Bringing down my gas and leccy bill challenge (start August 2008)

[Deleted User]

re energy saving bulbs. IMO the very best ones are called biobulb. Their light is very pure white and they are also good for SAD. My house is filled with them. They are pricey but goodness direct had them for half price the other day and I bought some spares. I have one bulb on in our lounge and it is bright enough for us to read comfortably and we don`t sit underneath it. The normal energy saving bulbs are very yellow so we took them out and re-homed them

We also have 3 watt ceiling LEDs in various en-suites and bathrooms. Their light is darker and blue but you get used to it and soon don`t notice. The main en suite and bathroom also have an over-cupboard bright light for those days when only a bright light will do. These 3w led lights are too dark to fully replace lights in our kitchen but I replaced 3 of those bright round ceiling lights with 3 w leds so it is now half and half and that works well. (I can`t remember what that type of light is called)

John_3:16

light bulbs equivelent to 325 watts

Have you a link to this the best I seem to find is 125watts

SuiDreams

In July we used 5.5 KW a day for Electric and 9.5KW per day for Gas, would like to get Electric down to 3 and gas down to 8.5 during august and keep electric below 7 and gas below 35 during the winter months. I'm going to Insulate the pipes in the airing cupboard and see if that makes any difference, cut down TV usage on a weekend, and keep the CH off for as long as possible

1carminestocky

Here's a tip: Don't overheat your water if you have an immersion heater! I can't think of one household chore that requires boiling water! If you have to cool your hot water down with cold (say if you are having a wash, for instance) then you are wasting fuel. Get a really good jacket for your immersion tank and have the water heating until it is just warm.

[Deleted User]

these threads are packed with ideas for saving gas and electricity (and have lots of other survival ideas as well)

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=247646

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=147067

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=531601

I have done lots of costings on various threads and posted the relative costs of various ways of cooking food, tumble drier, dw etc. The results surprised me and since adapting, my energy bills have fallen. I have also made use of solar energy to warm water via a device that cost me £4

[Deleted User]

From the green site. Another energy saving thread

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=980757

amcluesent

>I'd be interested to find out roughly how much a broadband modem and router take to run a day<

These devices take < 10W, so your combined costs will be less than £2 per month

>Have you a link to this the best I seem to find is 125watts<

I've seen 30W (150W equiv) daylight spectrum bulbs - http://www.bltdirect.com/products.php?cat=1005&nm=Energy+Saving+Daylight+Lamps+30+watt

newlywed

We don't have a tumble dryer but do use the dishwasher most days - must remember to use the quick wash option more often

We have hot water come on 3 times a day (think this must be overkill really though - so will talk to OH about gradually reducing it and the length it's on for and seeing if we ever notice ).

We have one of those twisty type energy saver lights in the hall that is meant to be 60 watt but you come in the house switch on the hall light and you're still in the dark after you've locked the door, taken your shoes off, hung your keys up and walked into another room - takes forever to warm up to actually give decent light.

We have lots of the GU10 spots and tried LED energy saver ones but they were so unbelievable dim that you wouldn't have been able to see to shave in the bathroom (and the boys miss the loo enough as it is when they wee - they don't need anything else hindering them :rolleyes:)

Our bedroom is on a dimmer - but rarely have the main light on - and you can't easily get dimmable candle bulbs (which are completely visible so have to look fairly acceptable ).

The front room is on a dimmer too - those small round bulbs - anyone know where we can get decent dimmable energy saving bulbs for those? That would probably save a bit.

The rest of the house is spot lights - seemed like a good idea at the time :rolleyes:

The kids leave the lights and telly on in their room while going to watch tv in the front room :rolleyes:

We found turning the plug off behind the TV during the day made a big difference - it has the sky box, dvd player, tv, and stereo off it. We already turn the microwave off regularly as we only use it very briefly each week.

Must get into the habit of turning off the bedroom stereo and tv at the wall (usually on standby). We have battery alarm clocks as we are on prepay meters and can't guarantee that I'll remember to check the meter - friends had it run out in the night and then their clock radio never woke them up!!

Does turning the dishwasher off at the plug instead of on the front make any difference? Anyone know


Today the slow cooker is on cooking tea - 125W - and there should be enough to freeze for another meal too.

The freezer is pretty full up (crammed full) so not wasting energy there. As soon as there is a gap, it will be filled with bread or something. But the fridge is seriously cold (carrots and salad in the bottom of the fridge keep icing up). Thinking I need to sneakily turn the fridge temp up a little

mrs-moneypenny

can someone help me with the maths on this please.

i won an urn style kettle its supposed to be left on all the time it heats the watr to boiling then stays on tick over so that you constantly have hot water. ive started turning it off at night and leaving DH a note to remind him to switch it on before he goes to the papershop in the morning so hes got hot water for his cuppa. anyway last night i said i could fill a flask to use during the day and trun it off to save it being on all the time.
ive just looked on the back and its 700w is it expensive to run does anyne know?
Im not being lazy i just havent got a clue how to do it myself

Magentasue

newlywed wrote: »

We don't have a tumble dryer but do use the dishwasher most days - must remember to use the quick wash option more often

Couldn't manage without tumble drier in winter but always use quick wash on dishwasher.

We have hot water come on 3 times a day (think this must be overkill really though - so will talk to OH about gradually reducing it and the length it's on for and seeing if we ever notice ).

We have a combi boiler in this house but in our old house, found that we could get away with first thing for morning showers and then teatime for washing up and baths/showers. Sometimes needed top ups but 40mins was plenty. We started off with much longer because we set it to what other people told us they did!

The kids leave the lights and telly on in their room while going to watch tv in the front room :rolleyes:

Don't they all? Always nagging about this.

We found turning the plug off behind the TV during the day made a big difference - it has the sky box, dvd player, tv, and stereo off it.

I always used to do this but stopped. Thanks for reminding me.

Does turning the dishwasher off at the plug instead of on the front make any difference? Anyone know

Can't see this would make any difference unless it has a display panel.

But the fridge is seriously cold (carrots and salad in the bottom of the fridge keep icing up). Thinking I need to sneakily turn the fridge temp up a little Sounds too cold to me!

I've now unplugged the DVD player since we don't use it every day unlike the TV/Sky box.