What are you all up to
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Whilst I knew that it would be coming I got a shock email from Octopus Energy yesterday with projections of how much next years gas and electricity will cost from April 2nd. It looks as if our bill could increase by £800!!!! We are all double glazed and insulated so I am not sure there is much more that can be done in that direction. Solar Panels might now be worth investigating although you wonder, at our age, whether we will get the payback?
Although these increased prices are imminent the real impact won't hit until next winter (there could be even more rises by then?) Unless the Government step in, beyond the minor measures already announced, there will be a lot of people who will suffer. In current circumstances I can't see this being a short term problem?
David
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RedKite I think it would have been a choppy cross channel voyage for your friends last night. The winds aren't too bad here but stronger further south. We have a friend coming back from France today, not a good prospect.
DK I think the predicted energy rise was around £54 pm first time round. World events have taken over now so it's not going to get better, at least the UK hasn't depended too much on outside supplies. I saw a TV programme recently that we're nearly self sufficient in energy from wind power.
Very wet day here, was supposed to be seeing our local Pirate Panto tonight...oh argh me hearties. But have a cold and might not go.
Did I hear any of you saying "oh arrrrgh?!"
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Having little luck with posting on here at moment, so only looking in every so often to catch up. Best wishes to all, keep safe.
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Have tyres gone up in price a lot lately?
We have been buying all our tyres on line for the past 10 years, the last lot were for the Smart and the Touareg, 2 years back.
For the Touareg we have Nokian mud and snow tyres, which were just over £600 for 4 back then, which I thought was not too bad. We then get them fitted locally, they charge £1 per inch fitted and balanced, so another £80.
Slightly better weather here today, at least it is not raining. Just off to do my LFT now.
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Is that the end of a fixed price deal? + £800 does not sound too bad to me compared with ours. We were on £1750 annually, came off our fix in late January so now apparently on £2840 if we cannot reduce our consumption. And from 1st April they predict £4120!!
We have however made a few changes......stopped running frost protection setting in the caravan......turned off the old "drinks fridge".......turned down most of the TRVs a little.......using heated blankets during the day when cold instead of turning the heating back on.......only have on one lamp in the hall/stairs at night, even though they are all LEDs.........trying to use the D/W, W/M and T/D only when our panels are generating power. Not always possible with the D/W.
We were a day too late submitting a meter reading last month, so got an estimated "bill", the gas estimate was pretty spot on, but the electricity was 50% too high, so that was slightly encouraging.
To set against those costs, we had over £1800 in FIT payments last year, our roof is almost south facing, so for us the panels have been a very good investment. But now the FIT is gone you would need to see how much you could expect to generate, how much you could use yourself, and what price you could get for anything exported.
Sun here trying to break through the clouds.....could soon be time to turn on the D/W, it is full.
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Kj
We had previously been on a fixed rate but that ended and strangely the only fixed deal now available is more expensive than being on the standard tariff but we are of course liable for any increase in the energy cap beyond April. It looks as if our new bill, taking the April rise into account, will be in the region of £2000 a year. That will be offset a bit by our winter fuel payments and this strange loan the Government is making to everyone of £200 this year, repayable over the next five years. We won't have any benefit from the reduction in Council Tax as we are in Band E. The latter really annoys me as there are many houses around us that should be in Band E, because of extensions and improvements, but because the higher band does now not kick in until the house is sold they remain in Band D!!! Many of those extensions are far larger than ours.
I am sure we will all be looking at ways we can save energy. I am going to investigate whether lining the roof of the lofts using PIR insulation would be of benefit. Likewise I will look again at solar panels. If prices continue to rise they could become a better investment even without FIT payments. You can sell unused electricity back to your energy company but at fairly modest rates compared to FIT. I am not sure there is much more we can do in reducing the heating. Ours is on 24 hours but set at different temperatures. Interestingly today was the first day of the year it didn't come on this morning as we had, had a fairly mild night. One positive might be that if we are able to spend more time away in the van this year we won't be using as much energy as we would if we were in the house more like the last two years!!
