Watching What We Use

We don't normally give the energy we use a second thought, apart from when a huge bill lands on our front door mat. Energy suppliers are often in the news for all the wrong reasons, with NPower and Southern Electric exposed recently for mis-selling. Indeed my relationship with my supplier has been a rocky one and we were forced last month to lodge a complaint with NPower which saw them admit they had mis-sold us our energy product last year. I have to admit that they were actually quite good about it and up front about admitting liability. They did pass us back to our old supplier Eon and refunded everything we had paid them during 2012.
Now were are back with Eon, there is a renewed focus on how much electricity we use and how much it is costing us.

We now monitor our usage thanks to a nifty little meter that sits on my desk, and our online account records and tracks each Kwh of electricity we use telling us if our consumption has gone up, or down. It even tells us our carbon footprint in miles driven by car - our last figure was 8,000.
I like this. I like to know what I am paying for and how much of it I am using. I also know how much electricity each appliance uses and I've been amazed at how much this can vary. For instance, I had always assumed that my three computers and two servers used a lot of electricity but my meter tells me that they don't - just 200 watts in fact.  On the other hand, our beast of a plasma TV uses 400 watts. Our storage heaters, designed to save us money, each use 1kw (1000w) of electricity when they are charging. We have eight of them throughout the house. Our electric oven draws 2kw of power each time it is used and boiling the kettle draws a further 1kw. It's been interesting these last couple of days going round and turning things on and off, not to mention a real eye opener. For the first time ever, there is a level of clarity to this thing called 'energy'. Our move to Eon has also revealed the fast that we have two electricity meters and that we have an 'Economy 10' system controlling our heating. Now I'd never heard of this - I'm familiar with Economy 7 and that's all.
Watching what we use certainly provides an incentive to keep everything to a minimum. Without wishing to turn into my father, it's all about maintaining a balance - keeping on the things that need to be and turning off the things that don't need to be. The magic figure I've settled on is 700w - this is the benchmark I use during the day and evening. There are spikes, i.e. when cooking and these are to be expected though anything above 2.5kw would be unusual.
In a way, I'm quite pleased for the hassle we had with NPower as the results have been very positive. I now have an excellent relationship with my supplier and I pay only for what I use. More importantly, I can see what I am using and when making it far easier to keep things under control.
Electricity just like any other product we buy should be quantifiable. We wouldn't go into a shop and pay for 100 eggs and only take 10, but that's what I've been doing for years - paying well in advance for something I may or not use. It's time things changed, and I'm happy I have.

At the Mercy of NPower

I recorded my first audio journal of the year a little earlier. I was prompted to do so by something Richard Vobes spoke about on his Naked Englishman podcast. He remarked at how there is more detail carried in an audio journal than in a written diary or blog. He was referring I think to the tone of the voice and the emphasis given to words and phrases. In a way, I think he is probably right. I should record more audio journals, but I do find it a hell of a lot easier to type and I am constantly frustrated at not having enough quiet time for me to record them. I do find I have to be alone when I record them, but even then I seem to recall only the things that are in the forefront of my mind at the time. There are a great many spaces where I'm literally thinking of things that have happened recently or those things that are causing me stress or anxiety, as is often the case nowadays. I will certainly try to maintain regular recordings though I suspect that I will only be able to commit to them weekly.

I am often compelled to write when I become angered or frustrated by something. Normally it is a company or organisation, and more often than not, they have done me a dis-service or are demanding money. In this case, it is NPower and they have done both. We had an arrangement with them by which we would pay £167 a month for our electricity. We have only electricity here, no gas. Although a little higher than average, we were happily paying this. How shocked was I then to receive a bill from them asking for DOUBLE the £167 we had been paying and rather than asking if this is OK, they proceeded to take said sum of money from our bank account. This in effect emptied it and removed any possibility of me paying back the £255 I owe Lincolnshire NHS in respect of overpaid expenses. It is looking as if this will be the amount they will be asking for monthly, and there is simply no way we are able to afford it.
Rather than calling them today, my wife has taken the wise decision to put it off until tomorrow afternoon. I will be sending a strong letter of complaint and we have decided to cancel the direct debit arrangement we have seeing as they cannot be trusted to take only the agreed amount.
I suspect we are not the only ones struggling to pay their electric or gas bills. The media remind us of how more and more families up and down the country are slipping into 'fuel poverty'. I suspect we can now be counted among them.

As I write this, I see on my Twitter feed that Jessops has become the latest high street name to fall into administration. It is a shame of course but given the effect of digital technology over the last 10-15 years, it is no surprise that much of what they offered has become obsolete. In addition, the huge advances in technology have made photography something that anyone can do with ease. High quality cheap home printing has removed the need for large scale photo developing and forced die hard traditionalists into an expensive minority niche market. I am certainly one that laments the loss of traditional photography but I accept that technology is progressive and digital photography has brought with it huge benefits and advancements. The Internet has developed hand in hand with digital cameras providing a seamless connection between the medium and its audience. Indeed there are digital cameras which are now capable of wireless printing and of posting directly to Twitter and Facebook.
I suppose I am surprised Jessops have lasted this long, but I will always remember them for their friendly and knowledgeable staff, coupled with their ability to provide me with Ilford 400 ASA film, which I used during my brief venture into monochrome photography.

I mentioned previously that I would apply to be a writer for the Mass Observation project. Well this I did a couple of hours ago. I believe one of the topics currently is memories of photography, which is pretty apt given current events.
I did also apply to Silver Training to become a computer skills tutor. They emailed back an hour or two later stating that although I have the skills and knowledge to become a tutor, they do not currently operate in this area. They are keeping my details should this change. Worth a try I suppose.