'Fuel poverty'

Rikki

Gemmzie wrote: »

Which way around does council tax go? Is A the most expensive or is D or E more expensive?

A is the cheapest. It then goes up to G. :eek:

Gemmzie

Wow, £118 for A is high then. We pay £120 for a Band C but I think it's going up in May as the Council is restructuring next April _pale_

notenoughcash

Just written a long reply on here and it's logged me out by time I came to post it! Damn!

I was saying anyway, I'm a single mum with two children (9 & 5) and we hit fuel poverty last winter which will be even worse this year as prices have increased so much.

I live in a very old very draughty house which is rented from housing association, they will not put in double glazing or insulation and I cannot use warmfront because it's housing association. I would like to knock the chimney wallout and use the original open fire but they won't allow this either!

It's lucky for me that I was brought up in a very make-do-and-mend way otherwise I don't know how we would manage. I manage to cut costs elsewhere by growing some of our own veg, making draught excluders and curtains lined with thick old bed sheets. And we make the most of a bad situation whenever we can. Some nights in the midst of very cold winter we all get in my bed as soon as it gets dark with lots of teddy bears, light some candles and tell stories or play games.

But the government will have to take action soon as there are people in much worse situations who can't afford to buy food and/or heat their homes.

mumoftwins

I met a woman last week who is in financial trouble and can barely pay her rent let alone her utilities or buy food! She hasn't been having massive spending sprees she has just been trying to survive - goodness only knows what she will do when her gas/elec go up so much .

There again, neither do I.

I have to make sure that the curtains are lined with thermal linings before the cold weather comes and the twins and I will be snuggling up on the settee with warm blankets and several layers on.

I hate this country :mad:

Billy_two_speakers

Broken_hearted wrote: »

Whats annoying is the head of one of the hugely profitable fuel companies telling us we should put on an extra jumper while they sit in luxury. We can't turn the heating down with young children and a disabled adult as they would get ill quickly. Luckily we won't hit fuel povery till next year when the winter bills hit.

They might live the life of luxury, but we have to manage as we are, and putting on jumpers is cheaper and green too

Back in the 60s i think our house had a coal firw with back boiler for hot water..... you soon got a jumper on when you woke up in winter

never any of this damp on windows (bit of ice sometimes)

we also had less cases of asthma

in fact with just rugs and a fire we where a healthier lot :rotfl:

chevalier

Sounds to me that everyone should be keeping an eye out now for blankets, heaters, insulation ends etc on freecycle. Or posting wanteds now or maybe in September!

Seriously though I do think some people (not savvy people on this forum obviously) do have their heating AND THEIR WATER temp way too high. What is the point of heating water to scalding hot, if you then have to put cold in it to cool it down enough to be used? We had our heating set at 19 degrees, and we got funny looks because it was 'so low'!

Hi there MOT by the way catch up soon!
chev

AnnesWitterings

So i f fuel poverty is classed as using more than 10% of your income on elec and gas god am I in a mess this year.
My income when its finally sorted out is going to be £60.60 p/w part Income Support and WTC whilst Im on long term sick.
I pay £10.00 elec and £12.00 gas on card meters so am potentially going to be using 33% plus of my income to have a bath and keep warm.
I am going to have to learn a few new habits really quickly.
Wheres it all going to end, after my bankruptcy in August i will have basic bills to pay, rent c/tax. w.rates elec gas tv licence and food
Im dreading the next few winter months,so had better be scouting around for some thick jumpers and curtain liners.

Ames

I agree about the water, mine's scalding, but I don't know how to turn the temp down. I'd turn it off altogether if I had a cold feed washing machine, since I don't have a bath only a shower room.

mumoftwins

chevalier wrote: »

Sounds to me that everyone should be keeping an eye out now for blankets, heaters, insulation ends etc on freecycle. Or posting wanteds now or maybe in September!

Seriously though I do think some people (not savvy people on this forum obviously) do have their heating AND THEIR WATER temp way too high. What is the point of heating water to scalding hot, if you then have to put cold in it to cool it down enough to be used? We had our heating set at 19 degrees, and we got funny looks because it was 'so low'!

Hi there MOT by the way catch up soon!
chev

Hi Chev :hello:

Ames

AnnesWitterings wrote: »

So i f fuel poverty is classed as using 10% of your income on elec and gas god am I in a mess this year.
My income when its finally sorted out is going to be £60.60 p/w part Income Support and WTC whilst Im on long term sick.
I pay £10.00 elec and £12.00 gas on card meters so am potentially going to be using 33% plus of my income to have a bath and keep warm.
I am going to have to learn a few new habits really quickly.
Wheres it all going to end, after my bankruptcy in August i will have basic bills to pay, rent c/tax. w.rates elec gas tv licence and food
Im dreading the next few winter months,so had better be scouting around for some thick jumpers and curtain liners.

If you're on long term sick would you be eligible for Incapacity Benefit and/or DLA? If you're in rented accommodation and on IS you'll be able to get full housing and council tax benefit. Just in case you didn't know that!