Home energy saving tips /ideas...

[ian]

Our first ever £1000+ energy bill since the time when they muddled the units on the meter. I wouldn’t mind if I had the thermostat set to Caribbean.

[quixoticgeek]

Our first ever £1000+ energy bill since the time when they muddled the units on the meter. I wouldn’t mind if I had the thermostat set to Caribbean.

For what period?

J

[diapsaon0]

I haven't turned my heating on at all this winter - just piled on extra layers of clothes.  Hope we're on the home straight now.  15.8C indoors now.  Got down to 9C before Christmass.

[Snakehips]

I haven't turned my heating on at all this winter - just piled on extra layers of clothes.  Hope we're on the home straight now.  15.8C indoors now.  Got down to 9C before Christmass.

Excellent. I had a couple of heating free days recently. Mrs Snake was away.

[Mr Larrington]

I'm having a heating-free weekend at Larrington Towers, because I’m at Fort Larrington.

[“That's cheating!” – Ed.]

[ian]

Our first ever £1000+ energy bill since the time when they muddled the units on the meter. I wouldn’t mind if I had the thermostat set to Caribbean.

For what period?

Last three months.  Used to be about £700.

[Kim]

I haven't turned my heating on at all this winter - just piled on extra layers of clothes.  Hope we're on the home straight now.  15.8C indoors now.  Got down to 9C before Christmass.

Does that not cause damp problems?

[hubner]

Open the windows.

You only get damp if you live in sealed box.

 

[quixoticgeek]

Open the windows.

You only get damp if you live in sealed box.

 

I'll turn the heating on, life's too short to be uncomfortable.

J

[toontra]

Mine's off most of the time and use extra layers, but when I start to feel cold (i.e. when sitting for extended periods) it goes on at 16c.  Getting properly cold isn't just bloody miserable - it also carries health risks.

[quixoticgeek]

Mine's off most of the time and use extra layers, but when I start to feel cold (i.e. when sitting for extended periods) it goes on at 16c.  Getting properly cold isn't just bloody miserable - it also carries health risks.

It's this health risk thing that's scaring me. I'm seeing a sort of "I'm better than you" pissing contest about who can use their heating the least, as well as many people who are left having to choose between heating and eating, and it's just leaving people much much more susceptible to illness. Studies by the WHO and UN have shown as much as a 10% increase in respiratory illness risk for every 1°c below 22°C. Sitting for extended periods of time at some of the crazy temps I'm seeing people boast of here sounds terrifying. Not to mention aren't your hands so bloody cold you can't do anything? Or do people read books with gloves on ?

Wish people put more effort into low carbon, highly efficient heating systems for the masses.

J

[hubner]

Open the windows.

You only get damp if you live in sealed box.

 

I'll turn the heating on, life's too short to be uncomfortable.

J

I suppose all 8 billion people on earth don't want to be "uncomfortable" either.

[Paul H]

It's this health risk thing that's scaring me. I'm seeing a sort of "I'm better than you" pissing contest about who can use their heating the least, J

It does jump to extremes.  It's a shame it's needed the price hikes for some people to look at their consumption and when they have many found ways to reduce it  without impacting their comfort or health. While it was cheap enough, lots of people just didn't bother, you're an example of that, so unaware of your usage you've been paying nearly twice the capped price for years without questioning why.   
I'm comfortable in my small flat, there's a storage heater running on the lowest setting to stop it ever getting really cold and that's supplemented with oil filled radiators when required. I've never worn gloves or a coat inside, I'd consider doing so as daft as not wearing a jumper when it's cold.

[felstedrider]

There is a generally held view that energy has never been expensive enough.  Not many people have ever really had to think about whether they do or don’t turn the heating on.  See also, people happily idling their cars whilst doing other jobs.

Of course we have seen extreme price shocks and market intervention but it makes me wonder if a steady increase in prices over several years would have been noticed in the same way.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I think we've had the heating on more this winter than last, because with the new (but still minimal) insulation, it actually makes a difference.

[quixoticgeek]

There is a generally held view that energy has never been expensive enough.  Not many people have ever really had to think about whether they do or don’t turn the heating on.  See also, people happily idling their cars whilst doing other jobs.

Of course we have seen extreme price shocks and market intervention but it makes me wonder if a steady increase in prices over several years would have been noticed in the same way.

Would you say the same thing about food? I don't think the price of energy hasn't been high enough. I think the fact that fossil fuels have been too cheap is a problem tho. Cheap, Sustainable energy is here, it's available. But just as William Gibson's view on the future, it's just not evenly distributed yet.

