Help! I am in Fuel Poverty.

mcc100

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

my average annual cost for Gas and Electricity for 2008/10 inclusive was precisely £4,862.

Blacklight wrote: »

08/10 inclusive = 36 months
£4,862/36 = £135/m

His average annual cost was £4862 ........ which equates to just over £405 per month.

fc123

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Something to be said for flats, then! Our combined gas and electricity direct debit is £45 a month, and we're in credit at the moment.

Ours is nothing like that and we are detached house with single glazing....got to be his pool that's hiking it up.:D

Charles1968

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

I am well used to being told by our Nanny State about all the so-called 'Poverty' in the UK - Child Poverty, Housing Poverty, Fuel Poverty. [You know the sort of thing. Stupid self-interested groups wanting huge benefits increases. These reports tend to be next to others mentioning 10 million people dying of starvation in Africa or somewhere...]

But I thought I would check my own situation. I was staggered to learn that (a) my average annual cost for Gas and Electricity for 2008/10 inclusive was precisely £4,862. Given the large increase from August, I am predicting well over £5,000 for 2011.

Now if this was less than 10% of my income, I'd be a higher rate taxpayer. Given the pensions I am choosing to take, and my savings income, I am not at the higher rate threshhold. Hence, I find that whilst I thought I was very comfortably off, I am very much "in Fuel Poverty".

I suggested to Mrs Loughton Monkey that we should pop down to Citizens Advice and see if we can get some benefits. But she claims it's my own fault because I like the pool set at 90° when she is comfortable at about 86°.

Would others, like me, along with Age UK apparently, describe my position as "scandalous"?



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14151032

There are simpler ways of boasting. You could just post a picture of your house and tell us how much it's worth, without the contrived outrage about fuel prices.

neverdespairgirl

fc123 wrote: »

Ours is nothing like that and we are detached house with single glazing....got to be his pool that's hiking it up.:D

My parents' bills are less than the OP - and that's in a medieval house with single glazing. Must be said, though, that my mother views heating as a sin (-:

ash28

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

Sadly we don't have an inside pool. But yes, we turn it off in the winter. But it does take an awful lot of gas - particularly when you keep it as hot as a Jacuzzi most of the time.

We don't live in a 'mansion' at all. Just a reasonably ordinary suburban house in a decent suburb and [because we can afford it] do not rush paranaoically to the thermostat every time I look at my bank balance. Being a bit of a wimp, I don't like freezing cold water (a la local authority public swimming pool) and prefer to laze around in the water on a hot day with a glass of something in one hand, and a cigar in the other.

WestonDave seems to be 'onto' the irony that I am trying to point out. And that is that I am very definitely suffering from Fuel Poverty according to official Government figures. Even without the swimming pool, that would have been the case in the first 4 years of my early retirement when I was living primarily on capital.

I particularly dislike the 'concerned outrage' that these 'do-gooders' express particularly towards us over-60's. In general, us over-60's are the ones [baby boomers] have had all the opportunities. Who generally 'had it so good', and who in general didn't suffer from mass unemployment, absence of good pension provision, and having to pay for education. I mean how many 'early retirees' are there? Bags of capital. Decent company pension providing a good 'base'. State and private pensions still pending us taking them.

Just about all of us would show up as living in "Fuel Poverty". The pious article quotes 'almost half' of over-60's living in 'fuel poverty'. Does anyone believe that this is a major problem of society?

At a rough guess, I would suspect that no more than 10% [rather than 50%] of people would genuinely deserve some sort of 'sympathy'. The remaining 40% of people will be partly those (like myself) who are totally 'comfortable' and live a bit on capital. The other key part will be those who have 'had it all' throughout their lives, and have chosen to 'blow it all' on a good lifestyle rather than provide for an adequate retirement despite every opportunity. Serial 'sins' of the 40-year past are simply coming home to roost. Call it 'poverty'? Well go and ask a few Somalians!

You need to invest in a heat pump and a solar cover for your pool Mr LM - that would probably save you enough to bring you out of fuel poverty.

We are in a similar situation to yourself and Mrs LM (early retired last year both 55) minus the swimming pool and fuel poverty - and our 3000sqft house costs us around £250 a month to heat and light - which is a good bit less than 10% of our pension income.

However we may well join you and become another fuel poverty statistic when the proposed increases in domestic fuel prices kick in.

