Falkirk Gas

[orkneycadian]

Whats with the folk down there that they are almost all completely unprepared for something as predictable as a problem with their gas supply? Folk on Radio Scotland this morning saying they had absolutely no alternative to gas heating, despite portable fan heaters costing under £10 in Screwfix and the likes.

And the image on the left below.....

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/128F0/production/_109961067_perryscomp.jpg

"Mum can't afford to buy an electric heater as a contingency plan, but no worries, we do have an all singing, all dancing gaming console with the money she saved"

[orkneycadian]

I guess the Scexiteers can use this as a forewarning of what will happen when North Sea gas runs out, and that impervious wall that was built on the foundations of Hadrians Wall, to secure the border with the nasty rUK, has difficulty passing Russian gas into Scotland.

But don't worry, Aunty Nic will look after us.

[mi16]

Whats with the folk down there that they are almost all completely unprepared for something as predictable as a problem with their gas supply? Folk on Radio Scotland this morning saying they had absolutely no alternative to gas heating, despite portable fan heaters costing under £10 in Screwfix and the likes.

And the image on the left below.....

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/128F0/production/_109961067_perryscomp.jpg

"Mum can't afford to buy an electric heater as a contingency plan, but no worries, we do have an all singing, all dancing gaming console with the money she saved"

Do you consider a portable fan heater to be a suitable alternative to heat a home?
I wouldnt go to sleep with one running and you would rack up a fair old bill running them in every room of your house.
Also what makes you think that the lads console is an "all singing all dancing model" paid from using money that should be directed elsewhere?
could it not be a gift from a loved one.
Perhaps they saved their pocket money or did odd jobs to save for it, a very sanctimonious thing to state without knowing any of the facts at all.

[Morleigh]

Do you consider a portable fan heater to be a suitable alternative to heat a home?
I wouldnt go to sleep with one running and you would rack up a fair old bill running them in every room of your house.
Also what makes you think that the lads console is an "all singing all dancing model" paid from using money that should be directed elsewhere?
could it not be a gift from a loved one.
Perhaps they saved their pocket money or did odd jobs to save for it, a very sanctimonious thing to state without knowing any of the facts at all.

Well said, and yes its not so much the cost of extra/alternative heating, its more a cost of the bill.
A lot of the housing is old too, no insulation etc, badly fitting windows..a lot of homes only offer electric heating/cooking and a lot more offer gas..loads of reasons that folks can find themselves in situations such as these.

[orkneycadian]

Do you consider a portable fan heater to be a suitable alternative to heat a home?

If your main source of heating has gone off, then yes.


I wouldnt go to sleep with one running and you would rack up a fair old bill running them in every room of your house.

You shouldn't need to go to sleep with one running. Most folk have their heating go off at night, so if you have run your temporary heater through the day, or the evening, then you can put it off at night. And as your alternative heating, your only likely to be using it for a short time, as an alternative to nothing. But if a fan heater gives you the heebie jeebies, then you could also fall back on a convertor or oil filled radiator.

When we were peedie, our folks always made sure that there was a "plan B", for most things, not just heating. Back when I wer't lad, if there was any cash left over at the end of the week, an extra tin for the cupboard, packet of soup etc was bought and stashed away for a rainy day - Though back then, it was more likely a snowy day, and when the power could readily go off. As a fall back to the oil heating, there was a paraffin heater, and more latterly, a portable gas heater. Plan B for cooking was a 2 ring picnic stove with a 4.5 kg bottle of butane gas. When the power went off, out came the gas heater and cooker.

We have a lot less power cuts now, but they do happen. And having learned from my folks, we too have plans B and C for heating, cooking and lighting. And none were very expensive.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcRN0PWEiqVbSiLhbeTl9zx5ozFGprV T7-0yQHaBwuHp-J-NxJEOGcNz9PyHMKUgcezc_GOZhpBSnSNzbBRipErMkpBJXolo&usqp=CAE
£12 from Halfords and runs on "aerosol cans" of gas that you can buy in your local ironmongers, assuming they haven't closed down. It'll heat water for hot drinks, washing or making a pot of soup. Don't set a pot or a kettle on top of it and it does a grand job at being a heater. Just try not and let the cat drape its tail over it.....

