Clubjazz - Honda Jazz & HR-V Forums
Other Hondas & General Topics => Off Topic (Non-Honda) => Topic started by: Geordielad on October 09, 2021, 08:47:38 AM
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My fixed energy contract is ending. Currently about £1500 pa.
I’ve no intention of switching but looked at alternatives out of interest.
OVO energy won’t quote me and British Gas quoted £4300.
Be cheaper to burn fiver pound notes! :o
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Wow !!!
Energy hikes
Petrol shortages
Food shortages
Medical backlogs
World beating issues
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BG are a ripoff.
When I needed a new gas boiler some years ago BG wanted just over £3.5k. Johnson & Starleys local agents did it for £1.6k
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The movement in the UK to encourage consumers to move to a cheaper provider must have something to do with the smaller companies going bust; their profit margins must have been wafer-thin to be competitive. When gas prices soared they couldn't survive.
I was considering getting cheaper energy but just never got round to it.
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The movement in the UK to encourage consumers to move to a cheaper provider must have something to do with the smaller companies going bust; their profit margins must have been wafer-thin to be competitive. When gas prices soared they couldn't survive.
I was considering getting cheaper energy but just never got round to it.
Most of our electricity produced by gas and nuclear ( and nuclear power we buy from France because we are too stupid to build our own nuclear stations - the French stuff may soon be cut off due to fishing dispute ) because renewables are not performing, despite their cost. Looks like it will very soon be more expensive to run an EV than an ICE vehicle..
BG are a ripoff.
When I needed a new gas boiler some years ago BG wanted just over £3.5k. Johnson & Starleys local agents did it for £1.6k
As for tricky energy suppliers there is an ad in our local paper saying Eon will replace your gas boiler with an 'A' rated new one for 'only £3,800 'a saving of £2000 under the government warm homes scheme' - got a quote from Boxt for the latest Worcester- Bosch greenstar system boiler supplied and fitted for £2500 - some saving Huh, it is a disgrace that they can charge so much for fitting a boiler that only costs about £1000 to buy, and Eon will get it trade price, a lot cheaper.
The 'big 6' energy suppliers are rubbing their hands at smaller suppliers folding, they are once again planning for a monopoly cartel, where they can charge what they like.
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There are currently just shy of 33m cars in the UK.
Once the changeover begins and owners change where are they all going to charge ?
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My fixed energy contract is ending. Currently about £1500 pa.
I’ve no intention of switching but looked at alternatives out of interest.
OVO energy won’t quote me and British Gas quoted £4300.
Be cheaper to burn fiver pound notes! :o
Try Octopus.... we were with a number of suppliers, but happiest with Octopus.
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Have you watched any of the Martin Lewis or current (sic) affair programmes discussing this issue?
The price cap has increased because it is based on a running 6 month average wholesale price, and gas price has been progressively increasing (and as Culzean says, between 45 and 50% of our UK electricity comes from burning gas). It has sky rocketed in the last month, and unless some staggering decrease comes in the next couple of months (extremely unlikely) then the next review in April 22 will result in another increase of probably at least 30% (maybe a lot more??).
No energy retailer will now offer any fixed price deal less than the expected or projected price in 2022, which will be a huge increase over what we've had in the last 12 months. The lowest prices you can get right now are the price-capped standard variable tariffs. Those prices will (should) last until April, but will then increase dramatically.
All the cheapo "suppliers" aren't suppliers, they are simply entrepreneurs, marketing agencies, they buy from A and sell to B. Unfortunately the price they are allowed to sell at (to B) is now capped at a lower value than they can buy from A, so they cannot survive. It was a business model built on sand, fine until the tide came in and washed the sand away.
The potential disaster comes when the big companies who inherit the bad deal customers from the failed businesses can no longer accommodate the inevitable losses which come from having to buy more energy than they had hedged for at the hugely inflated prices but are only allowed to charge the capped amount. The models were not based on widespread cheap business supplier failure. Then the big ones go to the govt and say we can no longer support this, what are you going to do about it?
