To Our Friends in the UK How to Stay Warm

OP, thanks for the tips, of course it's much appreciated

What Iike to know is, and it's just a question out of curiousity:

Are there actually people here, from the UK or Europe, who can say with certainty that they will not be able to afford heating their houses this winter?

The reason I ask:

I guess my household is considered middle class. With all the attention on rising gas and electricity prices, we to have made our bill, see where we could save, calculate what we will pay in the upcoming months,...
The conclusion I came to is this:

1. We have led a ridiculous decadent life when it comes to energy consumption!
When I see where I can safe (now) and where we have wasted so much energy in the past, without ever thinking about it or realizing the amount of money we literally threw outside the window... I can honestly say it is shameful!
Energy consumption has changed a lot in my house since we were made aware of it.

2. The monthly cost will go up. But it won't go up dramatically. For families who can afford to take a yearly vacation, electricity bills won't be a problem next winter.
When I hear testimonies in the media about ridiculously high energy bills, I can't help but wondering, how much are these people consuming to have such a large bill?
I have a household of 4 and my yearly spending is considered 'high', around 7800 KWH. It should be below 5KWH and it will be below it now that we stopped wasting. My electricity bill went up 65 Euro's. My gas bill went up 20 euro's. That is 80 euro's of luxury spending I have to cut.
So how are all those people having a bill that is hundreds of euro's higher as what they used to pay?

I understand that for families with lower incomes every euro counts and every euro more on electricity or gas is one to many. I get that there is a certain group who will get in trouble next winter.
But the majority is not.
The majority will pay their bills just fine and save on luxury spending

I think the question is not, how will I afford it.... the question is, is there still gas available next winter?

pls correct me if I'm seeing this completely wrong

a reply to: Lysergic

Will they burn well?

originally posted by: RAY1990
a reply to: Lysergic

Will they burn well?

All that fat they've been skimming from the coffer to fatten themselves will cause them to have extended burn times...


So yes! ABSOLUTELY~

a reply to: KindraLabelle2

Yes being aware of how not to waste is one way to reduce your bill.

The problem is if these prices aren’t done rising, and yes the fear of even having it. Now that is scary and something we all should prepare for. Not to drive fear, but just to always be prepared for anything.

Also your house might be well insulated. I know here costs can vary greatly depending on windows, size, location.
A very cold winter could mean significantly higher usage on top of higher costs.

a reply to: KindraLabelle2

There's many factors but for the poorest the biggest problem is they're on pre-paid meters. Similar to a pay as you go phone the customer would typically go to a shop and buy credit to a key that they'll 'deposit' onto their meter.

For most it's not the actual cost of the energy it's the daily charges (line rental) and if they can't top up it'll fall into arrears which means they need to top-up plus clear the debt. It's been a while since I've seen the rates but it's basically amounts to price gauging the poor.

Another huge factor is British houses are mostly not insulated to a 21st century standard yet by government mandate they're all heated like one... The poorer can only do so much to combat those effects and your energy costs will sky rocket if you have damp issues or you cannot retain heat effectively.

So learning some poverty stricken survival techniques isn't such a drastic proposal really. Suicides due to poverty around winter and hypothermia are too common and were rising at an alarming rate before any Ukraine conflict or covid. The climate is a lot worse now.

I think the question is not, how will I afford it.... the question is, is there still gas available next winter?

We can be pragmatic enough to disregard gas and even coal next year whilst being realistic that we might have to distribute some forests. There's fuel for survival if we go about it correctly, more than enough for everyone.

It's the people setting fire to furniture in the house I'm more worried about lol! It's not going to be a nice winter.

a reply to: RAY1990

I didn't realize that in the UK many still depend on the pre-paid meters, over here, I haven't seen one of those in nearly 20 years.

Don't get me wrong, I grew up in a trailer, in poverty, I know what it's like.... lol, my mother used to burn furniture to save on costs, the fumes alone are horrible!!
I was talking about all the middle class that is panicking, for those living in poverty I hope we get a soft winter

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: KindraLabelle2
I know here costs can vary greatly depending on windows, size, location.
A very cold winter could mean significantly higher usage on top of higher costs.

how are those costs calculated in the UK? Monthly? or yearly?

Over here it's yearly,
so to have a 200 euro extra yearly cost, it will cost you less then 20 a month the upcoming year.
And for one to have this much extra cost it will have to be a very cold winter, or a lot of extra spending. Again, talking about my part of Europe.

As I mentioned to Ray in my post above, I was not aware of the pre-paid meter system in the UK, that would be a game changer over here as well...

Besides from that, I think prepping is always a good thing, even when not in a crisis. prepping and occasionally practicing...

