in their containers for a much shorter period of time. I plan to have the vet give me something to make them sleepy so that it isn't so hard on them whether I drive them or fly them up there
I am anticipating a HUGE electric bill because the contractor has had several machines running 24 hours a day to dry out the area from my water leak. They have been running for 9 days so far. This leak is going to end up costing me a fortune. And the insurance isn't paying for much at all.
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Post by gar on Jun 11, 2022 20:36:00 GMT
I don’t generally use my tumble dryer much but even less now. We turn off the microwave, kettle etc at the wall but I’m not sure it has much impact. I think our gas is the highest percentage of our bill so the heating has been turned off sooner than normal this summer. I hope we have a good summer!!
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paget
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,039
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:39 GMT
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Post by paget on Jun 11, 2022 20:37:37 GMT
I’ve been reducing/combining trips. We also went to a closer movie theater yesterday even though we like one further away better. I am very thankful I mostly work from home (have to drive for work about 3x a month).
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Jun 11, 2022 21:12:10 GMT
Only our gasoline prices have gone up here in the US. My house is heated with natural gas Natural gas has been increasing along with oil prices. Expect your heating costs to increase this winter. Close of business on 6/7/22 it was $8.76. Compare that to $3.56 at close of business on 12/31/21. The cost of natural gas has more than doubled since the first of the year. Don't expect much improvement by the end of the year.
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Post by Restless Spirit on Jun 11, 2022 21:20:40 GMT
If you really want to save on electricity, you need to unplug everything you are not using. Even when turned off, a TV for example can use electricity because newer TV's don't completely shut off, they go into a standby mode. Yes! Vampire Energy. Many appliances that have standby modes, clocks or other displays are constantly consuming low amounts of power/energy. There are many articles on the Internet about how much money you can save by unplugging these appliances. Since I am in the US, our biggest concerns are the rising gas prices. We are planning our trips out so we don’t do any backtracking. But the biggest thing is we are now going to eliminate eating out in order to save money in our monthly budget.
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lesley
Drama Llama
My best friend Turriff, desperately missed.
Posts: 7,298
Location: Scotland, Scotland, Scotland
Member is Online
Jul 6, 2014 21:50:44 GMT
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Post by lesley on Jun 11, 2022 21:52:20 GMT
I’ve hardly had the heating on since the beginning of April, just an hour here and there to take the chill off the house. The TV and cable box get unplugged when they’re not in use, as is Alexa. I’ve also unplugged the doorbell speakers which plug into sockets. Any plug that is warm when the appliance is turned off is still using power. I take meter readings on the last day of the month so that I can monitor usage. (I have a smart meter but the unit costs on it aren’t accurate.) I combine laundry loads so I’m doing fewer, now wash everything at 30°, and I’ve started using eco programs on the washing machine and dishwasher. Even with all this, and the fact it’s summer and daylight for more than 20 hours a day, my monthly costs are about £100. And I have a tiny house.
Im dreading winter. ☹️
(DD and her fiancée live in a tiny flat which has a prepayment electricity meter. The standing charge alone for it is £2.64 per day. So £80 a month, before using a single kWh. 😱 They’ve asked the landlord if they can have a standard meter, but so far he has refused.)
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Post by monklady123 on Jun 11, 2022 22:14:41 GMT
We're very lucky here because dh drives a small car and has only a 10-minute commute. And I walk to work. So I'm trying to do all my errands in one day... not that I have many, but several of the places I go regularly -- grocery store and library in particular -- are right near each other. So it doesn't make sense with the price of gas for me to drive to one on one day, come home, then drive to the other on another day.
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Post by huskermom98 on Jun 11, 2022 22:21:51 GMT
People were hit hard this winter with the price of natural gas when heating their homes. We are on a budget billing system through our energy company so we were not affected too much because we pay the average cost (also helped that no one was home from 8-3 4 days a week so we could keep it cooler). The average went up a little bit a month or two ago, not sure if it will again.
As for gas for our vehicles...we made DS give up his very fuel efficient car (that we pay for) when gas hit $4/gallon last month because I drive the most each day and he drives the least. He got to choose between one of our other two vehicles--one with remote start and Sirius XM radio...or one that is NOT a mini-van (a CR-V). I was only slightly surprised when he picked the minivan, but I know he has gotten spoiled with remote start and Sirius XM radio on his car. But as for changes in our driving habits, we really haven't changed anything yet, but we aren't the type that go out just to go out. I am starting to consider taking DS car on our trip to Colorado next month. We wanted to take my minivan for the space, but the mpg difference is too great to ignore.
