" I live inThe dark" BBC article.FFS.

[Nolongera]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwz0vxl21m3jo

This bloke is wandering around in the dark to save money. No where in the article does it mention how much it actually cost to run a light.

A standard 6w modern bulb costs less than 2p for ten hours. I simply don't believe this is is anyway cost effective.

My mother in law had a fall trying to save money by not switching lights on, when I asked her how much she thought it cost, she reckoned about 50p

Articles like this are part of the problem.

Isn’t that a bit absolutist? Sure we might not have Armageddon levels of poverty, but there are definitely people for whom physical starvation is a reality. The safety net is shrinking.

So it’s fine that people die early from entirely preventable diseases? And that they die in much larger numbers in the winter?

In any event, my comment was in response to nobody dying from hypothermia.

Bills continue to rocket because the price of fuel has rocketed. Imagine how much worse it would be without the low energy appliances?

My dad refuses to put the heating or lights on when he’s alone he says it’s the principle of the thing. He has tens of thousands of pounds in savings but he won’t spend it.

This. My OH's mother scrimps and moans about everything yet she's so flush that she panics if her current account goes under £3k. I kid you not.

Very true - but that wasn't what they always promised, was it: that your bills would 'only' be ultra expensive but not absolutely stratospheric, with the new advances in technology mitigating it?

Disproportionately high standing charges are also a particularly cruel factor, especially for poorer people.

The UK does not experience the extreme, subsistence level "abject" poverty seen in developing regions. We have relative poverty.

The only starvation I see is either intentional linked to eating disorders or linked to cognitive decline/loss of appetite - either a lack of ability to shop for and cook food, or a loss of the hormones that actually let someone know they are hungry.

As to the safety net shrinking - it needs to. It's currently covering half the country.

The alarming rise of obesity in the UK tells a different story

Well yes, we need old people to die otherwise the old to young ratio is buggered up.

I agree.

I have solar panels and a battery and am a bit obsessive about maximising it but lights are pretty negligible.

See also things on standby. The odd bigger capacity device like a gaming PC but most modern TVs etc use miniscule amounts on standby.

I see it on here when people are querying 30kwh plus usage. People say 'turn off things at the wall' but that's a drop in the ocean. It will be an immersion heater or something with high kW rating that is causing that kind of spike.

Obesity can go with poor nutrition from eating cheap junk instead of good quality fresh food.

That.

Exactly.

Heat or eat, adult going hungry so kids eat is ever more common.

That kind of daft frugality is an obsession/hobby for many.

Funny that when someone else is providing heat, light, and grub they go for it like savages.

Aye spend 20 quid in greggs rather than a pack of minced beef, a bag of spuds and some carrots 😉

What a frightening post.

Do you often find you have falsely accused someone of stealing or do I have the unique honour?

I am guessing you are either joking or not old?

I do remember, thanks, and it was bloody miserable. And just because you can't recall people dying from hypothermia doesn't mean they didn't.

The proportion of older people is growing significantly faster than the proportion of younger people.

Often people have prioritised non essential stuff.

If you say so.

But ten years doing welfare rights stuff suggests that simplistic.

Eh?

Things that used to be luxuries have now become essentials.

Like fridges?