Also ban businesses from leaving their building lights on overnight. Most businesses do this and its hugely wasteful.
This is getting ridiculous (energy prices - Strictly NO referrals!)
- Thread starter DXP55
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Soldato
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I think you're right.
I'll knock the thermostat down a bit. I'll turn non-essential items off at the plug when not in use. I shut doors to keep the heat in. I bought an electric blanket and use that, rather than heating the whole house, when working from home. I don't use the tumble dryer much now (today was first time in weeks).
I would guess most people will do some, or all of that when the higher prices come in.
The people who live on the financial edge will find it much harder than me to manage their costs.
The biggest distinction between brownouts and blackouts is that brownouts are partial outages while blackouts are a complete shutdown of electricity. During a brownout, the system capacity is reduced and the voltage is typically reduced by at least 10 to 25 percent.
This is the answer.
Would you risk running your gear?
This is the answer.
Would you risk running your gear?
4kwh a day is nothing, basically a fridge and a freezer for the day. Sounds like a great life. The most frugal of users are doing 8-10kwh IF they have gas for heating.
Those who you are targeting will just install solar to cover any additional consumption as the tax makes it even more viable. Those it hurts the most with electric heating, can’t afford to mitigate against the cost.
Exactly, my house uses 3.6kWh per day even when everything is powered off except the basics when I go on holiday. We typically do 9kWh / day but wife and I both WFH 5 days a week and we have two kids. I'm as frugal as I can be without sacrificing quality of life (e.g. stop washing laundry, cancel my internet and wifi)
Soldato
I see... So although I'll be freezing my knackers off on the outside, the raft of Disney feel good movies will keep me feeling all warm and snuggly on the inside
^^^ this is tongue in cheek, the sentiment of saving money is well received tho
Insulate, insulate, insulate. Some things such as underfloor, loft and wall insulation already paid for themselves pretty quickly prior to bills doubling. Another big one is draughtproofing - makes lower ambient room temperatures a lot more comfortable.
If you are thinking of staying in your current home for the next 5-10 years you could probably financially justify spending quite a bit of money on these measures if you are of the belief that these bills aren't going to reduce by any substantial amount, anytime soon.
I also don't think its unreasonable to imagine that in ten years time people will place a higher value on some of these measures than the more superficial elements of a house that are valued today.
Draughtproofing is a big one especially in old council houses like mine. I will be getting our windows done at some point but getting our roof replaced helped a lot (no loft as attic conversion) but even keeping doors closed can help trap that heat in.
Soldato
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- 23 May 2006
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I have seen people insulating walls inside a house but I would worry about lost space inside and looking odd around doors and sockets
sorry if already covered but . can you get external insulation, ie maybe putting something down then covering with hardie plank or something.
sorry if already covered but . can you get external insulation, ie maybe putting something down then covering with hardie plank or something.
Associate
Yes, external wall insulation is most definitely a thing and is better than internal insulation for a variety of reasons, as long as its possible on your house.
Soldato
Getting rid of the standing charges would be what I would like in a dream world but also UK owned utility companies so that we aren't feeling the pinch when they're gloating about record profits.
Also in my version of Utopia I wouldn't be paying £25 a month for 34mb broadband when a friend about a mile away is paying £40 for 900mb!
Also in my version of Utopia I wouldn't be paying £25 a month for 34mb broadband when a friend about a mile away is paying £40 for 900mb!
Yes, you can get external but it's very expensive, and also you encounter the same problems as with internal insulation ref doors/windows/pipes/guttering. Although resolving these is probably where some of the expense comes from. The cheapest and easiest method is cavity wall insulation - there is a lot of noise about this, with people having issues with damp etc. Although this could be largely a small, vocal minority who were serviced by cowboys during the government grant boom.
Personally, after a lot of research I am leaning toward the internal insulation route as I can do it room by room. I live in a Victorian Terrace, with the kitchen/bathroom and smaller 3rd bedroom in a semi-detached extension to the rear. So the main living rooms/bedrooms have very little external wall as it is and not in any rush to insulate the kitchen/bathroom.
Everything covered by the standing charges would have to be paid for through unit rates. Do think you'd be better off that way?
Also, which of the utility companies are gloating about record profits?
Soldato
SSE, British gas, Shell, BP.
I would prefer everything to be covered by unit prices that way when everything is off I know it shouldn't cost me a thing.
I would prefer everything to be covered by unit prices that way when everything is off I know it shouldn't cost me a thing.
Which is exactly why it's not set that way ! [You just answered your own dream]
Bp are not a utility company.
So you want someone else to pay to maintain your supply etc.
Which of those are making record profits supplying gas and electricity to homes and gloating about it?
And certainly it’s not from U.K. sales alone. Usually it’s U.K. petrol sales making them billions (there is a world outside the U.K.).
But hey let’s Saudi aramco and other foreign colonies make all the money instead so that our companies don’t. Don’t worry about the missing dividends to fund U.K. pensions and no one to invest billions in green energy.
But hey let’s Saudi aramco and other foreign colonies make all the money instead so that our companies don’t. Don’t worry about the missing dividends to fund U.K. pensions and no one to invest billions in green energy.
It's worthless because my enegry costs have doubled to at least £2400 and £200 is going to be a drop in the bucket because as of now, my outgoings are going to be higher than my income.
Time to cut back your energy use then