We all know what's going to happen, and sooner rather than later. I'm expecting energy prices are going to increase across the board by around 50% on gas and electricity. My thoughts then turned to the espresso machine…probably uses more power when it's cold, perhaps as much as 100W per hour..I know some people have cited massive increases in their bills when they have an espresso machine on all day…so I'm preparing, I would imagine the machine will lose only half the energy this way? The underneath towel is to add the extra insulation under the group and keep the top towel wrap in place. I'm already turning green! [upl-image-preview url=//i.imgur.com/sPQzAA6.png]

@"DavecUK"#p4730 Classic Dave’s solution to the problem! 😂😂 I continue to switch the machine off after making coffee. I don’t want the machine to run from 6 am to 9 pm. 😊 Am making a separate thread for green!

me personally, pureplanet went bump on me giving me a massive increase at home, was tied till april 2022 at work my gas and elec have no cap, since march 2021 when i cam out of contract ive seen my monthly elec bill go from £200 to £430 per month, these are out of contract rates atm, its getting crazy

Well, after about 20 minutes of non-use my Sage turns itself off. Plus as it takes only about 6 minutes to get up to temp it shouldn't use too much. After a really good two year fixed deal came to an end in December, we've just gone on to Octopus Go tariff where between 12:30 and 4:30 am the charge is 5p kWh. No good for the coffee machine admittadly unless I'm having a spot of insomnia, but we put our washing machine on for then as that eats electric and I charge my EV then too.

Our tariff is fixed until Aug 23. So, Am good. But, our costs did go up by £50 a month to about £162 pm. Thank God, I went fixed as some one advised flexible. 😊

We changed to Octopus when we were down south, we have always been on a fixed tariff and our bills were around £120 month. We moved up North to Yorkshire and bought a new build our bills are £80 month at most. We renewed to a fixed tariff again in September after a lot of deliberation thinking prices had been stable for some time, so glad we did. Hopefully when it all settles down we can get another fixed rate not sure it will be the same though. All our family are with Octopus they have been really good.

@"LMSC"#p4731 you can because it only takes 15m to warm up, so it's actually worth switching it off if your not going to use it…in fact, even a low power mode would be worthwhile on the Evo, might see if something can be programmed into the motherboards, to actually drop the group temp after a configurable number of minutes of non use. e.g. drop by n C, after n minutes, with brew boiler switching off after n minutes. This is because brew boiler only takes 3 minutes to warm up. In this way a machine could drop into economy (if you enable it) after say 15 minutes and be warmed up again by touching the panel. As soon as the group hits the preset temp, you will be ready to go, probably about 3 or 4 minutes….depending on how low you turn the group down. The energy saving would actually be quite large!

@"DavecUK"#p4762 I am sure you will come up with a solution as an enhancement in the future release. If it can be programmed like a PC - Hibernate, Sleep, Restart and Shut Down! 😬 We mostly make 5 -6 cups in total 2 in the morning, 1 at noon, 1 in the afternoon and 2 in the evening ! Perhaps, decaf in the night.

@"Cuprajake"#p4732 I was with simplicity energy, fortunately they went bust a few months before the energy crisis and I went onto the supplier of last resort British Gas, something called Simplicity Promis until April 2022 which felt like being rodgered up the rear end, but as it turned out was a blessing in disguise. 3p per unit for gas and 17.9 for leccy

I am with octopus on their flexible rate since my fixed rate with them ended at the beginning of December. I am not sure how much I am paying monthly ( was previously £59) as I have just had smart meters fitted and the readings haven’t settled into any pattern but watching the monitor thingy add up the electric units is a bit of a sharp intake of breath whenever the electric shower is used. To make matters worse, my boomerang child has just boomeranged back home to live again and takes two showers a day and wears clothes once before throwing them in the wash. I have been dithering over fixing the rate before April but just cannot commit myself to a tariff that doubles the price of my gas for the next three months even though I know things are going to get very much worse. I switch my machine and grinder off at the wall as soon as I am done.

> @"4W5"#p4814 I am with octopus on their flexible rate since my fixed rate with them ended at the beginning of December. I am not sure how much I am paying monthly ( was previously £59) as I have just had smart meters fitted and the readings haven’t settled into any pattern you must absolutely know the rate per kW hour and standing charge so you can make apples for apples comparisons. They rely on obfuscating these numbers.

Energy Prices

LMSC

Thx Guys!

The 3-way valve, which Dave showed wasn’t as hot as it should. Re-the HW Knob on the boiler, I have taken it to 5.5. The gas engineer did tell me makes no difference to the temp of the water irrespective of where it is set.

However, the temperature control on the hot water bank may be important. I have slightly put it up, which helped. My wife did say this morning the water is hotter than yesterday.

However, I do think there is an issue, which requires investigation . Perhaps, it is one of the valves, which you guys are mentioning. I think I may have to call a gas engineer who will also check the plumbing / mechanical side of things. I don’t want to mess up.

