Cost of living!

[RobinB5]

On 17/12/2022 at 19:55, andydclements said:

Have we seen the tea-light heaters being pushed as a cheap source of heat?

Lets do the maths  Somebody please check this because it seems so way out in terms of stupidity of advice, that I suspect my maths/ assumptions.

weight of wax , be generous and say 17g

Lets assume paraffin wax and chemical energy store of 220j/g so that's 17*220jules  = 3740 joules if maths serves me right

Lets assume 100% efficiency which seems fair given it will be in a room so any light will be absorbed and turned to heat,  and any fumes are still heating the room now vented, and ignore any unburned compounds. So 3740J is just a tiny amount over 1/1000th of  kwh, 

Cost of tealights, Wilko seem to charge £3.75 for 100pk and that seems to be about as cheap as they go (within reason), but lets say they are £3.40 for 100pk (you'll see why).

Electricity is capped at 34p /kwh, or (using the above price) 10 tealights. so 1kwh of electricity gives 10 tealights with energy of ........ rum roll please........ 10* 1/1000 kwh or 1/100kwh. So the "money saving advice" means people get told to waste 99% of the money they spend on it.   I get how these are hand warmers and perhaps have value when out in the wild with no electricity, but surely they'd be better to switch a kettle on for a few seconds to get the same amount of heat for a tiny fraction of the cost, and repeat if 100 times for a lot more heart yet the same total cost.

 

 

I did a pretty detailed study of these tea light heaters a few years ago. The blogs have been dusted off and marketed again due to the recent upswing in interest in cost effective heating. This part 1 of 5 parts in all:

https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/simulating-the-real-world/2013/11/18/heat-your-home-office-for-8p-a-day-part-1-really/

I went with 35W supplied over a ~4 hour period (42 MJ/kg (42000 J/g) taken as the calorific value of paraffin wax, I don't think 220 J/g is right?).

The problem with any form of full room heating is that you spend loads of Joules heating up air in places that you'd never occupy, e.g. especially near the ceiling. Heated clothes is the way to go, but until energy density of batteries improves considerably, that's off the table for now.

[Chillidoggy]

A first class example of management-speak bullshit. Yet another highly-paid Board-level position and complete waste of NHS cash. It must take a special person to write this crap, one so far divorced from reality that they must have come from another planet.

No wonder nurses go on strike when they see this nonsense.

13 hours ago, Bibs said:

[pete]

Is that a genuine advert

[Bibs]

https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/UK/Staffordshire/Stafford/Midlands_Partnership_NHS_Foundation_Trust/Director/Director-v4828381

[Bling]

Reading through that job ad, I have no idea what the person will actually do, even the job title is obscure.

[Rambo]

My wife is an ex Recruitment Consultant at Director level and she hasn't got a clue  either. And neither do I 🤔

No wonder the NHS is in such a mess !

 

[Kimbers]

23 hours ago, Bibs said:

https://www.healthjobsuk.com/job/UK/Staffordshire/Stafford/Midlands_Partnership_NHS_Foundation_Trust/Director/Director-v4828381

What kind of bullshit post is that? I mean, I don't even understand it, what the job actually is or what that person would do for a six figure salary!!

[Barrykearley]

See @Kimbers you simply aren’t qualified for such a complex role 

[PaulCP]

6 hours ago, Kimbers said:

What kind of bullshit post is that? I mean, I don't even understand it, what the job actually is or what that person would do for a six figure salary!!

The type of post where they already have their preferred candidate but to demonstrate equal opportunity to fit the recruitment rules of a public body they post an advert that no one understands to ensure that no one applies, other than the internal candidate that they have already selected.

[drdoom]

Inthe 4th paragraph substitute "delusions" for "decisions".

The sort of corporate bafflegab so nicely skewered in the sitcom W1A. 

[Painterdave]

I'm going to apply 👍

[pete]

45 minutes ago, Painterdave said:

I'm going to apply 👍

Can we see your CV 

[Bazza 907]

In the same vein, a few years ago we went out for dinner and I ended up sitting next to this bloke I didn't know. As the evening went on we'd talked cars/footie/food etc then, as you do, we got round to what he did for a job...

"Kindliness".  I tried not to spit dinner out. He went on "large companies employ me to go into their workplaces and talk about/spread nice things".

I jest you not, he was making a living out of it.. 

[exeterjeep]

29 minutes ago, Bazza 907 said:

spread nice things

I'll have some nice chocolate spread.

[andydclements]

Emperor's new clothes and idiots believing things springs to mind.

[andydclements]

On 19/12/2022 at 10:04, RobinB5 said:

...I went with 35W supplied over a ~4 hour period (42 MJ/kg (42000 J/g) taken as the calorific value of paraffin wax, I don't think 220 J/g is right?)...

Thanks @RobinB5 I'd used (why oh why did I) Wikipedia and then looked for others that verify that figure. Now thinking about it, at that sort of energy density somebody would light the tealight and it would be burned out before they walk away. A factor of c200 out in my maths then which does dramatically alter the economics of it.

[Bibs]

December gas - £414 & electricity £174. Just over £600 / month!

[Sparky]

Gas:  £307

Electricity:  £148

All that research I did from September has allowed me to knock 28% off electricity usage.  Unfortunately not a lot I can reduce on gas.

Overall, pretty pleased with the result!

[exeterjeep]

My electricity bill for 3 months (no gas here out in the sticks...) the bungalow was £235 - that's 3 months usage/daily charge and after the government gives me £199. Note that the VAT is payable on the total usage. 

Our second meter which is for our outbuildings ended up with a credit of £80, again thanks to the £199 from the gov.

We have oil heating - spent £530 recently but that will last most of 2023, we were not below 1/3rd full in the tank before filling up. Having filled up just over 12 months ago. But we do have a log burner....

 

[Chillidoggy]

8 minutes ago, Sparky said:

Gas:  £307

Electricity:  £148

All that research I did from September has allowed me to knock 28% off electricity usage.  Unfortunately not a lot I can reduce on gas.

Overall, pretty pleased with the result!

Cut down on the lager, and that elusive gas reduction will surely follow.

[internets]

Interesting comparison, a month up to 22nd December so including the cold snap for me was:

Electric - £ 188

Gas - £222

Have made various savings although my daughter takes long showers and being an electric shower it costs a bomb, not to mention all the lights left on. I am fighting a losing battle there

 

[Frickin_idiot]

She sounds similar to my step son who we recently found out leaves the shower running for 10 minutes before using it because “the room is cold”. 
 

He is due to buy his own place in the September - it’ll be interesting to see how his attitudes to leaving things on change when he is paying the bills!

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

December 2022 was my first month of variable tariff Gas and Electricity, since my cheap 2 year deal ended on 30.11.22. I have used £260 in total according to the EDF Energy Hub data, against £236 monthly direct debit. Not too bad for a family of 4 in a 4 bed detached house, me working from home and the kids on school holidays for half of that time. Nevertheless it’s still nearly 3x what I used to pay…

[Dan E]

4 hours ago, Bibs said:

December gas - £414 & electricity £174. Just over £600 / month!

that can't be right bibster you have been to my house and we are currently paying £350 a month for both admittedly we did insulate the shit out of it during the build but still

[Sparky]

Depends on yer tariff!