Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

[cainer]

not anymore. 90 days max stay in any 180 day period, so 3 months might just be out of scope, 4 months certainly not happening unless you have an Irish or other EU country passport.

Would that still stand for the Canary islands as they're not in the EU ?

 

[delta0]

not anymore. 90 days max stay in any 180 day period, so 3 months might just be out of scope, 4 months certainly not happening unless you have an Irish or other EU country passport.

That’s just the visa free entry into the Schengen area. Can just get a long stay visa if you need to stay longer or hop into a non-Schengen (or non-EU) country.

Would that still stand for the Canary islands as they're not in the EU ?

They are through Spain’s membership.

 

[chrcoluk]

Has anyone tried to get their base usage down to as low as possible? I recently was away for 3 days and I took before and after readings and am using 1.76 kWh of electricity per day. That is just with the fridge, boiler electronics and burglar alarm panel switched on, everything else in the entire house off.

That is quite high.

In my new place I'll need a new fridge anyway so a new E rated fridge (D or E is about the best you can get for a reasonable outlay it seems), that will be about 0.6 kWh per day.

For stuff like TV standby, wifi etc, I am thinking of a solution whereby I can switch everything off at once on leaving the house, sort of like a smart plug or something.

Will still need to use gas for heating (will try cut the temperature though) and shower, cooking etc.

Is it possible to self wire one solar panel and small battery to a dedicated socket just to power the fridge?

When I went on a break in April was disappointed I was still using 3 KwH a day.

Fridge
Networking equipment
??NAS (possibly, cant remember on this one, but think was off).
Two LED lights to pretend someone home.
TV standby
UPS
PS5 standby
Satellite Linux STB standby
Laptop (forgot to turn this off)

 

[wildman]

Would that still stand for the Canary islands as they're not in the EU ?

Yes they are a sovereign part of Spain so count as EU

 

[cainer]

They are through Spain’s membership.

Ahh ok i think it was no VAT part that made me think otherwise as i remember when i went there many years ago the duty free allowance was different from the rest of the EU

 

[Surveyor]

That’s just the visa free entry into the Schengen area. Can just get a long stay visa if you need to stay longer or hop into a non-Schengen (or non-EU) country.

Which particular visa would the retired apply for?

 

[wildman]

That’s just the visa free entry into the Schengen area. Can just get a long stay visa if you need to stay longer or hop into a non-Schengen (or non-EU) country.

no, that doesn't work either. Long stay Visa's are not for tourists / holidays, they are for work

Unfortunately, the majority of Schengen countries do not offer long-term-stay visas for tourists/visitors that won't be working in their desired country. Generally speaking, if you want a long-stay visa, you'd have to apply for a work visa or residence

so the solution of going somewhere nice and warm in the EU for a long stretch to see the winter out and live cheaper is for the birds, unless these people are planning on working there for the duration.

Also you can't just hop into a non schengen and then back again to reset the timer.

Stay Limits within the Schengen Area: Counting the 90 Days​

With the UK’s exit from the EU, UK nationals’ freedom of movement within the EU came to an end as well; however, they are still able to travel within the Schengen Area without a visa. As such, UK citizens are now subject to the Schengen Area’s visa-waiver stay limitation of 90 days within any 180 days throughout the entire zone. The count begins as soon as a traveller enters the Schengen Area until the day they depart. For example:

• If a traveller entered Germany (in the Schengen Area) from the UK (not in the Schengen Area) and spent 10 days in Germany, then took a train to Poland (in the Schengen Area) for a stay of 7 days, and then flew back to the UK, they would have stayed 17 total days in the Schengen Area.
• Even if the traveller briefly departed the Schengen Area, their stay calculation would still be based on the time spent in the zone. For example, if the traveller were to enter Germany from the UK and spend 10 days in Germany, departed back to the UK for 5 days, flew to Poland for a 7-day stay, and then returned to the UK again, they would still have stayed 17 total days in the Schengen Area.

Finally, note that the date of entry is considered the first day of stay and the date of exit is considered the last day to stay.

A Moving Target: How to Calculate the 180 Days​

Calculating the 90 days is fairly straightforward, but where the most confusion arises is the rolling 180-day period. It’s often easiest to think of this 180-days as a moving block of time that is counted backwards from each day of staying in the Schengen Area. Another example may help illustrate this concept:

• If a traveller entered Austria on 1 November 2021, the 180-day “block” of time would be calculated backwards from that date (back to 6 May 2021) and then any additional days of stay within the Schengen Area. Each day they stay in the Schengen Area will advance the 180-day timeframe – so the calculation on 2 November 2021 would advance the 180-day block by one day to 7 May 2021.

