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

I remember them. Are we getting them again?

 

Only if you don't pay your Council Tax.

 

They've promised me £200 towards my EDF electrickery ,
Jenny namaste

 

I've just been reading about industrial heat-recuperation schemes in France. (No point posting the link as it's all in French ). The principle is to retrieve the heat generated by industry, data centres, rubbish disposal sites etc, to provide second-hand heating and / or electricity for businesses and homes. The potential is in the TWhs but under-exploited at the moment. It's also very regional as obviously it only works where there's a high concentration of industry and housing not too far away. It sounds a lot more feasible in UK, assuming there still is some industry? I'm sure that there are lots of data centres Is it already happening?

 

Heat recupeperation has been used in the steel industry for decades waste gases heat fire bricks in one unit and then switch to a second unit while air is blown through the first and pre heated before entering the furnace.
British Sugar's waste heat goes to heat glasshouses and I believe some power stations have similar set ups.
Tends to be that businesses use the waste heat internally rather than exporting it, probably less paperwork.

Very little after Margaret Thatcher.

 

Ah...I thought they'd be up to speed Looking at the figures involved, it seems the limitation for exporting it here is the cost of infrastructure and it's certainly not practical in agricultural areas with widely-spread, sparse human habitations. That's where methane and solar come into their own

 

Way, way back in time, way back when I was just a boy at school, we were taught that Germany was using waste heat from industrial cooling systems to heat nearby homes by effectively having a hot water mains (for heating only, not deemed safe for drinking or washing with).

It can't possibly be true though, because our various governments over the last few decades have said that Britain is a world leader on energy efficiency initiatives.

 

Would this be back in the mists of time when Britain had nearly as much heavy industry as Germany?

 

Following my meter reading on 15/2/23 EDF have told me my monthly DD will be rising from £193pm to £251pm !
Thats outrageous !
It will be a struggle to heat, cook and eat ,
Jenny namaste

 

With interest rates rising a bit, wouldn't it be worth scrapping the DD and putting the money aside in a savings account? Especially if you've got (had imposed) a smart meter so you can keep a close eye on actual consumption.

 

I'm with BG and have always paid by variable direct debit, i keep expecting them to tell me I can't do that anymore but ok up till now.

The companies know its difficult to work out how much it's all going to cost so are jumping on the bandwagon and ripping off their customers at every opportunity.
If you have last years consumption figures you still don't know what is going to happen to prices this year so you are in the dark to some extent.