The cost of living... what can we do?

I think most money saving tips have been discussed, to be honest, I've not noticed anything that is likely to even make a dent in the new price rises

If you can't pay, you can't pay.

 

We have not been hit so hard here, from 16c to 25c kw/h and 40c a day ... sorry, too early to convert.

 

Which is 14p to 22p per kWh and 35p a day

 

I haven't even got a clue how much I'm being charged per kwh, for some reason the figures never seem to stick in my head.
As for the way the BBC keep quoting an average annual bill it's all pie in the sky stuff and really seems a pointless way of telling us what is going on.

 

Should we adopt the same to the cost per kWh as we have with Appliances and have more bands on tariff rates.

Households that use the least would be graded A, so they should be on a cheaper tariff, while those who are consuming the most G would be a higher tariff rate.

Probably wouldn't work at the moment, those who are on very low incomes are probably living in the least energy friendly households anyways. But I think we need to reward those who are being more efficient and are consuming less than those who are not.

 

Well it is quiet a close one, but as a very crude guide, for heating the hot water from the old central heating uses about 6kw @7p = 42p and the Immersion ( for 30 mins) about 1.5kw @26p =49p.

The caveats are that we did not run all the hot/warm water out of the tank before reheating.
Depending on immersion elements length , eg 14" or 27", the shorter ones will heat just the upper area of the tank, whereas the central heating coil in the tank is much lower down and tends to heat more of the tank.
It also depends on how long you have the heating on for, we generally time it for 30 mins, but thats just for us, probably a lot different for a busy family ?

What we did find from using our kitchen monitor that even with the appliances turned off it was still registering gas use, did we have a leak ?? !!
Forgot about the boilers pilot light !
However when we added its usage up over the year it was quiet a cost ! then remembered that long ago we had the pilot set to a highish flame as it could blow out in gales, but think now is the time to have it readusted to a lower flame.

 

Interesting info on British gas site.
Definition of 1kwh of gas.
It will power a 40 watt light bulb for 25hrs.
In trying to explain things, in simple terms, they appear to be making it more complicated.

 

I can't see anyone going for that idea, would suit me fine in my household of one, can't see a household of 5 liking the idea.
Surely it would have to be based on per person.

 

My 20yrs old one has a pilot light.
Working out the savings as against the cost of buying and installing new one is not really possible.

 

I don't think it would be a case of replacing just the boiler in my case, I presume that the hot and cold tanks become redundant.
How does a modern boiler heat the radiators without some kind of tank, just doesn't seem like a simple out with the old and in with the new to me.
I've heard modern systems run under pressure, I'd probably need to uprate all my heating system.
Does it cut down the flow of hot water.
All the people around here that have these combi boilers seem to have a heating company van almost permanently parked outside.