Avoid using Gas and Electricity

Primrose

The only problem with having the heat off during the day now is that I can't get all my veggie seeds which need a relatively high heat to germinate (peppers, chillis, aubergines) to germinate on the window sills ! The overnight temperature in my mini plastic greenhouse is too low and I'm worried about them rotting.

ghp

Primrose wrote: »

The only problem with having the heat off during the day now is that I can't get all my veggie seeds which need a relatively high heat to germinate (peppers, chillis, aubergines) to germinate on the window sills ! The overnight temperature in my mini plastic greenhouse is too low and I'm worried about them rotting.

Have you thought of getting a heated propagator, Primrose? Ideal heat for the chillies, etc, but you're not heating the whole room. This one's reduced to £9.98 at B&Q at the moment here.

Primrose

ghp - Ironically I had a really large one once but got rid of it as it took up too much space, it wasn't being used frequently enough to be worth the storage space and I also found that it made my seedlings grow too quickly and leggy. However, I think I'm now going to resolve the problem by resting the tray on a hot water bottle just to gently warm up the compost in which the seeds are planted.

HairyHandofDartmoor

Our laminate floors are quite warm as we chose a good quality thick underlay, partly for noise reduction and partly for warmth. I love laminate floors because they are so easy to clean and cool to stand on in the summer. We only have them in the children's rooms but I would love laminate (or better still wood) floors all over the house as we can't keep carpets clean with animals and children around (funds don't allow, however).

Warm slippers and thick socks seem do the job for us when standing on laminate floors in the winter. We are trying to have the heating off since the frost has gone (for now) to save gas.

We've also brought a lamp with an energy saving bulb into the breakfast room to have on in the evening, to save turning on 6 halogen bulbs in the ceiling! That's got to be saving us money!

We rarely turn the radiator on in our bedroom as we have fleece blankets over the duvet and just get changed quickly. Once in bed we are usually warm enough, but on really cold nights we add a second fleece blanket over the top.

We are trying to turn off lights, appliances, etc, when not in use and not leave them on standyby (although some of the kids haven't taken this on board very well yet, so I follow them around switching things off).

JillD_2

cw18 wrote: »

I've been looking at a 'green' lino (Marmoleum) which I know won't be cheap - but I've never been anywhere that's used it -- and it's hard to tell from a small sample what it would be like underfoot in the middle of the night

my friend has this in her kitchen, its gorgeous, very warm underfoot, looks great, easy to clean. HTH

cw18

Thanks Jill

Gigervamp

Primrose wrote: »

I know a lot of people think carpets in bathrooms are unhygienic but they're certainly more warm and comforting to bare feet when you have to trot to the loo in the middle of the night when the heating is switched off.

That's fine as long as you don't have boys who have trouble with their aim!;)

When we moved into this house, we ripped up the bathroom carpet and put down vinyl flooring. The old carpet stank of urine, and it had also soaked into the floorboards.:eek: The floor in there is pretty warm though, as the water pipes go under the floorboards.

rachbc

We've started running our dishasher on quick wash - it doesn't dry the dishes but I just open the door and leave them over night to drip dry - and it only takes 25mins rather than 2 hours. Hoping to see the benefit in next quarters bill. Already cut our usage from ave 50 units a day to 36 by stopping using the tumble dryer for everything expect towels.

Gigervamp

It's horrible how much electricity things like tumble driers and cookers use. We average 20 units a day and that includes a few pc's and xbox, yet on sundays when I do the roast and have the oven on for a few hours, we use 30 units. :eek:

sarahs999

Result - I had to give my meter readings to Scottish power the other day, online, and was thrilled to see that even with the cold winter we've had we're still in credit on both gas and electric - thanks to all the tips on here! I will be looking to either reduce my monthly payments (preferable) or get a cheque back from them.