So My Cherry Got Popped Today

[Parley]

From hand job whore to getting your cherry popped because you receive a bill in the mail.

 

You do have an interesting turn of phrase to say the least.

[NicF]

That's higher than I paid when I was in Sydney - however, our electricity here in sunny Southampton costs us about the same as yours - and we didn't turn on our radiators until late January, and we only have them on for three hours a night! So it sounds to me like you're doing pretty well.

 

A couple of things you could check to save money - what's your air con set at? In summer, it should be set at 21 to 23 degrees. If you set it any lower than that, it's costing you a sh*t load of extra money without making things any more comfortable. A lot of people set it at 18 or 20 degrees and then wonder why their bill is so high! Many people also imagine that setting it really low will make it cool down faster - it doesn't, it makes difference at all.

 

Also some modern TV's are a big culprit. Just try putting your hand over the top of the TV and see how much heat is coming off it - your air con is having to work harder to get rid of all that extra heat. So don't keep the TV on if you're not watching it, switch on the radio instead. Also switch the TV off completely at night - leaving it on standby is like leaving all the lights in the house on all night.

 

We have our air con set to 27 degrees. Not sure where the thermostat is but at 27 the house usually stays around 25, which is perfectly comfortable. And we don't put the air on until it gets up to 27 inside. Manage with fans until that point.

[Marisawright]

We have our air con set to 27 degrees. Not sure where the thermostat is but at 27 the house usually stays around 25, which is perfectly comfortable. And we don't put the air on until it gets up to 27 inside. Manage with fans until that point.

 

Exactly my point. If you're the kind of person who enjoys a warm day, then why would you set your air conditioner colder than you enjoy outside?

 

I'm not that good in heat, so I'm more comfortable at around 23 to 24, though I know that's costing me a bit more.

 

Basically, the closer your air con temp is set to the outside temp, the cheaper it will be to run.

[Guest The Pom Queen]

 

Lack of competition; the far north only gets a couple of insurers who are willing to cover it and they charge whatever they like. It's kind of dumb as the amount of claims put through from Brisbane with their complete lack of cyclone rods is way larger than the north. We all get tarred with the same brush; part of my town got flooded, and though I made no claim and had zero chance of being flooded by virtue of elevation my insurance went up x 5 the next year. My last insurer made me make compulsory tsunami insurance payments. Seriously, I'm up a hill. if I need to claim on tsunami we've got waaaay bigger things to worry about.

@Keith and Linda basically what Eera has said. I would say 80% of insurance companies won't touch us, in fact it's probably higher than that. Our house is up to Cat 4 standard the same as most of the cyclone shelters, although the new ones are up to Cat 5. We also had the flooding and tsunami and again like Eera we were half way up a huge hill so there was no chance of it happening. Check any postcode or house up here and you will see what we mean.