British Gas Price up 35% - full details

flashnazia

kittie wrote: »

Here I am standing back in amazement at all the panic, much of it generated, with an almost religious fervour, by a few individuals. Get your act together folks and think objectively how you can cut your energy consumption without reducing your standard of living. It isn`t rocket science

Easy to say but not everyone wears a bikini in winter and wacks to heating to full!

I've just had a baby and have to keep the house warm for her. My mum's sister died when she was a baby because the house was freezing.

The prices increases are forcing me to go back to work early after maternity leave because I can't afford to stay at home (as this will mean using the heating in the day).

What about the elderly?

[Deleted User]

I am not being flippant here but flashzania have you tried keeping baby close to you by using a sling. Your body produces its own warmth and baby will also regulate his/her body temperature before long and will cope with being cool

re the elderly: many that I know have started to implement energy saving measures. We grew up in very cold houses and we lived through some very difficult financial times and survived, learning lessons along the way.

What I am saying is that survival depends on being `bendy` and ok prices go up but that just means another adaptation needs to be made

1carminestocky

I have to say I'm old enough to remember when I lived with my parents with NO central heating and just a coal fire downstairs. We had a fan heater for the bathroom which we used to plug in and stick round the door to get some heat in the bathroom before we had a bath. Sometimes in the mornings we could see our breath when talking in the bedroom! I'm 50 so this would have been early 60s. I don't want to come across as one of those Yorkshiremen featured in that famous Monty Python sketch, lol, but we have to get these sort of things into perspective! To thrive the human body doesn't NEED to be toasty warm (babies neither), it's just that we've gotten so used to cheap energy that we have previously thought nothing of turning the thermostat right up and sat watching the TV in shorts and T shirt! We really ARE pampered these days, aren't we?

mr_magoo_5

1carminestocky wrote: »

I have to say I'm old enough to remember when I lived with my parents with NO central heating and just a coal fire downstairs. We had a fan heater for the bathroom which we used to plug in and stick round the door to get some heat in the bathroom before we had a bath. Sometimes in the mornings we could see our breath when talking in the bedroom! I'm 50 so this would have been early 60s. I don't want to come across as one of those Yorkshiremen featured in that famous Monty Python sketch, lol, but we have to get these sort of things into perspective! To thrive the human body doesn't NEED to be toasty warm (babies neither), it's just that we've gotten so used to cheap energy that we have previously thought nothing of turning the thermostat right up and sat watching the TV in shorts and T shirt! We really ARE pampered these days, aren't we?

Well said, we are of the same age and I grew up with no central heating,double glazing, carpets etc. I remember most winter days looking at the frost patterns on the inside of my windows! But we were all healthy and enjoyed life. We need to shake off all the unnecessary clutter to our lives and get back to basics and enjoy it more. Balance out how much money we need rather than want. Happy days to all.

pault123

DONT CAP! Switch to the current lowest provider and reap the rewards.

I'm staying with Ebico

Still the lowest in the UK, usually the last to increase, and I predict if they do increase it will be FAR FAR cheaper than BG's and others extortionate cap deals.

http://www.ebico.co.uk/html/home.php

kjsmith7

mr_magoo wrote: »

Well said, we are of the same age and I grew up with no central heating,double glazing, carpets etc. I remember most winter days looking at the frost patterns on the inside of my windows! But we were all healthy and enjoyed life. We need to shake off all the unnecessary clutter to our lives and get back to basics and enjoy it more. Balance out how much money we need rather than want. Happy days to all.

You see, now I'm only 20, but grew up 'poor' - there was always food on the table, don't get me wrong, and my clothes were always clean, but when I was younger, we couldn't afford to just stick the heating on at 25 degrees, even with cheaper prices than now. I suppose those habits have stayed with me. I'm now a student who also works, and still in winter I only have the heating on for roughly 4 or 5 hours a day at the most, in the morning and the evening, and even then it's only on around thirteen or fourteen degrees!

I think people will start going back in their mindsets and changing the way they view heating their homes purely due to the cost of gas & elec - it's a shame it's because of that reason, but surely in the end it'll be a good thing if prices DO drop again in the future, because it really will be noticeable. Thank you for your refreshing outlook and posts!

1carminestocky

pault123 wrote: »

DONT CAP! Switch to the current lowest provider and reap the rewards.

I'm staying with Ebico

Still the lowest in the UK, usually the last to increase, and I predict if they do increase it will be FAR FAR cheaper than BG's and others extortionate cap deals.

http://www.ebico.co.uk/html/home.php

Good company ethos, BUT they are NOT the cheapest for many many people! They are really only for very low users!

flashnazia

It's Flashnazia by the way!

kittie wrote: »

I am not being flippant here but flashzania have you tried keeping baby close to you by using a sling. Your body produces its own warmth and baby will also regulate his/her body temperature before long and will cope with being cool

re the elderly: many that I know have started to implement energy saving measures. We grew up in very cold houses and we lived through some very difficult financial times and survived, learning lessons along the way.

Ok, maybe you think that's a good suggestion.
But I only need the heat to change her happy and when she has a bath. I can't exactly heat her using my own body heat then!

And about the elderly, I believe many will die or get ill in the very least.

I grew up in fuel poverty (I use to revise deep into the night whilst using candles for heat) and I still can't get used to the cold. I absolutely hate it. It makes my feel miserable. I know it sounds funny but walking into a warm house on a freezing day makes me feel like life is worth living.

and I'm quite thin which doesn't help in staying warm. and I'm an ex (softie u may say) southerner living in the north.

And before you start, I am a wear it jumper kind of girl BEFORE I even think about putting heating on.

No offence, but I hate it when ppl say things like, get over it/wear two jumpers/wear long johns ala Jake Ulrich of Centrica and Edwina Currie of Tory fame.

flashnazia

It's Flashnazia by the way!

kittie wrote: »

I am not being flippant here but flashzania have you tried keeping baby close to you by using a sling. Your body produces its own warmth and baby will also regulate his/her body temperature before long and will cope with being cool

re the elderly: many that I know have started to implement energy saving measures. We grew up in very cold houses and we lived through some very difficult financial times and survived, learning lessons along the way.

Ok, maybe you think that's a good suggestion.
But I only need the heat to change her happy and when she has a bath. I can't exactly heat her using my own body heat then!

And about the elderly, I believe many will die or get ill in the very least.

I grew up in fuel poverty (I use to revise deep into the night whilst using candles for heat) and I still can't get used to the cold. I absolutely hate it. It makes my feel miserable. I know it sounds funny but walking into a warm house on a freezing day makes me feel like life is worth living.

and I'm quite thin which doesn't help in staying warm. and I'm an ex (softie u may say) southerner living in the north.

And before you start, I am a wear it jumper kind of girl BEFORE I even think about putting heating on.

No offence, but I hate it when ppl say things like, get over it/wear two jumpers/wear long johns ala Jake Ulrich of Centrica and Edwina Currie of Tory fame.

blue_monkey_2

flashnazia wrote: »

I'm not with the whole capping thing but....

have you factored in the cost of a future SP increase? After all, they will put their prices up too!

Yes, but they would have to rise another 30% or so for me to lose out.

Petrol has fallen 10p a litre in some places at the moment so the price of oil is dropping. For everyone having capped they are going to have to pay if they want to get out of their capped rate if the prices fall.

Of course, this could just be a clever ploy by the energy companies to get everyone to cap and when the prices drop they bank on half the people not bothering or checking to see if they are getting the best rate.