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🐧🐧CURMUDGEONS' CORNER XXI🐧🐧

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Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Well done you😊
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Apart from other charities, we donate to Shelter Box,  one box cost 590.00 now I think. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    The £150 payment was an energy cost subsidy targeted at homes in council tax bands A to D.

    What baffles me is how people keep their energy bills much lower than mine. Prior to the energy crisis we paid £150 a month for gas and electricity. Now it is £370 and I am also voluntarily adding the £67 monthly rebate so the direct debit is £437. We’re currently around £800 in credit and by next Spring I want still to be in the black as I fear the energy price cap might be significantly reduced for middle income households like ours.

     I don’t think we’re profligate energy consumers and we are now much more careful about turning off lights, targeting our use of central heating etc and, checking recent bills, I think the direct debit should be under £300 pcm. We will keep reviewing the figure through the winter.

    I feel desperately sad that people on low incomes are having to make awful choices during this cost of living crisis. We are so fortunate not to be in that position and, every week, buy extra items on our Tesco delivery for the Food Bank, guided by the list of things the Rutland Bank wants. Where I am baffled is people with some disposable income saying they turn the thermostat right down, try not to use central heating before mid/late October etc. Is our household so out of step with the norm by having comfortable, for us, heating levels?
    Rutland, England
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    At the moment, I turn the heating on no 2 from 4 until 6 or 7 .it warms the house up fine for the rest of the evening ( probably the worst time from the point of view of the energy companies).  
    Will let it tick over all day on 1 or 2 when the weather cools but I never leave it on all night.
    I have been switching off lights, though I doubt it makes much difference

    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    To change the subject:
    Washing bought vegetables. Is it enough to run them under the tap?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    That's what I do B3 but I don't pay for my water as such, it comes off t'hill.

    Why is it that the b****y mice or voles or whatever always find the small bulbs that I plant? Perfect round holes where the scilla bulbs were.  
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    That happens to me. It's like keyhole surgery😡
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    Yes they are quite precise. The walls don't cave in either. 
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    BenCotto said:
    What baffles me is how people keep their energy bills much lower than mine.
    I spent a lot of money on insulation when we built the house. Now we've still got windows open all day even at this time of year and the thermostat has never been above 14 Celcius. When we do use the heating it can't be on for more than an hour or the house gets too hot. Our usage is a bit higher at the moment because of extra wash cycles for kid's clothes and my wife insisting they have a bath every day.

    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • steveTusteveTu Posts: 3,219
    I hadn't realised that the unit price cap was region specific. Not sure why that should be - but here's the gov's site:

    My supplier's billing is slightly confusing - I get a box at the top of the bill (from October - after the rate change) that shows:

    ....but the bill calc seems to fit in with the cap prices for the SE region - ie:
    ....so 33.632p for leccy and 9.805p for gas.
    UK - South Coast Retirement Campus (East)
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