As if the energy price increases are bad but then nearly doubling the daily standing charges is taking the *******.
Developing a tolerance to cold will save hundreds of pounds a year . My kids were brought up in a cold old house from birth and were used to it . When we used to visit and stop over night at friends modern well insulated houses , they used to wake me up and say they were to hot and couldn't sleep . Now both left and living in modern houses they came back and complained how cold it is ...You soon loose the tolerance
Ironic that an appliance that had long since lost its practical value and became little more than a gimmick to impress friends and family will now be put back to practical use....... And as for only using smokeless fuel and kiln-dried wood? Yeh, good luck with that Greta.. ....
We use our multifuel Morso exclusively for heating. Our merchant is no longer legally allowed to sell bituminous coal unless it's delivered loose or in open bags. That is legislated to stop being sold next May in any format. The price of bagged smokeless has shot up recently. We've seen approx 25% over the last few months, pre the Ukraine atrocities. So sadly Purple they've got us from all angles with every excuse!
Stock up now, and keep all your tree lopping and storm debris. I won't be taking it to the tip then stopping off on the way home to buy approved stuff to burn! When I was a peasant student I used to carry a rucksack when out dog walking and fill it with fallen branches that were small enough to snap by hand. Along with some solid fuel, it went on the Rayburn? fire that heated the living room and back boiler. The hot water and central heating would literally whistle with the heat.
Yup, we do have a small stock that we keep topped up and that was some cushion against the last-but-one price increase but how much do you buy in! I prefer to burn wood, but experience has shown it's a false economy to burn it unseasoned. It doesn't have to be kiln dried but as you know it can take 12 months or so to season, so if you've got the space start stacking now! It doesn't take long for flues to become blocked with the creosote in the condensate from burning sap filled wood and it's a royal pain in the butt clean off , and is highly corrosive to the flues! Not sure there really are any cheap solutions to this crisis.
And that feeling in the middle of the night when you find that the plug wasn't tightened properly.......
Got a couple of those too! Hot water from the enamel kettle on top of the stove...for washing water as well for the win Have you seen the price of bottled gas
Shell sent me a letter last week - the standing charge for Electric is going up from 26p to 56p a day!!! It seems to me we are all possibly being hoodwinked. Yes cost of living is going up, yes inflation is going up, but how much of that is the natural effect of a couple years of pandemic and now a European conflict, or just plain-old "we've got something to blame now" profiteering? I'm genuinely curious.
Old trailers will get dragged out and little trips through country woods will be common practise ...if not already
Does sound a stitch up - found this from uswitch: https://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/guides/energy-standing-charges/ "What is a standing charge? The standing charges on your energy bill cover the fixed costs of providing your home with both gas and electricity (each will have its own standing charge). These costs include the price of keeping your home connected to the energy network, carrying out meter readings, maintenance and other related charges. Part of your standing charge will also go towards the cost of government initiatives aimed at helping vulnerable homes and reducing carbon emissions. Surely from this description the standing charge rises should be based on inflation, not 50% increases! How can they all have different rates if they use the same infrastructure - they cant possible calculate the cost accurately for each household - my neighbour is likely to be with some other provider. Of course the reducing carbon emissions bit is conveniently ambiguous, exactly what does that mean? This needs people power to effect any change - imagine if 100,000 customers all cancelled their DD's and reverted to pay as you go - wait for a bill. Then a final demand. Then pay up at the last minute and do it over and over again every month. Their cashflow would implode.
Ye shouldn't need a hot water bottle with trousers and sox on in a bed ...you are still waisting heat .
But at least then you are depriving them of free money in their reserve accounts - I would prefer, begrudgingly, to pay the full amount every quarter rather than have them build up a DD credit using my money. If people are nervous of debt, then I suppose you could revert to a Standing Order instead, so the cost is fixed every month on your instruction. It would still cause them a world of pain, and one thing for sure, they haven't got the personnel to send out cutting people off, they don't even read the meter any more, which happens to be one of the costs associated with the Standing Charge.....so I guess they can increase the Standing Charge to pay for the roll-out of smart meters that then saves them money as they don't need to be physically read anymore....
Like you do, I think it's genuinely difficult to pin the blame on any one event, big business and other benders of the truth, including politicians will always select the most convenient story that fits their narrative. For example, party-gate has dropped out of the news, recently, I am sure Boris couldn't be happier.
