City of London workers looking to save money may want to embrace the office over winter as the cost of working from home soars alongside energy bills.
Those prepared to go into the office every day could save about €50 (US$60) per week in January 2023 if they can walk, run or cycle into their workplace. That’s thanks to the money they’ve saved by not heating a home for the whole day, according to estimates by price comparison site Uswitch.
Those working from home in January could expect to pay around €175 a week in energy costs and other incidentals included in Bloomberg’s calculations such as buying in your own coffee, a freebie in many offices. The combined cost of energy bills — factoring in the lower consumption expected — and five return trips on the Tube from London’s Zone 4 would be about €160 a week in January 2023, a €15 saving.
Photo: Reuters 照片:路透
For those taking the bus, the total cost is about €140, a €35 weekly saving. In both cases, any rise in the cost of the commute will eat into those savings.
Uswitch estimates that the average monthly energy bill could hit €683 in January for home workers, compared to €492 for those heading to the office. It assumes remote workers use 25 percent more electricity and 75 percent more gas per day including from central heating.
Coping Mechanism
Photo: Reuters 照片:路透
“People are going to be really struggling to heat their own homes and they are going to look for warmth in other places — we know that is a coping mechanism that people use, whether that is going to a public space, such as a library or a church maybe, or whether it’s going to work when you usually would work from home” Matt Copeland, policy officer at National Energy Action said. “Those are the options people will consider and people will take to actually find warmth.”
The incentive to come into the office is likely to be welcomed by some in the City of London, where finance bosses have been pushing for a return to the office. Right now less than half of workers in the UK’s banking sector go into the office on an average day, and just 18 percent of insurance sector employees do so, according to a survey by consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates.
(Bloomberg)
在家工作的成本隨著能源費用的飆升一起上漲,因此到了冬天,想要省錢的倫敦城上班族可能會希望進辦公室上班。
準備每天去辦公室的人若可以走路、跑步或騎自行車到工作地點的話,在二○二三年一月,每週可節省約五十英鎊(六十美元)。根據價格比較網站Uswitch的估計,他們之所以省下這些錢,是因為家裡整天都不開暖氣。
一月份在家工作的人預計每週要支付大約一百七十五英鎊的能源費用,以及彭博社所計算出的其他雜費,例如自費買咖啡——很多辦公室會免費供應咖啡。二○二三年一月能源帳單的總成本(以預期較低的花費計算),加上由倫敦第四區坐地鐵來上班來回五次,每週將花費約一百六十英鎊,因此跟在家工作相比,到辦公室上班節省了十五英鎊。
坐公車上班的人,總花費則約為一百四十英鎊,每週可節省三十五英鎊。在坐地鐵和公車這兩種情況下,任何通勤成本的增加都會消耗所省下的錢。
Uswitch估計,在家工作的人,一月份的平均能源費用可能會達到六百八十三英鎊,而到辦公室上班的人則為四百九十二英鎊。這是假設遠距上班的人每天多使用百分之二十五的電力,以及多百分之七十五的瓦斯,包括用於中央暖氣。
因應機制
「要把自己家裡變暖將是難以負擔的窘境,所以人們會到其他地方取暖——我們知道這是一種因應機制,無論是去公共場所,比如圖書館或教堂,或是在你通常在家工作的時候到辦公室上班」,國家能源行動組織政策主管馬特‧科普蘭表示。「人們會考慮和採用這些選項,而實際上找到暖源」。
對於這進辦公室的動機,倫敦城某些人可能會樂見其成。這些金融業老闆一直在推動員工重返辦公室。根據諮詢公司Advanced Workplace Associates的一項調查,目前英國銀行業平均只有不到一半的員工進辦公室上班,而保險業只有百分之十八的員工這麼做。
(台北時報林俐凱編譯)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
There are several methods to prevent or slow down enzymatic browning in fruit. __3__ This lowers the pH level of the fruit tissue, causing the PPO to be far less active. Another method is to store the fruit in an airtight container or to wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Doing this will reduce its exposure to oxygen. __4__ Although fruit that has undergone enzymatic browning may look less appealing, it is still safe to eat. However, by using one of these simple methods, you can enjoy fresh-looking fruit for a longer period. 有一些方法能避免或減緩水果的酶促褐變。其中一個有效的方式就是在切片水果的表面塗上酸性物質,像是檸檬汁或醋。這樣做能降低水果組織的酸鹼值,讓 PPO 更不為活躍。另一個方式是將水果存放在密封的容器內,或用保鮮膜將其緊緊包住。這樣做會減少水果與氧氣的接觸。快速蒸一下切片水果或將其短暫浸泡在滾水中也能使PPO失去活性,並終止 PPO 與空氣的作用。 雖然經歷酶促褐變的水果可能看起來較不吸引人,但仍然可以安全食用。然而,藉由採用這些簡單方法中的其中一個,你就能在更長的一段時間享用看起來新鮮的水果。 What Did You