Avoid using Gas and Electricity

Butterfly_Brain

I am seriously looking at building a wood burning oven like Jamie Oliver has and cut it into the utility room which I am thinking of converting to the kitchen it will serve as an oven and give out heat as well

freudianslip

the_cat wrote: »

Is there a library close enough to either nursery or home to go in there to study instead? I find I can put up with the heating off when I'm pottering around doing jobs but sitting for any length of time in the freezing cold is miserable:(

Oh wow. You know I had never thought of that! It's a small library but has computer access too, right next to nursery.

It's looking like it might be closed in council cuts as it's just part-time but if it stays open i'll sit in there on a morning 2 times a week.

freudianslip

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

I am seriously looking at building a wood burning oven like Jamie Oliver has and cut it into the utility room which I am thinking of converting to the kitchen it will serve as an oven and give out heat as well

would you share more, what is a wood burning oven, other than an oven that burns wood

Ben84

annie123 wrote: »

And what if you're not even paid minimum wage?

I understand where you're coming from but there are many on here that do not have a job at all, are clearing debts, need every penny to avoid getting into debt or are now working part time rather than full-time just to have some sort of employment.
They may only have night storage heaters or GCH with no option of choosing alternative heating source eg, a low cast heat source but do have an open fire that they can fill for free with a little time and effort.

If you look to save every penny or pound, anywhere you can, it's amazing how much can be saved over a year.
This is enough for some to stay out of debt or to pay off some debts or just to free up money for other areas that may be more important to them.

I find wood, chop, store and burn it, because I like an open fire and if I didn't do that I'd have to pay out my husbands hard earned cash to buy logs or coal.
So not only would I not be saving money buy getting free heat source I'd be paying out extra cash to provide it.

If you burn wood because you enjoy doing it, fair enough, my point doesn't really apply to you. My concern is this idea burning wood saves money. Well, ok it does save money, but it consumes a lot of extra time. When we're getting in to the range of pennies savings an hour I'm pretty adverse to the idea for surely obvious reasons, I'd rather do something more effective like set up an eBay account and sell one or two items a month to supplement my income. The financial return would be far higher and the time consumed far less. Time and money are two of our major resources, we need to have enough of both. They can be swapped for each other and trades can be made that result in us having more of both, or greatly less of one for a little more of another. Gas and electric tend to cost very little for the amount of time they provide compared to alternatives, so for many tasks from heating your house to chopping food and washing clothes, it nearly always makes sense to let the power plant do the work. If it's all about money you can just spend that time doing something more profitable, or it's it about leisure time then it's a cheap way to afford more of that too.

Ben84

freudianslip wrote: »

Come autumn this year my youngest will be off to nursery for 3 ours on a morning. I will not be putting any heat source on while I'm in the house myself studying. I'll have to be well wrapped up with some fingerless gloves as it can get so cold.

I'll be spending this year running around the house turning different radiators on at different times.

Timer on bedrooms only at 6 - 7
no heating till 1pm, only one rad in living room if it is very cold
if ok no heating till 4, again one living room rad
6 i'll turn bathroom and bedrooms on
9 will turn everything off and snuggle in.

Still seems like a lot of usage to me.

My usage this year compared to last was way down and cost us much more. I am very nervous about the sheer cost.

No more washing dishes as and when I use them either. I will have to have a stock pile and use one load of water on an evening.

Depressing times but as a previously 'closet' oldstyler I will remain in control of my finances and my family.

A tough time for a homemaker

Generally it's the whole house boiler that gets expensive to run. Using space heaters in individual rooms with the doors shut for a few hours a day isn't that expensive, so often when it's cold and it's only me at home I go to the sitting room and use the gas fire. It is one of the biggest rooms in the house, but still it's better than turning on every radiator in the house to heat just one room.

I've also cut back a lot on the heating overnight since I bought an electric blanket. They use very little electric, less than a light bulb, so it won't change the bill by more than a few pence a week.

If you have a decent space to sit and work in the kitchen you can always cook something and use the heat from the oven to heat the room while you're there.

CH27

I left our thermostat set to 16 degrees last year & left the heating on constantly. It switched on & off as needed.
It actually worked out cheaper for us.

freudianslip

Ben84 wrote: »

If you have a decent space to sit and work in the kitchen you can always cook something and use the heat from the oven to heat the room while you're there.

hmm yeah I have a table in the kitchen. I would normally have a loaf in on a morning anyway (soon to be two or three and freeze to save elect)

No heating in the kitchen anyway but strangely that room is never really cold as gets the sun day long and seems to retain some of the heat.

I get what you're saying about time and money, electricity is value for money when you put it like the way you do but when it comes to it taking up a high proportion of income it's very difficult to swallow. The money is best off in my pocket than in theirs..... I wish I had a wood burner or real fire of some sort. It's the control element for me. I feel the gas and elect companies have some sort of hold over me. Coal or wood would be up to me to source when and where I like. Silly I know :rotfl:

freudianslip

CH27 wrote: »

I left our thermostat set to 16 degrees last year & left the heating on constantly. It switched on & off as needed.
It actually worked out cheaper for us.

We tried that last year too but because we have room therms we found that they were constantly flicking on and off causing the boiler to fire up more often

CH27

freudianslip wrote: »

We tried that last year too but because we have room therms we found that they were constantly flicking on and off causing the boiler to fire up more often

We only have one thermostat.

Broomstick

Today, when I was meal planning for the week, in addition to planning how I can incorporate leftovers into the next days' lunches - something I have been doing regularly, I have now started to look at when the oven will be on for supper and how I can timetable in baking to go with it.

I probably should have done this in an organised way before, and I do try, but it's only just occurred to me to make sure that I plan for it properly and get it down on the paper plan for the week so I don't forget. Now that I've got leftovers and food waste down to a minimum, I think I need to make sure that the oven only ever goes on when it will be full.

Is there a list anywhere of the rough cost of running standard household appliances? We use gas for water and central heating and hob, then electricity for everything else and no fireplace. I realise energy use varies depending on age and efficiency of the equipment but I think it would help to have a list to work through to try and tackle the most energy consuming things first.