Energy Bills

[flamingsombrero]

34 minutes ago, markavfc40 said:

The chancellors main bit of advice today for people out of their minds with worry with the winter looming is cut back on your energy use. I mean just f*** off. Firstly how the hell are people going to cut back their energy use by over 66% (average cost has trebled since last winter) other than potentially freezing and even if they could it would not have the desired impact as the standing charge has shot through the roof. 

This coming from the guy who billed the taxpayer to heat his **** stables.

[sidcow]

1 minute ago, chrisp65 said:

We need some sort of campaign to Insulate Britain.

It’s so obvious, everyone would get right behind it straight away.

Yes, I totally agree as long as we don't do it by gluing ourselves onto roads causing millions of tons of CO2 to be released into the atmosphere by all the traffic jams we would cause because that would be pretty counter productive.

[Demitri_C]

@sidcow for energy minister!!

[lapal_fan]

9 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

@sidcow for energy minister!!

He's only slightly more clueless than the Tories tbh.  

[chrisp65]

Yeah, they can get enough airtime without resorting to cheap publicity.

The UK media is usually very receptive to covering quiet reasonable arguments.

Why they had to destroy all the progress they’d made by pissing off a few drivers for a few hours I’ll never know. Imagine the leaps of progress we would have made if only they hadn’t done that.

 

 

[Xela]

3 hours ago, Xela said:

I'll be supporting the local chippy today with mini fish n chips and a battered sausage! 

Gone up to £6.80 from £6.25

Still excellent value though.

[Xela]

3 hours ago, hogso said:

What would actually happen in this situation? If all lenders say nope, then are you forced to sell? House re-possessed? I  must say I'm completely ignorant to the implications.

Energy costs alone could absolutely be more than the mortgage for many households by Winter '24 if things keep going the way they are, so surely this sort of situation would become relatively common. 

 

1 hour ago, claretman said:

I've paid the mortgage without issue for years-I will just stay on the mortgage I am, the fixed rate will end and I will be at the mercy of the standard variable rate.  I don't believe that lenders can just cancel your mortgage.

The energy costs are going to significantly impact on my ability to stay on top of a rising mortgage however and there will be a time next year when my wage may not cover my outgoings.  Bad times.

If you stay with the same lender then you should be able to move onto another fixed product when your current one ends. As long as you aren't borrowing more or amending the term, its not classed as a new application and it won't be checked. Certainly that is the case for Nationwide. If you're looking to move lender then its a full affordability application. 

In terms of banks repossessing houses, its generally the last thing they want to do. 1) Bad publicity, 2) Its a nightmare to sort out and 3) They don't make any money out of it as any excess funds are rightly refunded to the customer. Its in the banks interests to work with their customer to pay the mortgage as the real profit is in the repayments/interest. 

[sidcow]

14 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

He's only slightly more clueless than the Tories tbh.  

 

[bielesibub]

39 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

We need some sort of champagne to Insulate Britain.

It’s so obvious, everyone would get right behind it straight away.

FTFY

[sidcow]

27 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

Yeah, they can get enough airtime without resorting to cheap publicity.

The UK media is usually very receptive to covering quiet reasonable arguments.

Why they had to destroy all the progress they’d made by pissing off a few drivers for a few hours I’ll never know. Imagine the leaps of progress we would have made if only they hadn’t done that.

 

 

I'm sure there are plenty of radical newsworthy things they could do which don't actually exacerbate the very problem they're trying to solve.  A few seconds off the top of my head without any real thought - painting slogans in biodegradable paint on The White Cliffs of Dover or naked protests outside Parliament or dangling off ropes off Tower Bridge with a massive banner would get them plenty of exposure without actually making global warming and use of fossil fuels even worse than they would be without their protest. 

Edited August 26, 2022 by sidcow

[villarule123]

When will the riots start? 

[sidcow]

In fact if these protesters had an ounce of good sense they could I am sure pretty easily think up a protest which would:

1. Be radical and interesting 
2. Be extremely newsworthy 
3. Actually get average Joe talking and educated about the issue instead of putting up a block and just being pissed off with the protestors (which is what they've managed to achieve so far) 
4. Actually get people actively rooting for them

It would just take a little more imagination than gluing yourself in front of ambulances and people trying to scratch a living. 

