Gas and Electric the price of fuel

mellonia · Post by **mellonia** » 17 Nov 2008, 21:40

Hi

I have put on another thread that my bills combined gas and elec are now Â£259 per month, which by my standards are criminal, any way saw on channel 4 news tonight that the fuel prices are going down and the big gas and electric companies are not passing this reduction on to us, they have become greedy. Thats all well and good for them but i feel they are shooting themselves in the foot, as at this moment i am seriously considering a woodburning stove, to reduce my gas consumption and would like to reduce my leccy as well.

Surely people are going to look seriously into not using gas and electric, ie wind power and solar power, so by being greedy they are helping us in a round about way to look seriously at others power sources, so let me say a big thankyou to npowe* as it did seem out of our reach but due to your massive greed it might be worth it.

Mellonia

vyxxn · Post by **vyxxn** » 17 Nov 2008, 21:47

Sounds like a good idea - I've heard stories that its ILLEGAL to cut yourself off from the national grid but surely this cant be true

kate egg · Post by **kate egg** » 17 Nov 2008, 21:52

I have just posted a question to Dave about our heating, our bills are horrendous but hubby keeps turning the thermostat up and I am slowly melting.

I am not sure how they get away with keeping the bills high but I would guess that at some point one will reduce prices to try to win customers - then hopefully they will all do it

misty · Post by **misty** » 17 Nov 2008, 22:35

I think I must be extremely dim. Once, not so long ago, there was a gas board and an electricity boad serving the whole country. Then it was sold (it belonged to the Nation but I never saw any profit) into lots of 'bits'. All these bits had to make a big profit to service shareholders and were supposed to be competitive. All these 'bits' employed lots of staff, lots via agencies costing lots of dosh and they had lots of jollies. These 'bits' were sold and now seem to be in foreign hands. We have no one to complain to who has any clout.
Now, if the power industries belonged to the Nation with directly employed people with a brief to make enough profit to pay wages and re-invest but to keep prices as low as possible,.................
Ah, if things went pear shaped we could show our displeasure at the voting booth so no wonder the government want them in private hands.
Sad old world

lancashire lass · Post by **lancashire lass** » 17 Nov 2008, 22:39

I think it is greed - they quickly put the prices up on the basis that it was linked to the price of oil. Oil prices have been sliding back down to reality for a few months now but not the price of gas or electricity - so they lied to everyone )de:

However, I am also intrigued that all this seems to follow not long after the big push to get everyone to cut down on their gas & electricity - remember all the big carbon footprint ads on the tv? Funny, you don't see these ads any more so it makes me wonder ....

echelon · Post by **echelon** » 18 Nov 2008, 09:23

My husband has been talking about getting our own small generator )t'

We'd love to cut ourselves off from the National Grid, but we'd still need a bit of gas and leccy to run the Combi Boiler.

We've changed most of our lightbulbs to the low energy ones and I'm raising the kids not to expect to live in a warm house all the time - we just put extra clothes on and light the stove.

Babycakes · Post by **Babycakes** » 19 Nov 2008, 12:09

I dont have a choice - there is only one electricity provider here (NIE) and only one gas provider (Phoenix) Am glad I dont have gas bill to deal with as well as huge electric one.

Post by **p.penn** » 19 Nov 2008, 13:16

Although we live just outside Brighton, we have no gas supply to our village. Quite funny in this day and age isn't it!

Mellonia - do you live in a very big house? I thought our oil and electric was outrageous but yours is even more!!

The ever spiralling energy prices are just SO worrying aren't they? We are so dependent on it. Scary stuff.

Helen

Willow · Post by **Willow** » 19 Nov 2008, 14:05

We quite seriously thought about using wind or solar energy.. for about half an hour.. The cost of buying and installing the equipment needed would keep us going in gas / electricity for donkey years!! then the solar panels would need replacing before we had made back our outlay.. You need money to save money and even that wouldnt work.. :shock:

ged · Post by **ged** » 19 Nov 2008, 18:46

Hi Gang!
I live in a very small flat and pay for fuel via meters!The fact that I am paying in advance for my fuel and energy seems to have gone unoticed by E.onnnnnnnnnn!I am paying 25 t 30 pounds a WEEK!to these gangsters and that is just to have a modicom of warmth and heat!My Sis who as you know has MS only pays Â£80 per moth for her power bills!I am subsidising the lower tarrif to direct debit consumers!If this were my own place there would be a woodburner installed pronto and solar panels and a small 'genny,pronto!
I am considering 'outlaw'tactics!
atb
ged(who may dress in Lincoln green and may reside in Sherwood at some future date!) )t'

Meanqueen · Post by **Meanqueen** » 19 Nov 2008, 18:49

Hi Ged, there you are, nice piccy. Yes, it is daylight robbery to pay into a meter, it has been in the news lately. I can see a lot of people declaring themselves bankrupt in the spring because they can't pay their bills. Not fair at all, let's start a campaign )t'

Ilona

ged · Post by **ged** » 19 Nov 2008, 19:03

Hi ILona,
I agree!The Power co's have had their day!
Off to fill me quiver with fresh arrows!
atb
ged )t'

4 french hens · Post by **4 french hens** » 19 Nov 2008, 19:06

In the house we are building I'm trying to incorporate solar electric with LED bulbs at only 1 watt each and solar water heating backed up by a woodburner. I also have a 12v windmill to help charge the 700 amp hour batteries which run out through an inverter to give me 230 volts.

In the uk you can buy 230 volt wind generators and connect them to your home power system via a grid tie meter. This means when the wind generator is producing more power than you are using, the excess is put into the national grid and the electric company credits you for the power you have sold them. Check this out with your electric supplier before you spend on it though, there are a lot of hurdles to jump, but it is definatly worth it.

Mike

Teasal · Post by **Teasal** » 28 Nov 2008, 00:06

We don't have gas here at the farm, it comes as far as the village a couple of miles away. But after running a gas rayburn at my previous house, I would not have gas even if it was here. My gas bill was horrendous, and I only used the stove for cooking and hot water, hardly no heating on at all.

We are next to a big river here, and in the next village they are generating power from the river - not sure which houses are going to get the power or how they pay for it. But someone suggested we should do the same with the river that runs through our land. I did have a man down interested in doing it earlier this year. Maybe something to think about. Or maybe a turbine!!!

hfbinnie · Post by **hfbinnie** » 28 Nov 2008, 08:20

I do have some information for those that are a very low incomes and or benefits. I won't post it on a public forum as there are always those that 'try it on!'.

If you are genuinely in fuel poverty, 10% of your entire house income goes on fuel, then contact me via the PM service.