WASTE NOT WANT NOT

[Stanley]

I'm getting to grips with managing the stove. My biggest problem was that I was getting the front room too warm! 25C tends to send you to sleep. A secondary problem was that whilst working wonderfully well as far as gas consumption is concerned, the CH knocks off twenty minutes after the stove is lit because the hot air gets upstairs and knocks the stat off on the landing, this does nothing for the workshop which has been running at about 40F in the cold weather. No problem while I was poorly because I wasn't going in there but as I get better I need a bit of heat to make things comfortable. I've worked out that if I have my last firing of the stove at about 6pm that keeps me comfortable till bedtime at 10pm while I'm in the front room and the CH kicks in at about midnight. This means the shed is at about 50F at this time of the morning and soon warms to about 60F if I leave the door from the kitchen open when I go for my early morning walk. It will stay at that all day because the machines add to the heating while I'm in there. I can light the stove when it seems appropriate. No problem about front room cooling down (The radiator is turned off) because there's enough residual heat in the room to keep it at a minimum of 70F all day. Not riveting stuff I know but improving the management pleases me. Small things amuse small minds!

[Stanley]

Bear with me with this one, not easily explained. Some of you may remember that I was on the BG Essentials Tariff which saved me about £90 a year on my energy bills. I got a letter yesterday informing me that the scheme ends on February 12th and is replaced by the government's Warm Home Discount Scheme. I had already had a look at this but my problem was that one of the qualifications needed was to be in receipt of Pension Credit. Now I have always had a problem with this as nobody could assure you before you switched that you wouldn't lose out on the deal with other Means Tested benefits so I left things alone. I rang BG and got a nice lad called Darren in their department that looks after the crumblies and he told me that evidence of other Means Tested benefits was acceptable so I copied the evidence, filled the form in and posted it all off. If the switch works (and I'm not clapping hands yet!) my Essentials Tariff saving will be replaced by £120 warm home discount so I should be better off. Only one beef, who was the idiot that made sure that the reply-paid envelope wasn't big enough to hold all the documentation!
So, if you know anyone who is on any means tested benefit, is over 65 and spends more than 10% of their total income on fuel, help them to apply for the Warm Homes Discount no matter who their supplier is. If they aren't on Pension Credit apply anyway even though the form says you must have it, Darren might be right! Like many other benefits, it isn't automatic, you have to take the trouble to apply for it. As I say I'm not clapping hands yet, I shall post the bulging envelope this morning and will let you know how I have gone on.