For the last few years my husband has heated his greenhouse with a 2kw natural gas heater. He brings on vegetable seeds in a heated propagator but needs the heating as we live in Scotland. Gas prices are expensive at about 12p per kw hour and we are expecting them to go up. Also for the last few years he has also bought plug plants in April which need the heat to bring them on (yes it's sometimes still cold here in April and May). As a way of helping towards the cost we used to sell some plants but people want them for virtually nothing and the cost outweighs any profit he makes. Tonight he has decided he is not going to do this anymore as he does prefer growing veg. However, he loves his hobby and I don't want him to get depressed about it. I bought him one of these jumbo propagators for Xmas and he also has two other propagators which are very cheap to run. He feels like packing it all in. Is there anything I can do to help him maintain his interest in growing veggies and still use his greenhouse. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Forgot to mention the greenhouse is insulated and is 8ft x 6ft.

On Sun, 6 Jan 2008 00:29:45 +0000, the swede wrote:

For the last few years my husband has heated his greenhouse with a 2kw
natural gas heater. He brings on vegetable seeds in a heated
propagator but needs the heating as we live in Scotland. Gas prices
are expensive at about 12p per kw hour

Find a different gas supplier. You say "natural gas" which I take to mean
mains gas rather than bottled. 12p/kWHr is about 4 times what you should
be paying for mains gas and is more in keeping with upper range
electricity prices... 3 to 4p/kWHr would be more realistic, and about what
British Gas charge and they aren't know to be the cheapest.

Take a look at a few of the utility switching sites, eg
http://www.uswitch.com. Though having just looked at that to check the gas
tarrifs available I can't see were you can find the figures they use to
calculate the "savings". *Always* check the small print, conditions, short
term offers etc. and actual unit prices of a tarrif before deciding to
switch supplier. Paying by monthly direct debit, managing your account
online and without paper bills are all ways to attract "discounts" on your
bill.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

In message et, Dave
Liquorice wrote
On Sun, 6 Jan 2008 00:29:45 +0000, the swede wrote:

For the last few years my husband has heated his greenhouse with a 2kw
natural gas heater. He brings on vegetable seeds in a heated
propagator but needs the heating as we live in Scotland. Gas prices
are expensive at about 12p per kw hour

Find a different gas supplier. You say "natural gas" which I take to mean
mains gas rather than bottled. 12p/kWHr is about 4 times what you should
be paying for mains gas and is more in keeping with upper range
electricity prices... 3 to 4p/kWHr would be more realistic, and about what
British Gas charge and they aren't know to be the cheapest.

For me, in the past year British Gas have been the cheapest supplier
(dual fuel, direct debit, paper-less billing etc.) so don't necessarily
rule them out because of past pricing policies. However, I wouldn't
trust the b*******s as I have just changed from one BG account to a
cheaper BG account that they have introduced recently. - they don't
inform existing customers that there are new accounts with lower charges



Take a look at a few of the utility switching sites, eg
http://www.uswitch.com. Though having just looked at that to check the gas
tarrifs available I can't see were you can find the figures they use to
calculate the "savings".

The _only_ way of knowing which supplier is cheaper is if you know your
annual consumption of Gas/Electricity in kW. The better utility
suppliers will have web sites where records of their customers meter
readings can be viewed for the past few years.

--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

On Sun, 6 Jan 2008 11:04:25 +0000, Alan wrote:

For me, in the past year British Gas ...
snip
However, I wouldn't trust the b*******s as I have just changed from one
BG account to a cheaper BG account that they have introduced recently. -
they don't inform existing customers that there are new accounts with
lower charges

Very few companies tell existing customers of new tarrifs. It may also be
tied in with ticking the box to stop mailings of "other services and
offers that you may be interested in".

The _only_ way of knowing which supplier is cheaper is if you know your
annual consumption of Gas/Electricity in kW. The better utility
suppliers will have web sites where records of their customers meter
readings can be viewed for the past few years.

Or look on old bills were all the information required to make a
comparision can be found. The cost per unit meter readings, standing
charges (hidden or open).

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On 6 Jan, 00:29, the swede
wrote:
For the last few years my husband has heated his greenhouse with a 2kw
natural gas heater. He brings on vegetable seeds in a heated
propagator but needs the heating as we live in Scotland. Gas prices
are expensive at about 12p per kw hour and we are expecting them to go
up. Also for the last few years he has also bought plug plants in
April which need the heat to bring them on (yes it's sometimes still
cold here in April and May). As a way of helping towards the cost we
used to sell some plants but people want them for virtually nothing and
the cost outweighs any profit he makes. Tonight he has decided he is
not going to do this anymore as he does prefer growing veg. However,
he loves his hobby and I don't want him to get depressed about it. I
bought him one of these jumbo propagators for Xmas and he also has two
other propagators which are very cheap to run. He feels like packing
it all in. Is there anything I can do to help him maintain his
interest in growing veggies and still use his greenhouse. Any
suggestions would be gratefully received. Forgot to mention the
greenhouse is insulated and is 8ft x 6ft.

--
the swede

I read this as using Bulk/cylinder gas which here has gone up almost
50% in the last 5 months and you cant switch easily between suppliers,
even if you have a choice as you don't own the Gas tank. It's not like
Oil where you can phone round for the best price.
I should hope he has the greenhouse lined with Large bubble
insulation.
I would have a bench across the greenhouse and tent this with
Polythene so that to start with just this small section can be heated.
Various veg can be started with little or no heat, just frost
protection, so there is no need to heat the h#whole house till
probably the end of March.
I hope the heater he uses has a thermostat built in so that it can be
set for low heat.
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries.

In message et, Dave
Liquorice writes

Take a look at a few of the utility switching sites, eg
http://www.uswitch.com. Though having just looked at that to check the gas
tarrifs available I can't see were you can find the figures they use to
calculate the "savings".

I find uswitch pretty rubbish myself.

When I switched before I found http://www.energylinx.co.uk/ the best
- they were the only comparison site I tried that flagged up that two
separate single fuel tariffs were cheaper than a dual fuel one.

You can find a link to the tariff details on EnergyLinx if you follow up
the link for one of the selected comparison results

--
Chris French

On Sun, 6 Jan 2008 20:41:04 +0000, chris French wrote:

I find uswitch pretty rubbish myself.

I wasn't impressed, it's gone down hill, all marketing puff no facts,
since I last looked at it. I did say "Take a look at a few of the utility
switching sites" rather than just use one.

When I switched before I found http://www.energylinx.co.uk/ the best

*Much* better than uswitch, more real information, access to the tarrifs
under the new bill amount. Beware it lists VAT inclusive prices, confused
me until I got the calculator out as bills show VAT exclusive prices.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail