Posted on 10/29/2013 8:26:26 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
Elderly people unable to afford fuel bills advised to “heat only their living rooms during daytime this winter.”
Research by the charity Age UK has found potentially fatal consequences from living in poorly heated housing.
“Cold temperatures endanger the elderly by increasing the risk of flu, chest infections and other respiratory problems, and their severity.
“Fewer than one in 10 Britons aged 65 and over are aware that strokes can be brought on by the cold in winter, with only 14 per cent recognising that the cold can impact on heart attacks.
“Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director of Age UK, said ‘Being cold, even for just a short amount of time can be very dangerous as it increases the risk of associated health problems and preventable deaths during the winter.’
“Living room temperatures should ideally be kept at 70F (21C) and above whereas bedroom temperatures should be kept at a minimum of 64F (18C), according to international guidelines (from WHO).
“Official advice issued last week told elderly people unable to afford fuel bills to heat only their living rooms during daytime this winter.”
http://sorendreier.com/britain-24000-will-die-from-cold-this-winter/
Thanks to Laurel for this link
“They’d be better advised to sleep and stay in the one room” says Laurel.
“And while mentioning power prices the author failed to mention WHY power is unaffordable.”
“Or query why? Why will so many die if it’s supposed to be no snow ever again and warming fast…?”
“It’s not as though they’re freezing to death. I’m willing to bet that their criteria for cold related deaths are BS.”
Evidently, you have not spent time in winter in England - I have numerous times. Cold there is bitter, wet cold. The cold goes through your body as it is damp. That is why hot tea is the main drink there. When we would come out of the cold, the kettle was put on to get hot tea in us and the inside wasn’t that warm, either.
Plus, the heat comes in through radiators and you don’t turn one on unless you are really cold and you always wear sweaters in the house and warm socks and there is no heat turned on during the night unless it’s down in the teens so you bundle up in bed. Generally, you are never really warm during the winter. The kitchen is usually the warmest room since cooking does have to happen and that generates heat.
In the winter, I took my full length milk coat and I put that over me in the bed with the covers on top of the coat as that coat kept out the cold.
Yes, it is very easy for the elderly to get sick or actually freeze in their houses.
milk = mink
I was hoping they were all Muslim invaders.
My former German landlord used to come over every few days to turn down my thermostat in winter, because in his considered opinion, I was just wasting money to heat my home.
Ever visited in a Europeans home in winter?
They think it's normal, and even desirable, to function six months of each year in an indoor environment of 45-55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Not technically freeze conditions, but not quite what us pampered, southern, USA Yanks would consider civilized modern living conditions, either.
Not to mention that those poor souls have to cut back even more, because their government has been cheer leading the the global warming scam, and are facing a minimum of a ten % increase in already outrageous energy payments.
Based on the population, 24K sounds a bit low as an estimate this year, IMHO. But whatever! I'm sure you know way more than anyone else here about what's going on over there, right?
My young niece is over in England. When she first got there she rented a flat with a bunch of other 20-somethings. The heat/electric/water (IIRC) was all on the same bill, that was paid in advance and monitored by a smart meter. When they first rented it they thought “Okay, we’ll all chip in $100 and that should last us through the month.”
A week and a half later they were down to the end of their meter, and it sounded like once you reach the end, it IS the end and it is turned off. So, they added even more money, but swore to conserve water, heat, lighting, etc. They still didn’t make it to the end of the month.
It is expensive over there. Oh. One of them also had to make the trek to the other side of London to put the money into the system. Not sure if that was just their circumstance (young folks from other countries, no credit, etc.), but that would be pretty tough on an elderly person.
Probably a good model for Obama to follow though. Get rid of cheap coal energy. Force people onto smart meters in order to monitor and conserve the fragile and expensive grid (see National Geo. “blackout” or whatever it is). And as an added benefit, get rid of that sector of society that will be the biggest drain on social security, medicaid, obamacare, etc.
To give you a group answer to a group of questions. Yes, I have live in Europe (Germany) and have spent some time in England.
I still find it a bit of a stretch to expect 24K deaths because it is predicted to be a cold winter in jolly ol’ England.
SO, poor English elderly are at risk of cold related death?
Why not cut off all aid to Muslims?
WELL?
What do you think is the estimated and anticipated death rate of USA citizens this coming winter, due to cold weather?
Considering the difference in population ... 24K would not be beyond consideration. However, there is no excuse for deaths in the US because of lack of heating for anyone. There are social services available for everyone except those that choose to live on the streets.
Socialism and Sharia are working well.
Are you limited to a certain amount of energy in Europe or is heating cost prohibitive?
Where I live in NY I’ve had heating bills running $600/month in January and February. Granted my house is 150 years old. I hate paying the bill but I cut other things when necessary, I can’t stand being cold and dressed in layers inside my own home.
I live within 45 miles of 3 Nuke plants. I think 2 are always offline. The other sends it’s energy to NYC. We get screwed.
So I guess they’d prefer them to die at the hands of the NHS instead.
The UK energy rates are actually less than almost all of Europe, because of taxes/green initiatives and nationalization in the EU counties, I would guess.
Data is here, sorry about the formatting -
www.energy.eu/
GAS - cost is in Euros for KW-hr equivalent
Austria 0.06691
Denmark 0.10805
France 0.05706
Germany 0.06139
Ireland 0.05827
Sweden 0.11523
United Kingdom 0.04450
ELECTRICITY - cost is in Euros for KW-hr
Austria 0.20147
Denmark 0.29525
France 0.14466
Germany 0.26527
Ireland 0.22518
Sweden 0.20361
United Kingdom 0.17078
The UK number is about 23 US cents a KW-hr
It seems that the high number of nuclear plants built in France actually paid off....:^)
A pretty ironic comment, given that the British government, having made a decision six years ago to invest in 10 new reactors, failed until last week to persuade any energy company to build the things without huge subsidy. Now, finally, a deal has been signed with a French, Chinese-backed company to build the first post-Fukushima reactor: but only with a huge bribe, an inflation-linked 50-year guarantee of a unit consumer price more than twice the current level.
That is ironic. I wonder why the demand for the subsidy. Is it to offset anticipated legal opposition?
Whilst the UK has always had yobs who prey on the elderly, this smelling story, well smells, and none too pretty.
UK yobs do not smell through letterboxes, that’s a newspaper story written by someone who has watched
Clockwork Orange the night before. Nor do most carry a baseball bat.
Yes.
This is just scaremongering.
The UK has had truly horrific winters like 1947 or 1963, and even then only a handful of people died.
This is nonsense.
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