David
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If you think gas & electric is expensive just now, try domestic heating oil, assuming you can get a delivery. Recently quoted over £900 for 500 litres by Boiler Juice. This time last year you could have 500 litres for £230. Now the Boiler Juice site has crashed and you can’t even get a quote! I shall be burning wood for the foreseeable.
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Sanders bus company in Norfolk are now having to pay £1.73 +vat per ltr for their next delivery of fuel for their bus fleet and are having to look at a fuel surcharge that will be in line with the add fuel costs which at this time is over 75per cent more than late last year
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well do not want to sound smug but for the next 3 years will be paying 12.93p per kw for electric and 4.17p per kw for gas, got 3 year deal with SSE back in November before the proverbial hit the fan, our local Shell garage now charging £1.77 per litre for diesel, somebody making lots of money out of this, Shell boss just had £1m pay rise, how they can cost justify that is beyond me.
terrible morningf, wind and rain, but sun just popped its head out so off for a spin on my bike
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"only have on one lamp in the hall/stairs at night, even though they are all LEDs.."
you can buy nice little sensor lights that run off of battery from IKEA, no fixing required, they come with sticky tape so you can attach to e.g. door frame, we have them in both bathrooms and the hall, they are quite bright and pop on as you enter the beam and switch off after about 60 seconds of no movement, if you are sat on the loo you have to keep waving at the light if you want it to remain on whilst you go about your business
, our hall one pops on when the dog walks down during the night and we know then that he needs out also have one in the bathroom in the caravan, battery life is of course dependant upon how many times you get up in the night to go to the bathroom 0 -
You may not get the chance to be smug. The scale of the increases in energy markets may mean some suppliers won’t be able to sustain deals struck in less volatile times. Loads of the minor players have gone, some of the big players may risk same unless they impose a surcharge. We’re in uncharted waters.
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well i never did subscribe to moving supplier every couple of months to get a better deal , glad i didnt as many now find themselves in hock to companies such as British Gas (Centrica). I do have solar panels and do get FIT payments maybe £800 per annum, but I have had them since 2014, good investment i feel.
My present 3 year fixed deal , just like any other type of energy contract, deemed contracts are legal and enforceable
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We are "fixed" with BG till 2023 however our rates are quite high and solar panels aren't an option for us. I moved our account frequently to get the best deals so we've done well until now but everyone will be hit at some point. Unless things are dire heating and food come first for us and although we are always careful with energy I don't think we can save much more. (Which really means going without and back to the days of our childhoods, one room heated and everyone crouched round the open fireplace or parrafin heater!!
) We have plenty of wood for our open fire so will keep warm chopping that up....
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With the price of fuel now, and campsites, I think staying home may well work out less expensive!
At the moment we have heating on 8-10am and 5 or 6-10pm , depending on the weather. Has turned cold here now so, as OH is not feeling so great, we have just turned the heating on. Must be much milder down with you!
Annoying that we have not yet managed to get the new boiler installed, may hopefully be able to get that done in a couple of months, once the bathroom is complete and we have space to move out the W/M and T/D.
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Just took today's mail in.......to compound the misery we now have the Council Tax bill! That is up 3% as predicted, it also includes our water and sewerage, not sure how much that has gone up, so we will pay a total of £355 per month over 12 months. 🙁
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Kj
I suppose as incomes are hit, particularly the pensioners amongst us it is possible people will have to cut back on discretionary spending. It may even force some to reconsider whether they stay with the hobby?
We have our heating set at 18.5 overnight, 19.5 from 8.00am to 12.30pm, 20 from 12.30pm to 5.00pm and then 21 until 11.00pm. I am not a subscriber to the theory you should switch off the heating and only put it on when you are cold! I often have that "discussion" with my sister!!! The cost of energy (Gas and Electric) yesterday was about £2.70 for the day but on very cold days it can be nearer £5. I suspect it is warmer here than further north but we do live in a topsy-turvy world as far as weather is concerned.
It will be interesting to see if the current energy crisis changes the mind of the Club in terms of introducing electricity meters?
David
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Yes, we had one fire in the living room and one paraffin heater in the kitchen when I was growing up.
