Energy Bills

[Genie]

8 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

Is it ok to mention insulation and energy efficiency yet?

Or are we still sulking about that day the M25 was rubbish and it made all the polar bears extinct?

Imagine the cost of sufficient nuclear energy, but spent on needing less energy…

You can already get free insulation, and have been able for many years.

[chrisp65]

10 minutes ago, Genie said:

You can already get free insulation, and have been able for many years.

…if you meet the criteria, benefits, ex forces etc.. Personally, I don’t meet any of the criteria. Also, if you live in specific regions and counties, I don’t live in any of the places on the govt list. I have filled in the ‘contact me’ form three times over a couple of years. Never been contacted.

It’s great in theory.

[Awol]

6 hours ago, Chindie said:

The answer is much more nuclear, but it's an answer nobody likes.

The genius of Extinction Rebellion, campaign against all fossil fuels and new nuclear. All we need to do is shut down manufacturing and rely on intermittent renewables that no one will be able to purchase anyway. 

[ender4]

1 hour ago, Genie said:

You can already get free insulation, and have been able for many years.

Nah, only on specific criteria that most people who are interested in things like insulation wouldnt qualify for it.

[ender4]

1 hour ago, chrisp65 said:

Is it ok to mention insulation and energy efficiency yet?

Or are we still sulking about that day the M25 was rubbish and it made all the polar bears extinct?

Imagine the cost of sufficient nuclear energy, but spent on needing less energy…

You can mention it but:

1) Those people who glued themselves to the motorway were morons. Reason being that no-one knew they were protesting about insulation - everyone thought it was to do with driving cars, public transport, electric cars, etc.  If you want to protest about insulation, make it relevant so people realise what your point is.

2) I’d like to insulate my house as it’s freezing (1950’s house) and have wanted to for years. I don’t have a clue where to start, what needs doing or who I get to solve the problem. There is no information about what to do except put some insulation in the loft and fill your cavity walls (I don’t believe my walls don’t have the gap for this).

If I can’t work out how to make my house warmer, I’m pretty sure millions of other people are in the same position.

[chrisp65]

4 minutes ago, ender4 said:

You can mention it but:

1) Those people who glued themselves to the motorway were morons. Reason being that no-one knew they were protesting about insulation - everyone thought it was to do with driving cars, public transport, electric cars, etc.  If you want to protest about insulation, make it relevant so people realise what your point is.

2) I’d like to insulate my house as it’s freezing (1950’s house) and have wanted to for years. I don’t have a clue where to start, what needs doing or who I get to solve the problem. There is no information about what to do except put some insulation in the loft and fill your cavity walls (I don’t believe my walls don’t have the gap for this).

If I can’t work out how to make my house warmer, I’m pretty sure millions of other people are in the same position.

You might be confusing the group, with how they were reported in the press. I was there, sat in my car watching the show. The clues were all there, they were called Insulate Britain, they had a banner with Insulate Britain written on it. That these slippery clues got passed the media and people might think it was about electric cars is more a reflection on the state of journalism than anything else.

If there were morons, perhaps they work for The Metro, LBC, and Sky News? Unless they aren’t morons at all, but part of a system hooked on keeping things pretty much exactly as they are until ‘they’ can monetise and control the alternatives.

Anyhoo, if you have a 1950’s house, I’d be surprised if it  doesn’t have cavity wall construction, the majority would by then, other than asbestos prefabs and concrete tower blocks. But the information about cavity fill insulation is dangerously bad. I’d say that such a large number of properties are unsuitable for it, its really quite a niche solution and shouldn’t make up (or appear to make up) such a large portion of the govt grant scheme. So many properties must be damaged by cavity fill, when there is a better safer alternative in external cladding. 

We’ve had sales teams here trying to get people to sign up to cavity fill in my street. 1920’s brick build, top of a hill, on the coast, facing in to the prevailing weather, 1920’s non galvanised wall ties. Yet people were pushing cavity fill insulation. Utterly ignorant and irresponsible. So yes, you’re right, the average householder doesn’t really know what to do about insulation, what works and what doesn’t. They shouldn’t be expected to know, and they shouldn’t have to rely on sales teams that are currently in your area.

It’s a massive issue around the environment, energy, and housing stock. So obviously nowhere near any government agenda. Perhaps a campaign of strongly worded leaflets would change that.

  

 

[Genie]

9 hours ago, chrisp65 said:

…if you meet the criteria, benefits, ex forces etc.. Personally, I don’t meet any of the criteria. Also, if you live in specific regions and counties, I don’t live in any of the places on the govt list. I have filled in the ‘contact me’ form three times over a couple of years. Never been contacted.

It’s great in theory.

Why not pay for it yourself? 

[chrisp65]

6 minutes ago, Genie said:

Why not pay for it yourself? 

Do you mean me personally? Or as a nation? I guess the answer is similar in both cases, I do what I can, the obvious stuff like mineral wool in the loft and led lighting. Weirdly, I did recently invest in a better kettle. But the reason I haven’t maximised the insulation and fitted triple glazing, stripped out the gas boiler, had all the house pipe work stripped out and changed for a more efficient larger diameter pipework, and switched to a heat pump whilst putting PV on the roof and converting the garden to be a ground source heat pump is the same reason I haven’t switched to a £40,000 electric vehicle with long range and had a £1500 fast charger fitted to the house. Money. 

