If things get tougher?

studentgirl_2

I agree with all of the above and isnt it grim. We strugle now how will it be an a year. I tried to get my gas capped today all of the sites crashed and I was on hold with scottish power for 3 hours and still did not get through. So here I am a BG customer. I think Im going to look into the cost of the oil filled radiators as iv only go a two up two down so should be able to stay warm. Fed up .

sb44

We have the smaller heaters ie about 4 and 5 fins, some go up to about 7.

They give out such a lot of heat that we had to turn them off after about an hour as we couldn't stand the heat!

trying-very-trying

We've got a solid fuel stove, but I don't intend to keep it burning 24/7 this winter. It's going to be one decent fire in the evening, this will give us plenty of hot water and keep the worst of the chill off the house, but during the day, I'll be wrapping up warm and just using a little halogen heater to warm the living room. There's only me here all day so if I just use the one bar on the halogen heater, it'll only cost about 3p an hour, and it won't need to be kept on all day. I would definitely recommend anyone needing a bit of extra heating to get one of these. Then I'll light the fire for dd coming home from school.

I do feel for all you people with gas!

yvonne763

studentgirl wrote: »

I agree with all of the above and isnt it grim. We strugle now how will it be an a year. I tried to get my gas capped today all of the sites crashed and I was on hold with scottish power for 3 hours and still did not get through. So here I am a BG customer. I think Im going to look into the cost of the oil filled radiators as iv only go a two up two down so should be able to stay warm. Fed up .

I had someone from Scottish Gas at my door trying to sell me cheaper gas. Unfortunately I'm tied into a years contract with npower, as I moved less than a year ago. If you can get onto Scottish Gas, it sounds like they have a good deal at the mo. Didn;t go into details (didn't want to get too depressed!) but they are clearly offering deals.

sb44

Just found this on another site about how oil filled heaters work.

They are economical since there is a delay between turn on times because of the slow cooling of the oil. Once the oil gets hot, the electric heater turns off until the oil has cooled enough for the heater element to turn back on again. In principal, this is not unlike a capacitor in a power supply, it doesn't recharge until it has to.

I think you will find it doesn't take long for them to switch themselves off.

mardatha

TRYING we found

mardatha

TRYING ... we found that keeping the stove on worked better than only lighting it once a day. The coal it took to start it off, in relation to the amount of time it takes to heat up, worked out more bother than just leaving it on but turning it to zro.

exlibris

katieowl wrote: »

I was having a REALLY bad day Monday and all the kids were at home... If I'm going to be miserable I'd like a bit of privacy!

I'm a bit more cheerful as I picked up my 'new' car yesterday - it's an L Reg Nissan Micra. I'm going out to run some errands with my son thisafternoon. Not very MSE to get a car...I guess, but honestly my mental health depends on it.

I have a K reg Nissan Micra which I have had since it was 3 yrs old. I love it!
I don't actually need it but I justify keeping it by having 2 sons one who lives 1 hr away and the other 5hrs. I feel it gives me some independence and I can understand your use of a car for sanity. It has always been very economical both in fuel and insurance, I would get nothing for it if I sold it so I am keeping it till it falls apart!

exlibris

Sorry double post

Ben84

There are still many grants and subsidies for investments in energy efficiency available, and considering today's news about the 35% increase in gas, which compounds with all the other recent increases, I think everyone should be looking in to them, but a lot of people don't know what is available or what they could be doing to improve their house.

Insulating cavity walls and attics can be done for a modest cost with grants or offers from energy suppliers, and it should result in big energy savings. People over 70 are normally entitled to it for free. Many energy companies subsidise energy saving light bulbs too, so a whole house can be changed over for a minimal cost and realise savings quickly. Lots of things are available, although not all the best energy saving options (for example replacing dryers with clothes lines) attract a subsidy or grant.

However, subsidies are still a chance for consumers to reclaim some of the energy suppliers profits and invest in home improvements that will help them save money. It doesn't just help individuals either, the more people who reduce their energy use the less demand there is pushing up prices.