To Heat Or Not To Heat

jambutty · 27-07-2006, 12:49

With the current heat wave in full flow some people may not consider this to be topical. But we need to look forward and plan ahead.

With energy price increases outstripping income increases it is only a matter of time before the crunch comes and we have to turn our thoughts to reducing our energy consumption or cut down somewhere else.

Assuming that you cannot make any cuts anywhere else how are you going to keep yourself and your house warm in the coming winter months? I know that we old codgers get a heating allowance but many other people do not.

cashman · 27-07-2006, 12:57

its topical in our house,only saying yesterday how much the bills are and we aint using nowt hardly! these sky high bills are sure gonna be a problem for some folks in the winter months.

SPUGGIE J · 27-07-2006, 13:03

The heating is not a problem for me but do agree that for others it is going to be a problem. I have a well insulated pad but some are far from it and price increases will make it extremely hard for some and dispite the fuel allowence it will lead to more deaths because of it. If companies are making such big profits why cant the do the right thing and help the ones that need it more.

The instalation of pre-payment meters are not the best idea in the long term as they are more expensive so maybe a more sypathetic approach to those struggling is needed. An extension of the schemes that BT use were you pay a fixed amount each month which builds a surplas for a time when its really needed.

The fact I am at work keeps my bills down but all these rises are a worry as should I have an accident that heaven forbid happens in the winter months my bill would at least double. As for pensioners those that have family should be able to get some kind of support from them even if it is only having a couple of days with them at their home so they are warm and does a little to keep the bills down.

Govenment is always full of advice for the winter months but can they do more?

I am able to keep mine down as I am young and due to the insulation in my pad dont use my GCH from late March to mid October. staying on my own means less cooking washing etc which helps but should that change I will be in a tighter spot than I am used to.

Madhatter · 27-07-2006, 13:08

well, I'll try to stick to the one room, my pc should be fixed by then so I'll live in the bedroom, no point heating the lounge if it's just me and I'm always on the pc in the bedroom. Think I'll get thicker curtains too these are too thin, they let the sun through at the minute so won't keep the heat in during winter.
Combi boilers are supposed to be cheaper but I think this is way more expensive than the old gas central heating

On the plus side I'm 200 quid in credit on the leccy, but if they'd give it back it could be in the bank earning interest.

jambutty · 27-07-2006, 14:14

This point was being discussed on the Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2 today so credit must go to him for me raising the issue on here. It just seemed like a good topic to bring up. One of the pundit suggested that it was better to leave the central heating on 24/7 and just turn the thermostat down overnight. Of course that means remembering to do so. The person argued that it would save around 20% because the house would never get totally cold and thus it would warm up to a reasonable temperature sooner. He has a point I guess. So going away for a couple of days to save on energy would be false economy because when you come back it would take a long while to get the house back up to a comfortable temperature.

As you say SPUGGIE J prepayment meters is the most expensive way of buying gas or electricity. The cheapest way is a quarterly meter with a Direct Debit each month for a fixed amount. Unfortunately the recommended fixed amount usually builds up to a surplus. OK! You can get the surplus back but it’s a bind and often takes at least forever. Not that I have personal experience of that scheme, but my married son did until I managed to persuade him to get off it and control his own money and energy usage.

I don’t do this now but I used to read my meters and make a note of the readings once a week, usually on a Saturday. I knew what I could afford as a quarterly consumption and if one week went over the limit I had to cut back in the following weeks to bring it all back into line. I accept that not everyone is capable of doing that but it worked for me. I have abandoned my old regime because practically each quarter the tariff has small changes, which often turn out to be a hidden increase. I’ve never considered changing my supplier because the new one ends up as dear as the old, so it’s not worth all the hassle. Changing a supplier often brings two bills for the same period and you spend time and money getting the mess sorted out. In the meantime you gets threats of being put on a card meter. Better the devil you know!

Living in a ground floor flat like I do with double glazing and a modern front door recently installed my flat does not suffer from draughts and the upstairs being heated prevents my heat from rising out of the flat. What also helps is low ceilings. Less space to heat up! People who live in the older terraced houses have got high ceilings and the extra two or three feet of space gathers all the heat when you need it at ground level.

I have a radiator in my living room, bedroom, hallway, washroom and kitchen. Why anyone would install a radiator in a small kitchen is beyond me. Apart from the kitchen they are all on and controlled by the thermostat in the hallway. It is turned down during warm days but in winter it is set and left at 19C. The timer is set to come on at about 9:30am, goes off for a couple of hours in mid afternoon and finally off at around 10:00pm. If I get cold outside those hours I put an extra jersey on or if I’m watching telly wrap a blanket around my legs and lift them off the floor.

Apart from that in days of old houses did not have any heating upstairs so going to bed in a cold bedroom and getting up just encouraged us not to dawdle. In later years I used an electric overblanket and that could be left on all night on really cold nights.

Coming home from work and having to light the fire was a bind and the room never got warm until it was time to go to bed.

The good old days??? Maybe not but we weren’t as soft then.

Madhatter · 27-07-2006, 14:31

The reading the meter things a great idea, it may fluctute but but it stops you ending up with a 300 pound electricity bill because they set the prepayment meter too low.

