Gas Prices

[albie]

For those with a condensing boiler, some tips on how to set the boiler to reduce your consumption of expensive gas;
https://www.theheatinghub.co.uk/articles/turn-down-the-boiler-flow-temperature

It might be a good time to tweak and see if it works for you, it being towards the end of the heating season.

You can always put it back up if it does not meet your needs!

[BillyStubbsTears]

Thanks for that Albie. I never knew that. Horrifying to think how much carbon and money has been wasted by this not being publicised.

[rich1471]

Asda on Monday was 154 for diesel next to the dome

As I passed yesterday the diesel was 168 , gone up 15p in a week

[KeithMyath]

Heating oil starting to come down but still well over double, coal now expected to rise 40% in the next 3 weeks due to international shortages and increased demand.

[drfchound]

Tesco at Edenthorpe this morning. 1.73 for diesel.

[River Don]

Brent crude almost back to $100 this morning. Fears of a slowdown in China due to COVID lockdowns are weighing on the price

It might be worth holding off filling up for a few days if you can. It'll take a while for the price drops to filter through.

[Filo]

Tesco at Edenthorpe this morning. 1.73 for diesel.

Barrie cars Dunsville 1.64 this morning, Murco Dunscroft 1.75, jacksons Stainy 1.85

[albie]

For those with a condensing boiler, some tips on how to set the boiler to reduce your consumption of expensive gas;
https://www.theheatinghub.co.uk/articles/turn-down-the-boiler-flow-temperature

It might be a good time to tweak and see if it works for you, it being towards the end of the heating season.

You can always put it back up if it does not meet your needs!

Another tip to reduce the gas price hike, change the controls;
https://www.beama.org.uk/news/the-heat-is-on-beama-led-research-reveals-heating-controls-can-reduce-gas-use-by-10-12-percent-amid-record-price-hikes.html

I have reduced the flow rate, but not fitted new compensation thermostats....has anyone on here done this?

[selby]

  I wonder how many are pleading fuel poverty while paying for Sky and the latest mobile phone, prime TV, and having their nails done.

[KeithMyath]

  I wonder how many are pleading fuel poverty while paying for Sky and the latest mobile phone, prime TV, and having their nails done.

You're more Daily Mail than the Daily Mail itself. Impressive

[ravenrover]

  I wonder how many are pleading fuel poverty while paying for Sky and the latest mobile phone, prime TV, and having their nails done.

Well I am still keeping my nails done!

[River Don]

  I wonder how many are pleading fuel poverty while paying for Sky and the latest mobile phone, prime TV, and having their nails done.

Lazy, feckless scum the lot of them...

Except, hang on these are the generations that very often have to take such low paid work that the government accepts it has to top up the wages with benefits to make it viable.

That has no hope of getting on the housing ladder and consequently have often given up hope of being able to afford to have kids. Then the birth rate plummets and you moan when the government brings in immigrants to keep the growth rate up.

But yeah they're wasting their money on broadband and new mobile phones which they actually need to have these days for work purposes.

[drfchound]

For those with a condensing boiler, some tips on how to set the boiler to reduce your consumption of expensive gas;
https://www.theheatinghub.co.uk/articles/turn-down-the-boiler-flow-temperature

It might be a good time to tweak and see if it works for you, it being towards the end of the heating season.

You can always put it back up if it does not meet your needs!

Another tip to reduce the gas price hike, change the controls;
https://www.beama.org.uk/news/the-heat-is-on-beama-led-research-reveals-heating-controls-can-reduce-gas-use-by-10-12-percent-amid-record-price-hikes.html

I have reduced the flow rate, but not fitted new compensation thermostats....has anyone on here done this?

I reduced the flow rate on my heating when we were going into the winter and, much against my wife’s wishes, I reduced all the programmer settings by just one degree.
She was convinced she would be cold but in actual fact we don’t think it feels any different.
I however bolster the draught excluder products on the window and door frames and that helped too.

[SydneyRover]

Another 'big society' plan eventually flushed, don't blame the messenger, discuss the points made.

''Tories may recall those sunlit days leading up to the 2010 election when David Cameron, as the green man of folklore, posed in the Arctic cheerily driving a husky team, as he rebranded his party with an oak tree and a Vote Blue, Go Green slogan. His greenery was environmental gauze to signify an end to the nasty party: he did the job pretty well.

He did preserve Labour’s green policies initially, but in 2013 Cameron panicked when Labour’s Ed Miliband pledged a price freeze, after energy prices had risen by 37% in three years. Cut the “green crap” Cameron ordered, which was duly splashed across the Sun’s front page. The consequences were far-reaching. Stripping out green subsidies caused the number of homes getting loft or cavity wall insulation to plummet immediately by 92% and 74% respectively: those figures never recovered. He scrapped zero carbon building regulations, so a million homes have been built since 2016 with poor energy standards: our energy bills are £2.5bn higher as a direct result, says Simon Evans of Carbon Brief''

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/15/tories-green-crap-david-cameron-boris-johnson

[Metalmicky]

I reduced the flow rate on my heating when we were going into the winter and, much against my wife’s wishes, I reduced all the programmer settings by just one degree.
She was convinced she would be cold but in actual fact we don’t think it feels any different.
I however bolster the draught excluder products on the window and door frames and that helped too.