On our last cottage away the the week there was a wood burning stove which we found very good at heating a very large room, the first round of wood was there for us and then then we found that one £5 bag lasted just over two days and would burn nicely, in fact I'm sure we needed more practice as it got too hot at some points, from about 6pm till bed time. I was very impressed with it and thinking of getting one for home.
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We like to turn ours on before we feel too cold, but 18.5 overnight would be sweltering to us!
And we like 21 for sitting about.
According to MSE, it is less expensive to turn off the heating when not needed, than just to turn it down a bit. Ours is put off early if we are going out, or delayed if we are going to be late home, with each room controlled by its TRV, rather than a programmable thermostat.
I can only see site fees rising steeply if the Club continue to permit members to use as much electricity as they like while we all pay for it.
Hopefully they had signed up for a decent fixed rate for 2-3 years before all this began!
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Almost gave up trying to get on here, gosh it’s awful lately, just sit here for ages watching it going around.. and nothing. We have a buyer for the house, unbelievably we sold it online! At the time they couldn’t get here and didn’t want to lose out so offered and accepted before they came to view. There is little about here and what there is goes so quickly. All seems to be going ahead but we just can’t find anything suitable, we have advised them there may be a wait. The price of energy going up has made us think twice about some properties that we may have considered before, it does focus the mind.
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Our heating goes on 8 am - 10 am and then 1.00pm to 7.00 pm after which we are in the living room with the fire. We never have our heating on overnight I would find it far too hot - we have an electric blanket (on for about half an hour) and a thick duvet. Our thermostat is set at 21 degrees.
Sadly our visit to Bourne Abbey was cancelled yesterday but lunch out today was very enjoyable. As we were leaving quite a few people were arriving for afternoon teas which looked amazing. I have just been told that our hairdresser now has covid so I am so pleased we rearranged her visit to us yesterday. Son in N. Ireland has rung to let us know that our grand-daughter over there has tested positive as well. Presumably caught at school.
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we all pay for it
A different thread altogether and off topic, but you, or anyone, do not pay my electricity while on site, I think the club does. As said many times the club sets it's prices and that's the end of it. Also why single the club out for this, doesn't the same happen in hotels? All you can eat restaurants..., so let prices rise and people can decide if they want to pay them. Apologies off topic but you brought it up.
One good thing about the hive is that it tells you when your hourly temperature and even on the coldest nights the lowest temperature has been 17.5 and we don't have our heating on from about 11pm to 6am, or 8 am at weekends.
We don't turn the heating off at any other time - just set the thermostat at 20C all the time during the day.
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As my Daughter has said to us "Dad the saving for a rainy day can now stop ,as it has arrived ,so spend it cos I will if anything is left"
So we do not think our lifestyle will change other than this year trying a PVC and trailer to save me loading and unloading Caravan and car at storage and on sites
And if successful will then do more CCC and cl/CS next year as CCC insurance for Pvc has more than covered the cost in comparison with others the ccc membership
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DK, we too got the same email from Octopus. I did a back of an envelope calculation and I think I'll stick with the open ended tariff for the time being, but that could change. We very seldom have the heating on in a morning and never after about 10:15 at night. Being away as much as we are our charge at the moment is about £48:50 per month, so I doubt that we will be paying an additional £800 per year.
Went to Dirleton today and had a couple of walks, the second last Yellowcraigs. We spotted one unit heading towards the site at 12:00, and there was a queue of about 7 units when we walked past around 1:15, with plenty already set up on site. Could they have been allowing the seasonal in early I wonder? Has been a cloudy, breezy day but no rain till around 5:15 this evening.
Off to watch the rugby now!!😊
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Wow I've got on the forum and I'm logged in too......
Not read much yet, but thought I should add some words whilst I could!
Milliehull wise move on hairdressing issue. Hope your hairdresser and granddaughter aren't too poorly and recover quickly. It's my dread now, at least it's not law to isolate now, not that I agree with that 🤬, but with our move in 4 weeks on Monday, yes still a good wait!, should it strike it shouldn't jepodise things..... I hope KjellNN family are recovering.
DEBSC good luck with your house hunting, well done on your sale. Fingers crossed your buyers are happy to wait, ours have been, but like your area our location is highly sort after and little comes on the market.
