Cost of living crisis

[MikeHorton]

So there has been a slight drop in prices https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60680787.amp

However I'm sure it will take a few months for this cost saving to hit the pumps. 

Our nearest petrol stations are now about 15p higher in price compared to a supermarket about half a mile further on. People moan but you see so many people not driving the extra distance to save a few quid. Sometimes we can be our worst enemy 

[Stu]

One thing I can't get my head around is the fact my current supplier uses 100% renewable energy ie either solar or wind 

 

Yet the price of electric is going up  Ha sthe sun and wind put up their prices?  

[MikeHorton]

Russian sun and wind

[bonio]

It's because it's 'renewable energy' in quotes. They have some sophisticated argument that allows them to match every kwh they sell to one generated from renewables, but then what you actually receive is electricity from the grid that has been bought and sold on the bulk market at the going rate.

In the days when generating companies traded in ROCs, Good Energy would sell their ROCs and pocket the cash... so their whole marketing was all greenwash. I don't understand  how they wing it these days but likely it's something similar.

[Fleck]

I fitted AC (for heating) in our living room so our heating bills aren't too bad yet, the smart meter is saying about £3.90 a day for gas and electric. The fixed price tarrif ended in January and we're on standard variable now, the new fixed tarrifs were ridiculous. 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

14 minutes ago, Fleck said:

I fitted AC (for heating) in our living room so our heating bills aren't too bad yet, the smart meter is saying about £3.90 a day for gas and electric. The fixed price tarrif ended in January and we're on standard variable now, the new fixed tarrifs were ridiculous. 

What's AC?

[KiwiBob]

15 minutes ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

What's AC?

Air Conditioner  .. heat pump.

[MikeHorton]

I've heard the efficiency of these very much depends on your type of property it can be a bit of a lottery. Our log supplier has sent us a message saying get your hardwood logs now before the price goes up. Been buying from him for years but can't help thinking he's just trying to cash in on hysteria

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

59 minutes ago, KiwiBob said:

Air Conditioner  .. heat pump.

I didn't know you could get it just for one room. We have a couple of friends who have their whole house heated by heat pumps. One ground sourced the other air. From what I've read the heat output isn't huge so you need somewhere well insulated. If I could get one just for one room I'd get it for my office which is a single storey room built on the north side of the house. Three outside walls and single storey so it's always colder than the rest of the house.

[KiwiBob]

11 minutes ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

I didn't know you could get it just for one room. We have a couple of friends who have their whole house heated by heat pumps. One ground sourced the other air. From what I've read the heat output isn't huge so you need somewhere well insulated. If I could get one just for one room I'd get it for my office which is a single storey room built on the north side of the house. Three outside walls and single storey so it's always colder than the rest of the house.

I don't know about the UK but in NZ they're usually air sourced and only for just one or maybe 2 rooms.

 

https://www.consumer.org.nz/services/heat-pumps/guide

Edited March 10, 2022 by KiwiBob

[husoi]

You should also consider the interest free grants from Energy Saving Trust (depending on where in UK you live).

Won't cover all of the cost to replace a gas boiler but it will help a wee bit.

 

Personally, my boiler is 3 years old and no way in hell I'll be spending more money on changing it unless someone will pay the boiler cost.

Considering a induction hob to replace the gas but +£250 for a decent quality makes me think how long to recover the money.

 

Having said that, yesterday got a letter from Octopus saying my gas bill will stay £50 under the cap but is going up by £910/yr

Electricity is fixed on EV tariff until Oct but will go up 2.25p/kw from then.

 

Standing charges up also.

[Bender]

Sime now have a combi with inbuilt heat pump which works in conjunction with gas it takes max efficiency to 135%, uses more electric than your standard combi though. 

[Fleck]

Our AC is air sourced and just blows hot air inside. They always used to be known as air conditioners but since they've been made reversible in the 1990s some started calling them 'heat pumps' 

I removed a radiator and fitted it back to back through the living room wall, Mitsubishi Electric call this type Floor mount even though it's on the wall. Think they're over a grand now but high wall mounts are about £500

 

[manxie49]

Just had our oil tank filled, 69p per litre, the guy filling it said that he's expecting heating oil prices to rise above £1.00 a litre any time soon,  but definitely before the end of the month!  We have a log burner but the cost of a pallet of logs has gone up by 35% since February ..... Just told the wife we're gonna have to start burning the Fookin furniture .....

[MikeHorton]

It's a shame wages don't accelerate at the same rate! I had a 2% rise the year before last and that's about the only one in around 10 years this is where you notice the difference income and expenditure etc

[Fozzie]

Fuel prices are driving me round the bend. 

 

Last night, a warning was given at a local station that diesel would jump from £1.71, to £1.81 as soon as it hit midnight. This was because of the oil price spiking. After this, the Emirates agreed to boost production, and it's expected others will follow, with this causing a huge 12% drop in the price of oil yesterday (Wednesday). 

 

But when these drops happen, you can guarantee 2 things.

 

1. The petrol companies will buy competitively, there will have been a surge yesterday.

2. They'll either hold the price where it is, or let it trickle down slowly, as why not profit more when you can blame Russia?

