PotNoodleTech Posted March 2, 2023 Posted March 2, 2023 Well my attempts at being a tightwad (but clever tightwad i.e still staying warm) have proven fruitful. So this is - only running central heating in my bedroom and my bathroom and not the rest of the house. It's nice and warm in the morning for me shower and warm in the evening. The rest of the house has polar bears in it but I throw some ice down for them and they leave me alone. I've gone from: 6 weeks ago £30 in gas 5 weeks ago £20 in gas 4 Weeks ago £12 in gas 3 weeks ago £14 in gas 2 Week ago £12 in gas 1 Week ago £14 in gas So now - £12 in gas when the temps are not too bad in the nights, £14 in gas when it's getting down to 0 in the nigts like this week. Funny that someone on a "reasonable wage" feels that they need to do this. 3
RedwayNetworks_Michael Posted March 2, 2023 Posted March 2, 2023 Well my attempts at being a tightwad (but clever tightwad i.e still staying warm) have proven fruitful. So this is - only running central heating in my bedroom and my bathroom and not the rest of the house. It's nice and warm in the morning for me shower and warm in the evening. The rest of the house has polar bears in it but I throw some ice down for them and they leave me alone. I've gone from: 6 weeks ago £30 in gas 5 weeks ago £20 in gas 4 Weeks ago £12 in gas 3 weeks ago £14 in gas 2 Week ago £12 in gas 1 Week ago £14 in gas So now - £12 in gas when the temps are not too bad in the nights, £14 in gas when it's getting down to 0 in the nigts like this week. Funny that someone on a "reasonable wage" feels that they need to do this. Couldnt agree more, always makes me laugh how everyone should cut back ect, i think it should be dont cut back give us more for our money. As we all cut back the corps are having record profits, I dunno for me it just dont all seem to add up right 4
localzuk Posted March 2, 2023 Posted March 2, 2023 You can usually quit your contract if there's an increase in price, right? Depends on your contract. If your contract says they can increase by inflation + 3.9% then such an increase is not unreasonable. So you can't exit the contract early.
nicholab Posted March 2, 2023 Posted March 2, 2023 BT are increasing by £5.50per month my broadband contract does anyone know the cost of leaving BT early?
Norphy Posted March 2, 2023 Posted March 2, 2023 https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/phone-internet-downloads-or-tv/cancelling-a-phone-tv-internet-or-mobile-contract/ If the price has gone up Your provider has to give you 30 days’ notice if they’re putting up the price of your contract. You have the legal right to cancel the contract within those 30 days without having to pay a fee. Contact the company and say you’re cancelling within the allowed 30 days’ notice of a price increase. You won’t be able to cancel without a fee if either: you signed up to the contract before 23 January 2014, or you were told at the start of the contract that the price would be going up, for example if you signed up for a 18 month contract but the first 3 months were at a discounted rate As long as you’re quick, there shouldn’t be a cost to cancel your contract if they’ve raised the price.
enjay Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 BT are increasing by £5.50per month my broadband contract does anyone know the cost of leaving BT early? Generally, the cost of leaving a contract early is the remaining monthly payments you've committed to, so if you're paying £10 and leave 10 months early, you pay £100.
ITGuyNW Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 BT are increasing by £5.50per month my broadband contract does anyone know the cost of leaving BT early? Call/Chat with BT and see what they say. I was paying £32 for 125mb at Virgin Media, they wanted to put it up to £38. I called and said I wanted to cancel (I'm mid contract and they said I could cancel without paying any fees). They came back with £27 for 18 months. I said I still wasn't happy and they came back again with £24 a month for the 18 months, so I accepted.
enjay Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 Just where did this mythical 3.9% additional increase come from? To me it appears to be used a lot. Given it's on top of whichever inflationary index is chosen, it can only fuel inflation further, so not going to help bring that down. The thing which confuses me about the additional 3.9% is it encourages customer disloyalty, as there's no incentive to stay with the same provider.
enjay Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 I was paying £32 for 125mb at Virgin Media, they wanted to put it up to £38. I called and said I wanted to cancel (I'm mid contract and they said I could cancel without paying any fees). They came back with £27 for 18 months. I said I still wasn't happy and they came back again with £24 a month for the 18 months, so I accepted. Sounds like my annual conversation with the car insurance company.
localzuk Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/phone-internet-downloads-or-tv/cancelling-a-phone-tv-internet-or-mobile-contract/ As long as you’re quick, there shouldn’t be a cost to cancel your contract if they’ve raised the price. All contracts for phone companies these days explicitly state they can increase the price by inflation + a small percentage, usually 3.9%. So, in most cases you will not be able to exit your contract early.
flyinghaggis Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 (edited) All contracts for phone companies these days explicitly state they can increase the price by inflation + a small percentage, usually 3.9%. So, in most cases you will not be able to exit your contract early. I can just about understand how an inflationary rise could be considered reasonable but I've no idea now companies are legally allowed to jack up prices whilst customers are in contract by that plus an arbitrary amount. I'm surprised regulators haven't cracked down on it to be honest. With CPI/RPI being what it is that means around a 15% annual rise in your bills which is not in inconsiderable amount. Well above 10% more than most peoples pay has gone up this year I suspect! Edited March 3, 2023 by flyinghaggis 1
foofighterjim Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 I can just about understand how an inflationary rise could be considered reasonable but I've no idea now companies are legally allowed to jack up prices whilst customers are in contract by that plus an arbitrary amount. I'm surprised regulators haven't cracked down on it to be honest. With CPI/RPI being what it is that means around a 15% annual rise in your bills which is not in inconsiderable amount. Well above 10% more than most peoples pay has gone up this year I suspect! The irony being that these sort of increases then feed further inflation.