Not much to report here, just pacing myself for the move. It feels like we've been treading water for so long, still we do have a date. D,B&B booked with son for night of the move, cleaners booked for full clean through of new to us property once we get the key into the evening if necessary. Removers will store our stuff overnight and deliver the following day in case money doesn't go through early enough to avoid late finish and possible overnight stay. Checked with them regarding rough eta of our chattels apparently they're aiming to leave 0630 so we need to be at new house earlier than I'd hoped.
Finished making cloth book for grandson's 1st birthday in 2 weeks - laugh being our solicitor asked for dates to avoid for completion, I gave my birthday too soon she said, grandson's oh you'll be in by then and settled 😂. So more DB&B needed, also aiming to visit new abode to measure so I can ensure big stuff goes in where we think 🤔, can't get it too wrong as we don't have the muscle power we once did! We have lots of built in furniture here so even more reason to get the big bits right. It will mean we get Mother's Day with them too.
Looking forward to catching up with folks 'doings'. Stay safe folks
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No, ours will not change either, other than being a little more careful with turning off unnecessary appliances and lights, no point in wasting money.
We have already booked our usual spring and summer trips, none of our sites so far are CAMC ones, and I doubt any of our September/October ones will be either.
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Kj
The 18.5 degrees is a bit of an arbitrary figure and not based on any science! However it rarely ever comes on except on very cold nights and not that much. It is only 65 degrees F so bedroom temperature in the summer without heating is likely to be much higher without heating!!!.
The same argument as put forward by MSE has also been used on Skill Builder but I am not convinced it stacks up.
I agree its bound to have an impact on Club site prices. If they do in fact have a long term contract all that means is that at some stage in the future it will be an even bigger shock!!!
David
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Just heard, via our daughter, that our son's 2 children now have Covid, contracted at school presumably as they have not been anywhere else recently.
Our grandson, age 16, has only had 1 vaccination as far as we know, and our granddaughter, who turned 12 less than 4 weeks ago has possibly not had any at all. They seem to be not too badly affected so far, and the parents and Gran who lives with them are all negative meantime.
It is Callum's birthday on Sunday, he will be 4, but his party has of course had to be cancelled meantime
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Had a lovely morning out at Hardwick Hall and raised a glass to one of my favourite women, Bess of Hardwick.
Had a good walk first thing then enjoyed the tapestries and other artefacts. Still fine when we got out to have lunch but rain set in on the way back. We called in to Robinsons Caravans on the outskirts of Chesterfield for some toilet chemicals. Boy, they were busy with new arrivals and caravans everywhere.
Managed to fill up but at £1.65 per litre, a 10% rise in a week. Have to seek out a Calor Gas dealer tomorrow that will exchange our Calor Lite. Had this fill for 3 years as we only use it in winter and it's beginning to go now.
Good luck DEBSC. You'll need to find something quickly.
This website isn't getting any easier to access is it? This post has been sitting here for 5 minutes so i'Ve copied it. Just have to see if it will post. Quite rubbish system.
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When i was there in September & the fuel prices were escalating ,,ASDA near Newport was the cheapest ever at £ 1.32 !! BUT, even if an 'lander' does'nt travel far ,it's tourists from the mainland that were benefiting then .0 -
Boy is it difficult to get on here lately.
Weather has improved, last few days has been blue skies and much warmer now the wind has dropped.
Sorry to hear Kjs family all suffering from Covid, hope all feel better soon.
Belated happy Anniversary to the WNs.
Still trying to catch up with posts so forgive me if I've missed anything important.
Our heating at home comes on at 8am and goes off at 21.30 during the colder months. The house hds the heat quite well overnight and only drops from 21c to 17c. We tend to have it set to 18/19c during the day then 21c when we settle down in the evenings. Like others there isittle else we can do to it. It's cavity wall insulated, full loft insulated, 10 solar panel on a south facing roof. New windows going in when we get back from Lanzarote. The boiler is LPG combi so not the cheapest but we are on a fixed rate until October for that. Electric is fixed until April but we are only ever on the std rate as we use so little. Guess that will increase in price, little we can do about it as we have already done what can be done.
Right off to bed for me it's been a tiring day sunbathing 😉😂😂😂
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