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scrappinghappy
Pearl Clutcher
“I’m late, I’m late for a very important date. No time to say “Hello.” Goodbye. I’m late...."
Posts: 4,307
Jun 26, 2014 19:30:06 GMT
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Post by scrappinghappy on Jun 11, 2022 22:22:41 GMT
We put in solar panels which went online one month ago. Obviously we are paying for them but our first bill to the utility was $13.67 for delivery charge. We are on net metering and as long as we produce more than we use we will not pay more than the delivery charge. Our monthly loan repayment is the same as our bill was and will stay constant till it’s paid off which protects us from increasing electricity rates.
I drive an EV which also charges off the panels so not paying for petrol/gas either for my car. Dh uses my car rather than his to optimize his gas usage.
Winter will be an experience when we are paying for natural gas.
Eta: we don’t have batteries to store excess power generated as they were very expensive. We may reconsider that at a later stage depending on how we manage with the solar panels and rolling brownouts without them
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 8, 2024 2:39:04 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2022 22:25:31 GMT
DH is resisting calls to work in the office regularly. Filling up the gas tank once a month hurts less. We're not driving to certain places to shop or trying to combine trips.
As for around the house, certain vents are closed. AC is set at 72. It might get bumped up during the major heat wave we're about to get hit with. Lights are off if we're not in the room. Stuff is unplugged if it's not being used. We're taking cooler showers and grilling more to avoid using the water heater and stove. The window AC unit I have upstairs is only on when I'm in the room and has a thermostat so it doesn't run all the time.
Cutting back on usage usually means unplugging stuff and making sure things are off.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jun 11, 2022 22:30:47 GMT
Our natural gas costs went up significantly but it was toward the end of winter so we didn’t get hit too hard. Until it gets really hot we can get by with open windows, ceiling fans or the whole house fan which is a lot cheaper than A/C. The cost of gasoline is what kills us. DH’s work truck can take $150 to fill the tank these days and our gas is at about $4.50-4.70 a gallon. He doesn’t have a choice in the matter, he goes to where the client is.
I have always been inclined to combine trips and plan the most efficient route, more to save time but also to save on gas. It drives my family insane though because if they end up going with me somewhere they’ll end up going to multiple places and they hate that. The way I see it is, I don’t want to drive for 20 minutes in one direction and then NOT stop at all the places that are out that way if there are several places I need to go. For example, there’s a Target, Costco, grocery store, Michael’s and JoAnn’s all within about 10 minutes of my chiropractor which I go to every week. If I need to go to any of those places, I’m going to go that day while I’m out that way. It just doesn’t make any sense not to.
There’s also a Target, the bank we use, grocery store, post office, and lots of other random shopping close to DD’s school. So when I was needing to go pick her up several times a week after school, those would be places I would also hit since I was driving right past there already.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jun 11, 2022 22:33:25 GMT
We put in solar panels which went online one month ago. Obviously we are paying for them but our first bill to the utility was $13.67 for delivery charge. We are on net metering and as long as we produce more than we use we will not pay more than the delivery charge. Our monthly loan repayment is the same as our bill was and will stay constant till it’s paid off which protects us from increasing electricity rates. I drive an EV which also charges off the panels so not paying for petrol/gas either for my car. Dh uses my car rather than his to optimize his gas usage. Winter will be an experience when we are paying for natural gas. Eta: we don’t have batteries to store excess power generated as they were very expensive. We may reconsider that at a later stage depending on how we manage with the solar panels and rolling brownouts without them We had enough hail damage to our roof from a hail storm several weeks ago so we need to get a new roof. I told DH we should look into getting solar panels at that time because 100% of our roof gets full sun all day.
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ellen
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,753
Jun 30, 2014 12:52:45 GMT
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Post by ellen on Jun 11, 2022 22:42:25 GMT
I am glad that I bought a car a couple years ago that gets much better gas mileage than my previous one. I am combining my errands to get them done on the same outing. When I go to the grocery store I am making a point to plan better so that I don't go as often and have plenty of basics on hand. I have decided that I am not going to buy any new clothes for a while. I am retiring in a year and I just don't need anything for a work wardrobe and I have plenty of things to wear in all seasons.
