What extra support measures or regulations do you expect the government to bring in this winter?

Ultrasonic

Alnat1 said:

Same Ultra although I really need to sort out getting the radiators balanced, living room is annoyingly last on the system. 

Does that make a difference? 

MattMattMattUK

SanguineOnSaturn said:

Does anyone know if the October forecasted capped rates allow for the possibilty Nord Stream 1 may not resume any supply following the current shut down? I know we are not directly reliant in the UK but it will increase demand for LPG and push up prices presumably.

No, they do not, as they are based over the wholesale price during the reference period. Although there will be some of that built into the global price of gas as a risk factor. The reference period has nearly finished so it will be unlikely to move much from the current estimate of the October cap, however it could have a significant impact on the April 23 cap, it could also mean even large players in the industry go bust so could involve huge SoLR costs next year.

The reality is that if Nord Stream 1 does not resume pumping, or Russia makes further significant cuts to supply then there are going to be far bigger consequences that energy bills being a bit higher. There would be power rationing across Europe, including in the UK, there would be a deep recession across Europe and that might trigger a global one and political instability will increase hugely, especially in poorer nations.

Ultrasonic

Ultrasonic said:

Alnat1 said:

Same Ultra although I really need to sort out getting the radiators balanced, living room is annoyingly last on the system. 

Does that make a difference? 

@Alnat1 looking this morning I realise I didn't properly read what you wrote there. I meant I wasn't sure the living room being last necessarily made any different but actually I'm not sure what you meant by 'getting the radiators balanced'? Was this just adjusting TRVs or something more advanced?

Alnat1

@Ultrasonic You can adjust down the flow into the radiators (non TRV end) so more of the hottest water gets further round the system. At the moment the upstairs radiators get much hotter than those downstairs. Living room gets the coolest water as it's last on the system, so the room takes longer to heat up. Upstairs radiators get up to TRV set temperatures quickly and close off and the boiler tends to cycle a lot because only a few radiators are left open downstairs.

I'm no expert, this is how my brain understands it so I might have it all wrong.

Chrysalis

To be frank, nothing.

The current measures are designed to help this year, especially noting the £400 doesnt start until October.

All of the leader candidates are far more right wing than Boris, so its very unlikely I think, a small chance of more announced help next year.

Any help given early like the £150 council tax rebate and means tested cost of living payments should be held on to when possible in anticipation of future energy bills.

Ultimately people need to use less heating and get used to it, I have seen some bills on social media which have a massive differential between summer and winter, there is even people who have admitted to using central heating from September to June which is ridiculous.  Some data got published which showed between the 1960s and 2000s average living room temperatures have increased by about 5-6C, so turn down your thermostats, get used to wearing jumpers, keep yourself under a quilt or whatever.

fergie_

I completely agree about education. We need to move away from 'the typical cost' - too many people think wrongly that's them. We also need to stop talking about the typical increase which combines the typical use of gas and electric with 2 different increases. Much better to say electric is going up another 45% and gas 85% (yep that's not far off what is going to happen), even better if they would be open about the rates and publish KWh figures (with a slight variance for areas).

For me though, the best thing they can do is subsidise renewables (say 90% of the cost) and help people insulate their homes (30% with NO loft insulation???!). All new builds should be forced to have solar as standard.

[Deleted User]

Alnat1 said:

@Ultrasonic You can adjust down the flow into the radiators (non TRV end) so more of the hottest water gets further round the system. At the moment the upstairs radiators get much hotter than those downstairs. Living room gets the coolest water as it's last on the system, so the room takes longer to heat up. Upstairs radiators get up to TRV set temperatures quickly and close off and the boiler tends to cycle a lot because only a few radiators are left open downstairs.

I'm no expert, this is how my brain understands it so I might have it all wrong.

