Future home heating

[jennyjj01]

(50% of Britons have less than £1000).

That's scary. Do you have a handy chart or table showing percentage by wealth band?

[jansman]

The feller that did our plumbing & boiler said he knows of people that have bought replacement boilers and put them into storage, in order to future-proof having to spend out big after 2035.
The thing is people will be buying gas boilers in 2034 (not as many as now obviously) and expecting to use them for 10+ years so there's no way the gas can just be turned off.

Looking at the bigger picture whatever way we go to heat, whether it's electricity, hydrogen or whatever, it needs a massive infrastructure upgrade and a massive subsidy programme. This is likely to cost hundreds of billions and we need to think how we're going to pay for it; whilst some of us are lucky enough to have savings to dip into, millions do not (50% of Britons have less than £1000).

It’ll be interesting to see if anyone trains for gas plumbing near 2035. Will there even be sufficient gas? It’s going to get interesting.

[Frnc]

(50% of Britons have less than £1000).

That's scary. Do you have a handy chart or table showing percentage by wealth band?

"Half of Brits (50%) have £1000 or less in savings."
"(23%) of Brits have no savings at all

Source: https://www.finder.com/uk/saving-statistics

Tons of info here, keep scrolling down to see what's there, as there's a LOT more info than you will expect (more than you need really).

[jennyjj01]

(50% of Britons have less than £1000).

That's scary. Do you have a handy chart or table showing percentage by wealth band?

"Half of Brits (50%) have £1000 or less in savings."
"(23%) of Brits have no savings at all

Source: https://www.finder.com/uk/saving-statistics

Tons of info here, keep scrolling down to see what's there, as there's a LOT more info than you will expect (more than you need really).

Thanks. i could wade through such stats for hours. One bit struck me...

"The average household of 2.4 people spends £2,907 a month... around half (51%) of all Brits would be able to live off their savings for less than one month."

A) I sure as hell neither receive nor spend anywhere near £2907 per month.
B) 51% of Brits are screwed.

I wish those stats quoted more median data.

[Frnc]

That's scary. Do you have a handy chart or table showing percentage by wealth band?

"Half of Brits (50%) have £1000 or less in savings."
"(23%) of Brits have no savings at all

Source: https://www.finder.com/uk/saving-statistics

Tons of info here, keep scrolling down to see what's there, as there's a LOT more info than you will expect (more than you need really).

Thanks. i could wade through such stats for hours. One bit struck me...

"The average household of 2.4 people spends £2,907 a month... around half (51%) of all Brits would be able to live off their savings for less than one month."

A) I sure as hell neither receive nor spend anywhere near £2907 per month.
B) 51% of Brits are screwed.

I wish those stats quoted more median data.

The bit you missed out is "meaning the average Brit spends £1,211"

Sometimes people say "average" when they mean median. It's all a bit vague. Eg my "savings" are actually the lump sums I took out of my pensions, plus a small pension I cashed in completely.

Yes it is scary that half of Brits don't have one month's spending saved up.

If you want to check your income vs national, go here. https://ifs.org.uk/tools_and_resources/ ... you_fit_in?

Mine is 22% from the bottom, 3rd decile, but shown on the curve, it's not that far from the peak, in terms of number of people on any given income. Note - they had to chop off the richer end to keep the bulk of it represented more visually. Basically, about £300 a week is the income the highest number of people are on, after tax and council tax. But probably nearly 75% of people are on more than that.

[jansman]

Money is down to the individual isn’t it? Websites with statistics are interesting,but not realistic. We all live differently.

For a start,what do people spend their income on? Their quantity of income is rather irrelevant,as where and how fast it is spent is more important.

I have two best mates. I love em to bits,as we have been friends all our lives. However,one has lived fast,and fancy,and earned a fortune - his wife too- and both have to keep grafting.Abroad at least three times a year etc.They just came back from America . £9000! He is four years older than me and when I fell ill and had to pack up working ,I told him to semi retire at the very least. “ you must be able to afford to, time is so precious ” said I. Wrong! Up to his neck in the fancy lifestyle and remortgaged! They have a 4 bedroom house,and two of them live there. It’s all nice,flash etc. and they have gardener,window cleaner,car valeted, and so forth. He told me all this.
The scariest is that with their income,and it ain’t small,they have little in savings and particularly pensions. Combined,they earn about six times more than Mrs J and me!