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Just wait until the first cold snap this winter when a high pressure system is sitting over UK ( very little wind ) - when we are burning gas to produce electricity because everything else except Nuclear has gone AWOL. Our Gas reserves are perilously low nowadays, we closed down the massive undersea storage sites and now run a fleet of gas tankers from halfway around the world, and pipelines from Norway. We have become a 'just in time' consumer of gas - not a good situation, we are in the hands of foreign countries for our energy supplies, and it is not just this government, we have had a string of stupid governments doing the damage. We can no longer store gas and are burning it like there is no tomorrow to prop up renewables.
National grid has warned of 'constrained electricity supplies' this winter, double speak weasel words for 'we are in the sh1t, and there will be power outages'. We are like a third world country.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/09/21/lack-reserves-leaves-britain-facing-winter-gas-crisis/
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There are currently just shy of 33m cars in the UK.
Once the changeover begins and owners change where are they all going to charge ?
I've had several lengthy discussions with EV enthusiasts about this. Some of what they say makes sense. If EVs do most of their charging in the small hours when demands on the grid are minimal, then they will, effectively, mop up excess power especially from renewables which either produce not enough or too much.
Then I think back to the 33 million cars. About a third have no off road parking. They will be dependent on public chargers at work, supermarkets, restaurants, gyms and the like. They'll be doing this charging during the day.
Already there are moves to cut off the supply to domestic charge points at peak hours. All well and good but you could get round this with an extension lead and a 3 pin plug if you wanted to.
There is talk of vehicle to grid technology. You arrive home from work at 6 pm and plug your car in. The grid will draw power from your car during peak periods and "put it back" in the small hours. A lot of variables there I think.
I am not against EVs per se. I considered getting one but it would be re-assuring to know that somebody had answers to all these issues.
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There are currently just shy of 33m cars in the UK.
Once the changeover begins and owners change where are they all going to charge ?
About a third have no off road parking.
I'd guess that's nearer to 2/3 ?
Wherever you go there are streets full of cars.
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There is talk of vehicle to grid technology. You arrive home from work at 6 pm and plug your car in. The grid will draw power from your car during peak periods and "put it back" in the small hours. A lot of variables there I think.
The vehicle to grid technology seen as a quick fix by politicians ( they specialise in quick fixes and not long term plans ) will just put more charge / discharge cycles on the vehicle battery and age it more quickly. Batteries live and die by charge / discharge cycles.... and don't mention quick charging as that is also bad for batteries, batteries live longer if they are charged slowly.
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There is talk of vehicle to grid technology. You arrive home from work at 6 pm and plug your car in. The grid will draw power from your car during peak periods and "put it back" in the small hours. A lot of variables there I think.
The vehicle to grid technology seen as a quick fix by politicians ( they specialise in quick fixes and not long term plans ) will just put more charge / discharge cycles on the vehicle battery and age it more quickly. Batteries live and die by charge / discharge cycles.... and don't mention quick charging as that is also bad for batteries, batteries live longer if they are charged slowly.
Not just by politicians:-
https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/electric-cars/vehicle-to-grid-technology
https://electricnation.org.uk/2020/09/02/the-future-of-vehicle-to-grid-ev-charging/#:~:text=The%20Future%20of%20Vehicle%20to%20Grid%20EV%20charging,able%20to%20use%20V2G%20until%20at%20least%202025
https://www.edfenergy.com/electric-cars/vehicle-g
https://chargedevs.com/newswire/new-study-v2g-may-not-degrade-ev-battery-life-it-might-actually-extend-it/
Edit added OVO link and charged link
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There are currently just shy of 33m cars in the UK.
Once the changeover begins and owners change where are they all going to charge ?
I've had several lengthy discussions with EV enthusiasts about this. Some of what they say makes sense. If EVs do most of their charging in the small hours when demands on the grid are minimal, then they will, effectively, mop up excess power especially from renewables which either produce not enough or too much.
There's still not enough spare overnight capacity to provide charge for so many vehicles, especially if they're also being called on to supply the grid during the day.
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There are currently just shy of 33m cars in the UK.
Once the changeover begins and owners change where are they all going to charge ?
I've had several lengthy discussions with EV enthusiasts about this. Some of what they say makes sense. If EVs do most of their charging in the small hours when demands on the grid are minimal, then they will, effectively, mop up excess power especially from renewables which either produce not enough or too much.
