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

Are you still on your fixed deal? When does that end?

I'd strongly advise everyone to look closely at their energy accounts right now. See if you are in credit or debt. Know your unit cost, and know how many units you've used over the last 12 months (assuming no lifestyle changes, your last 12 months usage will be a good predictor of your next 12 months).

Look at the best price per unit you can get, and multiply this by the number of units you used over the last 12 months, divide by 12 and compare that against the monthly cost you've been quoted.

What I found is their quote was bang on, based on predicated use multiplied by unit price. BUT they hadn't factored in two things. We're all getting at least 400 quid off the government towards our energy bills, and I'd already built up a credit of 400 quid. They hadn't taken either of these things into account, so they were clearly hoping to build up 800 quid credit at my expense, presumably to balance the books ready for those that can't pay and fall behind.

So beware that your quotes might be higher than they need to be, and don't be afraid to challenge them. There are times when paying a bit more to build up a credit buffer is a good thing, but now is probably not one of them given that we're all in for financial pain anyway.

 

We all should, the more the better because I can guarantee a lot of companies will be piggy backing off these high energy prices. We will get companies coming out with, they have no option but to increase prices due to high energy costs, yes smaller businesses will be more widely affected where as some of the big boys will have already secured long term contracts at a fixed price for their energy needs, opportunity to maximise profits.

 

A lot of small businesses will be gone by spring. Apparently the energy price cap only applies to residential properties but even if I've got that wrong, many small businesses won't be able to afford their energy bills doubling or tripling. The local independent greengrocers, butcher's, bakers, pubs and cafes to name but a few are all in for a serious hard time. These are businesses that can't afford to build up a massive financial buffer, and will lose all their customers if they become significantly more expensive than their big chain competitors. I expect unemployment will rise first. Some young kid employed in their first job as general assistant in the greengrocer will have to go, which will break the heart of the owner and the assistant alike. Lots of people have already done all we can to reduce our energy demand. But if there's any way we can reduce it further, we kind of have to. A year ago that was true for the environment, now there's a more immediate need. If we can cut our energy use, it's not only immediately beneficial to us through reduced bills, but because of the principle of supply and demand, if enough of us can make a dent, then overall prices should also drop.

 

I hope your right. The way I see it, we as a nation have been reducing our energy consumption over the years, better energy saving appliances, insulation, solar panels etc etc, yet here we are using less, but paying more for the privilege. Energy prices would of increased regardless of what is going on in the Ukraine, yes the increases would of not been as much but we would still be paying more.

Also, the other side of supply and demand, big companies rule the roost, monopolies, they can and do control the supply chain to maximise their profits from demand. As with Covid, this energy crisis plays into the hands of big business, wiping the small and medium business out, less competition.

 

We have a local fishmongers in the High Street. His freezer bills will be astronomical soon and fish is a financial luxury for most of us.
What are his chances of survival ?
And our little local Deli....
we will struggle to eat at home - let alone eat out. All very sad,
Jenny namaste

 

Only real way I could cut back is on green house heating, I shut half the house down during the winter any way, have done for a while but I hate doing it, I like space.

I only run the two smallish green houses on survival mode now, but I assume even so I use a fair bit of electric on sub zero nights.

Maybe it might be a good time to invest in solar panels, last time I tried I was told I don't use enough to make it worth my while.

Could replace the boiler but will a new one pay for itself in my lifetime, or if I changed it would a future government to bring in some half baked green plan that bans gas boilers and makes us all get those plastic boxes on our walls.

Things need to settle I think before making radical changes.

 

I can see your logic, but if I'm honest I'm unconvinced.

Yes, appliances are generally more efficient than they used to be, if comparing like for like. But it's not like for like. Let's consider some examples.

A modern LED TV is certainly more efficient than an old CRT TV. But when we had CRT TVs, they weren't connected to media stations, digital TV boxes and routers, and they probably didn't get used as much either. Modern heating systems are better than old ones, but I bet most run them 24/7 whereas when I was a kid, if my parents put any form of heating on, I thought we'd won the pools. Washing machines are better than the first front loaders, but I remember the twin tub taking about 10 minutes and the clothes would then go on the line, because nobody had a tumble dryer. Our food wasn't stored in the freezer because like most people I knew, we never had one. We had a small fridge for the milk and meat, and everything else went in the pantry, which had veg racks and shelves for dried foods. Writing this makes me sound old, but I'm not talking just after the war, I did most of my growing up in the 1980s. Even something as innocent as a computer, a modern entry level spec PC typically comes with a 400 watt PSU in it. It won't use anything like that much most of the time but run anything processor intensive in it and it will. Higher spec PC's built for gaming are more likely to have a 650 watt PSU in them, and that's just for the base unit, not including monitors or any external audio etc.

 

How do I tap into this heat source without damaging pipes with the loading shovel?

Soil conditioner being filled into the tunnel ready for bagging and selling in the coming months.


Temperature reading inside the tunnel.




Disturbed about 3 cubic metres of the mix, you can see the steam at the top.



Temperature reading about 6" inside the mix.



Logically we could fix water pipes to the wall down the side of the tunnel, the downside is less volume of soil conditioner, less temperature plus cools down sooner when outside temperatures drop. Any

 

We got our gas bill through today for heating (not on a great deal) and hot water (we use a lot). £105.

 

Reports on historical consumption is that we peaked in 2005 with a reduction in energy consumption ever since, how accurate these reports are, i don't know.

Electricity_since_1920.xls (live.com)

Which also did a research some years back and concluded that we were actually using less electricity but were paying more, which sort of backs up the above link on consumption

I am just basing my opinion as a business and investors. If we consume less, then an investor could see a significant drop in there investment, which will result in them charging us more for less, hope I am wrong and your right.

 

Mine is just assumptions based on my own observations. If the stats say I'm wrong, then I'm wrong. But even if I am, I think it still shows that our modern lifestyles have a lot more room for efficiency improvements than I think many realise.

I'm just as bad. I've grown used to modern luxuries the same as everyone else so I'm certainly not judging anyone. I just think many of us can probably cut more than we think.

 

Can you build a "radiator" on the floor putting wood in between the pipes to create a slightly raised platform that the shovels would glide along? Where are you directing this heat? If you send it to a greenhouse and to another exposed "radiator" you could just run a pipe there and have it loop back. A very small fan would slowly circulate and transfer the hot air. Something similar to geothermal?

 

Just make sure you leave the oven door open when you have switched off the cooker.
When using a cooker, take advantage of all the space and cook as much as you can, this might mean planing ahead what you are likely to eat for the next day or two. Or switch off the cooker 10 minutes sooner, it will retain heat while still cooking. I have been told that cooking with copper bottom pans is a good idea as they heat up more quickly.

Make sure your radiators are running efficiently, do they need bleeding or are they blocked, better to check now before the cooler months set in.