Is it really a joke

This does show the problem that whenever anyone makes a sensible suggestion there will be a bunch of people wanting to pick holes in it with exceptional cases as thought they were the norm. The targets are precisely the people who are not ill but heat every room in the house all day when they only actually occupy one room. Huge numbers of central heating systems do not have a zone valve to shut off upstairs heating and the occupants are too dumb or lazy to at least cover the radiator with a blanket to reduce heat loss.
I too am in a chalet bungalow on an exposed hill not a cosy valley and the small woodburner has got the living room up to 16C (now 2pm) as the weather is mild. The chimney is internal so the dining room behind it has got up to 9C. The bedroom is at 8C again because it is nice weather and it gets morning sun. If it is going to be a frosty night I sometimes sleep with the window closed - surely everyone has hear of duvets by now. For 60 years we have only ever heated the living room and sometimes kitchen and just avoid lazing around in cold rooms.

So there are plenty of things people can be educated about that will reduce their heating costs, cost them nothing or very little and save them enough to make bigger improvements later on. A very small number of people are genuinely short of money for heating who should be properly supported but most are just prioritising beer, cigs, holidays, fashion, streaming video etc.

Hi, well if I wish to excessively heat my home, providing that I'm paying the fuel bill, I don't see how anyone has any right to stop me. You might as well say that a long distance drive that you wish or need to make, will not be allowed because it will take you over your fuel quota. Some people do like it hot, but I am not one of them, but when my daughter and grandchildren come to see me, I normally have to notch the heating up a bit, because they feel the cold more.

Regards Nick.

Bazyle,

I quite agree that there are people prioritising the wrong stuff, but that's their problem is it not? They will just have to learn to suck it up.

But, up to, I think about six or seven years ago, I too didn't bother too much about the cold. Unfortunately, I suffered what was described as a mild heart attack, and during the rehabilitation period a few weeks later, it was explained that one of the drugs I'm now on can cause the extremities to become/feel cold. And as already mentioned, I'm also now a cancer patient so I'm on yet another drug. Now I'm not too sure when it started, but if the room temperature in our dining room drops to 70 degrees F, I can immediately tell, and I do feel cold. I can, and do, put on an extra jumper. Sometimes I use a hot water bottle in bed. It has to be said that getting the bedroom temperature right is actually quite difficult - the storage heater can be too much, even on minimum, and I do sometimes have to open the window. I don't know for certain, but I suspect that my internal body temperature control isn't working as well as it might.

But, to use a much hackneyed, and horrible phrase, at the end of the day, I am not going to spend thousands of pounds on reducing heat loss when I almost certainly will not financially benefit from it.

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

In times of shortage, governments often act to control consumption.

As a child in Malta I remember water was only available for a fixed time each day, and during Mr Heath's time UK electricity was time managed by disconnecting whole areas. He also closed down the major industrial consumers.

In happier times hosepipe bans aren't unusual.

The UK had petrol and food rationing during and long after WW2. Petrol was rationed again during the Suez Crisis, and we came close in 1973 - coupons were printed and garages told how to apply them. Fortunately wasn't necessary. The government will have had a contingency plan ready had the last fuel shortage persisted, and they did activate the system whereby certain garages only served priority services.

When these things are necessary for the greater good it will happen. The first duty of the state is to protect it's citizens. I'd rather police, fire, ambulances, food hauliers and other essential services got petrol before me because that's in the majorities best interest, and mine. Rich folk keen to exercise their privileges should remember society is only 3 square meals away from chaos, and that they'll be first up against the wall when the revolution comes!

Dave

I'm sorry to see you misconstrued my point, which was that not just the exceptional cases but many other cases besides may well be ill served by a system that is unlikely in practice to be capable of making even gross distinctions between different households' circumstances.

Because of this I do not share your apparent conviction that no-one will find themselves unfairly targeted by the kind of policy you propose, and therefore I cannot endorse your suggestion as a sensible one.

Hi Dave (SOD), yes I'm well aware of the need for rationing when needs must, but these are exceptions not the rule. i can't remember any of the rationing during WWII, but I believe there was still some in force when I was born from what my parents told me. I can remember the motor fuel rationing and still have the ration book that came with my van I bought when I was doing my mobile Disco, but the treat was over by then.

I also remember the power cuts due to industrial action and these varied at which time of the day you got them on a rotational system, but you were not limited to how much power you could use when the electricity was on. Some days when I got to work the power was off and everyone was standing around busy doing nothing and the next day it would be turned off mid morning or afternoon, where you could do work that didn't need electricity. I like most decent people will understand, accept and comply to these exceptions as I have done with the Covid 19 situation.

Regards Nick.

I've thought about that, but my ceilings are in really good condition, unlikely to fall off. A builder I discussed it with said I should be aware that filling that space could cause damp problems on the underside of the actual roof structure and joists.