Totally off topic,
my daughter went on a trip to Sweden with a camper (first time), she's gone for 7 days and already not coping with the change in lifestyle! This is a sweet, modern camper with all basic needs present... I secretly hoped that she would handle 'back to basics' better then that, being the daughter of a prepper....
You get what I mean

a reply to: KindraLabelle2

Totally off topic,
my daughter went on a trip to Sweden with a camper (first time), she's gone for 7 days and already not coping with the change in lifestyle! This is a sweet, modern camper with all basic needs present... I secretly hoped that she would handle 'back to basics' better then that, being the daughter of a prepper....
You get what I mean

Not so off topic really, survival!
My daughter did the same thing. She roughed it up by Canada. She did great and loved it. Only complaint was too many mosquitos. She even got to see a moose!

I will keep the Brits in mind whilst basking in the Florida sunshine. I don’t care what anyone thinks ya’ll, Brexit was the voice of the people. Hopefully ya’ll keep yourselves warm by the glow of that heroic decision. Some days when I get the blues about Trump no longer being our President I just look across the pond and think, man, things could be so much worse. Blessings xxx

originally posted by: BarbaraTheEnlightened1
I will keep the Brits in mind whilst basking in the Florida sunshine. I don’t care what anyone thinks ya’ll, Brexit was the voice of the people. Hopefully ya’ll keep yourselves warm by the glow of that heroic decision. Some days when I get the blues about Trump no longer being our President I just look across the pond and think, man, things could be so much worse. Blessings xxx

To all the Brits, don't pay heed to our friends in Florida, we sure don't.
Ps they are the BIGGEST crybabies of all when it gets cold. When I say crybabies, I mean it both literally and figuratively.
Never in my life did I witness such wussieness as I did when it got to 40 degrees in Florida. Grown men wearing BLANKETS outside. School kids crying for gloves. 40 degrees!
A school trip went to DC from Florida. When they got out of the bus and felt the cold they were literally crying.

a reply to: LABTECH767

I once again felt the grim anger rise as I read your post.

Thanks for sharing; 'God help us all' is the only thing I can think to add right now.

u can save all grease and make big no 10 can multiwick candles
u can cook ever it even plus the only cost is wicks

a reply to: FlyInTheOintment

As a kid I would stay with my gran in what was a Northumberland coal mining town. The small front room had a cast iron stove, Which heated the house and the water, It literally just ran for hours on a shovel of coal. The place was like a sauna when the snow was on the ground outside. Unlimited hot water and a cast iron kettle always simmering for a cup of tea. Since then people are now dying of the cold, which only means they are really dying of stupidity. There is plenty of coal .

a reply to: JAGStorm

How the British People can Stay Warm this Winter ? Simple , Overthrow their Current Government . Freedom Keeps you Warm by the Way......

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: nugget1

$9,000.00 a year , Jeez I earn more than that and and don't have the Russian government gunning for me.

Zelensky wasn't a high wage earner as a mediocre comedian, yet became a millionaire while living on $9,000.00 a year since 2019.
How many millions have you banked since 2019? Sorry if that's too personal....

I know plenty of people who will suffer, young and old alike.
Lots pensioners who can't afford to trun their heating on as it is let alone when the prise rises come.....#ing criminal.
Lots of young parents who are very worried about keeping their children warm during the long, cold winter nights.

Hate to say it but it can be traced back to Thatcher and the insane privatisation of our utility companies etc.
These companies are draining obscene amounts of profit out of the UK whilst the most needy and vulnerable suffer.

Yet we allow it to happen.....

Well, I live in a cold old house. Stick a jumper on!

Sorry, may have sounded a little insensitive.

a reply to: KindraLabelle2

The government is going to give people some money to help with their energy bills, where it will get that money from I don’t know, as long as people pay their bills and the energy companies get to make record profits that the main thing.

a reply to: Freeborn

I know plenty of people who will suffer, young and old alike.

Plenty of people suffer even in good years. We are hearing the same thing about rising utilities across the pond.
People here want someone to save them. When it gets bad people start doing all kinds of weird stuff, heating with their stove, or the worst I heard was using a charcoal BBQ grill inside, which is absolutely the worst think to do.

Terra cotta and candles make a very effective space heater. Because it requires open flames (the candles), there is a fire hazard, but it can be done safely.

We have a terra cotta chiminea that we bring in every fall. I use three 3-wick candles. It's not the candle flames themselves that heat the space. Rather, the candle flames heat the terra cotta which radiates the heat into the space.

It can also be done with terra cotta pots and bricks, or similar. Here's one quick and dirty example and there are plenty more ideas on YouTube and I'm sure elsewhere.