To think in a cold damp climate there is only so much we can possibly change?

[SamBeckettslastleap]

Fuck you Jeremy.

I have layers I have hats, we have covers on the sofas to hide under. I'm not even cold with these measures.

But the house is damp, every morning I am wiping water and mould. I've had to put the heating on to try and stave it off.

Don't tell me to cut down my meagre use when your friends light tennis courts and heat swimming pools.

A dehumidifier would completely fix that. They aren’t particularly expensive to run.

I had one room that was prone to mould (even with heating). It was pretty bad at one point and unusable as a bedroom, which wasn’t ideal as we need it. I treated all the mould and re-painted it. Added a de-humidifier on about 6 hours a day for six months of the year and windows open spring/summer. I’ve not had even a speck of mould since. You honestly wouldn’t know from stepping in that room what it used to look like - it’s immaculate. Dehumidifier was about £150 and probably costs £8-10 a month but it’s given us back a bedroom.

Far better to line the pockets of their buddies than to use that insane amount of money to insulate homes that can be insulated/replace windows/assist those of us in listed houses in conservation areas/etc

I have one, but I have a large open plan living/diner, 2 double bedrooms, a single bedroom and a bathroom where it needs running.

I can’t afford another £150 for a second one. Which means I’m carting it around the house every morning/evening.

It becomes a false economy to keep the heating off. The damp, mould, damaged furnishings, and your health will be expensive to fix. Maybe your health not financially (although loss of earnings may come in) but your mental health, as well as physical health, energy levels etc shouldn't be compromised.

No it wouldn't at all... it wouldn't matter if a UK company discovered a secret battery that never ever ran out... it would be in private hands and energy sold on the global market.

Unless UK energy production is nationalised, then we will continue paying global prices however the energy is produced.

France nationalised it's energy (production) industry...bills went up 4%, 14% next year.... i can see no reason why the UK cannot too.

We already produce 67% of our total energy needs, yet have one of... if not the most expensive per kwhr prices in Europe.

The energy cap next April is going up to over 3k next year... thats almost 300% more than last year.... Hunt Sunak wont care, neither will any MP, they can claim back much of their energy costs on expenses.

France nationalised it's energy (production) industry...bills went up 4%, 14% next year.... i can see no reason why the UK cannot too

You neglect to mention that France generates around 75% of its electricity from nuclear sources so insulated to a far higher degree from the recent rises in fossil fuel prices than the UK. We generate around 16% of our energy from nuclear power.

Can someone explain to me why UK houses are so damp? I live in Southern Scandinavia, the climate here is very simillar to a place like Newcastle: a couple of degrees colder in winter, and a bit warmer in summer, but very similar humidity and rainfall levels. But I don't experience anything like the levels of damp here as I did in the UK. Does anyone know why that might be?

Yes, they have the specific objective of the planet still being habitable in a century.
You want to ditch that objective so that you can have slightly cheaper electricity?

We generate approx 67% of our energy needs...over the course of the year... as i stated.... if we controled that price, we would not need 100s of billions in energy subsidy.

Electricity prices have risen along with gas oil etc, France wasn't insulated at all... until it nationalised, why do you think they did that????

I can see no reason why we could not nationalise NS gas, nuclear and green energy production, with suitable recompense, with a firm promise to privatise when the energy situation is more normal.

Did the french economy collapse? their Govt bond prices are still lower than the UK's.

We nationalised retail banking after all, then sold it off again....

France nationalised it's energy (production) industry...bills went up 4%, 14% next year.... i can see no reason why the UK cannot too.

It's just EDF that's part-nationalised and they're actually suing the government over the 4% cap. Other utility companies in France have put their prices up hugely as well - unsurprisingly, given that it's a global market.

Yes, they have the specific objective of the planet still being habitable in a century.
You want to ditch that objective so that you can have slightly cheaper electricity?

When you're freezing cold and your house is covered in mould then yes, it's a bit hard to think a century ahead to when you're going to be dead anyway.

No they haven't... France doesn't have a deregulated energy market like the UK does... the price rise is 4% and next year 14%, its easy enough to check?

They are suing for 8 bn euros but EVEN if EDF former share holders win, that is still considerably cheaper than the £150bn we are planning on spending... over the next few months...not to mention people like the OP who are damaging their health with 300% price rises.