CHiLL Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 Had a new portable thermostat installed by my landlord, so I can more accurately control the temperature of my flat, as the old thermostat was down the stairs where it's cold and I only had 3x scheduled times to control when the boiler was on. I've been playing about with the temperature controls of the new one and I don't know what to set it at. I initially had it set to 18C during the evening, and 13C overnight. I changed it yesterday to 18C 24/7, which appears to be more expensive to maintain (I was hoping that maintaining a target temperature with more frequent but shorter boiler burns would be better). What do other people have their target temperatures set to?
PotNoodleTech Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 Had a new portable thermostat installed by my landlord, so I can more accurately control the temperature of my flat, as the old thermostat was down the stairs where it's cold and I only had 3x scheduled times to control when the boiler was on. I've been playing about with the temperature controls of the new one and I don't know what to set it at. I initially had it set to 18C during the evening, and 13C overnight. I changed it yesterday to 18C 24/7, which appears to be more expensive to maintain (I was hoping that maintaining a target temperature with more frequent but shorter boiler burns would be better). What do other people have their target temperatures set to? Yeh I tested this - leaving it on 24/7 is more expensive than just using the normal hot in the morning hot in the evening tequnique. In gas but also in electricity as when it/s on 24/7 the pump runs a lot more and that uses 100-150 watts on a normal combi boiler. I was quite suprised!
CHiLL Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 Yeh I tested this - leaving it on 24/7 is more expensive than just using the normal hot in the morning hot in the evening tequnique. In gas but also in electricity as when it/s on 24/7 the pump runs a lot more and that uses 100-150 watts on a normal combi boiler. I was quite suprised! Guess I'm changing it back when I get home later then! Out of interest, do you know what your target temperatures are for daytime while at work and overnight? When I Google it, everywhere says 18C for both comfortable living and good sleep.
mavhc Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 Do you have a condensing boiler? Then you want the return flow temp to be as low as possible, and thus want the heating on for longer
Dos_Box Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 If this comes to pass, it will be a great help for many - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64830701 1
CHiLL Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 Do you have a condensing boiler? Then you want the return flow temp to be as low as possible, and thus want the heating on for longer I don't actually know, I think it's just a standard Worcester-Bosch combi-boiler. The only temperature controls I have on the boiler itself are two dials with 1-6 on each, one for the central heating and one for the hot water. Is this the return flow control?
mavhc Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 Yes then. The 2 controls are the outgoing temp, turn down the central heating one a little each day and see what happens. You'll have to leave it on longer at some point though, but that's fine. https://www.heatgeek.com/condensing-boilers-efficiency/ has a graph about half way down
HarryMonkey Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 Having just moved we've got our energy bills/supplier to sort out. We are currently being supplied by the people that had the contract prior to us moving in (OVO). They've just given me a quote to remain as the supplier and I was amazed that based on their figures that they've quoted, my December bill would have been around £95 cheaper than with our previous supplier (EON). I guess we'll be changing supplier then.
RedwayNetworks_Michael Posted March 3, 2023 Posted March 3, 2023 Having just moved we've got our energy bills/supplier to sort out. We are currently being supplied by the people that had the contract prior to us moving in (OVO). They've just given me a quote to remain as the supplier and I was amazed that based on their figures that they've quoted, my December bill would have been around £95 cheaper than with our previous supplier (EON). I guess we'll be changing supplier then. Leaving EON would be a good idea, worst ones ive had to deal with
nicholab Posted March 4, 2023 Posted March 4, 2023 My wife wants to look at buying a 6 bedroom house as it save money as the kitchen and windows are already done and it has solar! She worried redoing a kitchen will cost £35k as that what one of her clients spent on their house! Note they have a his and hers Porsche! How do people’s cope with out a utility room and separate boot room? 1
hardtailstar Posted March 5, 2023 Posted March 5, 2023 My wife wants to look at buying a 6 bedroom house as it save money as the kitchen and windows are already done and it has solar! She worried redoing a kitchen will cost £35k as that what one of her clients spent on their house! Note they have a his and hers Porsche! How do people’s cope with out a utility room and separate boot room? I dont have a utility room or boot room. Our washing machine and tumble dryer are in a small space between kitchen and bathroom. But we have a porch so use that for shoes/boots/coats etc
elsiegee40 Posted March 5, 2023 Posted March 5, 2023 My wife wants to look at buying a 6 bedroom house as it save money as the kitchen and windows are already done and it has solar! She worried redoing a kitchen will cost £35k as that what one of her clients spent on their house! Note they have a his and hers Porsche! How do people’s cope with out a utility room and separate boot room? I think you need to sit down and do the maths on the mortgage payments - especially if the interest rates are rising. We have a large 4 bed house with solar and the utility bills are not small either! Buying a massive house also costs you more in council tax. Our utility area is more like a short corridor and boots go in the garage. Neither is necessary or essential. It took us 10 years to afford to modernise the bathrooms and 15 for the kitchen. Live within your means. Aspiration is lovely but expensive
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