Still confused? Luckily, the European Commission has an online Short-Stay Calculator that allows users to either assess previous and/or ongoing compliance with the 90/180 rule or to check the maximum length of stay that will be allowed on a particular day in the future.

 

[wildman]

Which particular visa would the retired apply for?

they can't unless they want to work

I wish people would do basic fact checking before spouting crap about getting visas and hopping into non schengen etc.

 

[delta0]

no, that doesn't work either. Long stay Visa's are not for tourists / holidays, they are for work



so the solution of going somewhere nice and warm in the EU for a long stretch to see the winter out and live cheaper is for the birds, unless these people are planning on working there for the duration.

Also you can't just hop into a non schengen and then back again to reset the timer.

I didn’t say hop back. Go into Croatia or Cyprus and stay there for another 90 days if you want.

Unless you aren’t retired then chances are you are going to need to work, even remotely so a visa should be completely viable. If you are retired then there are other options.

 

[delta0]

Which particular visa would the retired apply for?

Depends. Buy a place for a certain amount depending on the threshold for the country then go for golden. Otherwise the standard retirement visa you just need to prove you have enough to support yourself.

 

[Uther]

I'm not sure some poor pensioner living on state pension will be rushing abroad for 3 months any time soon.

 

[Surveyor]

Depends. Buy a place for a certain amount depending on the threshold for the country then go for golden. Otherwise the standard retirement visa you just need to prove you have enough to support yourself.

Your first option requires the retired to buy a property so they can reduce their winter fuel bills in the UK. Interesting...

Putting that aside for now, and using Spain as the example given in this thread, which of these visas would they apply for?

 

[Jokester]

Cruise ships are the way to go.

 

[delta0]

Your first option requires the retired to buy a property so they can reduce their winter fuel bills in the UK. Interesting...

Putting that aside for now, and using Spain as the example given in this thread, which of these visas would they apply for?

If you are going to spend so long in Spain without buying a property then just go for the standard retirement visa. Spain is one of the easiest and nicest places to retire to for expats. I had family retire to the neighbouring Portugal which is also nice.

 

[rG-tom]

I've been trying to get one of these for months, no stock anywhere!

get a Flogas "gaslite" one, much better (plastic not metal so you can see how much is left and also doesn't leave rust rings on patio etc). readily available at loads of places, inc B&M home bargains of all places.

 

[Troop]

It's not nothing though, it's powering your fridge/freezer. I have the same issue, using a baseline of power for devices like this, but ultimately drop it into cost of doing business.

I need/want a running fridge/freezer unit so have to pay up.

My baseline power consumption with basic stuff running is 200w~ or 2.4kwh per day. That includes stuff like router, switches, standby devices.

If your baseline power consumption is 200w that's 4.8Kw per day, that will soon mount up on your bill!.

 

[HungryHippos]

If your baseline power consumption is 200w that's 4.8Kw per day, that will soon mount up on your bill!.

Ah yes, derped my way into that one, 4.8 kwh per day!

 

[Surveyor]

If you are going to spend so long in Spain without buying a property then just go for the standard retirement visa. Spain is one of the easiest and nicest places to retire to for expats. I had family retire to the neighbouring Portugal which is also nice.

I can't see a retirement visa on the list, which one do they apply for?

 

[silversurfer]

You won’t be able to afford food so may aswell turn the fridge off

I worked shifts, arriving back in the early hours and leaving in the morning anyway so I did just that. UHT milk, Im not fussy and I had most meals elsewhere anyway. Anyone genuinely poor will do just that, turn it back on when you actually got food to put in it, store tins otherwise etc.
Got to admit the amount of food waste people buy but dont eat and use what they paid for, this isnt a small amount UK is pretty bad on economising imo

Average lifespan for a tree is anywhere from 100 to 600 years

Some of the trees planted ww2 era are now due to be used up, thats the planned schedule I'd expect outside of hard wood forests. Any longer and the wood is lost increasingly which is recycled by nature but burning and replanting isnt the worst thing imo. Especially if we can start planting more like in Scotland they are repopulating land left barren for centuries since it was cleared for cattle, In Brazil they do the opposite

a lot of wood burnt in a chimney with the sap will coat the bricks in tar, without a flue avoid all wood as has costs further down the line. Smokeless coal or anthracite Ive found is ok, cheap giant amounts of heat. The traditional smokey oily coal they dont want you to burn and they have blocked the last coal mine in Wales this year despite the energy shortfall. We now source that usage for steam trains from Kazakhstan a Russia satellite regime.

Know your wood: a chimney sweep’s Guide to the Do's and Don’ts of Burning Wood

Did you know that some wood burns quicker than others? Or that your logs should have a moisture level of less than 20%?

www.wilkinschimneysweep.co.uk

 

[dlockers]

Cruise ships are the way to go.

This. Worst case scenario you all die of plague