I've been ploughing through the minefield of websites to see if there is any way of getting free insulation.
We got our walls and loft done when parents were still alive so they got it free, I think you only get help if you’re in benefits. Our extension is very well insulated only being built 10 years ago and it faces south with big windows/doors like yours. Does help a bit. It’s over 22c in here with no heating in at the moment.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Fire,were also with Octopus,we use a lot less gas than you,but the bills are a lot higher,as are the rates. The 3 summer months we used 8 units of gas per month. I fixed again in July 24, months. Our gas unit price is 3.06 daily standing charge 20p
Our house is 170 years old and the upper bedrooms are pretty much under the eaves - the loft is tiny and there is no division up there between us and our neighbour (we are a semi-detached pair of cottages). There is a pretty useless layer of insulation but not enough. I did get someone out to look at it when there was a previous govt. scheme to help but as it is too small for anyone to actually get in there it was deemed unsuitable. We just have single brick walls and the previous owners replaced the old sash windows with weirdly opening (horizontal rather than vertical) aluminium windows which are badly fitting. The double glazing of these windows is not fit for purpose and has condensation in them. As it will cost a fortune to replace them they have always gone further down the list as more pressing jobs have come up. But - we have a lovely toasty bathroom now when that was redone last year and proper insulation put in (although it did make the room smaller) and the kitchen was rebuilt the year before with a massive amount of underfloor and wall insulation and proper double glazed windows. We have stone tiles in there which, even in bare feet in winter, never feel cold. We put the heating on for the evening a couple of days ago. No idea what the bills will be like as our previous supplier, in the absence of a reading from me (can't find the key to the outside cupboard that houses the gas meter) whacked up the monthly payment and the govt has now switched us to another supplier. I will hunt down that key or find another one and take readings. I'm expecting credit in my account...
A quick look tells me I am entitled to Winter Fuel Payment, which I already get of course. Perhaps there are more generous grants in the warmer south? ☹️
I think the cold winter payment starts at 60. I think it should coincide with retirement age, and should be means tested. Why do politicians/royalty need that payment.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I've been ploughing through the minefield of websites to see if there is any way of getting free insulation.
The other poster is wrong again. No, you need not be on benefits. The lady upstairs is, but I get some off my costs, too.
It is not provided by the government directly. The government has put some kind of green targets on energy companies. Energy giants get taxed a lot if they don't meet their green targets every year. So, spending so much towards home insulation is one of the cheap ways they can hit those targets. Energy companies don't pay ££ to us, but they pay the insulating companies they have partnered with. The government pays INDIRECTLY by way of green tax deductions to the energy companies.
I have done AI contracts for Shell, Chevron, the National Grid, RWE etc.
So call around and get quotes. Some insulators try to keep all of the profits from the energy companies to themselves. Others pass it onto us to capture the business. Depending on which energy giant they source, one can get a lot of the cost or less covered.
I thought it was much older than that @Lyn? I could have been benefiting for a few years then! It comes down to what often gets called the Mick Jagger theory [poor ol' Mick!] but the problem is that, like many Government 'systems', they aren't fit for purpose, so people who are well off and don't need it, can't refuse it. You'd have to get it, then give it to someone else. Bonkers.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I think its the same with child benefit @Fairygirl - it's cheaper for the govt to just pay everyone rather than use resources means testing everyone and making payments to only those who qualify according to whatever measure is set. There are a lot of better off people who then donate their payment to their favourite charity.
I think its the same with child benefit @Fairygirl - it's cheaper for the govt to just pay everyone rather than use resources means testing everyone and making payments to only those who qualify according to whatever measure is set. There are a lot of better off people who then donate their payment to their favourite charity.
And many more who will just keep it...
We should be able to have some universal benefits like these though- they ensure anyone who needs the help gets it. The lack of means-testing wouldn't matter if we had a properly progressive system of taxation. Instead those less well-off shoulder a higher proportional tax burden AND subsidise benefits to those who don't need them!
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Our extension is very well insulated only being built 10 years ago and it faces south with big windows/doors like yours. Does help a bit. It’s over 22c in here with no heating in at the moment.
We put the heating on for the evening a couple of days ago. No idea what the bills will be like as our previous supplier, in the absence of a reading from me (can't find the key to the outside cupboard that houses the gas meter) whacked up the monthly payment and the govt has now switched us to another supplier. I will hunt down that key or find another one and take readings. I'm expecting credit in my account...
Perhaps there are more generous grants in the warmer south? ☹️
I think it should coincide with retirement age, and should be means tested.
Why do politicians/royalty need that payment.
It is not provided by the government directly. The government has put some kind of green targets on energy companies. Energy giants get taxed a lot if they don't meet their green targets every year. So, spending so much towards home insulation is one of the cheap ways they can hit those targets. Energy companies don't pay ££ to us, but they pay the insulating companies they have partnered with. The government pays INDIRECTLY by way of green tax deductions to the energy companies.
I have done AI contracts for Shell, Chevron, the National Grid, RWE etc.
So call around and get quotes. Some insulators try to keep all of the profits from the energy companies to themselves. Others pass it onto us to capture the business. Depending on which energy giant they source, one can get a lot of the cost or less covered.
It comes down to what often gets called the Mick Jagger theory [poor ol' Mick!] but the problem is that, like many Government 'systems', they aren't fit for purpose, so people who are well off and don't need it, can't refuse it. You'd have to get it, then give it to someone else. Bonkers.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
We should be able to have some universal benefits like these though- they ensure anyone who needs the help gets it. The lack of means-testing wouldn't matter if we had a properly progressive system of taxation. Instead those less well-off shoulder a higher proportional tax burden AND subsidise benefits to those who don't need them!