The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

Si_Clist

All that home automation's going to be fun when the electric goes off this winter or we get brownouts ...

kacie

I do worry that if the electricity does go off, and I'm not at home will I be able to get in, as our main doors here are all on key fobs, hopefully it'll stay open rather than closed. Or someone will leave it open as it's push button to open it from the inside. 

Si_Clist

kacie said:

I do worry that if the electricity does go off, and I'm not at home will I be able to get in, as our main doors here are all on key fobs, hopefully it'll stay open rather than closed. Or someone will leave it open as it's push button to open it from the inside. 

Any reason why you can't find out from the landlord/caretaker/maintenance people what happens to your door locks in the event of a power cut?  TBH that's something I'd have wanted to know before moving in/they changed the locks. 

If your own front door is on an electr(oni)c lock and that defaults to "unlocked" in a power cut, I wonder what the position is then from the POV of your home contents insurers ...

Auntycaz

I had a key fob to disable the alarm where I worked. It ran on one of the round flat batteries, but I don't know if they all work like that. 

[Deleted User]

I am with Bulb and, despite having a hefty credit on the account with them, they have emailed today saying my account isn't "where it should be" for this time of year and are increasing my payments by £30 PCM! Tried to discuss with them, not interested unless you can prove you would have trouble paying and have been in conversation with the CAB!

Seems this is their new way to get as much money from people as they can to keep afloat. When this is over - if - I will switch to a supplier who still allows you to pay on receipt of bill, not direct debit. It annoys me that they can control my direct debit amount. Rant over x

Si_Clist

Deleted_User said:

...  When this is over - if - I will switch to a supplier who still allows you to pay on receipt of bill, not direct debit.

If you can find one ...

mumf

Deleted_User said:

I am with Bulb and, despite having a hefty credit on the account with them, they have emailed today saying my account isn't "where it should be" for this time of year and are increasing my payments by £30 PCM! Tried to discuss with them, not interested unless you can prove you would have trouble paying and have been in conversation with the CAB!

Seems this is their new way to get as much money from people as they can to keep afloat. When this is over - if - I will switch to a supplier who still allows you to pay on receipt of bill, not direct debit. It annoys me that they can control my direct debit amount. Rant over x

Interesting you say that you would like to pay on receipt of bill,rather than direct debit. We are with eon,and British Gas,and have always paid on receipt of bill. We had a bad experience with direct debit ( council tax- the council took 3 months money from EVERYONE in the borough in one hit, and the council head honcho had the audacity to say,in the local rag,” well ,it’s not that much,can’t see what the problem is”!!!!)). The savings are negligible ( to me) .Eon are now going to monthly payments via their app,which is fine by me.I simply set an alarm each month ,submit a reading,they send a price straight back, and we pay immediately.Done! 

Auntycaz

I was paying on receipt of my bill with British gas but their variable tariff prices were much higher than the fixed prices offered by other suppliers so i changed.

MingVase

So what's the position if you instruct your bank not to pay/cancel the DD and sit bak and wait for them to start yeling? Then you tell them take what I owe out of my credit balance. Would that work?

Serendipitious

MingVase said:

So what's the position if you instruct your bank not to pay/cancel the DD and sit bak and wait for them to start yeling? Then you tell them take what I owe out of my credit balance. Would that work?

When I cancelled my utility DDs prior to moving, I noticed they all got in touch very fast indeed!