Governor of the Bank of England

pendragon_arther

I'd imagine what he was inferring was enjoy these prices at the moment while you can because getting towards Autumn they're going to shoot up.

Smiley_Dan

Cardew wrote: »

Is £1,100 - £1,200 pa expensive when you compare that with the cost of running a car - even with much cheaper fuel prices.

I'm not sure if it's a valid comparison to make because they have totally different uses.

Petrol and diesel cars, like UK homes, are inefficient beasts. About 25% of the kWh in petrol gets you moving!

In the UK energy is cheap. Make the most of it by saving the money to invest in reducing your usage for when it isn't cheap.

Bark01

If comparing to Europe you need to factor in household efficiency, The UK gnerally uses more per head than the rest of Europe. It may be cheaper but we use more of it.

Smiley_Dan

The main reason we use more of it is because our houses are poorly built.

I was in Munich last week for a conference. Not the coldest part of Germany. I walked through a residential estate. Every block of flats had triple glazing! They do things properly there. That's why they have high productivity - investment for the long term, not chasing profits for the next quarter.

Hoopie1

sheffield_lad wrote: »

Yet as the poster before you points out we are one of the cheapest places in Europe for both gas & electricity below both Germany & France (who are state aka nationalised run).

The German electricity supply market is not state run.

lstar337

Smiley_Dan wrote: »

The main reason we use more of it is because our houses are poorly built.

I wouldn't say poorly built, they are mostly just old. A lot haven't been upgraded over time, and some are protected from being updated.

Smiley_Dan

The old ones aren't so bad! It's the new ones which are poor. Particularly those since the 70s/80s.

lstar337

Well ours is new (completed Jan 2014) and seems to be very well insulated. Rated A on the EPC and only used 4500kWh for heating and hot water last year.

Unless you mean houses built between the 70's and 80's?

Smiley_Dan

Insulation is not the problem. Any monkey can slap some insulation on. Tick box -> EPC A!

Detail and air tightness are the problems. Since the 70s certain building practices have become widespread because they are easy and cheap. This includes modern, contemporary building. Dot and dab plasterboard on bare inner leaf. What a nightmare! Completely circumvents the insulation via thermal bypass. Cheapo open hole ventilation. Trickle vents. I saw a new development where the houses had chimneys! All in the name of profit.

EPCs are a bit nonsense because they don't do air tightness tests.

Pleased that you appear to have a decent build, but it also kinda depends on the m2²...