SPUGGIE J · 27-07-2006, 17:01

http://www.uswitch.com/

pendy · 27-07-2006, 17:02

I can't understand why, in the "old days", when houses were heated by a coal fire in one room, very few people died of hypothermia. I can remember waking up with frost on the INSIDE of the window. The cost of heating is quite frightening, even when you are working, so for pensioners it must be horrendous. I do pay by direct debit, then I know how much goes out each month, but whether I will be able to afford the same level once I retire, I really don't know. Good insulation is important, as are well fitting doors and windows. We used to put insulating tape round the edges of doors to keep out drafts (I've done that in Ossy recently), and most houses had a thick curtain hanging behing the front and back doors to keep out drafts. Perhaps we've got too used to being able to wear a T-shirt in the sitting room in the middle of January - I'm certainly collecting cardies for my old age!

katex · 27-07-2006, 19:38

[QUOTE=pendy]I can't understand why, in the "old days", when houses were heated by a coal fire in one room, very few people died of hypothermia. QUOTE]

Do you think this is correct Pendy ? Or did it just go under another name ?

lindsay ormerod · 27-07-2006, 19:56

Well if anyone of a technical bent can tell me anything about storage heaters and economy 7 I will be eternally grateful ! My leccy bills are astronomical for a 2 bed terrace;I have got shut of the electric oven and got a gas one but am still paying just under £130 a month for dual fuel!!!! The gas bill is tiny,it's all electric so it's gotta be the storage heaters....which have been turned off since May,am with Scottish Power by the way.

shillelagh · 27-07-2006, 20:28

Ive just got my gas bill and couldnt believe how much it was so i went to read the gas meter. The gas meter reading is 10451 - theyve estimated it at 10791! So ive just rang it through to british gas and got the automated service. First time i've done this and it didnt recognise the reading! 2nd time i tried it the 'voice' accepted it.

pendy · 28-07-2006, 11:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindsay ormerod

Well if anyone of a technical bent can tell me anything about storage heaters and economy 7 I will be eternally grateful ! My leccy bills are astronomical for a 2 bed terrace;I have got shut of the electric oven and got a gas one but am still paying just under £130 a month for dual fuel!!!! The gas bill is tiny,it's all electric so it's gotta be the storage heaters....which have been turned off since May,am with Scottish Power by the way.

I switched to Scottish Power because I was told it was cheaper. My bills for Ossy are enormous - mostly the gas bill, although the heating is turned down to 10 degrees when we're not there (most of the time). I rang and queried it when they told me they wanted to put my direct debit up to £140 A MONTH!!! - I did say it was a 3 bed end of terrace, not a 15 room mansion with east and west wings, so they've asked me to check the meter. Thank God the heating is off at the moment - otherwise eating would become a dim and distant memory!

jambutty · 28-07-2006, 12:25

Gas has always been cheaper than electricity so to make the most of it all cooking, heating and hot water should be by gas. Because of the high ceilings in the old terraced houses central heating is not the best way. A gas fire in each room is more efficient. You turn them on as needed. Central heating only comes into its own in modern homes, those with a relatively low ceiling – about 8 feet. Hot water on demand is also more efficient that a hot water storage tank especially if the temperature of the water is set to hand hot. Any hotter and all you are doing is heating the water then adding cold to cool it down. Bit of a waste!

I have one concern about gas bills and that is the current practice of locking the price of gas at a fixed level for two or three years. Any bets that the regulator will force a reduction some time next year!

Madhatter · 28-07-2006, 14:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by lindsay ormerod

Well if anyone of a technical bent can tell me anything about storage heaters and economy 7 I will be eternally grateful ! My leccy bills are astronomical for a 2 bed terrace;I have got shut of the electric oven and got a gas one but am still paying just under £130 a month for dual fuel!!!! The gas bill is tiny,it's all electric so it's gotta be the storage heaters....which have been turned off since May,am with Scottish Power by the way.

I'm more concerned with this, this is doesn't seem right. Not when you've got the storage heaters off. In fact I think thats high if the stoarge heaters were on.
Storage heaters on economy 7 charge up at night during your cheap 7 hours of leccy and store heat in thermal bricks, which then release it during the day. Hot water should also be heated at night, the economy 7 time clock on the immersion should switch it on. Economy 7 usually clicks over about 1 in the morning till 8, I can't remember if thats the summer time or winter though. You may be set up so that you get everything cheap or just your heating and hot water. If it's everything you'll have one fuseboard, if its heating hot water only you'll have two or a split one.

You should have two readings on the bill, one for day time and one for off peak, although you may have two for each, they lower the charge after the first 100 units on some bills.

Is it a quarterlly meter?

Jeannette · 28-07-2006, 16:25

When i moved into my present house about four months ago, the gas wasn't connected so off i popped to my local telephone box. ( seeing as british gas don't have a freephone number i didn't fancy using mobile). what a fiasco! By the end of the afternoon i had spent £8 and hadn't even spoken to a single human being! nor had i managed to arrange connection. left with no heating i borrowed something i had not even heard about. A halogen heater! what a find. they are heat adjustable, throw out enough light to use as a lamp and they can be static or moving. best of all they are extremely cost effective. anyone else ever used one?