We should be working together, collectively so that we can all live comfortably. Rather than a smug "Just wear a jumper" I think we should be asking, how can we distribute an energy efficient, low carbon, sustainable future to everyone. My flat is comfortably warm because I'm lucky enough to live somewhere where we have district heating that uses waste heat from industry to heat our homes. Technologies like this are relatively unheard of in the UK. There should be a massive publically funded push to give people home insulation, to give people heat pumps, to setup district heating systems. A wish to be comfortable should not be a radical position.

I suppose all 8 billion people on earth don't want to be "uncomfortable" either.

Exactly. We should be working to reduce suffering across the world. That means tackling climate change before it inflicts more suffering on the most vulnerable on our planet.

J

[Cudzoziemiec]

I think "wear a jumper" is saying put on appropriate clothes first and only after that put the heating on. When people are complaining of cold but only wearing a t-shirt in December, "wear a jumper" is very sensible.

[quixoticgeek]

I think "wear a jumper" is saying put on appropriate clothes first and only after that put the heating on. When people are complaining of cold but only wearing a t-shirt in December, "wear a jumper" is very sensible.

What if I was to tell you that we could build homes that use very little energy input and could be warm enough that people could choose not to need to put on a jumper?

A lot of housing stock is awful, and even stuff being built now is being built well below what it should be in terms of energy efficiency.

J

[Paul H]

Of course we have seen extreme price shocks and market intervention but it makes me wonder if a steady increase in prices over several years would have been noticed in the same way.

I think for many it would have been easier to absorb, but those struggling to heat their homes would still be in that position however gradual the price increases had been.
I also think subsidising the unit price was the wrong thing to do, some still can't afford the basics whilst others are having their luxuries subsidised.  Even if the intention was to subsidise everyone, rather than targeted, the same expense could have provided a more generous subsidy capped at a reasonable level. 

[Cudzoziemiec]

I think "wear a jumper" is saying put on appropriate clothes first and only after that put the heating on. When people are complaining of cold but only wearing a t-shirt in December, "wear a jumper" is very sensible.

What if I was to tell you that we could build homes that use very little energy input and could be warm enough that people could choose not to need to put on a jumper?

A lot of housing stock is awful, and even stuff being built now is being built well below what it should be in terms of energy efficiency.

J

Yes, wonderful. Have I told you that the second best thing about living in India was never having to wear many clothes? But as we don't have those houses, putting on a jumper (and even a fleece on top of that) should come before putting the heating on so you can sit in a t-shirt in January.

[Jaded]

On Call The Midwife they all had thick wooly jumpers, so I think we didn't go about in T-Shirts back then.

[Cudzoziemiec]

That's definitely true. The midwives carried special newborn-baby sized woolly* jumpers for the babies. Made of newborn baby lambs' wool. Or lamb's wool. How many newborn lambs would it take to provide enough wool for a jumper for a newborn human?

*Definitely woolly, not wooly, unless you're American. And not wolly, cos wols don't have wool, and feathers are hard to knit.

[Pickled Onion]

On Call The Midwife they all had thick wooly jumpers, so I think we didn't go about in T-Shirts back then.

We did, but they were underwear.

It was not unusual to wear a T-shaped shirt or vest, a shirt, a woollen tank top or waistcoat, and a jacket. Indoors.

[quixoticgeek]

On Call The Midwife they all had thick wooly jumpers, so I think we didn't go about in T-Shirts back then.

And in 1960, the infant mortality rate was 24 per 1000 live births, vs 3.422 per 1000 live births in 2022.

Just because we did something in the past doesn't mean we should shun modernity.

We also didn't have mobile phones, or home computers, or colour television, etc...

J

[felstedrider]

Of course we have seen extreme price shocks and market intervention but it makes me wonder if a steady increase in prices over several years would have been noticed in the same way.

I think for many it would have been easier to absorb, but those struggling to heat their homes would still be in that position however gradual the price increases had been.
I also think subsidising the unit price was the wrong thing to do, some still can't afford the basics whilst others are having their luxuries subsidised.  Even if the intention was to subsidise everyone, rather than targeted, the same expense could have provided a more generous subsidy capped at a reasonable level.

I think not means testing the subsidies was a mistake.  Both BEIS and the energy suppliers said it couldn’t be delivered in time.  As I have mentioned I have been receiving the £400 credit despite the fact that I fixed my energy tariff at the end of 2021 and I can afford to pay my bills.  This seems daft.  I did think, with 6 months to work on it, a fairer system would be brought in but it seems that’s not going to happen.