There's still not enough spare overnight capacity to provide charge for so many vehicles, especially if they're also being called on to supply the grid during the day.
Use solar to charge vehicles during the day, then suck out the power from the charged vehicles to charge other vehicles at night - like a charging ponzi scheme. Oh,we do not get much from solar between October and March in UK, damn back to the drawing board.
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BG are a ripoff.
When I needed a new gas boiler some years ago BG wanted just over £3.5k. Johnson & Starleys local agents did it for £1.6k
As for tricky energy suppliers there is an ad in our local paper saying Eon will replace your gas boiler with an 'A' rated new one for 'only £3,800 'a saving of £2000 under the government warm homes scheme' - got a quote from Boxt for the latest Worcester- Bosch greenstar system boiler supplied and fitted for £2500 - some saving Huh, it is a disgrace that they can charge so much for fitting a boiler that only costs about £1000 to buy, and Eon will get it trade price, a lot cheaper.
I have had excellent experience with BOXT (50% owned by Bosch). Very quick, straightforward, fixed price, nil hassle, excellent team. Really good value. Well worth looking at.
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My fixed energy contract is ending. Currently about £1500 pa.
I’ve no intention of switching but looked at alternatives out of interest.
OVO energy won’t quote me and British Gas quoted £4300.
Be cheaper to burn fiver pound notes! :o
Try Octopus.... we were with a number of suppliers, but happiest with Octopus.
Thanks for the info. Guess who I’m already with and very happy with them too.
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Got my new energy prices from Octopus today. Not quite as bad as I anticipated but bad enough.
Flexible Octopus variable now about £2k, up from £1500.
Anybody think the prices will ever come down in the future?
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Got my new energy prices from Octopus today. Not quite as bad as I anticipated but bad enough.
Flexible Octopus variable now about £2k, up from £1500.
Anybody think the prices will ever come down in the future?
Not if we keep going down the present mad renewable route, both wind and solar are weak energy streams and have very unreliable output, and the owners of the facilities get paid whether they are supplying power or not, which is undoubtedly the reason for prices going up. Basically we are decommissioning reliable energy generation plants, not planning any reliable replacements ( Nuclear ) and our politicians crossing their fingers that everything will be OK, at if present plan is continued - it will not be OK, as we will undoubtedly find out this winter, 'coming soon to a substation near you - power cuts'....
Many rail freight companies ditching their electric locomotives because they cost too much to run, I have said before on this forum that EV will soon cost more to run than ICE vehicles.
https://politics69.com/2021/10/13/rail-freight-operators-forced-to-dump-electric-trains-for-diesel-due-to-britains-energy-crisis/
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Basically we are decommissioning reliable energy generation plants, not planning any reliable replacements ( Nuclear ) and our politicians crossing their fingers that everything will be OK, at if present plan is continued - it will not be OK, as we will undoubtedly find out this winter, 'coming soon to a substation near you - power cuts'....
I spent a bit of time about 50 years ago in a power station which also served as the substation in the local area. At that time the plan was (i) a 5% voltage reduction then (ii) another 5% reduction (90% of the voltage = 81% of the power) and (iii) finally cutting supplies. These days there are also arrangements with big industrial users to reduce their electricity consumption at times of high grid demand.
Nonetheless, years of inaction in starting new reliable generation (I'd have 3 more nuclear power stations under construction) and reliance on unreliable wind means that the effectiveness of politicians' prayers could soon bes tested. There was much whinging about the Hinkley Point 3 strike price https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/21/hinkley-point-c-dreadful-deal-behind-worlds-most-expensive-power-plant but it seems cheap in the current circumstances. Wind energy looks cheap when the wind blows, but there's no penalty for being unreliable. This pumped storage scheme https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-57510870 is stuck in the doldrums. Sensibly, it should be funded by an unreliability tax on the wind generators.
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Basically we are decommissioning reliable energy generation plants, not planning any reliable replacements ( Nuclear ) and our politicians crossing their fingers that everything will be OK, at if present plan is continued - it will not be OK, as we will undoubtedly find out this winter, 'coming soon to a substation near you - power cuts'....
