What's cheaper, Gas or Electric?

Ken68

There is a plot, t8...in that the government runs everything through a business, that way no one gets hurt.
Powergen and Co continue to pay corporation tax and pay lip service to green energy by providing such things as free light bulbs to the elderly.
Look how many years it has taken to update building regulations for better insulated new builds.
Riddled with apathy.

Terrylw1

Well solat power via panels on your roof feeding a import/export meter has been coming in over the last 2 years.

However, it's not mandatory for Suppliers to offer them at this stage. So, BGas steamed ahead with it and some Suppliers started trialling it.

The result - BGas customers leaving them, getting mis-sold by dodgy sales agents who knew the Supplier they were signing them to could not offer them a solar tariff. Of course, agents were not set up to handle the extra data, Suppliers didn't have systems to support it etc etc...just every single customer calling every quarter to complain about incorrect bills. Well done Ofgem.

The problem - as usual, Ofgem's slow response to what the Labour party wnat to run with. Sadly, Ofgem tends to be slow to respond to consumer protections and new thinking such as this.

So, it's easier to bang on about lightbulbs & standby. For the government, every house in this country doing this creates a half decent energy saving. However, you as an individual won't notice it as it's minor. The government is targeting quick wins - which tends to be how they work anyway since they only have a short term to secure a re-election!!!

Loom at the carbon/global warming issue - none of them agree with each other so we won't have a hope in getting manufacturers to change when they would be happy to destroy the world just for a profit.

Personally my vote is on quick win campaigns as we all know they only care about re-election, not whats best.

Which falls inline with what Ken said about running it as a business since a business is only interested in gain, usually low cost short term.

You would be very surprised at how bad the mechanism for Suppliers to pay electricity is handled. They waste meny millions a year but they just add it to your bill rather than spend X thousands on a solution. No one ever hears about that though.

EdInvestor

Ken68 wrote: »

There is a plot, t8...in that the government runs everything through a business, that way no one gets hurt.

One suspects that in general they use "new issues" type regulation as a way to generate new businesses which will provide jobs, pay taxes, promote consumption etc so as to boost the economy.

Good in theory but can lead to the type of "quick wins" mentioned not to mention "slow losers" (like EPCs/HIPS) and political problems, such as bans on plastic bags and restricted rubbish collections.

t8769

But will changing light bulbs and switching of items on standby actually make any difference?

I'm not an expert, but considering these things heat my home 6mo out of the year, I suspect that they will make very little difference.

If I do this change, my heating system has to work harder, so where's the advantage?

I just wonder if this is like Global Warming (of which I have seen no evidence for, and much evidence against), lazy, quick, useless science spouted by politicians and lunatic campaigners, looking for the next headline.

It seems that the drive to conserve energy is not based on any scientific or practical basis.

mech_2

t8769 wrote: »

But will changing light bulbs and switching of items on standby actually make any difference?

Yes.

It reduced my electricity usage by 25%, saving me £50 last year compared to my usage levels 7 years ago. I don't think I was particularly wasteful in the first place and I live alone. Plus I had a gas oven back then and now I have a fan-assisted electric oven.

Whether you consider 50 quid or more off your yearly electricity bill worth it depends on your attitude towards money I guess. It hasn't changed my lifestyle.

I'm not an expert, but considering these things heat my home 6mo out of the year, I suspect that they will make very little difference.

If I do this change, my heating system has to work harder, so where's the advantage?

Electricity costs at least 3 times as much for the same heat output as gas. And that's only for half of the year, even assuming you have the heating on 24/7 for those colder 6 months. So reducing your electricity bill by £50 is likely to put up your gas bill by an absolute maximum of £14, even with only a 60% efficient gas boiler.

I just wonder if this is like Global Warming (of which I have seen no evidence for, and much evidence against), lazy, quick, useless science spouted by politicians and lunatic campaigners, looking for the next headline.

It seems that the drive to conserve energy is not based on any scientific or practical basis.

That's odd, as it seems to me that the objections to energy conservation are not not based on any scientific or practical basis, just apathy.

I'd like to see the evidence against global warming though as I haven't seen any that isn't lazy, quick, useless science spouted by people who are desperate to convince themselves that it is lunacy.