I am not going to let gas prices keep me from seeing people in my family. If I want to do something I am going to do it. I live at the lake during the summer and a good share of my entertainment is free. I am in much better shape financially to get through a bump like this than a lot of people, so I am not going to complain. We saved a lot of money during the pandemic and I feel/hope this will all even out.
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Post by cecilia on Jun 11, 2022 22:59:52 GMT
We are getting out of the flea market that is over 30 miles away. The only Target that is in the area is near it so I won't be going to Target as much.
Also not going to as many yard sales. Trying to combine trips to town
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milocat
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,571
Location: 55 degrees north in Alberta, Canada
Mar 18, 2015 4:10:31 GMT
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Post by milocat on Jun 12, 2022 0:04:18 GMT
I'm not a waster but there is no point in being over the top thrifty it's all fees. Last month's bill $28 worth of power and the bill is $151, $24 worth of natural gas and the bill is $114. Fees on fees on fees. I work from home but if I have to go out I go. I can walk to the store or post office but we're 8 km from the other town and 70 km from the city. So I just go when I need to.
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Post by padresfan619 on Jun 12, 2022 0:17:42 GMT
I feel like we’ve cut back and cut back and cut back to the point that if we cut back any more we’d be sitting in the dark and staring at the wall. I do try to make sure lights are turned off when we aren’t in the room, we don’t run the AC unless it’s really, really hot, the tv is only in if we are actually watching a show and all of the fans are off unless we are in the room.
I am a stay at home mom so I don’t drive much any way but we’ve definitely been taking advantage of the local library that’s within walking distance, as well as a local playground. When I do drive I try to add in a few errands along the way so it’s worthwhile.
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Post by melanell on Jun 12, 2022 0:19:18 GMT
My biggest concern is the gas for heating our water. Even with winter over and us not using gas to heat the house, our bill is still higher than I'd like due to the amount of hot water that's used here in showers. We changed the showerhead to reduce the amount we're using, but the kids stay in there longer than I think is necessary. I hate to harp on them about it because I know it's a part of how they get a good start to their day or relax after coming home for the day, depending on which kid and when they opt to shower.
We just secured a lower rate for the next 12 months for electricity. So that's good since the company we use was about to put through a rate hike.
As for gas for vehicles, we drive a small car and we live blocks from town, giving us easy access to banks, post office, restaurants, grocery store, pharmacy, library, etc. We walk or ride bikes/scooters where we can, which includes DH's work and the workplace of my eldest as well. We try to keep our trips to the closest city to a once a week trip. So we only need to get gas every other week, and even when we do, we don't need to buy very much. Our last trip was our first one to go over $40.
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Post by myshelly on Jun 12, 2022 0:21:11 GMT
So I’m guessing fuel means something different in the UK?
When I hear fuel I think gas for my car, not anything that I would associate with my house. So does it mean like natural gas?
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jun 12, 2022 0:30:48 GMT
So I’m guessing fuel means something different in the UK? When I hear fuel I think gas for my car, not anything that I would associate with my house. So does it mean like natural gas? Based on the OP, I would say natural gas but also electric. For my house in the city the power bill is for both combined, same for our lake cabin. Our hunting cabin is heated with a wood stove when we’re there in the fall and winter so the power bill is only for the electric. Some people out in that area have propane heat but that would be a separate bill from the electric.
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Post by quinlove on Jun 12, 2022 0:44:23 GMT
My lovely HEB is 5 miles away. I used to go there almost daily. Now I try to combine going there, and any other place that is near there, a couple of times a week. Instead of just going willy nilly. 😊
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Post by Zee on Jun 12, 2022 0:51:12 GMT
Nothing since I now have to work 4 days a week instead of 3 and that's over 40 miles a day. I did get a raise so it's not hitting me hard financially but I HATE sitting in my car for almost two hours every day.
Trying to think what we use every day: phone and watch chargers, TV, lights, security cameras, Keurig, DH work computer and monitor, fridge, water heater, AC, microwave is I guess always on as in plugged in and showing the time.
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Post by lisae on Jun 12, 2022 1:10:17 GMT
Our house is entirely electric and so far that hasn't been a problem. Thanks to an unusually cool spring, our bills have been particularly low though things are heating up this week.
