[meldrewreborn]

@Tommysgirl

the problem is that too many people are not paying their bills and that could cause the suppliers to go bust. That helps nobody. Spreading the loses across the bills of the majority who do actually pay is seen as the lesser evil. Of course politically acceptable suggestions on how to make people pay their debts - forceable installation of prepayment meters having been put on hold - would be greatly appreciated.

we need to distinguish between the different kinds of energy companies- we can’t tax Russia or Saudi Arabia after all.

[retrotecchie]

@WizzyWigg

Our energy costs have already risen by £22 to cover SOLR from a couple of years back. So they want another £17 on top of that 'just in case' it happens again? Plus the £18 a year for the debacle that is smart metering....

That's nearly £60 a year before you even turn a light on.

Going off grid is looking more and more attractive by the week!

[WizzyWigg]

@retrotecchie @meldrewreborn
We haven't even got to winter and the debt this summer is £2.6bn! It will be interesting to see what it is by April 2024. There are murmurs that this winter could be a hard one. El Nino pattern 😎.

[meldrewreborn]

@WizzyWigg @retrotecchie

perhaps Bernie Eccelstone could help, he’s coughed up £652m to settle his tax case. B4s*****.

[retrotecchie]

@WizzyWigg

Debt might be £2.6 billion but, according to Moneybox on Radio 4 the other day, energy suppliers are sat on £8.1 billion of cash where customers are in credit. Another good reason for variable DD rather than fixed DD. As my old Granny used to say, "Neither a debtor or a lender be. Pay what you owe and never a penny more".

[WizzyWigg]

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

@WizzyWigg

Debt might be £2.6 billion but, according to Moneybox on Radio 4 the other day, energy suppliers are sat on £8.1 billion of cash where customers are in credit. Another good reason for variable DD rather than fixed DD. As my old Granny used to say, "Neither a debtor or a lender be. Pay what you owe and never a penny more".

Your Granny was a very wise woman. My father instilled in me the same philosophy. Plus "If it's something you need and you can afford it you can buy it. If you can't afford it you can't have it". HP were swear words to him. I don't mean the sauce 😉.

[meldrewreborn]

Its fine in principle, but buying a house without borrowing is virtually impossible - unless family buys it for you! Then Granny would be the wisest of all!

[JoeSoap]

Coming back to my overnight baseline power consumption, I had a look back in the Bright app in half-hourly intervals and see as little as 0.08kWh with the odd 0.07kWh. With my outside lights drawing about 25w it seems 50w is all I need to account for.

I've just tallied up what's drawing power overnight and found the boiler timer, microwave clock, IHD, oven clock, printer and speakers, PC off but plugged in, landline handset on one cradle with the main handset base also plugged in, three mobile phones and a toothbrush or two on charge, three TVs on standby, one Freesat and one PVR on standby and finally one DVD on standby.

Each one not very much but added up it would account for a chunk of the 50w I'm trying to account for. I'll probably suck it up rather that asking the family to scrabble behind appliances switching things off at night and on in the morning. The PVR and Freesat would lose the recording schedule in any case so they would remain on.

I could maybe save 30w for ten hours overnight if I switched off the AV on standby, so maybe a few pounds a month. I think I'll pay that for an easy life 😁

[retrotecchie]

@JoeSoap

Always a trade off between economy and convenience. When I lived off grid, every watt counted, and if I ran out of power, something had to give. Sure, if I really needed to charge the phone or run the laptop for an hour at night, I could borrow a few hundred watt hours from the car battery if need be, but if it meant the choice between watching a DVD or reading a book, well I had plenty of books!

My microsolar has made more than a dent in my baseline load, so what I generate and use from that frees up the few tens of watts that I can now spare for the cordless phone, router, charging the tablet, etc. I no longer pay for the 150Wh a day for charging the cordless tools or the laptop or tracking Russian submarines and receiving Wefax transmissions 👍.

[WizzyWigg]

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

@JoeSoap

Always a trade off between economy and convenience. When I lived off grid, every watt counted, and if I ran out of power, something had to give. Sure, if I really needed to charge the phone or run the laptop for an hour at night, I could borrow a few hundred watt hours from the car battery if need be, but if it meant the choice between watching a DVD or reading a book, well I had plenty of books!

My microsolar has made more than a dent in my baseline load, so what I generate and use from that frees up the few tens of watts that I can now spare for the cordless phone, router, charging the tablet, etc. I no longer pay for the 150Wh a day for charging the cordless tools or the laptop or tracking Russian submarines and receiving Wefax transmissions 👍.

@JoeSoap

Head over heart ❤ , Heart over head. Decisions decisions 🤓. That's life, nothing simple. Most importantly you are pleased with your decision. 👴