Gas and Electricity Hikes

[big-all]

People with wood fired back boilers are feeling very smug

only till your years worth off "conditioning timber" or your personal supply you can coppice runs out then market forces kick in
remember every man and his dog is scavenging any wood lying about
and landowners who have no concern about foragers on there land taking windfall for free may now stop turning a blind eye and now see a great value in the timber

 

[gas112]

Wood burners are regulated now to what they can burn

 

[Mottie]

We pay between 130€ per chord to about 260€ per chord

So, you pay in Euros. You're not in France by any chance are you? Wasn't that where Bobby Dazzler and The Scarlet Pimpernel lived?

 

[gas112]

RH metres suitable for timber are easily available and cheap enough, on internet.
And they have different settings for type of timber.

yep but they are still regulated gone are the days when people could throw any old shyte in them . £1000 fine council with a bit of savvy could make a healthy profit during the winter

 

[Mottie]

Ask your friendly Mod to check out my IP address.

Oh yeah, cos that's really hard to fake isn't it.

 

[gas112]

It's not sensible to throw any old shyte on them, it clogs up the flue and then it requires more frequent cleaning.
Plus ash from old timber with nails, screws etc, can't be safely re-used on the garden, etc.

oh so in these times of hardship you think people are going to say Sally dont put that bit of pallet in it has a few nails in it ?

 

[Mottie]

Is it?

You know it is. In the last couple of minutes I've been to Belgium, Mexico and South Africa.

Don't play the innocent, Scarlet. Or is it Bobby today?



So, where do you claim to be then? Can't be the UK as in your location - we don't pay our bills in Euros.

Busted.

 

[gas112]

Well if they're using the wood burner out of hardship, they're left with little choice, but to burn what's available.

glad we finally got there

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

They're saying could (will?) be another round of price increases in October or thereabouts.

What is our longer term strategy to be more self sufficient energy wise? More wind turbines?

The PM made mention of more nuclear investment and about time too. The silly part is that nuclear is pointless as backup for wind, nuclear pays best working continuous 100% output, not as backup for anything.

 

[gas112]

Aah, I see you are now claiming that people, such as pensioners, single parents, etc prefer to spend their money on luxuries, drugs, etc, rather than basic necessities.
Well they could always go for a ride in their Chelsea tractor to keep warm.

How many house have you worked in in your career seeing directly how a lot of people actually live ? Have you seen kids sleeping on bundles of rags old quilts etc with no actual beds whilst the parents are speaking to you while playing with latest i phone with sky on in the back ground and this and similar is not unusual .

 

[ajohn]

Should VAT be charged on essentials like gas and electricity? One of it's ideas is that richer people buy more expensive items so pay more VAT.

Then comes the Gov Social and environmental schemes charge. Is that money going on making our energy cleaner or trying to hide it by growing trees etc.

The beeb did a breakdown of a £1277 annual bill. This scheme £159, vat £61. Metering and bills £204, a lot of that is probably down to a French leasing company owning my meters. If prices go up the vat return does. Scheme too maybe. no idea how it is calculated. Fuel is much the same. So gov essentially gets more the higher the prices go. Profit on that bill £23 and other with no idea what that is £34.

Why on earth is there an insurance tax I know that doesn't relate to the above but why? It an areas that in some cases we can not do without.

I lot of this comes down to apparently lower levels of income tax but IMHO over all we still pay more or less the same as people always have. Which is the fairer system. The above or income tax.

 

[ajohn]

This might "amuse" some but how much of this is going on with utilities
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/nov/10/water-companies-tax

Noting that we pay for any corporation tax if they pay any.

 

[Deleted member 18243]

Should VAT be charged on essentials like gas and electricity? One of it's ideas is that richer people buy more expensive items so pay more VAT.

Then comes the Gov Social and environmental schemes charge. Is that money going on making our energy cleaner or trying to hide it by growing trees etc.

The beeb did a breakdown of a £1277 annual bill. This scheme £159, vat £61. Metering and bills £204, a lot of that is probably down to a French leasing company owning my meters. If prices go up the vat return does. Scheme too maybe. no idea how it is calculated. Fuel is much the same. So gov essentially gets more the higher the prices go. Profit on that bill £23 and other with no idea what that is £34.

Why on earth is there an insurance tax I know that doesn't relate to the above but why? It an areas that in some cases we can not do without.

I lot of this comes down to apparently lower levels of income tax but IMHO over all we still pay more or less the same as people always have. Which is the fairer system. The above or income tax.

Ajohn asks: Why do they tax this and why do they tax that?

Andy11 answers: Because state spending is at astronomical levels and has been for the last two years.

 

[ajohn]

Because state spending is at astronomical levels and has been for the last two years.

That isn't how I see it. More why collect what they need the way they do when it could be simpler and fairer. The answer is pretty obvious.

 

[diy_fun_uk]

In a way I chuckle to myself around some of this. We elect politicians (who in turn consult with experts in various areas) to run our country. Let me go OT for a sec. We used to have one of the worlds best (if not thee best) train infrastructures, yes? We were world beaters, trend-setters, yes? Then, after years of neglect, we end up in a situation where even the politicians sometimes admit we underinvested for too long. Result? We're now trying to play catch up. No sh1t Sherlock. The most basic economic teachings would tell you that underinvesting will, at some point, come back to bite you on the bum.

I appreciate when compared to other EU countries the UK doesn't import as much gas as other countries. However, a bit like taking our eyes off the ball with train infrastructure, on what planet was it ever a good idea for the EU and UK not to ensure 100% (or as close as possible) of our energy sources were self generated? Surely it was plain to see our agreements with some countries were only ever as solid as our relationships with said countries.

So, a bit like playing catch-up with the train infrastructure, we NOW have leaders saying 'yes, we need to do more to ensure we're not reliant on non EU countries for our energy.'

I'll say it again, no sh1t Sherlock.

And, as important as it is, surely prioritising all things green needs to be turned down a notch or two, at least for now, if it can't provide the solution at a reasonable cost for consumers.