We should at the very least look at this as an option, instead of dismissing it out of hand.

..bare in mind, that the war in Ukraine is almost certain to last many years, if we don't nationalise then the UK will have to borrow 100s of billions over the coming years and see inflation in double digits.. as any additional energy production will be priced at global rates...

I would imagine it is just slightly colder but drier then the U.K., and the homes are probably built and insulated to deal with colder weather. A lot of old homes here are poorly insulated, draughty and have inefficient heating systems.

This is a very real problem, no helped by hysterical media (in the same way they created mass panic over Covid).

A politician was highlighting how an elderly woman had died last week following her dread of putting on the heating. Assuming this lady didn't live in a huge house, and was getting all that she was entitled to, she would have had anything up to £1,600 to help with her bills this winter. It's madness.

Well, I have now invested in a dehumidifier😁Ran it in the living room this morning and reduced humidity by 10% according to its own display; quite satisfying to see water in the tray, and the room did seem to warm up more quickly when I put the heating on. Going to run it in the bedrooms tonight and this evening; hoping I can get the general humidity in the house under control by running it daily.

It's not hysterical though. Prices are going to continue to rise, that's just the reality.

If you have elderly relatives who aren't using their heating even though they can afford to, because they are worrying about future increases (which they can probably also afford) even though they are getting significant help, that's a different problem, and perhaps your relatives need help with that. It's not the mainstream medias fault for accurate reporting.

She'd only get 1600 if she was on the bread line, even with 1600 of help, still needs her to find another 1000.

Older people often need a lot more heating than younger people, and bills have doubled since last year, even with help.

Perhaps we shouldn't be giving billions to millionaires & have more targtted support?

Unless UK energy production is nationalised, then we will continue paying global prices however the energy is produced.

Not really. You're conflating electricity and gas/coal/oil.

Interconnector flows will continue to go to the highest bidder, but that's only a fraction of supply. Electricity prices are much more nationally-based than gas prices. That's why you see the difference in which fuels set the electricity price (remembering that it's the cost of the electricity that meets the last bit of demand, and therefore the most expensive, that sets the price - in the UK, Italy and Spain, that's most often electricity from gas. In France, the electricity price is only set by fossil fuels 7% of the time - their market is dominated by nuclear which has much more stable pricing.

We are hurting more through this period because we are enormously reliant on gas for both electricity and heat in a way that not many countries are.

Getting out of the global gas market would be a good first step, along with changes to the structure of the electricity market including locational pricing can make a huge difference. Shifting away from volatile fossil fuel markets will make marginal pricing less extreme - inputs for nuclear and renewables are set once they're built.

This is a great summary of two UCL papers that explain the impact of the current electricity pricing system that sees fossil fuel generating costs driving the national electricity price the majority of the time, even when it's not providing the majority of the electricity.

This is why renewable and other generators have made windfall profits since the energy crisis - they're not having to spend any more generating their electricity, but they're getting the same price as the much more expensive gas generators.

This ^

We ve given upland started using ghe heating again.We were beginning to see green mould forming round windows and to be honest its fucking miserable with the house being so cold

What he really should be doing is taxing energy producers much higher than he is.

Absolutely OP. Since the weather turned really cold, within a couple of days black mould appeared all around our door and window frames. Our wet laundry is going musty because it wont dry. We are all coughing and sniffling. Fuck you Jeremy.

China may still be using coal stations but it is ramping up the switch over to renewable energy over the coming years. www.fitchratings.com/research/corporate-finance/chinas-new-plan-for-renewable-energy-development-focuses-on-

Net zero tax on our energy bills is small. Nuclear takes time to build. We should continue the switch to renewable energy, electricity is already cheaper but the way whole sale electricity is sold means customers are still not being passed on the savings. As I said above, this govt should increase its wealth tax on energy producers who are making record profits to help with the current cost of living crisis.

It's just a perfect storm isn't it ? People will get sicker through damp and cold, the NHS is overwhelmed already, people waiting for hip and knee replacements can't move about well and more at risk. It's scary.

You are right
Really is the new conspiracy theory stupidly latest obsession

Trump led....