The government wants to lower gas and electricity prices by setting a price cap on a portion of energy consumption. But these plans are based on an average family. What if you have a large family? “It’s really no use for us,” says Father Jan Naglkerke of Odenbush, a father of eight.
The Nagelkerkjes family lives in a house of nine people: father, mother and seven children. One of their children is in America. They became world famous all over the Netherlands through the TV show “Een huis vol”. January: “Here we shower about 35 times a week. And the washing machine doesn’t run four times a week, which is average. Sometimes we wash up to twenty times a week. That adds up.”
The price ceiling is a drop in the ocean for him. “I was shocked at how much we have to pay in October,” Jan says. “Last year we paid just under 400 euros for gas. Now there’s just over 2,000 euros.” It will also pay a lot for electricity. “That was 383 euros. Now the advance is 1,340 euros.”
“We ask the children to pay attention to the duration of the bath.”
This amount is expected to eventually decrease slightly. Jan explains. “We are not police officers, but we do ask children to pay attention to how often and for how long they shower.”
The heating was also turned off at the top of the house. Then we’ll crawl under an electric blanket. Although this also costs electricity. In the basement, the family recently began to use less space. “We used to have a living room separate from the kitchen. Now we only use the part next to the kitchen. We no longer heat the living room.”
“When the wind is blowing hard outside, you can feel the wind here as well.”
Despite this, the family could not save much more. They live in a huge building which they also use as an office. “We have double glazing, but we can’t change much about the house. If the wind is blowing hard outside, you also feel the wind inside. This house uses a lot of energy.”
In addition, in Nagelkerkjes there is a bakery and several catering establishments. Gas and electric bills are also rising quickly there. “Last August, we paid 2,440 euros for electricity in the bakery. Now that’s more than 13,000 euros.”
“You’re thinking about how to move forward.”
Still, Yan is optimistic. “I’m still asleep. Even though you’re thinking about how to move forward.” If costs remain too high, they may move abroad. Jan says. “Then we let our companies go bankrupt and migrate to Spain. Then we just have to shut everything down.”
