The energy crisis

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by tweetiepooh

It's always the middle that get it worst as we are the biggest sector. And often it's the lower end of the middle that really get it. Too "rich" to qualify for help, too "poor" to afford expensive changes

The saving grace for some in this situation will be the reduction in travel costs by working at home.

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

The saving grace for some in this situation will be the reduction in travel costs by working at home.

But if you work from home you will need the heating on, if your working from the office your home heating would be off in many cases.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

But if you work from home you will need the heating on, if your working from the office your home heating would be off in many cases.

Absolutely true for some of the year plus the oven, lighting, electricity, etc.
But for most people, I think these costs will be outweighed substantially by their previous commuting costs.

[Halcyon]

So as a key worker I still have to go to work, costs go up, pay rises are basically non-existant, and I now have my energy bills almost doubling.


I'm very tempted to install a log burner to help keep heating costs down.

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

So as a key worker I still have to go to work, costs go up, pay rises are basically non-existant, and I now have my energy bills almost doubling.


I'm very tempted to install a log burner to help keep heating costs down.

I have a big iron stove in the living room, the problem with logs is they aint cheap anymore and they burn quickly, I use solid fuel, lasts longer.
but if you can get freed logs go for it.

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

The saving grace for some in this situation will be the reduction in travel costs by working at home.

Not much, the fixed costs (like insurance) are still the same.

On the other hand, the home "office" has to be heated, and uses more electricity for lighting, computers, network etc.
Plus some people will have to upgrade their home insurance to cover WFH.

[TimeLord2018]

In response to the energy crisis Ovo Energy is to cut a quarter of it's workforce.
http://news.sky.com/story/ovo-respon...force-12514601

May yet become my supplier according to that ..

It considered a bid for Bulb, the energy supplier which collapsed late last year, prior to it being placed into a form of insolvency, and could yet emerge as a contender to take on its roughly 1.6 million customers.

[TimeLord2018]

Mine aswell , also Ovo plans to reshore all customer facing jobs.

Originally Posted by TimeLord2018

Mine aswell , also Ovo plans to "reshore" all customer facing jobs unfortunately.

Why unfortunately?

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Chris

Why unfortunately?

I suspect TimeLord2018 misread 'reshore' as 'offshore'.

[tweetiepooh]

Originally Posted by Paul

Not much, the fixed costs (like insurance) are still the same.

On the other hand, the home "office" has to be heated, and uses more electricity for lighting, computers, network etc.
Plus some people will have to upgrade their home insurance to cover WFH.

We haven't changed our heating since working from home so that bill has only gone up when I need a burst of heat but well insulated home should hold a lot of heat. Power for a laptop and a couple of monitors is minimal and insurance shouldn't change much. You are not conducting a business from home, you don't need to insure your companies kit and being at home more make less likely to be targeted surely?


Petrol is a big cost and why waste it spending extra couple of hours a day to drive to an office to join Webex for colleagues in other offices?


But it's nationally we need to get usage down. A problem now is that companies are opening offices but many staff are working from home. So they are using energy to heat/light space that is minimally used.


Electricity generation should have been mostly nuclear/renewable by now leaving gas (especially) for domestic use where it's harder to change. But we also have to think globally. Other nations also want fuel and energy and have growing classes also wanting "what we have".


Finally to petro companies still flame off gas because it's too difficult to deal with? Why? That should be stopped.

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by tweetiepooh

We haven't changed our heating since working from home so that bill has only gone up when I need a burst of heat but well insulated home should hold a lot of heat. Power for a laptop and a couple of monitors is minimal and insurance shouldn't change much. You are not conducting a business from home, you don't need to insure your companies kit and being at home more make less likely to be targeted surely?


Petrol is a big cost and why waste it spending extra couple of hours a day to drive to an office to join Webex for colleagues in other offices?


But it's nationally we need to get usage down. A problem now is that companies are opening offices but many staff are working from home. So they are using energy to heat/light space that is minimally used.


Electricity generation should have been mostly nuclear/renewable by now leaving gas (especially) for domestic use where it's harder to change. But we also have to think globally. Other nations also want fuel and energy and have growing classes also wanting "what we have".


Finally to petro companies still flame off gas because it's too difficult to deal with? Why? That should be stopped.

It's to stop possible explosions occurring, it's called flaring.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

But if you work from home you will need the heating on, if your working from the office your home heating would be off in many cases.

Working from home attracts tax relief. My accountant told me that I only have to work from home for at least one day in any tax year to qualify.

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Working from home attracts tax relief. My accountant told me that I only have to work from home for at least one day in any tax year to qualify.

It does. You do have to submit yourself to the annual inconvenience of submitting a self-assessment tax return but it’s worth it. You can claim tax relief on a number of home office expenses (unless your employer is paying those expenses to you of course). You can also claim for wear and tear and additional insurance costs. My taxable income was reduced by just under £1,000 last year by this means.