There is some science behind the principle of radiator balancing.


https://www.heatgeek.com/balancing-heating-systems-the-ultimate-guide/

Telegraph_Sam

I expressed an interest in improving my loft  insulation to my local authority - Durham - and asked what incentives and subsidies were available. No direct reply but I was referred to some local loft insulation co's that are "in" the ECO (or EOC?) scheme. I am still digging. A few days later I was contacted by "Home Logic" [5* Trustnet] who it turned out were marketing the under roof spray on membrane. I was given convincing sales spiel during the "survey" but whilst dithering I read comments on such membranes in one of the other MSE forums. This has dampened my enthusiasm.
I am trying to establish what now are the recommended / minimum / maximum depths for "normal" fibreglass insulation layers.
And whether these are universal or vary by region and / or installer.
And under what conditions subsidies are available.
Any help much appreciated.

aaiiee

Energy Savings Trust advice on home insulation:https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/energy-at-home/reducing-home-heat-loss

RogerBareford

Mstty said:

Alnat1 said:

I agree with others, much more energy saving information needs to be given, especially around how to best run the heating system that you already have.

We see people on here with sky high bills, plugging in electric heaters because they think it costs too much to put the gas central heating on etc.

Second this and the people that constantly rave about leaving the hot water on all day. I've seen the figures on the new tanks heat to 65oC and it loses 1.5-2kwh a day but that's if you don't draw a drop of water down a hot water pipe so that's up to 14kwh a week without drawing a drop of that heated water. 

Sorry that's my pet hate lol

Recent highlights are the £10,000 predicted energy bill come October😮 get to know your heating system like you do your petrol pump price.

But yes far and away the best energy saving advice is divorcing the partner who is into gaming on a desktop machine with 5 monitors attached👍

I can confirm that having the hot water on all the time is a massive waste of energy. When i moved into my current home a microswitch in the system was faulty and it kept the hot water demand on constantly, even though it wasn't overheating the water and just keeping it hot the previous ocupiers used 10 times more gas in the equvalent summer month because of it!. So for the sake of a couple quid on a microswitch it cost them hundreds extra on their bills. We just put it on 30 minutes a day and that is more than enough.

funny.money said:

Alnat1 said:

I agree with others, much more energy saving information needs to be given, especially around how to best run the heating system that you already have.

We see people on here with sky high bills, plugging in electric heaters because they think it costs too much to put the gas central heating on etc.

I'm probably guilty of the above. Just husband and me in a large 5 bedroomed house.  The living room downstairs is quite large.  Last winter we decided to turn one of the unused smaller bedrooms into a small  'snug'.  It's really cosy and we like it,  so much so that even since the warmer weather we've not moved back downstairs as we intended to do! Anyway we have an electric oil filled radiator in the snug which we put briefly on and off last winter when we started to get too cold.  We got by quite well with a duvet over us while watching TV. Go to bed with hot water bottles.  I can't believe that this is not cheaper than heating the whole house with our gas central heating whilst sitting in one room. We're old enough to be in the 'we didn't have central heating when we were young and managed fine' brigade. Are we really doing the wrong thing?

If your needing a duvet to cover you while watching TV and hot water bottles in bed to keep warm then i would say your almost certainly saving money!.

But it is really worth it to be that cold?

You could just turn off the TRV's in all the rooms you don't use and then heat only what you do as a good compromise between comfort and cost.

Chrysalis said:

To be frank, nothing.

The current measures are designed to help this year, especially noting the £400 doesnt start until October.

All of the leader candidates are far more right wing than Boris, so its very unlikely I think, a small chance of more announced help next year.

Any help given early like the £150 council tax rebate and means tested cost of living payments should be held on to when possible in anticipation of future energy bills.

Ultimately people need to use less heating and get used to it, I have seen some bills on social media which have a massive differential between summer and winter, there is even people who have admitted to using central heating from September to June which is ridiculous.  Some data got published which showed between the 1960s and 2000s average living room temperatures have increased by about 5-6C, so turn down your thermostats, get used to wearing jumpers, keep yourself under a quilt or whatever.

I disagree, i don't think it's ridiculous if people are aware of what they are doing and want to keep warm.

We will put the heating on when we are cold and the Air Con on in the summer when it's too hot. So we don't have a massive have a massive different between summer and winter as the Air Con helps push the summer bill up to even it out