 

 

[Throttled]

I know it is OK for me, as we can afford the price rises, but if it helps out the Ukrainians by squeezing the Russians by drying up their main source of income, I can make that sacrifice.

 

The pandemic changed so much. Over the past 2 years I have filled my tank at less than 110p a litre, with a low of 99.9p, far more than I have filled my tank at more than 1.50p. The average cost for unleaded has been around 1.30p for the past decade. It was always going to go up as demand rose again as society went back to normal. The war has just made supply more volatile, which will hopefully end as OPEC producers agree to increase supply, which apparently they are doing.

[MikeHorton]

29 minutes ago, Throttled said:

I know it is OK for me, as we can afford the price rises, but if it helps out the Ukrainians by squeezing the Russians by drying up their main source of income, I can make that sacrifice.

 

The pandemic changed so much. Over the past 2 years I have filled my tank at less than 110p a litre, with a low of 99.9p, far more than I have filled my tank at more than 1.50p. The average cost for unleaded has been around 1.30p for the past decade. It was always going to go up as demand rose again as society went back to normal. The war has just made supply more volatile, which will hopefully end as OPEC producers agree to increase supply, which apparently they are doing.

I agree with that sentiment however the large companies need to feel the pain a little bit like the consumer. See how things are after a year of financial restrictions on Russia I can't see China proping them up forever. 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Just to add to it all our local council are now charging £40 a year to empty the green garden bin and £3.70 an item for anything taken to the local tip that has to do with any home refurbishment - like an old toilet or sink.

 

They are so poor and short of cash that they are scrapping using the current 55 litre boxes and supplying everyone with two new wheelie bins - which I can only assume someone gave them for free as they say the only reason they are needing to charge for taking waste away is because they are short of money.

[Bianco2564]

4 hours ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

Just to add to it all our local council are now charging £40 a year to empty the green garden bin and £3.70 an item for anything taken to the local tip that has to do with any home refurbishment - like an old toilet or sink.

 

Our council have charged £40 for the green bin for the last 5 years or so, I kicked off about it the first year and Mrs said she would pay as she does most of the gardening.  

[MikeHorton]

4 hours ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

Just to add to it all our local council are now charging £40 a year to empty the green garden bin and £3.70 an item for anything taken to the local tip that has to do with any home refurbishment - like an old toilet or sink.

 

They are so poor and short of cash that they are scrapping using the current 55 litre boxes and supplying everyone with two new wheelie bins - which I can only assume someone gave them for free as they say the only reason they are needing to charge for taking waste away is because they are short of money.

Ours Dudley are considering the same with green bins. They reduced the amount of collections last year and you could pay for extra so I think it's coming. I get stuff is tight and we need to pay for social care etc but Dudley own so much property doing nothing it's criminal. So I'm guessing more garden fires and fly tipping 

[Steve_M]

4 hours ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

Just to add to it all our local council are now charging £40 a year to empty the green garden bin and £3.70 an item for anything taken to the local tip that has to do with any home refurbishment - like an old toilet or sink.

 

They are so poor and short of cash that they are scrapping using the current 55 litre boxes and supplying everyone with two new wheelie bins - which I can only assume someone gave them for free as they say the only reason they are needing to charge for taking waste away is because they are short of money.

Norwich / Norfolk has been doing that for at least the last ten years.

Back to fuel… 

 

I buy wood for the wood burners locally and they arrive in a dumpy bag. The last lot wasn’t properly dry so they delivered  a new lot FoC. Bargain! We’ve lost several trees in the storms which will supply us with wood for the next couple of years once it’s seasoned. We also have wood from trees we had felled two years ago but are still too moist. Luckily we have plenty of storage space.

 

I’ve mentioned before that we’re having solar panels and battery installed - break even should be around 8 yrs if electricity increases by 5% pa after this year. 
 

With the kitchen refit we’ll be looking at running costs of the appliances - we have an induction hob already and have suitable pans etc. so will just buy an updated one. 
 

The big unknown for us is the cost of LPG. We were paying £200 a month, now £260. The tank was filled in January so we’re hoping it lasts long enough for the market to have settled, if it ever does.
 

 

[bonio]

I think carbon capture to form methane powered by excess from renewables, followed by burn and release is a reasonable carbon-neutral approach. Even if the capture is expensive in energy, it's carbon neutral energy that's expended. And it could form a reasonable way of storing the energy and perhaps supplying existing gas consumers without them having to convert their boilers. Or if converted to LPG or liquid octane, it could perhaps be used for cars.

A lot of perhapses and coulds in there, as there doesn't seem to be even an outline of what a carbon-neutral consumer economy looks like. I guess we're still waiting for some clear winners to appear in the technology race.

[S-Westerly]

Probably all academic as the way things are going the few survivors in the rubble will be living through a nuclear winter. One way of stopping global warming in its tracks.

[NeilM]

We foolishly bought the kids a car prior to them passing their tests.

Mate of a mate sketch. Far cheaper than book price etc. Its been sat on drive for 2 weeks as I've been poorly.

Anyway thought I'd better go fill it with diesel. 

£48 and it had quater of a tank in......

This is in a 1 litre kia ceed!!!