Surely they can’t expect us to pay 240 per month for power!

[Ellie198712]

Just read Martin Lewis’s latest email and it’s predicting average bills of £2900 per year!! Surely the government will need to step in and subsidise this cost. Our current bill is about 100 per month, and this just seems untenable for the vast majority

Ours has doubled overnight I can pay it so going to let it run for a few months then ask for the credit back. Was going to buy an electric car but can't get an EV tariff at all at the moment!

I think he will once again lift the standing charge so everyone pays more regardless of usage. Hopefully this will spread some of burden away from families.

We are also looking to have a log burner fitted.

I ditched my tumble drier about 15 years ago, they really eat up electricity.

There will be significant lifestyle changes, tumble dryers will be a luxury, as will eating out/takeaway, frugal living will return, extra layers of blankets/clothes instead of 20° thermostat settings, showering every 2-3 days, tying your hair up instead of straightening it, boiling minimal water in the kettle, not using the microwave for everything, slow cookers instead of the oven.

And so on.

It'll be shit.

While some of those are shit, others have long been my normal and I don’t consider them a sacrifice. I don’t do them because I can’t afford the bill, but because I am more concerned about the future of the planet than about appearances and mega-convenience.

I don’t use a tumble dryer, my hair is short and doesn’t need straightening, and not overfilling the kettle is an easy way of saving energy and has become automatic. I don’t understand why you think people will have to cut down on using the microwave, it uses a lot less energy than the the oven. Slow cookers can be very convenient.

@AuntyBumBum

What if people just don't pay it because they can't afford to? Will they get cut off?

You go into a pre-payment tariff, with a "key" type of meter. If you can't afford energy you won't get any.

And remember the daily standing charge for prepay meters is higher. So even when you have no gas or electric your debt rises each day because of the standing charge and this soon mounts up.

This is exactly it, about ends of scale we have idiots who have bought hot tubs(most people who buy them are idiots.) Who are complaining about costs and we have people who can't afford to food on table.

In other bad news I heard today Ukrainian farmers are currently missing the planting season. They're 10% of the global market. So bread, meat, dairy ouch.

Wheat's gonna go sky high (to misquote my user name).

@PuzzledObserver

There will be significant lifestyle changes, tumble dryers will be a luxury, as will eating out/takeaway, frugal living will return, extra layers of blankets/clothes instead of 20° thermostat settings, showering every 2-3 days, tying your hair up instead of straightening it, boiling minimal water in the kettle, not using the microwave for everything, slow cookers instead of the oven.

And so on.

It'll be shit.

While some of those are shit, others have long been my normal and I don’t consider them a sacrifice. I don’t do them because I can’t afford the bill, but because I am more concerned about the future of the planet than about appearances and mega-convenience.

I don’t use a tumble dryer, my hair is short and doesn’t need straightening, and not overfilling the kettle is an easy way of saving energy and has become automatic. I don’t understand why you think people will have to cut down on using the microwave, it uses a lot less energy than the the oven. Slow cookers can be very convenient.

Its easy to not use a tumble dryer in hotter countries. Many people in Spain, Portugal etc.. do this to save on costs and not damage clothes.

Having said that, have you tried drying clothes in the UK during the winter time using a drying rack and minimal heating?

Pro-tip: it doesn't work.

As much as we would all love to live in a hotter country, that is simply not the reality in the UK.

@Againstmachine

I have a hot tub, and I assure you that I'm neither an idiot, nor complaining about costs.

@ThinkAboutItTomorrow

In other bad news I heard today Ukrainian farmers are currently missing the planting season. They're 10% of the global market. So bread, meat, dairy ouch.

Wheat's gonna go sky high (to misquote my user name).

Thats not really a problem for the UK.

It is a problem for those countries who need the wheat to make bread (a basic necessity in many developing countries). A 50% increase in the price of bread can be crippling because that is were they get a material amount of dietary calories.

@Iamnotminterested

I have a hot tub, and I assure you that I'm neither an idiot, nor complaining about costs.

You would be surprised how many people who are and don't understand how other people are living.

Cancel HS2 for a start
Make Google, Facebook, Starbucks et al pay the proper amount of corporation tax.
Reduce the tax on fuel - remember as the price goes up the government revenue increases.

Having said that, have you tried drying clothes in the UK during the winter time using a drying rack and minimal heating?