My other friend is just a year older than me,and is retired.Unfortunately he had to pack up as he had developed arthritis ( his job was manual) and then his dear wife died of cancer. From there he has suffered from depression and mental illness. He is getting better though,gradually. He cannot work though .He had a company pension ,which he now lives on and a small disability benefit.It’s not much,just a basic income a month. It’s interesting,as him and me earned similar wages ,and finished on about £4 per hour above the minimum wage at that time. Never earned mega money. But his house was paid for years ago. He has savings - not massive - and no debt. He lives a simple life. He doesn’t worry about bills,as he allocates money towards them. He gets by ( as he says); “ quite comfortably “. He doesn’t holiday ,as he says ,he is retired ,and it’s one big holiday! He has family and friends and apart from the loss of his wife,he is happy.

My wife and me are similar to the latter friend. My wife went part time after she survived cancer. Time became more important. Now I am in the same boat,but I won’t be cured. Time IS important. But last year my wife told me to go part time ,same as her. I fell in the same boat as my first friend. Scared I couldn’t afford to retire! Then I fell poorly. Since then,after a bit of organisation with life insurances and private pension ,and Mrs J part timing,we are ok. No debt.We don’t need holidays,or flash this and flash that. It’s amazing what one doesn’t need to spend on!
Sure,we have savings. We have one account we built on to cover house maintenance. Another for nice things when wanted ,although our attitude tends to still keep it for emergencies! Not huge amounts though.


But bringing this back on track about household heating: We are all electric,along with solid fuel too. Aside from firewood ( which fortunately we get for zero ) electricity and smokeless fuel are expensive. But we put money aside for it each month.When I am gone there will still be sufficient for wife to buy wood in. Indeed my wife accounts for fuel ( and everything else) weekly,so it is divided over 52 weeks to cover the five week months. Last Winter my first friend turned heating off as it was too expensive,but my second just threw another log on the fire and was comfortable with his dog on his lap!
Looking at the pay statistics above ,our friend and us live below what is considered a low income! We are comfortable though. When Winter comes,the heating will be on when needed.

Come the future,society will need to look at what is important. All this eco stuff,the economy,climate and so forth ,are coming together to make one big bang! Life now seems very complex,and it’s relatively recent too.

[Frnc]

Slightly off topic, but another big picture aspect is housing. Not just house prices, but theincreasing numbers of renters. I was just reading an article on Sky. It reckons the interest rate rises hit renters because a lot of rented properties are on interest only mortgages, and the owners increase rent each year as interest rates and market values go up. Britain now has more people owning outright, and more renting, than on mortgages. England and Wales are above the EU average now, in percentage of the population who rent.
https://news.sky.com/story/why-renters- ... s-12929332

[Frnc]

Back to electricity, see the climate thread for the world's biggest offshore wind farm, off the UK coast, Dogger, capable of powering 6 million homes.

[jennyjj01]

Thanks. i could wade through such stats for hours. One bit struck me...

"The average household of 2.4 people spends £2,907 a month... around half (51%) of all Brits would be able to live off their savings for less than one month."

A) I sure as hell neither receive nor spend anywhere near £2907 per month.
B) 51% of Brits are screwed.

I wish those stats quoted more median data.

The bit you missed out is "meaning the average Brit spends £1,211"

I didn't miss that. But i should have said
"A) My household sure as hell neither receives nor spends anywhere near £2907 per month."

[diamond lil]

Jansman - "Come the future,society will need to look at what is important. All this eco stuff, the economy, climate and so forth, are coming together to make one big bang! Life now seems very complex,and it’s relatively recent too."
I'd add to that the fact that nobody ( as in govts of the world) knows how to deal with it or where to go next. And I'm sure most of it will be stuffed as usual under the rug and we will all roll merrily onwards. So even prepping for it is dodgy because at any time, the rug can and probly will be pulled out from under us.
Buy more cake. And gin. It's bound to help!