GAS up 25% in weeks (BG)

chugalug

Methinks there's a bit of PR going on here. BG is reported as hiking prices by as much as 25% but deny. Next month prices rise by say 15% and we all accept it cos it's not as bad as it could have been!!! They keep saying its cos of the price of wholesale gas going up which is true but why does their profit keep going up if they're not increasing costs beyond what's actually needed??

Cardew

superscotsman wrote:

You would have got away with that with the greater majority of people, Cardew. But you are unlucky: there are not very many physicists about, and - yes, you've guessed it - auld superscotsman is a physicist.
When you have an open or a gas fire, it burns oxygen and sends the bulk of the warm air - much of it poisoned - up the chimney, where it heats the sky. In the mean season, new cold air comes under your door, through the air brick etc, causing a draught that would kill a horse, which is why it is wise to wear a dressing gown or a smoking jacket. In other words, only a fraction of the heat produced comes into the room.
While it is essential to have ventilation if you were burning an electric heater, be it halogen or otherwise, the room convection is much less, and you do not need a chimney. Because the draught is less, you do not need so much energy to heat it up, and you can dispense with your dressing gown or smoking jacket and walk around in the nude, in your stockings and suspender belt - whatever you fancy.
Now you may say that there is something more warm and matey about an open fire or a gas fire, and I would not argue with that; but in view of the waste concerned I would not say it would be cheaper. Get your calculator out, Cardew, and think again.

What a strange post! Although not unusual for a physicist in my experience to base an argument on a false premise.

Your argument is irrelevant for most people as the majority of gas heating is by radiators.

Even those with gas fires in a living room are unlikely to have chimneys in the other rooms in their house.

Gas prices are in the region of 2p kWh, electricity around 7p kWh. Most gas boilers are in the region of 90% efficient, where electricity is close to 100%.

Perhaps you would care to get your calculator out and produce a rational argument without the assumption that all gas heating is by gas fires c/w chimneys in every room in the house.

Cardew

For those who haven’t seen today’s article in the Times:

Household fuel bills will soon top £1,000
BY JENNY DAVEY
THE average cost of home energy bills is set to rise to £1,000 a year, plunging hundreds of thousands more households into “fuel poverty”.

British Gas, the nation’s largest domestic power supplier, is expected to press ahead with controversial plans to increase gas and electricity prices by up to 25 per cent in the next few weeks.
The move would be the biggest ever fuel bill price rise, hitting the elderly and poor the hardest by forcing them to spend 10 per cent or more of their income on energy.
If British Gas proceeds with its plans, other suppliers are expected to follow suit. Economists fear that the rises could damage consumer confidence and dent high street spending.
British Gas declined to comment on the scale or timing of the proposed increases but letters are expected to be sent to its 11 million customers within the next few weeks confirming details of the higher bills.
Insiders at British Gas suggested that the group was considering price rises of between 22 and 25 per cent — ten times the rate of inflation.
This would follow a 14.2 per cent increase in its gas and electricity prices last year. In 2004 it increased gas and electricity prices by 5.9 per cent and then, in a second round of price rises the same year, gas jumped by 12.4 per cent and electricity prices increased by an extra 9.4 per cent.
The proposed rises follow a 75 per cent increase in wholesale gas prices during the past year. This has a spin-off effect on electricity prices, because about 40 per cent of electricity in Britain comes from gas-fired power stations.
Energywatch, the industry watchdog, said that the average household was now spending £750 a year on gas and electricity. The 25 per cent increase would push that to £1,000.
About 1.5 million households are in “fuel poverty” — where energy bills swallow more than 10 per cent of income. This figure is expected to rise to 1.75 million this year and 2.3 million by the end of 2007 if suppliers press ahead with the increases, according to uSwitch.com, the price comparison website.
Age Concern gave warning that fragile pensioners would die if energy bills carried on soaring. A spokesman said: “If the scale of the price rises is true, customers should leave the company without further notice. Enough is enough — we would have a pretty stark message: get away from this company.”
He predicted a “stampede”, which would lead to British Gas losing one million customers if it proceeded with its plans.
Ann Robinson, a uSwitch director, described the scale of the proposed increases as “shocking” and called for Ofgem, the market regulator, to intervene.
She said: “There is insufficient justification for such excessive price rises. We will be looking to Ofgem to step in and investigate the reasons for these increases and verify that they are legitimate.”

Last month Scottish and Southern and npower introduced steep price increases in their gas and electricity prices.
British Gas last night claimed that no final decision had been taken on proposed price rises but insisted that it was monitoring the price of wholesale gas very carefully.


Centrica, the company that owns British Gas, said in December that it was selling gas to residential customers at a loss and gave warning that it might have to increase prices for residential customers.
The spiralling cost of fuel comes when Britain is becoming increasingly reliant on European gas imports, amid dwindling gas supplies in the North Sea. Britain became a net importer of gas for the first time last year. It is forecast that, by 2015, Britain will have to import about 75 per cent of the gas it needs, rising to about 90 per cent by 2020.
Yesterday rival energy suppliers said that they were continuing to monitor wholesale prices, but would not be drawn on whether they planned further increases. A spokesman for npower said: “We will try to protect our customers for as long as possible.”
Powergen said: “We have no immediate plans for price rises but we believe that price increases are inevitable because of the rising wholesale prices.”

snaffler

We are all a bit shafted how ever you look at it, all suppliers will have rising costs.

I left Npower and went to BG after initial billing issues things are ticking along just fine on the monthly DD scheme. I have often thought about leaving them just to try and cust costs. But after trying things like Uswitch and the like I would be no better off and end up paying a standing charge in many cases, I don't now with BG.

On another note if gets any worse I would seriously consider moving to warmer lands.

The halogen heaters are winners as the guy posted earleir.

paul_h

snaffler wrote:

The halogen heaters are winners as the guy posted earleir.

Don't forget around 40% of the electricity generation in the UK is by gas - there will be a knock-on effect into electricity prices. BG are talking about big price increases for gas AND electricity.

snaffler

paul_h wrote:

Don't forget around 40% of the electricity generation in the UK is by gas - there will be a knock-on effect into electricity prices. BG are talking about big price increases for gas AND electricity.

Woops yes fair comment, thats true I was just thinking of those on a budget, at present some are getting a better deal on electric than gas.

It's a real hard situation, knowing what to do for the best....

solarstone

Just switched to a capped rate with Scottish Power. I did it last night online. A colleague tried to do it this morning at work and it's "unavailable" !!

Cardew

snaffler wrote:

The halogen heaters are winners as the guy posted earleir.

How?

They are not

[Deleted User]

Yes they are cardew. Putting the heater on in a room with the door closed is cheaper than putting the CH on. There is no point in heating the whole house if cost is a problem

Gambler

solarstone wrote:

Just switched to a capped rate with Scottish Power. I did it last night online. A colleague tried to do it this morning at work and it's "unavailable" !!

I've been looking at this. I've only just switched to London Energy and will be paying £850 per year.

To cap with scot power would take me over £1000 but that wouldn't go up again until Oct 2007.