As for gas, I haven't really changed my habits much yet. I've had to put quite a bit into the maintenance of my vehicle in the last few months. If another big bill comes along, I want to be ready to trade. I'd prefer to wait until vehicle supply is higher and dealers are more willing to actually deal but I'm not spending thousands more on the one I have. So I've been looking online at vehicles and am considering a hybrid. I ran some numbers today and it looks like it would save me a lot of money if gas stays high and plenty enough to pay for replacement batteries. Just in the initial investigation stage. I tend to keep vehicles for 12 years or more so I want to make a good choice.
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Post by sean&marysmommy on Jun 12, 2022 2:50:46 GMT
We haven't noticed any change with our electric bills, thankfully.
With the gas for our cars, our big change has been that my DH takes my car to work (a small Honda Fit that is great on gas) instead of his SUV. It hasn't been a huge sacrifice b/c he works night shift, so I wouldn't be driving it at that time anyway. Otherwise, we haven't made any real changes, but we don't tend to go around town a lot anyway.
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twinsmomfla99
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,088
Jun 26, 2014 13:42:47 GMT
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Post by twinsmomfla99 on Jun 12, 2022 3:27:54 GMT
We heat with propane.
Our furnace and AC units are 20 years old. They were the best money could buy when they were new (the original owner was a contractor who over-engineered this house when he built it).
However, propane is at least 2.5 times what we would normally pay to fill our tank this summer. I expect to pay at least $4000 more than we normally would this year for propane. We are getting a quote on a new heat pump system that will use dual fuel. This allows us to use either electricity or propane, whichever makes the most sense. By upgrading both the heating and AC, which we were due to upgrade anyway, we should save enough to pay for the upgrades in no time.
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muggins
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,861
Jul 30, 2017 3:38:57 GMT
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Post by muggins on Jun 12, 2022 4:12:30 GMT
Here in Tokyo, our fuel bills each month are sky high - around $900.
We’re supposed to be moving back to the U.K. in a couple of years and the price gouging by the fuel/energy companies is really off putting. There are so many people who are already struggling, it’s going to put an even bigger strain on the social services and food banks when people simply cannot afford to eat and pay their bills.
Gas/petrol in the UK is already $8.60 a gallon. Drivers in the USA have it easy!
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seaexplore
Prolific Pea
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Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Jun 12, 2022 4:26:56 GMT
We have solar that is fully paid off and with credits and our over production we pay nothing for electricity. It paid for itself in 2.5 Years. No batter wall. We don’t get a power bill. Our house is set at 77 in the summer. It does get a little warm inside. At night we turn it down to 74 for sleeping.
Water is ridiculously expensive here. $311/2 months for water and sewer without any water usage! We get slammed on usage.
Our water heater is an on demand with electric start but natural gas heating.
Gasoline was $6.07 at Costco yesterday. My car gets 29 mpg. DH has a truck for work that gets about 12 and the SUV gets 16. 3 days a week we drive 45 minutes one way for gymnastics. 1 day a week I do that drive twice in the day- once in the morning for me, once in the afternoon for the kids. I changed schools so my job is 6 miles closer but DH now has to drive the kids to their separate schools. We’re not sure if he’ll take my charger and I’ll take the sequoia or if we’ll keep the cars we usually drive. It may vary depending on who is driving farther that day. We combine trips, thankfully the gym for the kids and I is in the same town as target, Walmart, Costco, Home Depot, groceries.
We aren’t eating out anymore, that’s ridiculously expensive,
We have a boat but I’m not sure how much we’ll take it out this year since the lake 5 min from us is low and gas is so expensive.
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Post by chaosisapony on Jun 12, 2022 4:57:46 GMT
Unfortunately there are no changes I can make. I have to drive to work 4 or 5 days per week. I run my errands after work so I am not making a trip into town on the weekends. This is how I have lived for years and years, there's no way I can further cut down on gas usage since we don't have any public transportation here.
ETA: When I read fuel I thought we were talking about gas for cars, not household energy. I have been consistently cutting down my propane usage over the last couple of years. I am now able to get by with filling my propane tank twice a year instead of three times but I don't see how I can get it any lower than that. I only run my dishwasher once or twice a week. I don't wash clothes that aren't actually dirty. I generally don't turn lights on at all during the day (I have a lot of windows). However, my house gets HOT in the summer so I will spend a lot because of the air conditioner. That is one thing I'm really not willing to compromise on.
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