ENERGY MATTERS

[Stanley]

I haven't lit the stove yet. I have a lot on my plate and am letting the gas CH take the strain. Not a lot of difference in price or comfort and I can do without the hassle at the moment..... This will change shortly, I like me stove! It's all ready to go, flues cleaned and maintenance done in summer!

[Big Kev]

Mine will be lit today, I'm working at home...

[Tizer]

Two sets of energy saving tips on the moneysavingexpert.com web site:
Energy Mythbusting
15 energy tips
You can sign up for their weekly email here: LINK

[Stanley]

I still haven't lit the stove, mainly because I haven't felt the need, the weather hasn't been cold enough yet and as I am in the house all day I never turn the heating off, just let it get on with its job and pay the bills. A secondary consideration is that I have too many demands on my time at the moment.... The CH is the easiest way to live.
I looked at the Money-saver tips Tiz and on the whole I am on the right track.....

[Pluggy]

The national grid are using far more gas than coal (they have been all year) and despite all the Green hype, the cost of fuel to generate electric has a very large bearing on their thinking / economics. Its cheaper to burn gas than coal when gas is relatively cheap. (Granted the better efficiency of gas plants will have a bearing).

After much research and measurements in emulating software, I've decided to take a leaf out of Wendy's book and do a partial solution for battery backup of my solar panels. A quarter of the cost and around half the benefits. A system 'upstream' of the holy generation meter, I've decided is a non starter, because the inefficiencies of charging/discharging batteries will reduce what is metered and what I get paid for. So relatively inxpensive inverter, Battery charger, batteries and some clever software in an Arduino to manage it all is what I'm looking at.

[Stanley]

Above my pay grade.......

[Stanley]

My smart meter monitor has surprised me this morning by coming on and giving me information I haven't asked for. Normally it only functions fro 06:00 to 22:00. I am ignoring it......

[Stanley]

The monitor is quiet this morning..... must have been a brain fart! Haven't lit the stove yet....

[Stanley]

I'm getting close to putting a match to the stove......

[Stanley]

I got a pleasant surprise yesterday. I got notification of my Winter Fuel Payment and was expecting £200. I was unaware that when you get to be 80 years old it goes up to £300! As my dad used to say "Better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick!".

[David Whipp]

Meanwhile, us youngsters are grappling with inflating energy prices...

Our fixed rate tariff runs out at the end of this month and I've been checking out what's on offer. Cheapest rate was for a 12 month fix, but we chose a near 3 year fix which was a little more expensive. This gives us a hedge against further price rises next year.

(There was a less expensive 3 year fix from a company called i-supply energy, but they looked a bit obscure for a risk averse person like me...).

[Tizer]

David, did you see the long post I copied onto the May I recommend topic yesterday about getting a better energy deal. It was copied from a MoneySavingExpert.com email. It's mostly about BG but also has links to the best deals.

[Stanley]

I am one of the foolish old dinosaurs who doesn't chase the best deals and switch suppliers. I have never been convinced that in the long run this is a bad strategy. I'm probably wrong of course but I am free from worry and that's important to my peace of mind.....

[Tizer]

By all means stay with the same supplier - we've been with EDF since we moved here about 20 years ago, but then we're on oil not gas and don't use much electricity. But keep an eye on their pricing and challenge them if it seems unreasonable. It's the name of the game now, if you don't query it they bump up the price, especially the insurance companies. Have a look at what your supplier is offering new customers then if it's lower ask them for the same price. Buying anything is crazy these days. It's all inflated because they expect you to ask for a discount. We've just ordered a new carpet, got the quote, asked them for a discount, got it, everyone is happy. I don't like it but that's the way the world turns now.

[Stanley]

I think that is very good advice Tiz and I shall make a call..... I agree totally with you about the Cunning Wheeze of suppliers who quietly put your costs up while the others support switching because they want a bigger customer base. We are just pawns in their profit-chasing game. And of course the executives are on a bonus if they grow the number of customers. It's always presented as Good Guy versus Bad Guy but is actually nothing of the sort. I value stability and in my experience the horror stories of those who suddenly find they have been ripped off usually stems from a switch to an inadequate IT system.