What products did you use for the windows and door frames drfchound and did you notice a significant difference?

[drfchound]

I reduced the flow rate on my heating when we were going into the winter and, much against my wife’s wishes, I reduced all the programmer settings by just one degree.
She was convinced she would be cold but in actual fact we don’t think it feels any different.
I however bolster the draught excluder products on the window and door frames and that helped too.

What products did you use for the windows and door frames drfchound and did you notice a significant difference?

Hi mate.  I used something from Screwfix, item code 43490.
It is a rubber self adhesive strip, it comes in a 25mtr roll.
If you have existing pvc windows and doors it is probably too thick to put on top of the existing weather strip which comes with the installation, as was the case for me.
So I ran it alongside the existing stuff, tight up to it.
Easy enough to do, cuts easily with a Stanley knife or even a pair of scissors.
I have found that it makes a noticeable difference in reducing draughty spots.
If you have vents at the top,of the windows always make sure they are closed in cold or windy weather too.
I forgot to say earlier that I also bought some of the foil insulation that goes behind the radiators.
I always thought it was a gimmick and would never be any good but I have changed my mind having tried it. I put it on all the radiators which are on an outside wall.
I only put it between the brackets on the back of the radiators because if you put it right up to the ends it looks crap and sometimes fall out. You could try fixing it in place with masking tape on the back I suppose.
In my case all of the above seems to have made a difference.

[albie]

Article in the Guardian today on the way to reduce reliance on Russian gas in the UK;
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/16/uk-can-eliminate-need-for-russian-gas-this-year-research-shows

[Metalmicky]

I reduced the flow rate on my heating when we were going into the winter and, much against my wife’s wishes, I reduced all the programmer settings by just one degree.
She was convinced she would be cold but in actual fact we don’t think it feels any different.
I however bolster the draught excluder products on the window and door frames and that helped too.

What products did you use for the windows and door frames drfchound and did you notice a significant difference?

Hi mate.  I used something from Screwfix, item code 43490.
It is a rubber self adhesive strip, it comes in a 25mtr roll.
If you have existing pvc windows and doors it is probably too thick to put on top of the existing weather strip which comes with the installation, as was the case for me.
So I ran it alongside the existing stuff, tight up to it.
Easy enough to do, cuts easily with a Stanley knife or even a pair of scissors.
I have found that it makes a noticeable difference in reducing draughty spots.
If you have vents at the top,of the windows always make sure they are closed in cold or windy weather too.
I forgot to say earlier that I also bought some of the foil insulation that goes behind the radiators.
I always thought it was a gimmick and would never be any good but I have changed my mind having tried it. I put it on all the radiators which are on an outside wall.
I only put it between the brackets on the back of the radiators because if you put it right up to the ends it looks crap and sometimes fall out. You could try fixing it in place with masking tape on the back I suppose.
In my case all of the above seems to have made a difference.

Thanks mate, i appreciate your response.  I shall have a look at that - seems easy enough even for me to fit...!  We have UPVC windows, but we still seem to get some drafts. 

[DonnyOsmond]

  I wonder how many are pleading fuel poverty while paying for Sky and the latest mobile phone, prime TV, and having their nails done.

You're f*cking clueless.

[albie]

Video from The Heating Hub on how to tweak a condensing boiler to get best value;
https://t.co/QVmCWLLAK0

[wilts rover]

I reduced the flow rate on my heating when we were going into the winter and, much against my wife’s wishes, I reduced all the programmer settings by just one degree.
She was convinced she would be cold but in actual fact we don’t think it feels any different.
I however bolster the draught excluder products on the window and door frames and that helped too.

What products did you use for the windows and door frames drfchound and did you notice a significant difference?

Hi mate.  I used something from Screwfix, item code 43490.
It is a rubber self adhesive strip, it comes in a 25mtr roll.
If you have existing pvc windows and doors it is probably too thick to put on top of the existing weather strip which comes with the installation, as was the case for me.
So I ran it alongside the existing stuff, tight up to it.
Easy enough to do, cuts easily with a Stanley knife or even a pair of scissors.
I have found that it makes a noticeable difference in reducing draughty spots.
If you have vents at the top,of the windows always make sure they are closed in cold or windy weather too.
I forgot to say earlier that I also bought some of the foil insulation that goes behind the radiators.
I always thought it was a gimmick and would never be any good but I have changed my mind having tried it. I put it on all the radiators which are on an outside wall.
I only put it between the brackets on the back of the radiators because if you put it right up to the ends it looks crap and sometimes fall out. You could try fixing it in place with masking tape on the back I suppose.
In my case all of the above seems to have made a difference.

