Energy usage- valve amp!

[struth]

Well, it was Thatcher who sold off the "family silver" for a quick fix. That was bad enough, but later legislation was introduced whereby foreign states and companies could buy into them. So that is why one of our water and one of the electricity companies are French owned. Our EDF bills are no doubt subsidising French consumers.

for the few things she did well, there are hundreds she did wrong. unless your a right wing capatalist of course.. ms truss wants to copy her

[Macca]

I believe the electricity increase in France has been capped at 4%. That is the advantage of having essential utilities still under state control - unlike here in the UK.

The UK government still have the ability to regulate fuel prices.

The reason that the French government capped the rise at 4% is because otherwise the French would have been out on the street ripping up the cobbles and chucking them at the cops. That's the real difference.

Nothing to do with the nationality of the people who own the energy companies. Which are publicly listed anyway so probably mostly owned by pension funds.

Buying shares in a power company might be a good way of recouping some of the losses from the bills going up, thinking about it. I wonder how their share prices have been doing recently?

[Pharos]

I think that the railways, buses, water and drainage should all be government owned as with energy supply, an also the country should be self sufficient in food.

Truss may see herself as a new Thatcher, but she lacks the gravitas and depth she had, although much of what she did was damaging to people and to our cultural values.

[Stranraer]

[QUOTE=Enossification;1329293]OK so my observation of our smart meter display

To clarify, do NOT do the test I suggested using readings from the in room wireless display (In Home Display Device) that comes with the meter itself. That works on an algorithm based on average usage. They're a useful bit of kit generally but this is why they always go bonkers when you switch the kettle on in the first few weeks. For my test, take reads from the actual electric meter (the box that has the electric cable from the street wired into it).

[Stranraer]

As I said previously, the energy companies are grossly inflating their estimated bills i

To be fair to the bastids, if you give regular meter reads to them any estimated usage should be fairly spot on. They will always argue that it's better to (reasonably) over estimate than under, to avoid large catch up bills for the customer. The regulator would agree with this.

[Barry]

The UK government still have the ability to regulate fuel prices.

The reason that the French government capped the rise at 4% is because otherwise the French would have been out on the street ripping up the cobbles and chucking them at the cops. That's the real difference.

That's the way to do it - though it's not the way we do things: here we just whinge and whine. Actually, the French government is the major shareholder (51%) in EDF, so their word goes.

Nothing to do with the nationality of the people who own the energy companies. Which are publicly listed anyway so probably mostly owned by pension funds.

Buying shares in a power company might be a good way of recouping some of the losses from the bills going up, thinking about it. I wonder how their share prices have been doing recently?

I'll have a word with my financial advisor who knows about these things. I wouldn't be surprised if my portfolio didn't already have shares in some utilities.

[Barry]

To be fair to the bastids, if you give regular meter reads to them any estimated usage should be fairly spot on. They will always argue that it's better to (reasonably) over estimate than under, to avoid large catch up bills for the customer. The regulator would agree with this.

Agreed - but how frequent is "regular": quarterly; monthly, weekly?

[Stranraer]

Agreed - but how frequent is "regular": quarterly; monthly, weekly?

If you've not submitted them often in the past I'd do it monthly for a year to show seasonal peaks n troughs.
Quarterly after that. Historic reads are passed from one supplier to another following the customer's switch of provider, so it's always worth doing to avoid unrealistic estimates.

[MartinS]

Slightly bizarrely my SS power amp, a Quad Artera consumes 750w max whilst my valve monoblocks, Icon MB90 consume 200w max each. I think the extra heat might be worth having this winter. The news today was reporting the possibility of power cuts this winter. If that does happen then I think there well may be a rather pointed response from the public towards the government. It is after all entirely down to politicians short term thinking, if that's not being too charitable to describe it thus.
Martin

[Pigmy Pony]

Many years ago (late 70s) a friend rented a flat in an ancient building shared by other tenants, a judo club and a couple of small businesses. The wiring was ancient. Somehow he discovered that one of the wall sockets did not affect his meter. He used that socket for EVERYTHING. How he did not cause a fire I've no idea.

I predict there will be an increase in the amount of meter-tampering this winter, with some dire consequences.