I’m not worried. I moved from a large difficult to heat house, to a small rental property. It’s a new conversion, really well insulated with south facing windows. It’s surprised us how cheap to run it is. My car is electric.
I’m not feeling smug, I’m feeling guilty when there is so much worry about. I’ll make sure I ask my friends if they think they might need a bit of help through the winter.
I have been making some kind of efficiency improvment to the house each year since I moved in - cheap fixes. But I haven't done any yet this year and I should. I would do loads if I thought I wasn't going to move again, but this isn't a 'forever home' so I have held off on expensive items like triple glazed windows. The upstairs needs insulation under the floors and insulation on the walls. I have closed off the loft (which makes a big difference) and have thick curtains over doors which also cuts down drafts. Still lots to do...
I live in a conservation area with tight covenants but people have started putting up solar panels facing the street and getting away with it.... which is a new shift. It should be a great time for green energy to make its way into people lives, if there was any kind of govt support.
I'm lucky and fixed at a low rate till Nov 2024. But my brother is coming out of his fixed period and they are offering around £3000 per year on a new tariff, yikes!
We heat with gas and have electricity all from one supplier. We continued our fixed contract and remained £67 a month. But we were £160 in plus.
What we did was we reduced the temperature during winter from 19 to 16/17 degrees Celsius which saved us half the gas use. It’s like with a car; driving 70 uses 30% more petrol than driving 50mph. We kept the freezer half empty. I know that our freezer costs us 25% of our entire energy bill. We work from home but having the computers on is still not this what a freezer costs a month.
Fortunate enough to be sufficiently comfortable financially that we’ll at least be able to pay the bills without going without elsewhere. Also grew up below the poverty line, so quite capable of coping without if it came to the crunch. At least we won’t have to go to bed in the dark at 7 pm, to keep warm, and save the last shilling piece for electricity in the morning, so the six of us could get ready for school. I feel very sorry for those who will find themselves in dire straits as a result of fuel costs, and I certainly never take for granted the luxury of not having to go without.
I think the younger ones will suffer more as they’ve never know real poverty. Things didn’t really change from the 30’s to mid 60’s or later for a lot of us.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
@Simone_in_Wiltshire Reducing the temperature does help a lot. I usually have the boiler on at 20°C daytime to 10^m and then at 15°C night time but I think I will reduce the daytime temp to 18°C this year. Better for the environment.
And yes, I agree. A fridge/freezer consumes more energy than a computer.
Yes, I think people who have never lived in cold houses or never had to budget will struggle more. And take being cold as a personal insult.
Octopus recently post a tip about "lowering your flow", which means setting your boiler's 'flow temperature' between 55 and 60 degrees. Apparently this can save money and gas. I turned mine down a bit, though it was within range. It doesn't seem to have made much difference to the water - all seems fine.
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@Fire - that's about 28/29euros for a 13.5kg bottle of gas. A bit more than here.
I haven't been to England for a while now, but it seemed your supermarket shop is cheaper than ours.
But my brother is coming out of his fixed period and they are offering around £3000 per year on a new tariff, yikes!
I ♥ my garden.
At least we won’t have to go to bed in the dark at 7 pm, to keep warm, and save the last shilling piece for electricity in the morning, so the six of us could get ready for school. I feel very sorry for those who will find themselves in dire straits as a result of fuel costs, and I certainly never take for granted the luxury of not having to go without.
Things didn’t really change from the 30’s to mid 60’s or later for a lot of us.
And yes, I agree. A fridge/freezer consumes more energy than a computer.