Did you take the rads off to fit the foil hound?

[Filo]

It gets better from shell energy, they predict that I’ll use £201 a month so advise I increase my payments to £280 a month, I owe them £31.60

[rich1471]

The issue is , when you try to shop around my cheapest deal is£289 compared to £135 I am paying ,the thing that has pissed me off the most I'd the standard charge going up from 10p per day to 47p for electric and 27p a day for gas that along is around £135 a year increase.

[drfchound]

I reduced the flow rate on my heating when we were going into the winter and, much against my wife’s wishes, I reduced all the programmer settings by just one degree.
She was convinced she would be cold but in actual fact we don’t think it feels any different.
I however bolster the draught excluder products on the window and door frames and that helped too.

What products did you use for the windows and door frames drfchound and did you notice a significant difference?

Hi mate.  I used something from Screwfix, item code 43490.
It is a rubber self adhesive strip, it comes in a 25mtr roll.
If you have existing pvc windows and doors it is probably too thick to put on top of the existing weather strip which comes with the installation, as was the case for me.
So I ran it alongside the existing stuff, tight up to it.
Easy enough to do, cuts easily with a Stanley knife or even a pair of scissors.
I have found that it makes a noticeable difference in reducing draughty spots.
If you have vents at the top,of the windows always make sure they are closed in cold or windy weather too.
I forgot to say earlier that I also bought some of the foil insulation that goes behind the radiators.
I always thought it was a gimmick and would never be any good but I have changed my mind having tried it. I put it on all the radiators which are on an outside wall.
I only put it between the brackets on the back of the radiators because if you put it right up to the ends it looks crap and sometimes fall out. You could try fixing it in place with masking tape on the back I suppose.
In my case all of the above seems to have made a difference.

Did you take the rads off to fit the foil hound?

No mate.
Just cut the foil long enough to fit between the brackets and slide it behind the radiator.
If the radiator has two 15mm pipes coming up from the floor it might be a good idea to put a bit of masking tape on the top of the foil and tape it to the back of the rad.
My rads have 10mm pipes coming out of the wall behind the rad so the foil just sits nicely on the pipes.
Silver foil facing into the room of course.

[drfchound]

The issue is , when you try to shop around my cheapest deal is£289 compared to £135 I am paying ,the thing that has pissed me off the most I'd the standard charge going up from 10p per day to 47p for electric and 27p a day for gas that along is around £135 a year increase.

There aren’t any sensible deals around just now matey, probably because the energy companies don’t know how things are going to pan out yet.
I don’t really think that there is a need to increase the standing charge though.
They justify it as below:

Energy companies justify standing charges by explaining that they cover their costs for maintaining their networks, as well as other elements that come as part of running their business, such as paying government levies and grants like the Warm Home Discount.

Read more: https://www.which.co.uk/news/2022/03/explained-why-are-energy-standing-charges-going-up/ - Which?

[wilts rover]

Thanks hound, its for my mother's, I think the pipes run along the wall.

I might try double-sided tape and see how that goes.

[glosterred]

One thing that I’ve notice since having smart meters installed is that I’m using 3-4p an hour with stuff left on standby, clocks, Wi-Fi, phones etc. working that out it’s about 72p a day or over £260 a year. I know you cannot turn off everything, fridges, freezers and the like. But if you can reduce it by a penny an hour. Over the year there is a saving to be made

[River Don]

One thing that I’ve notice since having smart meters installed is that I’m using 3-4p an hour with stuff left on standby, clocks, Wi-Fi, phones etc. working that out it’s about 72p a day or over £260 a year. I know you cannot turn off everything, fridges, freezers and the like. But if you can reduce it by a penny an hour. Over the year there is a saving to be made

You can't turn the wifi off, it will mess things up apparently.

Do turn everything off at the wall that you're not using though. TVs, computers, set top boxes, lights, Chargers, microwaves. Anything that has a standby light. It will add up over a year.

Trouble is I already do this.

[SydneyRover]

One thing that I’ve notice since having smart meters installed is that I’m using 3-4p an hour with stuff left on standby, clocks, Wi-Fi, phones etc. working that out it’s about 72p a day or over £260 a year. I know you cannot turn off everything, fridges, freezers and the like. But if you can reduce it by a penny an hour. Over the year there is a saving to be made

Modern appliances, made after 2013 should only use 1watt/hr on standby, the fridge will be using the most juice, you can possibly save money by having a thermometer inside and running it at the correct temp and make sure the seals are in good nick.

[River Don]

Don't boil a full kettle if you don't need to.

I'm in the habit of measuring cold water from as many cupfulls as I need. The kettle boils a lot quicker if it's only doing a couple of cups of water.