 

[Genie]

19 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

Do you mean me personally? Or as a nation? I guess the answer is similar in both cases, I do what I can, the obvious stuff like mineral wool in the loft and led lighting. Weirdly, I did recently invest in a better kettle. But the reason I haven’t maximised the insulation and fitted triple glazing, stripped out the gas boiler, had all the house pipe work stripped out and changed for a more efficient larger diameter pipework, and switched to a heat pump whilst putting PV on the roof and converting the garden to be a ground source heat pump is the same reason I haven’t switched to a £40,000 electric vehicle with long range and had a £1500 fast charger fitted to the house. Money. 

 

I don’t think you have to do all of those things at the same time to see a benefit. Insulation is relatively cheap and has a big impact. I’d be getting it done now if I needed it, it’ll pay for itself quickly.

As you mentioned, people on a range of benefits or ex service personnel can get it funded by government/energy suppliers. Maybe this could be advertised more as many are probably not aware the schemes are still running.

 

[lapal_fan]

Can't we just send all the annoying people in Yorkshire back under the ground to dig coal again? 

They never shut up about it usually, and as usual, as soon as we need them to get dirty you don't hear a peep. 

[tonyh29]

based on estimates my direct debit has gone up to £520 a month  , its  cause I've had the pool running 24 /7 ( insert small violin gif here ) 

used a comparison site and entered my exact usage and the new company claimed my direct debit would be £189 a month 

..expect when i looked at their standard charge per day and cost per unit , they were both higher than my current provider  

presumably just a fake price to hook me in and then after a month they say , we need to increase you direct debit to £550 a month , or am i missing something ? 

[lapal_fan]

[turvontour]

I wonder what the situation is if you've fixed your energy price recently at the higher level. Is that then undone in effect and you're billed at the cap they're proposing?

[Lichfield Dean]

3 minutes ago, turvontour said:

I wonder what the situation is if you've fixed your energy price recently at the higher level. Is that then undone in effect and you're billed at the cap they're proposing?

I assume you'd have to buy out at the agreed price. It's no surprise that the few fixed deals around have had increased buy-out fees added to them recently.

[AshVilla]

20 minutes ago, turvontour said:

I wonder what the situation is if you've fixed your energy price recently at the higher level. Is that then undone in effect and you're billed at the cap they're proposing?

If not your basically being punished for trying to be a smart arse.

[Davkaus]

28 minutes ago, turvontour said:

I wonder what the situation is if you've fixed your energy price recently at the higher level. Is that then undone in effect and you're billed at the cap they're proposing?

If you select a fixed tariff, you opt out of the price cap, it only affects default tariffs.

[Jareth]

Only hope in the initial description of the energy plan is that the bill might be repaid by future taxation - at least there's a lever there for a future hopefully non tory government to make the bill for this fairer. Apparantly there is something in there after all about decoupling cheaper electricity generating costs from the price of gas. I'd say it's a bit of a relief all in all.

[Genie]

39 minutes ago, turvontour said:

I wonder what the situation is if you've fixed your energy price recently at the higher level. Is that then undone in effect and you're billed at the cap they're proposing?

You can buy out of the fix tarriff and go onto the new capped standard rate.

You’ll probably still get the £400 over the winter so if it costs £100 per fuel to exit the fixed deal early you’re still £200 up.

Edited September 6, 2022 by Genie

[desensitized43]

12 hours ago, ender4 said:

You can mention it but:

1) Those people who glued themselves to the motorway were morons. Reason being that no-one knew they were protesting about insulation - everyone thought it was to do with driving cars, public transport, electric cars, etc.  If you want to protest about insulation, make it relevant so people realise what your point is.

2) I’d like to insulate my house as it’s freezing (1950’s house) and have wanted to for years. I don’t have a clue where to start, what needs doing or who I get to solve the problem. There is no information about what to do except put some insulation in the loft and fill your cavity walls (I don’t believe my walls don’t have the gap for this).

If I can’t work out how to make my house warmer, I’m pretty sure millions of other people are in the same position.

Like you I'm in a 1950s house. We have loft and wall insulation but the windows are single glazed and the doors are in need of replacing. It's freezing in the winter and we have bad condensation on the windows. Can I get any kind of grant for this? No.

Next door adjoining my house is a council tenant. They've just had theirs done on the council. Not jealous (ok, I'm a little jealous) but I guess the logic is because I can afford to own my house I should be able to afford to replace the windows and doors but I don't think I'm alone in that I'm "working poor". The system stinks.

[chrisp65]

51 minutes ago, lapal_fan said:

That’s a good chart for a quick reference on stuff.

It’s also worth a play around with your smart meter to work out what specific kit in your house is costing the money.

My kettle (I know!) is quite energy efficient AND I have finally learned not to fill it to the top for one cup of coffee. My kettle is costing 1 or 2p at present, so a bit more from October possibly.

I was eating a fair bit of toast and crumpets! That’s been binned off, that was weirdly expensive.

We’ve realised its worth investing in an air fryer, rather than using a gas oven.

With the kids away, we no longer have the issue of every light in the house being constantly switched back on by fairies.

Happily, my 1968 record player, which I presumed would be eating electric like a four bar heater, hardly registers at all, too tiny to quantify by the stare at the smart meter method. I suspect it might be cabled up to next door.