MSE News: Brace yourself for record winter energy bills

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"Households will be hit by a double whammy of plummeting temperatures and rising gas and electricity costs ..."

Read the full story:
Brace yourself for record winter energy bills

MillicentBystander

And in other news, apparently the World is round.

Davesnave

'Temperatures between December and February are forecast to average an icy -1.4C, says Energyhelpline, compared to a slightly less chilly 1.6C last winter. The long run average for that period is a relatively barmy 5C.'

So cold, in fact, that proof readers walked out of MSE Towers. :rotfl:

MillicentBystander

LOL. Even The Grauniad would be proud of that one.

Pincher

What we need is to change planning permission regulations to allow whole house lagging, a la hot water cylinders.

It's easy to line the loft, so no need to insulate the roof. All we have to do is insulate the exposed sides. Just below the gutter, we install a roller blind style mechanism. When it gets cold, we lower the blind for insulation.

A simple tarpaulin will reduce windchill, neoprene will add insulation. The best will be a 200mm thick inflatable mattress effect. When rolling the mattress up, we open the air valve, so the bulk disappears. At the corners, velcro and ties can seal the edge fairly well.

During the warmer months, you have the house as it always was.
I would house the roller blind inside a box that looks like a pelmet around the house.

We can put pictures on the blind, so they look more presentable when rolled out.

Cheaper than solid wall insulation, so Warmfront might be able to do it for free. I suspect Lidl can supply a kit for £300.

Davesnave

The Centre for alternative Technology tackled the lack of insulation on caravans in an interesting way. Put this on Victorian houses, paint it pink or yellow, add a few cake decorations, suitably scaled up, and we could live in Fairy Cake Land: