A few days ago, I received a letter from my supplier of domestic LPG. It told me that, since wholesale prices for gas have increased by 30.8% (hmmm; accurate = scientific), they are going to have to put a major hike on the price of delivered gas, but they can assure me that the price will be reduced again as soon as possible (click here).
Fair enough - not unexpected. I am embarrassed that it should have required the possibility of financial cost, but this has encouraged me to get on with something I failed to do last winter, which is to check the on/off times for our heating system. It turns out that on weekdays it was coming on at 05:30, which dates from the time when my wife had to get up extra early to deliver our son to the school bus, and switching off in the evening at 00:30 - this because the same son used to sit up late playing video games, and liked sauna-like temperatures while he was doing it. Since he is now gone to college, I reprogrammed the timer, and it will now come on at 07:00 and turn off at 22:30, with a sensible off-period during the day.
I estimate I have reduced the "switched on" time for heating by about 34%. Of course, the whole system is subject to thermostatic valves, and we will certainly continue to wash, but I am confident that I have just about cancelled out the expected increase in my gas bills by the simple expedient of being stingy. Excellent, and I am positively glowing with pride at the benefits for the environment.
I realise that a similar approach to offsetting an electricity hike will require dirtier clothes, cold food and more sitting in the dark, but so far so good.
Good work Eco-man! You’ll be laying down in road junctions at this rate.
ReplyDeleteJust as well I didn't choose to lie down on the A198 this morning - there's a big machine painting white lines along it. I'm thinking about it, though. I have the glasses, the silly hat, the antique waxed jacket and the long white hair, so I'm halfway equipped already.
DeleteAh you sound like an ideal activist for my new campaign "Calibrate Britain".
ReplyDeleteWe superglue ourselves to park benches while holding cans of extra strong lager and shout obscenities at people until we get digital thermometers and electric scooters for every household.
We will then declare our own Calibrate......and then I have not thought much past that yet (but it involves my own column in The Guardian and shopping at Waitrose).
Interested?
Ah - sorry, Matt - I must have misread the leaflet - I thought it said "Celibate Britain", so I put it in the recycling. As it happens, I behave as you describe most of the time, so I might be OK. Electric scooters? - are you sure...?
DeleteAfter due consideration I have decided to re-brand as "Inebriate Britain".
DeleteStill do the park bench bit but forget the demands!
"Invertebrate Britain" - OK - that's fine. All the creep crawlies should go for that one. I like it.
DeleteYou can always wash clothes and bodies in cold water.
ReplyDeleteOur clothes dryer broke down this summer and we rediscovered solar and wind powered drying....
Washing in cold water? Good Lord, man - you cannot be serious? Drying clothes outdoors OK but very seasonal. I like your style, however.
DeleteJust count yourself lucky you've not been caught up with those Insulate Britain twats, now I agree with some of what they're saying, but after being caught up in their man made traffic jams twice now, im after blood!
ReplyDeleteAlso congrats on the sweeky tightness of your actions, a man after my own heart. I hope you remember to buy the Mrs a new jumper for Crimbo?
For no good reason, Ray, your comment reminds me of a very old joke from Les Dawson, which you will certainly have heard before...
DeleteElderly couple watching TV on a Saturday evening, After a while, the husband asks what time it is.
"Nearly nine o'clock," says his wife.
He thinks for a moment.
"Why don't you go and put your coat on?" he asks.
"Ooh - are we going out?"
"No," he says, "but I'm going down to the pub, and I'm going to turn the heating off when I go out."
[I think this must have been a North of England joke?]
Isn't it remarkable that in 2021 'we' are still discussing whether we should, perhaps go to net zero by 2050. Ah Man, you move at such lightening speed. Still, not that long ago that we had to have a man with a red flag in front of them dangerous automated carts, I guess...
ReplyDeleteIt isn't impressive, is it? I was prompted to mention that ultimately people like Trump are guilty of some awful war crime against humanity, but of course I'd better not. It does occur to me, though, that, in a different context, the red flag man might still be with us if Trump was friendly with the guys who made the flags. Nah - I won't say any of that.
DeleteWell done on countering the energy price hikes by tweaking the timings and settings, we could all save a bit that way I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteCouple of quick related stories. My Uncle Alf lived with his Mother until she died aged 96, having never married. He had spent his working life after leaving the army laying paving slabs for the local council. He was judicious with money, he liked a bet and studied form and enjoyed the odd can of Makeson Stout. When he retired he was able to buy a nice little bungalow outright where he pursued his hobby of gardening, growing all his own veg. One Summer day my parents went to visit him, the central heating was on full blast and and all the doors and windows wide open, it was baking. When they mentioned it Uncle Alf said it was because he wanted hot water for his bath, he had no idea that it was possible to set the hot water ON with the heating switched OFF! They also discovered that he had a habit of doing his washing in the bathwater AFTER he had got out of it by adding some soap suds. They ordered him a washing machine and helped teach him how to use it after that. Lovely man was Uncle Alf, it was only after his death that I discovered he had taken part in the Normandy landings, he had never once mentioned it.
One more quickie this time, back in the 80's I got a job in a printers in Bermondsey SE London, it was an old paint factory and very run down. First day - it was mid Winter - I was printing away and noticed that the place was suddenly becoming very cold, uncomfortably so. I mentioned this to a couple of the other guys who told me " This is normal here, the Old Man only works until 1pm and when he leaves the heating goes off" To say I was flabbergasted would be an understatement! It went on all week and on Friday I cashed my pay check at the local bank and never went back again.
Hi Lee - great (though sad) stories. I think the treatment of the workers in the printing works was a noble British tradition - I recall casual warehouse jobs when a student where the workers' safety and comfort were regarded as inconsequential. Uncle Alf's lack of knowledge is regrettable, but at least he learned from it - I wonder how many older people in the UK don't know how to make best use of their heating (apart from me, of course)?
DeleteSadly you will offset any potential savings with the increased electricity bill you will face now the dark. Uggos are coming in - those figures won’t paint themselves you know 😂
ReplyDeleteI could paint the figures in the dark, though. Or I could try to perfect my prototype solar-powered miner's helmet with lamp. I'm still ahead, I think - it would go dark even if I still had the heating on at the wrong times. It's very complicated, isn't it? Self-painting figures is also a great idea - you are really on a hot streak here. Our labs will be in touch.
Delete[It also occurs to me that if I play wargames in the dark I don't need to paint the figures]