Edited August 26, 2022 by sidcow

[chrisp65]

6 minutes ago, sidcow said:

I'm sure there are plenty of radical newsworthy things they could do which don't actually exacerbate the very problem they're trying to solve.  A few seconds off the top of my head painting slogans in biodegradable paint on The White Cliffs of Dover or naked protests outside Parliament or dangling off ropes off Tower Bridge with a massive banner would get them plenty of exposure without actually making global warming and use of fossil fuels even worse than they would be without their protest. 

 

I wonder what the total contribution to global warming was, across the planet, of that protest? What do you reckon 10 or 15% of total environmental destruction? I dunno, possibly more.

They didn’t exactly set light to oil fields. It’s an utterly bogus argument that they caused a traffic jam which is bad for the environment. It’s such an infinitesimal amount of additional pollution. It’s just an easy lazy way to dismiss something we should all be doing anyway, but its a bit inconvenient.

Anyway, I’ve done grafitti on a wall that is cycling distance from my house. I’ll await the TV cameras.

[MakemineVanilla]

4 hours ago, Xela said:

I'll be supporting the local chippy today with mini fish n chips and a battered sausage! 

Fish has just been added to the list of things which should be banned by the eco-prophets.

Enjoy it while you can.

Edited August 26, 2022 by MakemineVanilla

[sidcow]

1 minute ago, chrisp65 said:

It’s an utterly bogus argument that they caused a traffic jam which is bad for the environment. It’s such an infinitesimal amount of additional pollution. It’s just an easy lazy way to dismiss something we should all be doing anyway, but its a bit inconvenient.

Well we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.  If I'm worried about my boat sinking because of 1,000 leaks I'll do anything to avoid drilling another hole in it because it's just another small hole leaking water.

Theres a million other things they can do. They've chosen the wrong course in my opinion. 

If nothing else they're alienating LOTS of people who probably agree with their concerns and that's never a good place to put yourself. 

[Xela]

1 minute ago, MakemineVanilla said:

Fish has just been added to the list of things which should be banned by the eco-prophets.

Enjoy it while you can.

If they didn't want to get eaten, they shouldn't taste so nice. 

[sidcow]

5 minutes ago, Xela said:

If they didn't want to get eaten, they shouldn't taste so nice. 

 

[It's Your Round]

I’ve just found the energy usage detector thing that we got with the smart meter a few years ago. You can pinpoint how much energy each appliance uses with it, so far my kettle is winning. 

It’s all well and good knowing what you use but cutting down is another matter, especially when you’ve got two kids in their late teens early twenties at home. I don’t want to be that annoying prick of a dad that’s always having a pop about switching plugs off at night and shower times. We’ve all agreed to be more conscious, and that we’ll try switching the heating off over winter.
 

But ultimately, unless you turn everything off and sit in the dark and cold, it’s still going to cost the Earth. it probably will regardless. 

[sidcow]

2 minutes ago, It's Your Round said:

I’ve just found the energy usage detector thing that we got with the smart meter a few years ago. You can pinpoint how much energy each appliance uses with it, so far my kettle is winning. 

It’s all well and good knowing what you use but cutting down is another matter, especially when you’ve got two kids in their late teens early twenties at home. I don’t want to be that annoying prick of a dad that’s always having a pop about switching plugs off at night and shower times. We’ve all agreed to be more conscious, and that we’ll try switching the heating off over winter.
 

But ultimately, unless you turn everything off and sit in the dark and cold, it’s still going to cost the Earth. it probably will regardless. 

This is our issue. The washing machine is on almost constantly. No matter how may times you tell them to think before they put stuff in the washing basket they just chuck everything in. Meanwhile I've had the same jeans on for 2 weeks now. 

[Xela]

Just submitted my meter readings.

In the last 5 weeks I have used £56.51 of electricity and £16.11 of gas. 

Thank god for the warm summer!