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…?”
Of course it is nonsense just like their claims of AGW.
Except we don’t have govt subsidised heat in the UK, that’s the point.
Energy was denationalised in the 80’s, and the big controversy this year is the (yet again) massive rise in energy charges. 8-12%, when the rise should be as little as 1.7%.
“With government subsidized heat no one will ever die....”
In my area, there is a program to heat elderly houses if they qualify. In the local news they interview an elderly man (70ish). He said he keeps his thermostat at 74 since he gets this program.
‘
“Yes, it is very easy for the elderly to get sick or actually freeze in their houses.”
Too bad you didn’t move to the Phillipines. ; )
The British have only been heating their living rooms in the winter for a long long time.
Most British homes did not have central heat until recently and Brits often had their meals in front of the coal or electric fire in their sitting room, often the sitting room and kitchen were combined. This is still true for outlying areas.
I did not know that. Thanks for the info!
Reminds me that I have to take a closer look at the woolly bears this year.
So the pensioners winter heat subsidy doesn't count?
https://www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment
Cold Weather benefits
https://www.gov.uk/cold-weather-payment
Help with insulation -
https://www.gov.uk/energy-company-obligation
- and a discount possible on your heating costs -
https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme
A miner's union pay-off, I presume -
https://www.gov.uk/national-concessionary-fuel-scheme
Since most of the above seem to apply to pensioners, the unemployed and lower wage earners, it seems like a big subsidy pool.
No, it's because no energy company expects to make a profit from building a new nuclear plant without either capital subsidy upfront or a forward guarantee of the future wholesale price (which amounts to the same thing, since ultimately it's the consumer who will pay). Added to which the energy producers know that the UK Government is desperate for new nuclear to go ahead, so they're in a very strong bargaining position. Despite the government assurances to the contrary, EDF have virtually set their own terms - the forward price guarantee is way beyond the highest forecast by industry commentators.
Not really. Most homes, in all parts of the UK, are now centrally heated, and for decades now all new housing has been centrally heated. Where the British housing stock is still deficient, in comparison with the standards elsewhere in northern Europe, is in insulation. Although insulation standards in new build are now much higher than they were, in much older housing it's still woeful, and a high proportion of the energy used in heating is wasted.
Most of the schemes you mention are tiny, token gestures to gain political brownie points, and have little overall impact on the cost of heating for pensioners.
“Are you limited to a certain amount of energy in Europe or is heating cost prohibitive?”
When he first went there, he rented a place and had to put money in some machine to get the heat on. Yes, it is expensive.
As he went up the professional/social ladder, he bought a house and didn’t have to put money in to keep it going, but those radiators aren’t turned on very often. It’s a miserable place to live in winter. You will wear a heavy sweater inside and the thickest socks you have.
Hot water isn’t there UNLESS you turn on the machine to heat the water. There is a machine in each bathroom and you turn it on and it heats the water for a bath/shower. When you are finished, you turn the machine off.
300 US dollars (450+ US dollars if over 80) to all pensioners (defined as over 60 in the UK for this) does not sound that trivial.
Heck, they are even paying out the money to pensioners retiring to warmer Spain -
Expected cost this year for this one programme is about 3,300 million US dollars, not that trivial...:^)
“Too bad you didn’t move to the Phillipines. ; )”
I live in Texas, mild winters. Texas is also in the USA. I don’t know or care where the third world islands of the Philippines are.
Sorry, what I meant was that we don’t get our heat from the govt for free. Yes, there are subsidies, my retired parents get some of them for example.
Most British homes have had central heating since the 1950’s/60’s.
All new homes since the 60’s have been built with central heating. So we have had it in almost every home for over 40-50 yrs.
Hot water isn’t there UNLESS you turn on the machine to heat the water. There is a machine in each bathroom and you turn it on and it heats the water for a bath/shower. When you are finished, you turn the machine off
That pretty accurately describes the house I grew up in, in the England of the 1950s. Though such houses undoubtedly still exist, they are now rare - mostly occupied by elderly people with low incomes who have lived in the same house for many years. For decades now, most houses in Britain have been centrally heated, and all new housing since the 1970s has had fitted central heating as a matter of course. Most young people in Britain these days don't even possess wool or other warm clothing, since their lives are lived mainly in centrally heated buildings and heated cars.
You can't, however, generalise about the nature, quality or cost of domestic heating throughout Europe. There are wide differences between different European countries and wide differences even between the colder Northern European countries.
As a UK pensioner, I receive the winter fuel allowance - and I can assure you that in relation to the actual cost of heating it’s a spit in the bucket! However, you’re right to say that the overall cost of the scheme isn’t trivial. That’s because it’s one of the few remaining ‘universal benefits’ paid to all regardless of income. The present government has been steadily stripping these away, and I can’t see the winter fuel allowance in its present form lasting much longer.
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