Tesla Energy Plan

[joe90]

My historic car needs no road tax or MOT but if it was diesel using red is still illegal (unless not used on the road ).

[AliG]

Space heating is the largest home use of energy for most people. They don't notice as they use gas which is much cheaper than electricity.

 

I have a chart for overall UK energy use in 2018 and also a chart from 2009 so a bit out of date showing how home energy use breaks down.

 

The scary thing is flying, I fly twice a year to Australia for work and multiple times to the US. A business class return from London to Sydney generates more CO2 than all the energy we use in the house in a year.

[AliG]

15 minutes ago, Barney12 said:

I'm absolutely with you. My brother (English) married an American and they now live in the US (Just across the river from the Big Apple in New Jersey) and the entire mentality is different. Its not just energy, its "consumption" in every sense. From food, clothing and services. Its the last one that amazes me the most. The list of "men" they have for various tasks is staggering. The "pool man", the "laundry man", the "garden man", then there is the "garden decorating man" (Come on you know! The guy you get to put the lights and fancy stuff out for holidays and haloween etc). Oh then there is the cake man (every celebration needs a dedicated cake), the catering man (you cant have a party without caterers). When I was there last month my 8 year old nephew had his birthday party which 12 kids were invited. I sh*t you not it involved 5 different subcontract trades. ? Including the guy that turned up with a 30ft gaming truck containing every console and game known to man and a dozen or so big screens (inside and out). 

 

Actually London is getting like that. I am the only person in the office who washes and irons his own shirts, the only person at my level not to have had a nanny and people do indeed have a list of caterers, personal assistant etc to do things.

 

We have a cleaner 6 hours a week and a gardener to cut the grass. That is considered pretty low maintenance.

Edited February 10, 2020 by AliG

[Ed Davies]

55 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said:

I'd guess that, for most people, personal transport uses significantly more primary energy than anything else.

 

I'd guess I'm not most people, then. I used 1022.83 litres of diesel in my van 2018-10-23/2019-11-04 (377 days) so 2.713 l/day (23.58 miles/day) whereas in the few years I've been in this rented house I've averaged 7.44 l/day for heating oil.

 

Assuming 0.846 kg/l and 45 MJ/kg for both domestic heating oil (“kero”) and diesel that's 10.575 kWh/litre so:

 

van: 28.69 kWh/day, 10'472 kWh/year, 1195 W.

heating: 78.68 kWh/day, 28'717 kWh/year, 3278 W

electricity: 4.58 kWh/day, 1673 kWh/year, 190 W

 

(As mentioned above, showers come out of the electricity, all other DHW from heating.)

[Jeremy Harris]

It doesn't look like I'm "most people" either, at ~ 4,500 kWh for household electricity (including heating and hot water) and ~ 2,000 kWh for car electricity use.

 

Quite a contrast to @SteamyTea, though, with his ~5,000 kWh for household electricity (including heating and hot water) and ~ 20,000 kWh for car energy use.

[SteamyTea]

25 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said:

20,000 kWh for car energy use.

That is because I live 100 miles from any culture.

Well, if you can call Exeter cultured.

I was thinking about this just this morning as I was driving into town to do the banking. If I just drove to work and back, I would use about 4.8 MWh.

Not sure if parity us a good thing or not.

Interestingly, once I had trained my old lodger, my energy usage was not much more, though one year, I did manage to get my house usage down to 3.8 MWh. Was a mild winter, and I was cold at home.

[ProDave]

1 hour ago, AliG said:

Space heating is the largest home use of energy for most people. They don't notice as they use gas which is much cheaper than electricity.

 

I wonder what comes up as the largest non food, cost of running a household?

 

For me it has been for some time Council Tax. And there's nothing I can do to reduce it.  Every other bill you can control and reduce, but not council tax.

[SteamyTea]

5 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Every other bill you can control and reduce, but not council tax.

You can become a student, drag that out for 4 years on a BSc and teaching qualification, then another 4 on a PhD.

By then you will get the winter weather payment.

And I managed to save cash when I was a student.

[AliG]

If I was an unscrupulous type I could sign myself and the wife up for a course and save £4,000 for a year's council tax and water.

 

I have often threatened that when I retire I will get a law degree so that I can sue companies that annoy me.

 

It looks like running a car is the largest household cost, £226/month finance cost and £162/month running costs average for 2018.

 

If they ever get self driving and ride sharing to work it will be an enormous gain to a lot of people (except taxi/Uber drivers). Cars are a ridiculously under-utilised asset at the moment.