But I guess its the trend these days to blame The Council or The Government if something doesn't go to plan, and you are left without because you never made sure you had a Plan B should it ever be needed.

[Shaggy]

I see Orkneycadian is practising his auditioning for the role of Victor Meldrew in the next series...oh, and ensuring he has his regular dig at the local ironmongers too!

[mi16]

If your main source of heating has gone off, then yes.



You shouldn't need to go to sleep with one running. Most folk have their heating go off at night, so if you have run your temporary heater through the day, or the evening, then you can put it off at night. And as your alternative heating, your only likely to be using it for a short time, as an alternative to nothing. But if a fan heater gives you the heebie jeebies, then you could also fall back on a convertor or oil filled radiator.

When we were peedie, our folks always made sure that there was a "plan B", for most things, not just heating. Back when I wer't lad, if there was any cash left over at the end of the week, an extra tin for the cupboard, packet of soup etc was bought and stashed away for a rainy day - Though back then, it was more likely a snowy day, and when the power could readily go off. As a fall back to the oil heating, there was a paraffin heater, and more latterly, a portable gas heater. Plan B for cooking was a 2 ring picnic stove with a 4.5 kg bottle of butane gas. When the power went off, out came the gas heater and cooker.

We have a lot less power cuts now, but they do happen. And having learned from my folks, we too have plans B and C for heating, cooking and lighting. And none were very expensive.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcRN0PWEiqVbSiLhbeTl9zx5ozFGprV T7-0yQHaBwuHp-J-NxJEOGcNz9PyHMKUgcezc_GOZhpBSnSNzbBRipErMkpBJXolo&usqp=CAE
£12 from Halfords and runs on "aerosol cans" of gas that you can buy in your local ironmongers, assuming they haven't closed down. It'll heat water for hot drinks, washing or making a pot of soup. Don't set a pot or a kettle on top of it and it does a grand job at being a heater. Just try not and let the cat drape its tail over it.....

But I guess its the trend these days to blame The Council or The Government if something doesn't go to plan, and you are left without because you never made sure you had a Plan B should it ever be needed.

If you pay for a service then it is not unreasonable to expect to receive what you are paying for without interruption.
Yes power cuts were a feature of my childhood also however those days are long gone.
Yes a plan B is probably prudent living in the back end of nowhere but Falkirk is not the back end of nowhere and Id doubt if they have had such an event happen in the past.

It wasn't so much the plan b think that bugged me about your earlier post, it was the condescending tone in which it was written because the kids were pictured with some sort of controller, you assume that they have blown everything on said device and cannot manage a plan B. Which you cannot possible come to any accurate conclusion base don the evidence shown.

[orkneycadian]

If you pay for a service then it is not unreasonable to expect to receive what you are paying for without interruption.

Thats maybe debatable. Its generally those that assume the service will never be interrupted that then miss it the most when it does go.


Yes power cuts were a feature of my childhood also however those days are long gone.

Yup, we certainly don't get week long power cuts in the snow like I remember, when ice was pulling the lines down as fast as they could be fixed. Assuming they could get to them for the snow. But look at the "mayhem" that was caused by a few hours of urban power cuts earlier this year down in Englandshire. You would think from some that the world had ended.


Yes a plan B is probably prudent living in the back end of nowhere but Falkirk is not the back end of nowhere and Id doubt if they have had such an event happen in the past.

Well, a lot of folk have learned the hard way that its not impossible. Lets just hope that all the freebie fan heaters and 2 ring cookers get saved for the next rainy day, and not flogged on ebay for a quick pound.

[orkneycadian]

If they have their heating running in such a way that T shirts and short sleeves are the norm in February, then I think I can see their problem....

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/bills/article-7966625/The-eco-boilers-cost-5K-year-green-energy-deal-gone-wrong.html

[Goodfellers]

i would demand the council switch my meter to an E10 one. 10p and 15p instead of 16p and 18p per unit. I bet someone in the council has a relative who has a boiler installation company.

[orkneycadian]

Hmmmm, you might be right. The boiler company are based just along the road.....