I spent a bit of time about 50 years ago in a power station which also served as the substation in the local area. At that time the plan was (i) a 5% voltage reduction then (ii) another 5% reduction (90% of the voltage = 81% of the power) and (iii) finally cutting supplies. These days there are also arrangements with big industrial users to reduce their electricity consumption at times of high grid demand.
Nonetheless, years of inaction in starting new reliable generation (I'd have 3 more nuclear power stations under construction) and reliance on unreliable wind means that the effectiveness of politicians' prayers could soon bes tested. There was much whinging about the Hinkley Point 3 strike price https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/21/hinkley-point-c-dreadful-deal-behind-worlds-most-expensive-power-plant but it seems cheap in the current circumstances. Wind energy looks cheap when the wind blows, but there's no penalty for being unreliable. This pumped storage scheme https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-57510870 is stuck in the doldrums. Sensibly, it should be funded by an unreliability tax on the wind generators.
I have no doubt that the ultimate aim of smart meters will be to manage demand, with a smart distribution board being part of the plan. When some load needs shedding the smart distribution board ( responding to a signal to smart meter by your energy supplier, or even national grid ) will cut power to water heating circuit, so no immediate disruption to house occupants, next step, if any EV plugged in the grid will siphon off power from battery. I have no doubt that smart meters will also allow electricity being used to charge vehicles to be charged at a higher rate than general household electricity - maybe via a chip in the vehicle that can communicate with smart meter and sense current flow ( a bit like economy 7 in reverse ).
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I have no doubt that the ultimate aim of smart meters will be to manage demand, with a smart distribution board being part of the plan.
Sounds like a sensible idea to me allowing supply to match demand more closely.
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I have no doubt that the ultimate aim of smart meters will be to manage demand, with a smart distribution board being part of the plan.
While that may come, the system already exists using smart devices which can be programmed, along with a suitable time-of-use tariff, to use electricity when it is cheap and not when it is expensive. One example is to have a household battery which charges using the cheap period of the Octopus Go tariff https://www.energy-stats.uk/octopus-go-tariff/ but there are plenty of other options. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58898999 for example.
The big benefit of smart meters is the logging of consumption in 1/2 hour blocks which go into a database which the billing system can utilise to add up the cost according to the tariff and time of use. There's no need for separate meters and changing the tariff is a matter of instructing the billing system to do some different sums.
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I have no doubt that the ultimate aim of smart meters will be to manage demand, with a smart distribution board being part of the plan.
While that may come, the system already exists using smart devices which can be programmed, along with a suitable time-of-use tariff, to use electricity when it is cheap and not when it is expensive. One example is to have a household battery which charges using the cheap period of the Octopus Go tariff https://www.energy-stats.uk/octopus-go-tariff/ but there are plenty of other options. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58898999 for example.
The big benefit of smart meters is the logging of consumption in 1/2 hour blocks which go into a database which the billing system can utilise to add up the cost according to the tariff and time of use. There's no need for separate meters and changing the tariff is a matter of instructing the billing system to do some different sums.
I heard a discussion about smart meters many years ago when they were first talked about, one expert said they only made sense if you used them for differential pricing at different times of day ( now the meter would have to know if wind was blowing or whether it was cloudy or not ). The bloke form department of energy or whatever said there were no plans to introduce differential pricing, to which the expert replied 'so they are just a fancy device to tell you that your kettle uses 3KW then, no more than that. The expert also criticised the decision to use mobile phone network to carry data, a lot of other countries had decided to use the power lines themselves to carry data, which meant that even people with bad phone coverage could use the system and costs would be lower.
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I heard a discussion about smart meters many years ago when they were first talked about, one expert said they only made sense if you used them for differential pricing at different times of day ( now the meter would have to know if wind was blowing or whether it was cloudy or not ). The bloke form department of energy or whatever said there were no plans to introduce differential pricing, to which the expert replied 'so they are just a fancy device to tell you that your kettle uses 3KW then, no more than that.
The world has moved on and companies have figured out how to make money and enable customers to save money by utilising differential pricing by utilising what has become cheap technology with almost every home having internet connectivity. For example, if you want an EV charger then get one of these https://myenergi.com/product/zappi/ and use an app on your phone to tell it what to do.