Ferdinand

He's just saying that. 9 year old people called Joe are your greatest fans.

Wouldn't a hidden system be underneath with a shallow fascia in front? Shed gutters are 50mm systems, aren't they - so it should fit in a small space.

How are you managing your runoff? A channel and chains?

I'd have a serious look at a real glass system, but delay the purchase until energy comes back down or you can get a deal. Glass is currently very expensive - to the extent that my 2G man said wait for a year or two on blown units. Have you considered whether you want a - something underneath, b - a canopy? F

Report from the Beeboids. National Grid looking at a scheme where you get a rebate for not using peak energy: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62626908 I think that might turn out to be achievable more quickly than we think. British Gas has noticeably taken out substantial short term (next couple of winters) and long term (15 year iirc) contracts for supply of gas from the USA and Norway. Have these been mentioned here? (1 million tonnes a year for 15 years) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/britains-centrica-signs-lng-deal-with-delfin-midstream-2022-08-09/ (1 billion cubic metres = 4.5 million homes next 3 years) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/centrica-signs-deal-with-equinor-additional-winter-gas-supplies-2022-06-16/ Small % of market, perhaps, but a straw in the wind maybe. F

Has she explained why she thinks it will make a difference?

That's a concern for me, but we'll see what happens. Do you mean the April price, or the impending further increased prices? Depending on what Mr Starmer's proposals mean, it could take that incentive away once electricity used reaches £1971 - which is why I was complaining about the detail. https://labour.org.uk/press/keir-starmer-sets-out-labours-plan-to-address-the-tory-cost-of-living-crisis/ Stopping energy bills from rising is a fully-funded measure, with a total cost of £29bn. That will cover: - a freeze in energy bills for all domestic energy customers support for customers not protected by the price cap - making sure the price people on prepayments meters pay for energy is the same as people who pay their bills monthly. - Stopping energy bills from rising is a fully-funded measure. I hope the concept is a freeze on the unit price. I expect that LT will steal quite a lot of that policy. F

It works on one day ahead wholesale prices, with a couple of adjustments: From the FAQ: FAQ linky: https://octopus.energy/blog/outgoing/ I hope that is what you were after. Ferdinand

I don't want to teach you to suck eggs, but have you considered a lodger for one room - where the first 8k (?) of income is completely tax free?

I think some of that is quite likely, but I'm more inclined to blame the two-planks media for wanting headlines to nail their readers. I don't think 6k will happen for two reasons - firstly it is politically impossible, and secondly we will all significantly reduce our usage. ISTM that what we need is predictable limited prices, some storage for insurance (which we should get now - looks like 5-6 weeks of 100% of consumption, or pro rata), some financial support and an incentive to use less. We may also need some wartime style redefinition of the market, which is where a neo-Thatcherite Govt may struggle. The EU think that they can reduce usage by 15%; I see no reason why we can't do the same. Looking at it, Mr Starmer's is trailed as 'freezing your bills', which presumably makes it free (or something similar) once I have spent £N on gas. A freeze on price would be better, as that incentivises reduced usage. But to be fair, the press release and media reporting is a confused word-salad. And hasn't really identified how he is going to pay for nearly half of it ("inflation will go down and that will save £7bn on Govt interest payments" is a little vague.) I agree that LT seems to be doing a butt-sit-like-Boris thing until she makes PM, which is horribly inadequate and is hugely damaging to the Govt politically, as the goal is wide open and they are arguing like deckchair attendants on the Titanic. One small chink of light is that LT is not lazy like BoJo, and will analyse carefully then make an intervention. Ferdinand

@tommy12398 posted his payment rates on another thread:

What are you looking for? Are you self-building it? There are plenty of high quality secondhand conservatories around - on ebay or through specialist retailers. I paid £600 for a 4.2, x 5.8m one that I turned into a 4 season big sun-lounge for under 7k, including the slab, adding excellent insulation, full electrics by a pro electrician, lining with plastic-planked-panel, heating and a tin roof. I've tended to keep slightly quiet, as it is marginally not quite to building regs due to not enough glass, but is now unenforcible against.