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz took a phone call this morning and it was a man claiming to be from EDF and wanting to make an appointment to fit us with a smart meter. She told him we don't want one and he replied that it was a government initiative, obviously intending her to think it was obligatory. She told him it wasn't obligatory but he persisted so she pointed out we don't have a mobile signal, so it wouldn't work anyway. He said it didn't need a mobile signal and she asked "If so, how would it work?" His reply was that it would work "Just as it did before". She couldn't get any sense out of him so told him again we don't want one and they ended the call. Mind you, he got off to a bad start - when she answered the phone he demanded to speak to me instead!

[Stanley]

Well done Janet!

[Stanley]

I bit the bullet yesterday and lit the stove. I didn't fire it heavily, just enough to dry the flue and make sure I was ready for serious firing. All was OK, I'll take a view today about lighting it again......

[Tizer]

We were at the Housebuilding & Renovating Show yesterday and came across this interesting variation on log burners from New Zealand. LINK

[Stanley]

I haven't lit the stove again yet. I am enjoying the luxury of gas CH with no ashes. I have enough on my plate at the moment!

[Whyperion]

I got a pleasant surprise yesterday. I got notification of my Winter Fuel Payment and was expecting £200. I was unaware that when you get to be 80 years old it goes up to £300! As my dad used to say "Better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick!".

I think over 80s either feel the cold, or need to be warmer ( does their circulation or something normally start to run down ?)

[Tripps]

"does their circulation or something normally start to run down ?)"

Nearly everything starts to run down, and you don't need to wait for 80 -trust me....

[Stanley]

Except the ability to grow nose, ear and eyebrow hair. That increases! Discuss.....

[Stanley]

Still letting the gas CH take the strain. I have enough on my plate at the moment......

[plaques]

Winter Fuel Payment.

With the winter fuel payment in full swing but with the threat of its removal at the end of the parliament, 2020, it is perhaps worth looking at why we have this payment in the first place.

Those in their twilight years will remember the good old purchase tax where domestic fuel was zero rated. Taking this as our starting point…

With the introduction of the European Market VAT system the Zero rated purchase tax was transferred to a Zero VAT. No tax on domestic fuel.
In 1993 the Conservatives raised the VAT rate of fuel to 8% with a planned increase to 17.5% to take place in 1994. This increase was voted down in the House of Commons.
The incoming Labour government reduced the rate to 5% in 1997. This was the lowest rate allowed once VAT had been established. To get it back down to zero would require the agreement of all the countries in the EU market.
All this and more can be seen inLink 1 Of course if the UK leaves the EU then they could, if they wished, drop it back to zero. On the other hand it could be increased to ‘rebalance’ the economy.

The Winter Fuel Payment was introduced by Labour partly because of the concern of domestic fuel costs and its affect on Fuel Poverty and Poverty levels in general. Here the definitions get a bit cloudy. The current payment is available to everyone who has reached the retirement age for women. This will move along in line with the new retirement age requirements.

Fuel Poverty is based on the average costs to households of their domestic fuel bill. This does not mean that the average households are adequately heated but just establishes the overall average of what they pay. The general ball park figures are between £1,053 and £ 1,525 giving an overall average of £1,266. Should your fuel costs be above this average median line and the extra expense puts you below the poverty line then that is classed as fuel poverty. Link 2


Relative Poverty. In the UK it can be defined as people in households with an income of below 60% of that medium in that year.
Absolute poverty. People living in households with income below 60% of the median uprated for RPI inflation.
The current average income is quoted at £25,450 per year.

These definitions appear to be almost similar and can result in two sets of figures but after 2006 they have given very similar results. Ie: roughly 15%, 1.8million, of pensioners are in poverty. Link 3 (download Pdf full report)

Being placed in Poverty only means that you have become part of the overall statistics with very little option but to try to claim additional benefits against income.

One of the statistics that the bean counters watch very closely is the poverty ‘Gap’. This is the distance above the poverty level that a small change in fuel pricing could bring considerably more people into poverty. Moving large numbers of people into poverty is not seen as good publicity for governments of any colour the result being that the current Winter Fuel Payments may be seen as an attempt to keep the lid on the poverty numbers and stop the pensioners from voting against the government that dares remove them.

The exact numbers and definitions are always in a state of flux and will vary year to year.