IT doesn’t matter how many Prime Ministers you get through in a year, dodging the vital changes we in the UK and all the world needs to do, won’t change, but just get worse.

We must first get the economy back to a sound footing. From that base we must deal with the F words: Floods; Farming and Forest Fires. The Co2 in the atmosphere has already gone over a 50% increase since pre-industrial times, and the background temperature has risen at least 1.15 C. And still rising.

Where are the emergency plans for this? I can only believe one of two things on this, that the government either still don’t understand all the science, or they do, but just can’t find a way to deal with it in a sensible way that is acceptable to the majority of the population. I think the citizens are more than ready to do their part.

‘DON’T PANIC, Mr Mainwaring!’  Iet’s get back to the here and now. Not all that we hear on the media call-in programmes are true and accurate.

Too many people have decided not to cook hot food in the winter to save energy. This may not be good advice.

Hot food is a much quicker and cheaper way of keeping warm; it goes right inside you. Whereas space heating goes everywhere and cost much more.

Here are the statistics: apart from your heating, the majority of your energy is used in the kitchen.

But when it comes to the break-down of  energy used in the home, 64% is home heating; 17% is hot water; 16% is lighting and appliances’ and only 3% is cooking.

These of course are average ratios over the year and will vary from winter to summer. As you can see, cooking really is not that much at all and when it comes to having a hot meal; you should not be thinking about stopping this, as it’s not a big part of the over-all energy costs.

And if you have an induction hob, even cheaper. You can even use an air frier, which is cheaper than an oven; mind you, that’s if you can get one now!

And finally, yet again call-in programmes are saying – turns down your boiler temperature, or your hot water storage tank thermostat to a low temperature, all this chatter is dangerous. Don’t change your boiler or your hot water thermostats if you don’t have professional advice.

I said the other week, that the hot water should not be below 55 C, or it may grow bacteria. And your boiler thermostat should be a little higher than the hot water thermostat. One way of keeping down the hot water costs is only have it on for an hour a day at the best time to suit you. This only covers stored hot water.

And remember it’s always cheaper to turn off when out than leave on, except for a background heat to stop pipes freezing in the coldest parts of winter.