It’s electricity AND Gas combined Bruce.
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Well, yes but that doesn’t really matter, it is your energy bill, as I said I don’t have gas so my electricity bill is my cooking, hot water, lighting, heating ie all my energy needs. I don’t know how anybody can afford that sort of bill, it’s the equivalent of $1800 for my $260 and I don’t have solar.
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That’s the worrying thing, Bruce…people here are already making negative changes to their lifestyle due to the horrendous bills, and even having to choose between keeping warm OR eating. I read an article recently whereby people aren’t even cooking veggies that the foodbank gives them (for free) because it costs too much to cook!
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Precisely why there are a lot of people up in arms Bruce. Add on the highly likely increase in cost of goods due to businesses having to pay more for their own energy bills plus logistics costs, the decrease in disposable income to use on things such as hospitality etc, the whole situation is looking very bleak indeed.
Surely this can’t go on? If the average person has trouble paying for something as essential as energy and food then there is something seriously wrong with the economy.
Not that it is all sweetness and light here with petrol prices having nearly doubled in the past year from just over $1 a litre to a touch under $2 (£1) a litre. Food prices are on the rise because of world shortages pushing up prices, the rain and fuel prices. Inflation has started to rise pushed by these pressures. To a certain extent this is being cushioned by the amazing boom in commodity prices which has helped the economy to go gang busters at the moment but the CPI is no longer stagnant.
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I can see some people having to resort to using candles for light and to keep warm.
More house fires, so more use of the emergency services, more in hospital, more beggars on the street. It’s a vicious circle.
Mmmn…that was a bit gloomy…
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Indeed @Bruce. Petrol has increased crazily too, despite the chancellor reducing it by 5p per litre.
It makes one wonder how the laudable goal of getting people back to work can be achieved if companies can’t afford their current overheads yet alone expanding and taking on new staff., and current staff needing either a pay rise or a second job just to make ends meet.
All a complete storm of the excremental type.
Meanwhile, fuel bills are due to rise again in October.
It was always going to come to this Arty. The world lives on credit and the UK has given away it’s self sufficiency and relies on other countries to keep us afloat. I blame it on the EU and bad management.
I can never understand why people allow big energy companies to decide how much you must pay each month for your supply, and then automatically take it from your account… 
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One could say that though there will be a rise in costs our usage is obviously a lot less during the warmer months but of course rise during the winter. All we need is a really bad winter, this one has been very mild for the most part and that is when we will see real hardship not that the politicians will care as they will just add the costs of heating their second homes on expenses.
The poor, the vulnerable those on benefits or crap paid jobs are going to be hit the hardest.
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Absolutely. Whether one pays for what one actually uses per month/quarter or instead settles for splitting the bill over 12 months based upon the predicted usage based on the previous 12 month cycle matters not. Even if next winter is even milder than the last one, and even if you make every reasonable effort to reduce usage, your bills are still likely to increase and at a rate far higher than your income and higher than retail goods inflation.
I wonder why not using a microwave? They dont cost much to run I don’t think.
She didn’t have one. Or a cooker. The charity who came to her aid (once this family were discovered), provided her with a microwave and a few bits and bobs.
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Strange though it seems, a typical microwave oven consumes more electricity powering its digital clock than it does heating food.
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how can it be that someone with a child or children in this day and age are left with no source of cooking equipment. It’s disgusting and like living in the damn dark ages. 
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We are living in the dark ages. Some living conditions that kids have to endure here in the UK, are horrendous. Its only when someone speaks out about it that it goes “viral” and anything gets done.
Here’s a handy calculator for microwaves and other items energy consumption.
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Eh? that makes no sense at all (unless you don’t use the microwave)
A digital clock uses one or two watts, so in 24hours that is 0.048Kwh at the most.
Frozen meal takes (say) 7 minutes in a 1000watt oven which is 0.116Kwh
A cup of coffee for 2 minutes uses 0.032Kwh - only takes two cups of coffee to use more power than the clock
For while heating food requires more than 100 times as much power as running the clock, most microwave ovens stand idle—in “standby” mode—more than 99% of the time.
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Unfortunately you’ve just proved yourself wrong by telling us a microwave is used for approximately 1% of the time.
As the simple maths previously demonstrated you only have to use a microwave for 3 or 4 minutes a day to use more power than the clock.
A day consists of 1440 minutes (60 x 24) therefore using the microwave for 1% of a day as you claim indicates it is used for 14.4 minutes each day. During that time the microwave uses at least three times the power used by the clock.
Certainly my microwave is used for at least 14 minutes each day but even if it was only used for 0.5% of the time that is about twice the power used by the clock.