That's a fair comment. One of the long run characteristics of petrol retailing in the UK has been its end-to-end efficiency and generally low retailer margins compared to some other places. We have lost 1/3 of our petrol stations since 2000 (8500 vs 12500), and 60% since 1990. But that has been stable since 2010, which suggests that is perhaps an optimal number. Though the growth of Electric will perhaps put it all back in the mix, to the advantage of those with space and local electricity supply for a coffee bar and a fast charger. Looking at the numbers, margins do seem to have increased - so we can expect a further fall in prices, perhaps.

Welcome.

I'm on Oh Bugger AVRO Went Bankrupt ! Just pv panels and a house - no Car or Battery. So the potential gain for me is to do either a divert device and water tank with a feed of pre-warmed water into the Combi, or export at full price. Or potentially a house battery, but they are on lead times and I may not need it. My current challenge is to avoid using gas for heating this winter.

Grant Shapps is hopefully about to be kicked out of the window on the tenth floor by his miserable, self-serving, unethical arse. (Opinionated - moi?) He has abused his position as Minister of Transport to use the Civil Service to support sectional interests he supports, and cannot be trusted. Such an individual is not fit for a junior position, never mind a senior one.

I'm already with Octopus on another tariff.

I am now moving onto Octopus Agile Outgoing, which gives me a wholesale price for exports, and to keep my existing tariff for imports. Which at present seems a one way bet.

UK gas power stations are also being run as it is beneficial to generate electricity here as an extra to supply the continent through the network of interconnectors - an alternative to shipping gas though the extra pipelines that don't exist. At the moment, we are exporting 3GW to France for example - which is about 10% of everything we are generating. Whilst their current demand is 40 GW (presumably including exports), so their net demand will be ~45 GW. Interesting - they have 2-3GW coming in from each of UK, DE and SP, and have maxed out exports to CH, and some to IT. Perhaps that is Switzerland turning its hydropower down like Norway? F

Are they? I track diesel, and locally it is now back down from a peak of just under £2.00 per litre to £1.79. Some way to go, but it has started. One interesting observation I have seen wrt Liz Truss is that because fuel went up by 75% ish in 12 months ago to now, that is actually a lot to begin dropping out of the annual inflation index very soon. Diesel and petrol have a 3.8% weighting in CPI. On Energy Charges, the going-bust peak was summer / autumn 2021 - so standing charge may go some way back down.

I'm not sure if I posted it here, but Exeter has car parks with panels for the roof, and here is a recent Amazon warehouse in Tilbury with a 4.83MWp install. That's 11,500 solar panels. My local one seem to have some, too:

Under FIT it was an investment in a long term cashflow, plus some PR, for businesses. Not it has to pay off, of course. Since 2021 demand has shot up, looking at a few industry sources. 2022 is going to be a very big year, now that energy bills will be high for some time. I'm not sure we have the legal structure correct, though; what it probably needs is LLs investing and charging Ts for the energy at a competitive rate, but that leaves risk with LL. Yes - who gets the cashflow is an issue. The FIT setup was good for that - I know even residential LLs who put in multiple installs on rental properties back in 2011 or so.

Unattainable aspirations are an interesting concept. My ambition is never to grow up 🙃. @James travers there is some good advice between the childish games so far here. One question not asked - what is the timing? Has this developed during the current hot spell (!), or have you noticed this before? Heatwaves can cause these things to develop or become more prominent - in London it could be something with the ground moving if clay, or trees sucking up water and drying it out even more. Your thoughts on that? Does the crack reach right to the ground? Ferdinand

Take care not to get your backside burnt. It's easy to do 😀. On topic, I think that a lower priced steel one may be a better option - someone here may know of a smaller or more wholesale supplier. TBH I'm not sure if a wooden door liner will cut it, unless you have that explicitly from the person who regulates it Ferdinand * I'll edit that title in a minute.

I like the way of thinking of the Grid as a seasonal storage battery - that is export in the summer, import in the winter - is quite a useful tool. That can then = if desired - be included in a wider emissions analysis (since we know the carbon intensity of our grid electricity) and if really desired extended to a lifecycle analysis.