Gaz and Leccy - Important info!

I think you may have missed the boat (or deal) but have a look at the original quote as that would have a date on it by which you would have needed to agree.

I took a fixed rate deal for 24 months after doing my own calculations. At the time the predictions of price increases were between 24% and 35% in October and then a 20%-25% increase the following April and again in October. It looks as though they are trying to grab it all in October.

I have cut back on consumption and trying to get the Mrs to turn the light off when leaving a room is just starting to catch on .

Trying to remember to do other power saving things is difficult for both of us although one of our friends said that it is easier if we think back to what we did during WWII and the next couple of decades. The wrong images come to mind

 

There are a few points here - when we were kids (70's/80's), Jimmy Saville used to fiddle with kiddies... just because something used to happen is not a hallmark that says is it was right

You are correct that there needs to be a lot less waste of energy, but when you reach the bottom level of your consumption, where do you go from there? I saw the writing on the wall last October and went out and bought a large drying rack, effectively banning the use of the tumble dryer except in emergency circumstances. Our house stayed warm, but my health dictates that I need it so, and that applies to many people with disabilities - having said that, I also used a duvet and jumpers whilst sat relaxing, but that was not suitable for the times when working from home; I did invest in heavy curtains and will be investing in a couple more for doorways before this coming winter. I added draught proofing strips around loft lid and the door into the front porch. We heat our water maybe three times a week, doing so as it is required - not needed, not heated. I have LED bulbs everywhere with the exception of two 50w halogen floor lamps that cannot take LEDs. We have a kettle that boils only the exact amount you need to use. We use a slow cooker, pressure cooker or combi-microwave rather than the 'big' oven (which in itself is probably one of the most efficient ovens we have ever had) - if we do use the big oven, invariably more than one thing gets cooked at the same time and even other cooking methods we batch cook and freeze; we have remote power sockets to switch off circuits when not in use. I even bought a radio to avoid the situation where a TV was being put on just for noise. We are cavity wall insulated (albeit badly done) and the loft is insulated to a degree - - I would like more, but cannot afford the hundreds of pounds it would cost to do so, and bluntly why should I when I rent? Similarly with draughts - I am about to commence renewing all the rubber seals on doors and windows, but even that should really not be my problem. Where do we go from here?

As for car use - again, my health dictates that I need a car. Cycling is in my wildest dreams nowadays, as is most walking. The only 'leisure' use our car gets is to take the dogs to the park or the river, usually after work, and maybe once a year to the beach for an afternoon.

Now, in many ways I am fortunate in that we both in full time employment and our daughter will hopefully be at least part time before too long. My mum, on the other hand, lives alone in Scotland on the east coast. She is 73, not in the best of health and on state pension only. What does she do?

Also, yes, we did heat the room we were in when we were younger - more often than not by a coal fire. They are all but banned nowadays and that extends to log burners also. To heat one room with an electric heater (3kw) would cost as much if not more than it does to heat the entire house with gas central heating (I have a Killawatt and have checked!), so even that answer doesn't stack up... and that is before we remember the other problems that we used to have as a result of heating one room brought, such as considerable damp in many rooms, and conditions that allowed respiratory illnesses to thrive.

At what point do we simply give up?

 

It will be - until we say no.

 

What size are these panels?

I am doubtful that we'd even have the wall space in our house if I am honest as that is the frustrating thing for us - it is a fairly small place, yet because there is draughts, concrete floors and carpet/underlay that is shot to bits, it can be hard to heat. The awkward shape of it also doesn't help (it was essentially a two-up two-down size with a kitchen and bathroom lobbed in. I have an L-shaped living room with open plan staircase too, the heat tends to disappear up there.

The thing is, I accept that we need to pay for energy, but when it reaches the point that it has now where folks are struggling with even more on the horizon, that is just plain wrong.

Yes, folks can do more - but the big if there is, if they can afford to or are even in a position do to so. If I owned this, a log burner would have been installed long ago.

 

As I suspected, not a cat in hell's chance of mounting one in my place.


The hatched area is the staircase going up, with the bathroom being directly above the kitchen. To give an indication of size, the kitchen is a door's width more than the bathroom and the bathroom is as wide as a standard bath (against the top wall looking at the diagram above); the sofas are two seaters as we cannot fit more in, it was those or three armchairs. It is tight.

There is no wall behind the TV either - that is open plan staircase.

I'd also question how many folk could afford a £350 picture/heater - most will plump for a £30 convector or oil filled.

 

We have a relatively new condensing boiler which runs the handful of rads we have fairly efficiently - even given the rise to current rates, we could keep this place warm for around £20-£25 per week in winter - almost double what it was, but by cutting back a bit we could balance it,, or so we thought.

This next increase is going to cripple us in so many ways, and not just folks being able to heat their homes - industry, food, health and transport are all heavily dependent on energy and fuel, The company I work for has hedged fuel and the electricity costs for now - but those deals will be coming to an end very soon. Given our contracts are for 7 years, there can be no way that there was sufficient costings put in for rises of the likes we are seeing now.

 

They won't because they are 100% efficient. Costly, but 100% efficient.
That is all this comes down to as well - idealistic nonsense that simply has not been thought through.