Thx folks!

DavecUK

LMSC Re-the HW Knob on the boiler, I have taken it to 5.5. The gas engineer did tell me makes no difference to the temp of the water irrespective of where it is set.

However, the temperature control on the hot water bank may be important. I have slightly put it up, which helped. My wife did say this morning the water is hotter than yesterday.

I’d be wary about what the gas engineer says (unless the knob has always been in the position on the photo). That knob looks set to make 70C max, with 60 being the top of the normal range. I’d assume your cylinder stat is set to 60, unless you changed it…you can look and check. As winter approaches and water temp drops 50 may not have been enough for the length of time it was on, sure you moved it up to 55, now try 60 (or 6 on the dial).

P.S The gas engineer might be thinking it will reach what the tank stat is set to. But it won’t if the time is too short and incoming water too cold.

LMSC

DavecUK I’d assume your cylinder stat is set to 60, unless you changed it…you can look and check. As winter approaches and water temp drops 50 may not have been enough for the length of time it was on, sure you moved it up to 55, now try 60 (or 6 on the dial).

I never had to change anything since Day 1. The knobs were as shown in the picture above (e) for hot water and at 55C at the cylinder. Either some valve isn’t working as it should or the perhaps we had been letting the hot water run a little longer in the past than we are atm. Perhaps, a sign of aging! 🤣

Sure, I will raise the knob to 6 and/or 60 on the cylinder and see. Thx! 🙏🏽

How does yours’ work please? Thx

DavecUK

LMSC My cylinder stat is set to 60, my water temp (which affects HW and CH, only one control), is set to 55. When the cold weather set in I had to increase the time the HW was on. My intention once I start using the CH in November, is to have the HW on a bit longer still and overlap it with the CH, to get the lowest flow temp drop I can and maximise gas savings. This is for 3 reasons:

Increased savings from condensing (due to flow temps)
My boiler can only modulate down to 8.7kW, because like yours, mine is well oversized for the property. I could happily run on a boiler of 15kW, which would then modulate much lower and cycle less.
Reduced boiler cycling

I had no choice over the boiler size (cos it was free, long story)….had I a choice I would have gone for 15kW (6 bedroom house), for a relatively modern property and double glazing, a powerful heat only boiler isn’t required. Of course with Combis, they have to be more powerful because of the instant hot water….and I don’t like Combis really.

LMSC

DavecUK Interesting and useful approach to energy and cost optimisations. Our approach is a bit different. Our hot water comes up for 30 mins for 2 of us in the morning. That’s all the hot water for the day unless my daughter is at home or have guests like my 83 years old MIL.

I don’t remember changing the settings on the cylinder and the boiler at all. Perhaps, there is an issue that requires attendance. Keeping the HW knob at 6 helped as the water was very hot after 30 mins. My wife didn’t say anything. I had switched the HW on for 15 mins to ensure the grany doesn’t complain.

Re-CH, it doesn’t come up until Nov. We usually set it at 18 for the winter between 7 am and 9 pm. It is set at 8 or 10 to avoid freezing of the pipes in the night.

But, this season. we had to bring it on at 18 since yesterday as MIL is continuously complaining! We don’t want her to fall sick until she flies home on the next Sat. After that, we will revert the CH to 15C unless we really have to. 🤣

We need to simplify the pipes. It’s too messy. Our thought why change it unless required. I don’t like Combi for the same reason. What about mega flow ? It is not worth it now as we are just 2 mostly and 3 for a few days a month.

DavecUK

LMSC I wouldn’t change a anything if you don’t have to. Wait until you need a new boiler or are forced to have a heat pump.

When/if you have a new boiler, you can get it properly sized and sort the system out then. Sure a megaflow might be good for you, depends on water pressure how many showers and the investment in them.

I have 3 computer controlled pumped showers, that only 1 of, would work with a megaflow. Plus baths one of which works from a pump, the other is gravity and mains fed.

MediumRoastSteam

DavecUK computer controlled pumped showers

What does it do that it needs a computer to control it?

DavecUK

MediumRoastSteam They occasionally run to prevent pump siezing up. Flash an LED on the dial to tell me up to temp, too hot etc. Have a clicky dial for digital temp control, plus boost functions. Also manage and monitor pressure/temp of hot and cold in.

Oh and support an extra button in one of the showers to turn it on before you enter the cubicle.

Elcarajillo

🤫Gas boilers ??

A well known house builder is just starting on 154 dwellings near me, I noticed today they are installing substantial gas mains 🤫🤔

Inspector

i was browsing last night hotukdeals and spotted a deal about gas/electricity prices.

I jumped on it but will also keep an eye on whole sale prices. Apperently you can switch back to standart variable rates anytime. So for now this tracker comes cheaper. Have a VERY GOOD read and decide for yourselves.