[Jeremy Harris]

8 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I wonder what comes up as the largest non food, cost of running a household?

 

For me it has been for some time Council Tax. And there's nothing I can do to reduce it.  Every other bill you can control and reduce, but not council tax.

 

 

Same for us.  Our non-food bills are (roughly):

 

Council tax   £2,076.31

Broadband and phone   £640.44

Electricity   £582.24

House Insurance   £210.18

TV licence   £154.50

 

We receive about £1,000 a year in FiT and export payments, which more than offsets the electricity bill.  I think I need to do something about the 'phone and broadband bill, though, as it seems daft paying more for that than we do for electricity.

 

 

[AliG]

I think people forget it because it is a non cash cost but depreciation on your Tesla probably runs to around £5000 a year.

 

In a similar vein does anyone consider a sinking fund for renovations on their house over time. My brother has lived in a place bought new 17 years ago, but it is falling apart as he doesn't seem to consider maintenance necessary.

 

In my view you have to set aside money to cover replacing your kitchen and most used bathrooms perhaps every 15 years, painting every 7 or 8 years, carpets every 10 years etc.

 

I reckon people probably have to be putting aside around 1% a year of the value of their house to cover this, depending on values in the area to some extent. Another way to look at it might be £1-2 per square foot a year.

 

 

[ProDave]

1 hour ago, Jeremy Harris said:

Broadband and phone   £640.44

 

I think I need to do something about the 'phone and broadband bill, though, as it seems daft paying more for that than we do for electricity.

 

 

I pay £36 per month for line rental, broadband and weekend calls with BT.  £10 of that is for my daughters mobile SIM which is so expensive because of the massive amount of data she "needs".  So £26 per month / £312 per year.  I have a £5 mobile sim that does all my calling needs.

 

You get that price simply by pointing out at each renewal that you will move to Plusnet (or whoever happens to be cheaper) if they won't match it.

[Jeremy Harris]

5 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I pay £36 per month for line rental, broadband and weekend calls with BT.  £10 of that is for my daughters mobile SIM which is so expensive because of the massive amount of data she "needs".  So £26 per month / £312 per year.  I have a £5 mobile sim that does all my calling needs.

 

You get that price simply by pointing out at each renewal that you will move to Plusnet (or whoever happens to be cheaper) if they won't match it.

 

We've been with Plusnet (which is really BT I believe) for around three years now.  I suspect we're being ripped off just because I've not bothered to look around for a better deal.

[ProDave]

10 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said:

 

We've been with Plusnet (which is really BT I believe) for around three years now.  I suspect we're being ripped off just because I've not bothered to look around for a better deal.

You  would have to go and check what that would cost as a new customer.  I tried but fell at the first hurdle as it told me fibre was not available here.  Unlimited broadband, line rental and unlimited calls would cost me £28.99 per month, and it looks like you can shave a bit off by paying for the line rental in one annual lump rather than monthly.

[Jeremy Harris]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

You  would have to go and check what that would cost as a new customer.  I tried but fell at the first hurdle as it told me fibre was not available here.  Unlimited broadband, line rental and unlimited calls would cost me £28.99 per month, and it looks like you can shave a bit off by paying for the line rental in one annual lump rather than monthly.

 

 

Just checked.  We're currently paying  over £50/month, plus the cost of calls.  We can get a package from Plusnet that gives us free calls for £32.99, or £9/month less if we don't want free calls.

 

Methinks we're being well and truly ripped off. . .

 

It really pisses me off the way these companies just increase prices for existing customers.  I'm sure that we started out with a contract that cost around £30/month.

[PeterW]

PlusNet will move you to a lower rate when asked - don’t even need to change then as it’s a retention complaint ... 

[ProDave]

But I agree with Jeremy that it is despicable they way they fleece existing customers.

[Ferdinand]

7 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

You can become a student, drag that out for 4 years on a BSc and teaching qualification, then another 4 on a PhD.

By then you will get the winter weather payment.

And I managed to save cash when I was a student.

 

I believe it used to be that if you were an older person you could get the Student Loan, and were old enough never to have to pay it back as it got written off.

 

Loophole may have been closed - just my luck ? .

[Stewpot]

7 hours ago, AliG said:

I have often threatened that when I retire I will get a law degree so that I can sue companies that annoy me.

 

Imagine a world where 'being annoying' is prosecutable...