I do know there are things we could do that could potentially stop us becoming just another statistic - there are the computers for a start - one in the study, laptop in the garage (OH's workshop), laptop in a spare bedroom (just in case) and a laptop on the dining room table - which I use when I can't be bothered to go into the study and because it has a nice view of the garden - we leave them switched on for convenience.

Energy efficient bulbs would also help - but at 55 my eyesight is not quite what it was and they are just too dim at my time of life. If I did needle point I wouldn't be able to see well enough to do it during the darker evenings.

Turing the bathroom light out at night might also help - but then we have to weigh that up against OH risking life and limb and falling over the cat if he is caught short during the night - which we understand will happen more frequently as time goes on. Obviously it's better to be safe than sorry.

I could try and persuade OH that wearing a jumper in the winter is not a sign of weakness and that it's perfectly acceptable, it might also stop our visitors almost passing out with the heat.

Closing the spare bedroom doors could help a bit too, but OH doesn't like to feel enclosed and of course if he gets confused and can't find his way back to our room after being caught short during the night, he can always find somewhere to lie down

I shall have to give this a bit of thought and see if there are any practical solutions to helping us stay out of fuel poverty - apart from the obvious and moving somewhere warmer.

peakoil_2

Charles1968 wrote: »

There are simpler ways of boasting. You could just post a picture of your house and tell us how much it's worth, without the contrived outrage about fuel prices.

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this, on other forums I go on there would be a popular uprising and a person would be savaged if they dare brag like this. this forum must be full of rich toffs who all have pools or summat.

where is the outrage at someone earning and having more more than us??

casper_g

What a waste of money on fuel! I really can't understand why anything would cost so much. Even our solid-walled Victorian house with original single-glazed sash windows (so ill-fitting I can get my fingers through the gaps) costs less than £100 a month dual-fuel. A pool does seem a classic example of where solar heating would be good (consider solar thermal as well as PV).

Loughton_Monkey

ash28 wrote: »

We are in a similar situation to yourself and Mrs LM (early retired last year both 55) .......

....I do know there are things we could do that could potentially stop us becoming just another statistic - there are the computers for a start - one in the study, laptop in the garage (OH's workshop), laptop in a spare bedroom (just in case) and a laptop on the dining room table - which I use when I can't be bothered to go into the study and because it has a nice view of the garden - we leave them switched on for convenience..

Yes!

Could be me writing. Same 4 computers chugging away 24 hours a day between the two of us! Lights on most of the time if we will go back into the room in a couple of hours... cringe at using jumpers in the house when the heating can go up a notch or two...

In short, I only take size 9 shoes, but I suspect my carbon footprint would make size 12 look small!

ash28

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

Yes!

Could be me writing. Same 4 computers chugging away 24 hours a day between the two of us! Lights on most of the time if we will go back into the room in a couple of hours... cringe at using jumpers in the house when the heating can go up a notch or two...

In short, I only take size 9 shoes, but I suspect my carbon footprint would make size 12 look small!

Actually I don't do carbon footprints - when I was working they had this scheme where you could access a program - type in your details and it would tell you your carbon footprint.

Well, I duly did the questionnaire, only fibbing a bit in an effort to make it a little less dire than I suspected it might be - and it was pretty shocking - size 12 would come no where near it.

I fibbed about the computers being left on and leaving the tvs, playstation (only used as a blue ray player and iplayer viewer I hasten to add) and the sky box on standby - said we switched everything off including lights.My nose should have been a foot long by the time I'd finished.

When the reality is that it's far more convenient just to pick up a handset and press a button than to physically go and switch stuff off and on.

When I first heard about conserving energy I thought they meant my own - as it's an approach I'd been cultivating for years, I assumed there was nothing more to learn.

hillcats

Charles1968 wrote: »

There are simpler ways of boasting. You could just post a picture of your house and tell us how much it's worth, without the contrived outrage about fuel prices.

peakoil wrote: »

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this, on other forums I go on there would be a popular uprising and a person would be savaged if they dare brag like this. this forum must be full of rich toffs who all have pools or summat.

where is the outrage at someone earning and having more more than us??

Have you considered that maybe most people are seeing this as a wind up? I know I am certainly thinking that way hence I am not biting at the OP, just the opposite actually as some posts are funny...