I live in the UK. The airers go up in the kitchen in the winter. It has underfloor heating set at 18.5 degrees and it dries just fine. Granted there are only two of us so it doesn’t matter that it takes a day to dry as we only do a few loads each week, people with families have more of an excuse to use a tumble dryer. Although at 4kWh per load, it might make more sense to put the (gas) heating on for longer so the washing would dry better and they would be more comfortable as well.

@Againstmachine

This is exactly it, about ends of scale we have idiots who have bought hot tubs(most people who buy them are idiots.) Who are complaining about costs and we have people who can't afford to food on table.

We have a hot tub we can afford and do pay for but it's lovely to chill. The alternative is the husband having a bath every night instead of a shower!

Other than communism you are always going to have the haves and have nots.

Honestly I don't want to sacrifice our standard of living to cover green initiatives & fuel duty when i already pay a fortune in tax.

P.s £240 is less than mine is now

Its sad how a lack of education is so prevalent amongst the Boomers

Boomers were the last properly educated generation. It’s shame some Gen X and millennials are such arrogant gobshites.

@vickyc90 read the book 'the spirit level' it explains really well why big gaps between haves and have nots lead to bad outcomes for the haves as much as everyone else.

Worse health, earlier death, high stress, lower happiness.

Living in a divided society is scary and stressful and shortens your life.

@Blossomtoes

Its sad how a lack of education is so prevalent amongst the Boomers

Boomers were the last properly educated generation. It’s shame some Gen X and millennials are such arrogant gobshites.

Less than 10% of you folks are educated.

Over 45% of millenials are now.

This is also the primary reason why you folks are so susceptible to media and social media disinformation.

Time to face the reality of the situation.

@PuzzledObserver

Having said that, have you tried drying clothes in the UK during the winter time using a drying rack and minimal heating?

I live in the UK. The airers go up in the kitchen in the winter. It has underfloor heating set at 18.5 degrees and it dries just fine. Granted there are only two of us so it doesn’t matter that it takes a day to dry as we only do a few loads each week, people with families have more of an excuse to use a tumble dryer. Although at 4kWh per load, it might make more sense to put the (gas) heating on for longer so the washing would dry better and they would be more comfortable as well.

With adults, limiting laundry is possible.

With chidlren included though...very tough. They go through clothes very fast. No choice but to tumble dry.

This applies to winter months mostly as well. It is less problematic to use the drying rack during the May - October period.

Other than communism you are always going to have the haves and have nots

I suppose it's how different society wants the difference to be between the haves and the have nots.

@BambinaJAS of course it’s a problem for the U.K.! Do you have any idea how many pruducts wheat is used in? It’s not just some far away farmer’s loaf of bread 🤔
Ukraine is a major global exporter of wheat.
Also quite a lot else.

It's something we have to do- people are dying, we are fortunate enough to be in a country where the joy fallout from Russian sanctions is energy prices. So what do we do? Turn off heating, wear jumpers, only wash clothes when absolutely necessary, cut down our use of electricity- turn off lights when not needed, get rid of standby on electrical appliances, let our hair dry naturally rather than blow dried, cook food that's quick to cook- and thank our lucky stars that we don't live in the shadows of Russia!

We have a 4 bed semi built around 1900, and spent 2013-15 insulating the walls internally, insulating floors, ceilings and the roof, draught proofing, new doors, windows and boiler and adding a smart thermostat and controls. Other than adding solar panels or a turbine, we did everything we could think of. We're hugely more comfortable and it's taken until this month for our energy costs to climb back up to the level that we were paying before doing all the work. So yes, insulating and energy efficiency does work but it doesn't come free either (it was still worth it though). Our dual fuel DD has just gone from £70 to £118.

I've been quoted a 10month fixed deal from Octopus for 285 pm. This seems high.

Can anyone tell me if it is worth fixing to that as it equates to approx £3.5k per annum. But the energy price cap is predicted to go up to £2.3k in October. So how can the fix be more than the SVR and is it worth fixing?

Ignore 'joy' predictive text hates me today.

Less than 10% of you folks are educated

I take it this is a reference to fewer than 10% of those born in the 20 years after 1945 being graduates. Education isn’t limited to universities and many of that generation were very well educated in grammar schools. I’d say the generation least susceptible to social media disinformation is the boomer generation, it’s the group that uses social media least.

@BambinaJAS
Drying clothes inside in front of a dehumidifier works wonderfully. We don't own a tumble dryer, we dry outside most of the year. Even in winter the wind takes a lot of the moisture out of clothes then finishing off in front of a dehumidifier. Even in rainy days I can dry 4 washing loads completely in front of the dehumidifier in a day. Ours costs about 4p an hour to run.