Fuel Poverty

[Chrysalis]

yeah thats the point I made, my bill is just for a flat so I can see how big it can get for a house.

what I know is my landlord is a tight sod with insulation etc. so its pretty much non existant, my boiler is on its last legs and I used to go all winter with the heating off nearly all the time but I cant now due to escalating health issues. I think the biggest thing that would help this country is regulating standards in private rented properties but the government wont do that for fear of upsetting the BTL market. We also need to stop having age discrimination on state help like the heating allowance stuff, as cold weather vulnerability doesnt only affect pensioners.

[Angua]

Not forgetting those using key meters with NO DD discounts. Or, silly companies who shove the dd cost up to extortionate levels in the winter because they dropped it too low in the summer.

[Hugh]

Originally Posted by Chrysalis

Whilst some people do use excessive heating I think your picture is inaccurate.

There is people literally freezing, scared to turn on the heating and still cant afford their bills.

...snippety snip snip....

I consider £80 a month a LOT to spend on heating. yet you consider £137 low.

When I lived an a cold draughty flat, I did things to mitigate the issues, such as fitting makeshift double glazing (thick cling film and sticky tape) and draught excluders on windows and doors, with the long material draught excluders at the bottom of the doors - not perfect, but every little helps.

I actually consider £137 a month a lot, and I was highlighting our usage as a comparator, not a baseline, so your interpretation of my comment was incorrect.

I actually agree with you re people not being able to afford heating being wrong, but my post was in reply to someone spending £225 per month, not those people.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by denphone

Well my parents spend £180 a month on their heating and it also depends on a variety of factors like how big is your house , how well insulated is it and several other factors as well.

I pay just under that but i am actively trying to reduce it.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Sirius

I pay just under that but i am actively trying to reduce it.

Yes l all think we are trying to reduce our bills but with prices usually going up at least twice a year this is very hard to do but at least they get their winter fuel allowance every winter and this helps them quite a bit.

[martyh]

Originally Posted by Sirius

I pay just under that but i am actively trying to reduce it.

I found having key meters installed worked wonders .We actively keep an eye on what is being used ,we don't get a bill and it's much easier to budget for

[denphone]

Originally Posted by martyh

I found having key meters installed worked wonders .We actively keep an eye on what is being used ,we don't get a bill and it's much easier to budget for

Don't you get pay more because you are on key meters martyh as from what l have heard people tend to pay more because they are using key meters.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by denphone

Yes l all think we are trying to reduce our bills but with prices usually going up at least twice a year this is very hard to do but at least they get their winter fuel allowance every winter and this helps them quite a bit.

I am to young for the fuel allowance

[martyh]

Originally Posted by denphone

Don't you get pay more because you are on key meters martyh as from what l have heard people tend to pay more because they are using key meters.

only if they are using the key meter to pay of debt because then you are paying for the cost of day to day usage plus the debt .There is of course no DD discount but as i found and others have noted the DD's fluctuate and can be set too high off setting any discount .

[Chrysalis]

Originally Posted by Hugh

When I lived an a cold draughty flat, I did things to mitigate the issues, such as fitting makeshift double glazing (thick cling film and sticky tape) and draught excluders on windows and doors, with the long material draught excluders at the bottom of the doors - not perfect, but every little helps.

I actually consider £137 a month a lot, and I was highlighting our usage as a comparator, not a baseline, so your interpretation of my comment was incorrect.

I actually agree with you re people not being able to afford heating being wrong, but my post was in reply to someone spending £225 per month, not those people.

thanks for the 2 tips I will try them here.

and yep seems I misunderstood you, apologies. I agree on every little bit helps.

[Angua]

Originally Posted by denphone

Don't you get pay more because you are on key meters martyh as from what l have heard people tend to pay more because they are using key meters.

Key meters are charged at the standard rate for the company you get the utilities from. You do not get any discounts or other cheaper deals for paying by DD. At least they cannot charge more than their standard rate except for debt recovery now.

[Taf]

When I lived at the top of the Belgian Ardennes in the late 70's/early 80's I could see how backward UK homes were. -26c was common for weeks on end.

Triple glazing was about standard.

Walls were insulated at time of build.

Attic rafters were insulated, NOT joists, and heat collecting in the attics was pumped downstairs again, used to heat fresh air, and recirculated.

Radiators were NEVER fitted under windows.

Curtains were HEAVY and fitted to the wall at the top and sides.

Boilers were already an early form of on-demand condenser/combination type. No hot or cold water tanks. Many had multifuel oil/gas/wood AGA type cookers that also heated water for bathing and radiators. Their chimneys snaked around the house giving up their heat befor venting. Often the chimneys ran through heat-retaining stone/concrete thermal masses that gave off their heat slowly over days.

Heating ran 24/7, lowering only at night.

Fridges and freezers were not in kitchens, but in seperate unheated rooms, where they acted as the heat source. They were also boxed-in with extra insulation, so they rarely used power. Some homes even had the compressors/and heat exchangers outside that room to keep it cooler.

All internal pipework was in insulated conduits.

Drying rooms for laundry were very common, and the exhaust hot air was dried and recirculated.

An ex-girlfriend's 5 bedroom home used less than 20% of the kwh's for heating than my 3 bedroom home back in Wales!

I went back a few year's later and they had added solar panels, both hot water and photovoltaic, plus a mini wind turbine!

No fuel poverty there, 'cos they have taken energy efficiency seriously for decades, not just token hot water jackets and low energy lightbulbs, or a little cavity insulation or rockwool in the attic.

[Hugh]

Taf, you're absolutely right; my flat in Berlin in the 70s/80s had the same design, with the addition of roller shutters on the windows and French Windows for further insulation.

[Cobbydaler]

Try this:

http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/t...witch#petition

[mertle]

Very interesting Taf just shows how backward this country is we trying to fudge things when buildings designed not well.

Another thing if we suposed to be warming up like the government says then why no statury regulations in place on building properties.

Take for instance there likely more flooding so why areas designated not built on stilts like abroad in designated flood plains.

Another is likely we will face tornados hurricanes cyclones what not so why housing not got storm cellars.

Surely if global warming real then they have there duty to protect its people with regulations on new house building.

I do agree taf there quite backward atitude to our energy thinking.

On footnote about poverty my mum pentioner said where is her cold winter payments while its been horrendous cold.

Never thought about she got 7 payments last year £25 yet nothing this has cameron secretly changed the system.

Now upto feb winter was mild but feb been really bad with temp in places apparently in scotland -20's in england places been -15. Last year they told people who struggling not to negate on heating as they would be paying the this payment.

Yet this year nothing. Anybody else noticed that.