SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
oops - doh - still - £2.50 a week is still money to find from somewhere for a fair minority.
Power Generation, Companies and Prices
- Thread starter SwingsitlikeHogan
- Start date
oops - doh - still - £2.50 a week is still money to find from somewhere for a fair minority.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
I think whilst it may be interesting to compare power prices across Europe you cannot do so in isolation of the wages,taxes and cost of living in these countries. I would be interested to see price comparisons normalised for such factors - but I haven't seen such a normalised comparison.
e.g. and simply - if average take-home wage in country X is 3x the UK average, then power costs in country X can be up to 3x those of the UK before being relatively more expensive
blackpuddinmonster
Challenge Tour Pro
Central heating has been out for neasrly 10 days so I have been cutting wood and setting an open coal fire every evening. Heating has just (10mins ago) been fixed but Mrs wants us to keep with real fire - and yes - wearing a jersey and taking a hot water botle to bed
We're having ours overalled and a new boiler put in next month. Aparently it will save us £400/yr.
After we've finished paying for it we should be reaping the benefits by 2022.
:clap:I keep trying to re-open our fire but the good lady will have non of it. To much mess.
SocketRocket
Ryder Cup Winner
We're having ours overalled and a new boiler put in next month. Aparently it will save us £400/yr.
After we've finished paying for it we should be reaping the benefits by 2022.
I keep trying to re-open our fire but the good lady will have non of it. To much mess.
I had a new boiler last year and when they asked me to pay the bill I told them to clear off as they said it would pay for it's self
SocketRocket
Ryder Cup Winner
I am with Cooperative Energy, they are increasing by 4.5 percent and sharing their increased cost with the customers.
No shareholders so net profit is returned to the customers.
No shareholders so net profit is returned to the customers.
blackpuddinmonster
Challenge Tour Pro
I had a new boiler last year and when they asked me to pay the bill I told them to clear off as they said it would pay for it's self
B..dum..bum.... Tish..... :ears: :lol:
Imagine if an internet campaign was started by a group of people with the drive to do something about it - similar to the campaign started a few years back to make sure Cowell's latest X-Factor star didn't have a Xmas #1. Imagine if 10,000 people(10,000 homes = £10,000,000) all moved en masse to, e.g. British Gas, but told BG that if their next price rise was >1% above RPI they'd all move to another supplier.
That sort of buying power would make BG sit up and take note. Other suppliers would feel the hit and would match BG's pricing in the hope of enticing customers back to them. If everyone stuck together...
Energy buying groups aren't a new thing but we are too lazy...
That sort of buying power would make BG sit up and take note. Other suppliers would feel the hit and would match BG's pricing in the hope of enticing customers back to them. If everyone stuck together...
Energy buying groups aren't a new thing but we are too lazy...
sev112
Tour Winner
This already happens, the energy companies can see it happening and that is one one reason why they all move together. It's just not co-ordinates. There are circa (apparently) 15 suppliers in the consumer energy market . They are actually quite sensitive to what the others are doing. Which is why various of them are offering price freezes over a fixed period because people are switching a lot
williamalex1
Money List Winner
Both gas and electricity were owned by us, the public. The government sold our companies to their rich pals, instead of investing in them. If they had invested then we'd be reaping the benefits now, not the greedy fat cats.:angry:
sev112
Tour Winner
Well that pretty much assumes that the management practices of the state owned utilities etc would not be similar to the practices of the 1970s. A pretty big presumption perhaps. Haven't seen. Labour government who were in power for donkeys years rushing to bring them back, and that's a labour voter saying that .
williamalex1
Money List Winner
Their all in the same boat now too many fingers in too many pies. These utilities were sold of for a quick profit , and the private sector turned them around fair enough, but why didn't the government do it. now were being fleeced and held to ransom, instead of getting cheaper gas / elect.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Re nationalisation - the stock market value of the BIG 6 is going to be about £30Bn-£50Bn (ballpark guess) - far too much for the UK government to buy. And as the best the tory government seems willing and able to do with the cost of power is nothing - that leaves them with the single option of removing VAT from our bills.
