According to the BBC, everybody in the UK is skint. Apart from having to cut back slightly on pub visits (no bad thing), I'm still able to afford to live my every day life; how is everyone else bearing up?

https://coventryobserver.co.uk/news/coventry-mp-launches-cost-of-living-campaign/

I think we shall have to hold our breath until the colder months, I am dreading higher bills. its too soon to say at present though. I strictly time the water heater and cooking times where possible, I find ways of economising at the moment , but wait for the bills later on to see if it has made much of a difference. We will need the heating toward the end of the year, more in the evenings too, but if I remember rightly we didn't get too cold up till December last year. It was Jan. Feb, and March and April that was raw cold.

Like, Margaret, I'm going to wait and see what happens. There's little point in worrying about something I have no control over, and I know that there are an awful lot of people worse off than me.

What do you think of these instant hot water taps? I was considering getting one.
they do vary in price, but I'll just use this illustration.


https://verana.co.uk/products/hanstrom-3-in-1-instant-boiling-water-tap-with-boiler-filter-polished-chrome?variant=42378697212149&gclid=Cj0KCQjwl92XBhC7ARIsAHLl9alDKFiab_3P6PMt24eO1vSFjBlmIboQZCDMkorvJG-z9M7ymb8l7MwaAo3VEALw_wcB

I personally couldn't justify it, Margaret.

We used to use similar in industry, but I think the cost-effectiveness was down to installation rather than running costs. IIRC, we used to also get through heating elements at an astonishing rate.

At risk of sounding naive , I want to know more and where is the heating element?
Are these household elements likely to burn out as quickly as an industrial use one?
And if they scale up like a kettle, how do we descale them?


.

Margaret, they are not naive questions but very pertinent ones. If more people asked such questions our markets wouldn't be littered with so many rubbish products.

The answers to those questions will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Many will have a filter to prevent scaling, but that will need to be factored in as an ongoing replacement cost.

Best advice I can give you is to identify one or two that you like the look of and ask the manufacturer the questions directly; then seek out user forums to see if the answers live up to reality.

Thanks Rebbonk, I like to get your opinion. And as you suggest I shall make enquiries directly when I have chosen one I like.
I like to give them a headache!

I'm one of those nightmare customers.

Margaret, no decent manufacturer will resent your questions; in fact, they're likely to welcome them as you are showing a decent interest in their product.

However, there will be those that have something to hide and they will give evasive answers or not respond; they are best avoided at all costs.

Coming from the motor industry, I know rather a lot about being economical with the truth, telling the customer what (s)he wants to hear, and staying just the right side of telling an outright lie! Maybe politics could be a late-career change for me? LOL

Yes, well I like to use my own discernment.
But having looked more into it and having seeing all the rest of the gubbins that is fitted under the sink with flask and tanks and frequency of filter change and refilling the tank with water.. I have been quite put off . I think its just expensive gimmicky crap!

I was initially looking for a hot on demand geyser type thing, but I don't think the above is quite what I'm after. Though it piqued my curiosity when I first seen it.
I don't think I would have the cupboard space for all the contraption for it underneath the kitchen sink anyway.
I shall have a look at the tankless water heaters.

I must admit, I thought it a gimmick, but not one for me. If you do a search for an 'instant hot water heater' you might find something more suitable. When I was a child, I seem to remember a gas powered geyser on the kitchen sink. My guess is that you are looking for something like that?

Yes, rebbonk, that's the sort of thing I really need. More practical.

<script>!f


[video]https://rumble.com/embed/v1a97ld/?pub=4[/video]

Electric cars are not green (they and their batteries still have raw materials and require manufacturing). We don't have the grid capacity to move over to electric vehicles. Many homes will never be able to have the facilities to charge electric vehicles. Electric vehicles involved in accidents are way more dangerous than 'traditional' vehicles and are supposed to be individually isolated in storage compounds.

There is no reason we cannot continue using petrol (diesel was always going to be problematical) and we can make the engines incredibly clean. Way back in the late 80s we could make perfectly clean, non-polluting engines, but the Germans didn't like it because they couldn't do it, hence they lobbied the EU parliament to legislate that vehicles must be fitted with catalysts, which are dreadful things that actually pollute in a different way.

A few pointers from WCC: https://rugbyobserver.co.uk/news/help-with-cost-of-living-crisis-available-on-warwickshire-county-councils-website-40931/

An effort, but it won't help the likes of me.

Going back to the root cause might be more helpful, but that requires government intervention.