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Author Topic: Gas and electricity bills  (Read 2534 times)

taxi

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Gas and electricity bills
« on: February 12, 2009, 12:14:39 pm »

Holy ****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!        The meter reader arrived yesterday and she worked out how much. gulp!   The combined gas and electricity bill will be about £600 for the quarter and I have also burnt about half a ton of coal @ £14 a bag.         I heard recently that they were going to reduce gas prices by 10%, big deal eh!   >:-o >:-o >:-o >:-o           
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regiment

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Re: Gas and electricity bills
« Reply #1 on: February 12, 2009, 02:09:01 pm »

and- i thought £40 for oil per month was dear  did not realise how well off i am  electric about £7 a week
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bogstandard

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Re: Gas and electricity bills
« Reply #2 on: February 12, 2009, 02:18:44 pm »

Mine is about £450 for a combined quarter. It wasn't so long ago that it would have been less than £100.

Mainly it is the electricity part that has shot up to dramatic figures.

I did a quickie calc a bit back and actually came to the conclusion that we were using a lot more around the home without even thinking.

Things that are left on without realising that they do consume a lot of power.

Computers now regularly use a 1000 watt power supply rather than the meagre 250 watts they used to be. All required because as they get more powerful and faster, they use a lot more power. People buy computers nowadays for speed and power, and don't realise they could be using up to four times the electricity their old system used, multiplied by the fact that they now use them for much longer or even leave them permanently turned on. I am one of the biggest culprits on that score.

The other main culprits are the kids.

My grandson lives with us, and over the years, the electricity requirements of his bedroom has grown, and now needs it's own power station to keep it running.
Computer, playstation, big tele, dvd player, sound systems and music players all add up to massive usage, and all running at the same time. As he says, he can't live without them for schooling, communications, culture and art and even exercise, plus any other excuse they can come up with to save them having to turn the on button off.

I would hate to live in a household where there where even more kids, you would need to work 24 hours a day to keep up with their electricity consumption costs.
So instead of buying them the latest exercise game for their interaction Wii console, get them a skipping rope instead, it will save you a fortune in the long run, but you would get real funny looks from the kids, while they try to work out where to plug it into.

John
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stallspeed

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Re: Gas and electricity bills
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2009, 04:45:55 pm »

If you wish to make an immediate impact on your power bills with a minimal investment look out for the lightbulb and insulation discounts and giveaways.
Homebase,in conjunction with Eon, were selling 14 watt (same light output as 60 watt tungsten) at 5 for a £1 last week.You can still get 11 and 8 watt bulbs at £1 and 50 pence.
I can already hear the critics of expanded foam ceiling tiles but they make a huge difference in heating bills.
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toesupwa

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Re: Gas and electricity bills
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2009, 04:46:24 pm »

Holy ****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!        The meter reader arrived yesterday and she worked out how much. gulp!   The combined gas and electricity bill will be about £600 for the quarter            

Owwww... that smarts!..

We live in a two bed apartment, similar in size to a 2 bed semi back in the UK.. electric heating, electric water heating and cooking.. and the PC is on all the time
Our last electric bill was about $60... 90 uk groats...

Oh.. and i can still get petrol at below $2.00 a gallon...

Why do you think i moved to the USA?... hmmmm?...  ;D
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Bryan Young

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Re: Gas and electricity bills
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2009, 04:48:56 pm »

And now I read that clever-clogs Milliband is going to charge us even more to serve the great god "renewable energy". Do these clowns really want to incite a mass uprising from us poor peasants? BY.
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Notes from a simple seaman

tony52

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Re: Gas and electricity bills
« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2009, 06:49:20 pm »

For comparison,
please find some actual figures from my gas bill, (BG is the supplier) which illustrate the rises which have been imposed on us all.

Period 27/10/07 to 31/01/08 consumption -- 577 metric units at a cost of £168.79
Period 05/11/08 to 31/01/09 consumption -- 579 metric units at a cost of £260.00

This equates to an increase of £91.21 for almost the same consumption over a similar period as 1 year ago.

I could understand having to pay increases, if we could see an investment in new infrastructure.

Tony.
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stallspeed

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Re: Gas and electricity bills
« Reply #7 on: February 12, 2009, 07:42:21 pm »

I heeded the warning about the days of cheap power being over so I did what was within my power.I added more insulation to the loft and replaced incandescent light bulbs with power leds.

I leave the big decisions like overthrowing governments to the experts.  {-) {-) {-) {-)
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boatmadman

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Re: Gas and electricity bills
« Reply #8 on: February 12, 2009, 07:47:50 pm »

For comparison,
please find some actual figures from my gas bill, (BG is the supplier) which illustrate the rises which have been imposed on us all.

Period 27/10/07 to 31/01/08 consumption -- 577 metric units at a cost of £168.79
Period 05/11/08 to 31/01/09 consumption -- 579 metric units at a cost of £260.00

This equates to an increase of £91.21 for almost the same consumption over a similar period as 1 year ago.

I could understand having to pay increases, if we could see an investment in new infrastructure.

Tony.

Tony,

Investment in infrastructure is ongoing, they are currently the only business in UK building a new power station, and have just been given the go ahead for another one. On top of that, they are on the point of spending £25billion to buy a quarter share of what was British Energy to invest in new nuclear power stations, without which we will see blackouts as a regular thing in 10 to 15 years.

Ian
(works in the power industry)
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if at first you dont succeed.....have a beer.....

dreadnought72

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Re: Gas and electricity bills
« Reply #9 on: February 12, 2009, 08:15:55 pm »

This equates to an increase of £91.21 for almost the same consumption over a similar period as 1 year ago.

Aye, but think of the new Krasni Flot you're paying for!!!  %%

Andy
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tony52

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Re: Gas and electricity bills
« Reply #10 on: February 12, 2009, 09:23:38 pm »

Tony,

Investment in infrastructure is ongoing, they are currently the only business in UK building a new power station, and have just been given the go ahead for another one. On top of that, they are on the point of spending £25billion to buy a quarter share of what was British Energy to invest in new nuclear power stations, without which we will see blackouts as a regular thing in 10 to 15 years.

Ian
(works in the power industry)

Ian,
Nice to know this. As I (and many others) are concerned about future supplies. A return to coal has hit environmental issues.
Is clean coal or carbon capture ready yet?
 
Unfortunately we don't publicise our positive steps enough. Unlike other nations e.g. the French.

Regards,
Tony.



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boatmadman

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Re: Gas and electricity bills
« Reply #11 on: February 12, 2009, 10:38:40 pm »

Tony,

Clean coal generation has been viable for 10 years or more in the form of pressurised fluid bed boilers. There were some running in Scandinavia, but I dont know what the current situation with these is.

Its the same old story though, needs investment to make it work, but no one in this country is prepared to look at the long term returns, they just want a quick buck..look at the banks for example!!!

Carbon capture.. well, I know that there is planning approval sought for storage of carbon in undersea caverns..watch that space!

Ian
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if at first you dont succeed.....have a beer.....

stallspeed

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Re: Gas and electricity bills
« Reply #12 on: February 12, 2009, 10:58:41 pm »

Tony,I don't think it is wise to take pot shots at France in the context of power generation.

I noticed in the news the other day that a Scandanavian country had repealed a ban on nuclear power(I'm not sure whether it was Switzerland or Sweden).
I also noticed the muted reaction when Gordon Brown said "Yes indeed folks.We are going nuclear."

Better not stare at the north sea too long.
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