Energy bills

[MingtheMerciless]

Could just be shite maintenance and plant management. After all the system has been shutdown for a while and I wonder how motivated the plant/control room guys are to look after it.

Or it could be some specially trained NorK Suicide Seals working on behalf of Winnie the Po's agenda.

[Screwdriver]

Hmm. A crack squadron of Norks. That's something I'd like to see.

[Cousin Jack]

Slight detour but...how was it done?
A surface ship dropping depth charges would be pretty obvious (particularly a US flagged one).
Limpet mines type of thing...again a surface ship would be pretty obvious.
Submarine? Despite best efforts I think we can safely say the location of those are known to opposing powers.
From the air? Not much moves up there untracked.
Overpressurisation? That'd take some doing on a temporarily decommissioned and a not yet fully commissioned line.

The people that did it know who did it (obvs) but I'm betting that some of the people that didn't know beyond reasonable doubt too.

PS It could still have been Russians...just not the government.

An oligarch could have done it. Mega yacht, couple of ex-navy divers, limpet mine, job sorted.

[Pirahna]

An oligarch could have done it. Mega yacht, couple of ex-navy divers, limpet mine, job sorted.

There's none left. They've all had unfortunate accidents and are dead.

[Cousin Jack]

An oligarch could have done it. Mega yacht, couple of ex-navy divers, limpet mine, job sorted.

There's none left. They've all had unfortunate accidents and are dead.

Putin has a yacht...........

[Hoonercat]

If Nord Stream's (1) own bumph about the pipeline is true, it's hard to see how this was anything other than sabotage

Owing to the high quality of the materials involved and the conservative design of the pipelines, damage and deformation are highly unlikely. In fact, the probability of pipeline failure or leakage is as low as one damage event every 100,000 years.

There are actually 4 pipelines, only 3 were damaged with one of NS2's pipelines remaining useable. On September 7th, Putin was busy telling Europe that NS2 could be 'used straight away' if sanctions were lifted against it, 3 days later the company responsible for its maintenance and operation (Nord Stream 2 AG) applied to have its bankruptcy extended by 4 months, which was granted by a Swiss court (they laid off their entire workforce months earlier). Putin didn't get anywhere with his 'offer' so tried again a few days later, and despite a few calls in Germany for NS2 to be opened, it was again pretty much ignored by the German govt.
NS1 is as good as dead since Putin backed himself into a corner by stating it could no longer deliver gas to Europe, but he still has hopes of convincing Germany to change its stance on NS2. Is he playing mind games with the German public, showing how vulnerable the pipelines are as winter approaches but leaving one operational as a way of saying 'if you want it you should take it while you still can'? Or maybe the US is worried that Germany may reconsider opening NS2 if winter is harsh, but failed to destroy all 4 pipelines? Somehow that seems like too big a risk on their part...
It has been suggested that this could be Russia's way of seeking force majeure which could avoid it having to pay billions in compensation to its customers, but why also damage NS2?

[Hoonercat]

Hungary, with its dependency on Russian gas, could soon find itself in a spot of bother as sanctions affect the Turk Stream pipeline.

In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by RFE/RL, Aksyutin ordered them to “suspend the execution of all contracts related to the technical support of the gas pipeline, including design, manufacture, assembly, testing, repair, maintenance and training.”

He said gas exports should continue but only with emergency support in order to prevent damage to the environment.

Deyan Kalaydzhiyev, the head of contracts, told employees in a letter that was also obtained by RFE/RL to inform Western suppliers of goods and services -- such as control valves, technical support, telecommunications for pipeline maintenance, and pipeline repair – that purchase agreements were to be suspended as of September 16.

https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-sanction ... 58191.html

[Greenman]

New pricing goes up tomorrow make sure to take your meter reading.

I have cancelled all my DD's with energy companies and i will be paying what i have used and nothing more!

[Kneerly Down]

Just gave my reading to Bulb.
They'd sent me an email to say my DD was going down £80 a month from next month, but that's before I sent them my reading, that shows I've used £1500 more electric than they estimated since April!
That was when we had full on chocolate production on the same supply though (that moved to a new site a few weeks ago), so I've also asked if they can install a smart meter, otherwise I fear they are going to go mental with the monthly DD!

[Mussels]

Just gave my reading to Bulb.
They'd sent me an email to say my DD was going down £80 a month from next month, but that's before I sent them my reading, that shows I've used £1500 more electric than they estimated since April!
That was when we had full on chocolate production on the same supply though (that moved to a new site a few weeks ago), so I've also asked if they can install a smart meter, otherwise I fear they are going to go mental with the monthly DD!

I had that a couple of years ago, it was paid up early this year but the DD didn't go down again despite me submitting monthly readings so a smart meter probably won't help. Automatic adjustments only seem to work in one direction, I had to phone to complain.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Bulb are actually recommending my direct debit be decreased to £90pcm, from £140...seems like cleaning my fridge coils was worth it after all

[KungFooBob]

Octopus have dropped mine from £177 to £110 this month, I didn't know if it was a one off government thing.

[Horse]

Bulb are actually recommending my direct debit be decreased to £90pcm, from £140...seems like cleaning my fridge coils was worth it after all

'Recommending', or including the Govt payment?

[Mr. Dazzle]

They were doing so even in early September.

I've no plans to change at the moment though, no idea how it's gonna shake out

[Mussels]

Octopus have dropped mine from £177 to £110 this month, I didn't know if it was a one off government thing.

I had that as well this month, my energy bill is now the lowest it has been for years.
E.on sent an email saying they are splitting the £400 over a few months.

[Mr. Dazzle]

So my Bulb account now reckons I should pay £76 DD...which is less than i paid last year. It includes the higher unit price now but also includes the £400 thing.

I have been making more economies around the house, nothing super drastic, just optimising how long the hot water is on and using different washing machine cycles. We've also got new windows and new insulation now.

Still. Doesn't smell right

[Mussels]

I've been playing with the new boiler and turned the hot water temperature down until I got moaned at because the shower doesn't go up to 40 degrees anymore.
I also found the house continues getting hotter when the heating switches off because the radiators are still hot, this results in a cycle of people opening windows because it's too hot and the heating coming on again. I've turned down the temp of water in the heating system hoping to stop this happening, now waiting for complaints the house takes too long to warm up. I could do with a more intelligent controller that reduces boiler heat as rooms get warmer but I don't know if there are any that can talk to the boiler like that.
When it gets a bit colder I'll stick the extractors on full and go draught hunting.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Similarly I've been tweaking when our hot water comes on. We've got the older kind of system with a tank, so by tweaking the times so it comes on just before we typically use it I've saved loads. It's on a 7 day timer too whcih helps.

It only runs for 17 mins a day now, 35 on Sundays

[slowsider]

I've been playing with the new boiler and turned the hot water temperature down until I got moaned at because the shower doesn't go up to 40 degrees anymore.
I also found the house continues getting hotter when the heating switches off because the radiators are still hot, this results in a cycle of people opening windows because it's too hot and the heating coming on again. I've turned down the temp of water in the heating system hoping to stop this happening, now waiting for complaints the house takes too long to warm up. I could do with a more intelligent controller that reduces boiler heat as rooms get warmer but I don't know if there are any that can talk to the boiler like that.
When it gets a bit colder I'll stick the extractors on full and go draught hunting.

Can't you just switch it off a bit earlier? Or a room stat for each rad?

[Mr. Dazzle]

Or just turn the main thermostat down?