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/beat-the-energy-price-cap-with-a-tracker-tariff-at-octopus-energy-4078767

Also you can check previous prices from here apparently, click on tracker and choose your area from drop down menu http://mysmartenergy.uk/Tracker/North-Wales,-Merseyside-and-Cheshire

DavecUK

Inspector I shall check it out, although my fix, which is effectively current price cap is for another year and with a 100 exit fee per fuel. 🙁

MattH

Been on the tracker for over a year… works well and tbh the cap (on the version I am still on) is very reasonable compared to the current prices.

Quite interesting how much swing there is in the electricity prices - gas seem pretty stable usually at the cap level of the tracker

Inspector

MattH I just learned that such a thing exists last night. Yeah you are right. Electricity last month swung between 18p-32p and an average of 24.97p.

Cuprajake

New price came through

I just love how they dress it up like they’re doing us a favour. In reality for me and my family it means no proper holiday this year, any Savings we had will now go to some fat fuck in a suit

Systemic

Amen to that Jake. We’re sitting on vast shale gas reserves but government won’t use them. French government banned shale gas in France but the French government has nationalised EDF which supports fracking. You couldn’t make it up.

Been reading a lot about heat pumps as we’re renovating a house and it needs a new heating system. I don’t trust the hype and anything pushed by politicians is, in my book, suspect. Anyone remember being urged to get rid of petrol cars and go for diesel because they were less polluting?

DavecUK

Systemic The British gas chairman has done really well and had a massive bonus in addition to his already massive pay. I can see how hard he must have struggled to make a profit in an energy market that is now effectively a 5 company cartel.

They have no incentive to have strategies and costs to:

Win customers
improve customer service
upgrade systems
reduce costs

How brilliant…now they are just like the BBC.

Inspector

I am glad I opted in to that wholesale prices tracker tariff with octopus earlier on. I also posted that on here on Feb. It massively helped reducing the cost over last couple of months. I am paying now 20p/kw for electricity and 4.8p/kw for gas. It has been floating around these rates for a while now.

Cuprajake

I must of missed that

What annoys me the most is there is not competition between companies, you can’t move

There’s nothing you can do

Cuprajake

You need a smart meter

Inspector

Cuprajake for octopus tracker? No, my gas meter is old school with dials and electric meter is digital but not a smart one.

Meldrew

We are with Octopus on a fixed rate which will finish at the end of the month. Octopus have been in touch and offered me the following rates. I believe that there is a waiting list with a timescale of 6 months for the tracker rates. I am going to contact them and see if this is true.

Hi Steve,

Your fixed tariff is coming to an end on 3rd May 2023. While it’s still a little way off, we thought you’d like to know more about what happens next.

Good to know: The Energy Price Guarantee

The Government has introduced an Energy Price Guarantee that caps variable energy prices at £2,500 for a typical home.

This represents a discount of around £1,000 for a typical home compared to the Ofgem price cap for October to December, and is in addition to the £400 Energy Bill Support Scheme that will reduce all monthly payments between October and March, and the further support already announced for low income or vulnerable households.

In light of these reductions, we’re not currently offering fixed price tariffs — they’re simply not a good choice right now.

Instead, the best option for you is to roll onto our Flexible Octopus tariff at the end of your fixed term. This will happen automatically: you don’t need to do anything.

Flexible Octopus
Flexible Octopus is our always good value variable tariff. It has no fixed term, and prices rise and fall with wholesale costs, typically changing every 3 months.

Flexible Octopus prices are protected by the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, and Flexible Octopus standing charges are discounted slightly compared to the Energy Price Guarantee rates. Flexible Octopus

£164.69
Estimated monthly cost
Electricity Electricity
Daily charge 48.29 p/day
Unit rate 31.87 p/kWh
Gas Gas
Daily charge 26.84 p/day
Unit rate 10.20 p/kWh

£1976.28
Estimate for the next 12 months
Your account information

When comparing energy quotes, it’s important to base them on the same figures. Here’s our latest estimates of your annual consumption over the next 12 months — we’ve used these figures for your quotes above.
Annual usage
Electricity 2,912 kWh
Gas 7,587 kWh
Account
Payments Monthly Direct Debit
Billing Online
In the current energy crisis, there’s not a lot of difference in prices between suppliers — this is why most comparison sites are not switching customers right now.

In light of this, we recommend you choose a supplier based on the other things that matter to you. We will work hard every day to treat you fairly, help all our customers through this crisis, and accelerate the world’s transition to cheap, truly green energy.

For free, independent advice on your rights and your energy supply, visit Citizens Advice at any time or call 03454 040506.

Kind regards,
Greg, Stuart, James, Rebecca, Jon, Pete, Tara and Mario
The Octopus Energy Leadership Team

Inspector

Meldrew yes been about few weeks for that waiting list but I have seen quite a few people managed to get it straight away on the phone. Worth a shot.

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