Meanwhile me and the Mrs are going on a real power purge for the next 4 weeks. No central heating. Open fire in front room in the evening. Purchase an oil-filled movable radiator that we can move to whatever room in addition to the front room we wish to be warm. Hot water bottle to warm bed at night. Mrs to take her morning shower at Health Club on way to work at least twice a week. Get top small oven cleaned so we can user it as less expensive to use than main fan-oven. Switch as much OFF at night rather than to STAND-BYE. etc
Let's see what our power usage is when we really try and be careful about it and heat our house etc the way my partents did - and we'll use that as our baseline for when the kids return from Uni for Christmas in mid-December.
Meanwhile me and the Mrs are going on a real power purge for the next 4 weeks. No central heating. Open fire in front room in the evening. Purchase an oil-filled movable radiator that we can move to whatever room in addition to the front room we wish to be warm. Hot water bottle to warm bed at night. Mrs to take her morning shower at Health Club on way to work at least twice a week. Get top small oven cleaned so we can user it as less expensive to use than main fan-oven. Switch as much OFF at night rather than to STAND-BYE. etc
Let's see what our power usage is when we really try and be careful about it and heat our house etc the way my partents did - and we'll use that as our baseline for when the kids return from Uni for Christmas in mid-December.
williamalex1
Money List Winner
You can take the man out of Scotland, but you can't take the Scot out of the man. I have a vision of you and your wife sitting on a sofa wearing a double onesie [a twosie ?] and a Billy Connolly family slipper, in candle light..
SocketRocket
Ryder Cup Winner
You can take the man out of Scotland, but you can't take the Scot out of the man. I have a vision of you and your wife sitting on a sofa wearing a double onesie [a twosie ?] and a Billy Connolly family slipper, in candle light..
How Romantic.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
You can take the man out of Scotland, but you can't take the Scot out of the man. I have a vision of you and your wife sitting on a sofa wearing a double onesie [a twosie ?] and a Billy Connolly family slipper, in candle light..
Ah - was pretty much like that last night - but no Connolly 'big slipper'
Seriously though - our power bill went nuts earlier this year after the cold Nov-March period. Scottish Power (bless their cotton socks) stuck our monthly payment up to £270/month - no typo there I'm afraid and not growing anything illegal in the loft.
Maybe that explains our approach to determining our 'baseline' monthly cost before the kids return from Uni in Derccember.
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Rooter
Money List Winner
Hugh, either your house is huge, or you have some serious insulation / boiler efficiency problems. I am with Scottish Power, 3 kids and the wife is home all day (or I am) so the house is occupied 24/7. 2 showers and a bath a day, TV pretty much permanent, central heating set at 22deg+ and my monthly dual fuel bill is £120....
williamalex1
Money List Winner
Much the same here 3bedroom £110.00 with Southern Electric.
GreiginFife
Money List Winner
Ah - was pretty much like that last night - but no Connolly 'big slipper'
Seriously though - our power bill went nuts earlier this year after the cold Nov-March period. Scottish Power (bless their cotton socks) stuck our monthly payment up to £270/month - no typo there I'm afraid and not growing anything illegal in the loft.
Maybe that explains our approach to determining our 'baseline' monthly cost before the kids return from Uni in Derccember.
I have oil heating in a centuries old 4 bed farm cottage and even we are £150 for oil and £45 for 'leccy per month.
I think SP are having you on or as above you have either a huge manor to light/heat or you are losing a massive amount of heat.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
I have no idea what went on - or whether Scottish Power have made a mistake - but I guess the meters don't lie. We've been monitoring out useage over the last 6 weeks and our leccy is running at about £60 for a 4 week period. Gas useage low.
I was in touch with SP today (half hour to get through due to volume of folk wanting to pick up a SP FP deal or existing customers wanting to move to one following NPower announcement yesterday according to girl I spoke with - interesting). Anyway I will aim to get my monthly dual fuel payment to between £125 and £150 - hopefully towards the lower end of that range.
God knows what we were doing with our power use last year and over last winter.
Rooter
Money List Winner
Shame you don't know anyone that works in the power management and monitoring industry