 

 

7 hours ago, AliG said:

If they ever get self driving and ride sharing to work it will be an enormous gain to a lot of people (except taxi/Uber drivers).

 

I think it's likely that self-driving fleets will be operated by taxi firms. Having your own self-driving car will be largely unnecessary - you'll just have an app on your smart phone to summon a car when you need it; tap in a GPS co-ordinate, and off you go.

 

I also predict that they will be equipped with internal cameras and microphones "to enhance your travelling experience", which will just happen to have facial recognition, will record what you say and listen out for certain key words. There will, of course, be multiple screens to supply you with advertorial infotainment, which you cannot turn off, and your journeys will be monitored and logged, including, for example, which house you stop out side; how long you are in there for, and how often.

 

 

[SteamyTea]

5 hours ago, Ferdinand said:

 

I believe it used to be that if you were an older person you could get the Student Loan, and were old enough never to have to pay it back as it got written off.

As far as I know, you can still get it, and after 30 years it gets paid off.

Though there may be an upper age limit.  I got one in my mid 40s, and a bursary as well.

Just don't get a lodger as you loose all your your CT exception.  Cost me £2500.

[joth]

10 hours ago, ProDave said:

But I agree with Jeremy that it is despicable they way they fleece existing customers.

 

Car insurance is terrible for this. Three years in a row I've had to switch to avoid it going up massively, instead managing to make it go down. Then we had to move last month to start the renovation, only a mile away and still very much in the same town with same off-street parking, they wanted to add £140 to the premium. Given we'll be moving back in 6 months what are the odds it magically goes up again, rather than down as you would imagine.

 

One thing that really drives lock in with home broadband is they all want to ship out a new WiFi router (that's often part of the sales pitch, like mobile phone contracts) but everyone know what a pain in the butt changing router is so won't do it more than once. Using your own router is so much better idea but they've moved to PPPoE authentication which is a pain to reconfigure in itself, plus some ISPs like Sky try and stop you from even discovering your own line authentication password. (Plusnet is easy, as it's the same as the password you use to log into their website. )

 

 

 

[SteamyTea]

1 minute ago, joth said:

 

Car insurance is terrible for this. Three years in a row I've had to switch to avoid it going up massively

This year, for only the second time, my renewal actually went down in price.

Oddly Tesco was the last one to do that, but then they almost wanted double the premium year before last.  I think they may want out of the car insurance business.

3 minutes ago, joth said:

Plusnet is easy, as it's the same as the password you use to log into their website

A site worth hacking into then.  Get free interweb across the land, and no need for thousands of satellites lighting up the night sky.

[Ferdinand]

15 hours ago, Jeremy Harris said:

 

 

Same for us.  Our non-food bills are (roughly):

 

Council tax   £2,076.31

Broadband and phone   £640.44

Electricity   £582.24

House Insurance   £210.18

TV licence   £154.50

 

We receive about £1,000 a year in FiT and export payments, which more than offsets the electricity bill.  I think I need to do something about the 'phone and broadband bill, though, as it seems daft paying more for that than we do for electricity.

 

 

 

Mine are currently, and in slight contrast (4 bed 200 sqm house East Midlands):

 

Council tax: Just under £2000. Will get 25% discount as mum passed away. I am a band D, and I think it got off lightly when they self-rebuilt it.

Broadband and Phone: £40 per month. Also PlusNet, 30Mb internet, and included calls to everything all the time including mobiles. I think. I don't feel ripped off as I used to be with Virgin ? .

Elec and Gas about £1000 currently though I go for stability over absolute minimum price.

House and Building Insurance £180. Dodgy place, Dorset ?.

TV License. Still free, as they have been told that mum passed away but have not caught up yet with me not being 75.

 

FIT - About £550 back.

 

Ferdinand

Edited February 11, 2020 by Ferdinand

[SteamyTea]

1 hour ago, Ferdinand said:

Dodgy place, Dorset

Got better after I moved away, but oddly Cornwall is going down hill.

 

 

[joth]

4 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

A site worth hacking into then.  Get free interweb across the land, and no need for thousands of satellites lighting up the night sky.

Fairly sure it's not that simple as they also verify the access line ID that the session is coming in on, so you can only use your DSL account on your own phone line, as that's the primary key used for routing from Openreach to the ISP, and for billing.  (The PPPoE is just a small level of additional protection to your neighbours from being able to wire tap your line and use that for internet access, as was the case before they added that authentication)

.