Advice Required: How to Use Minimal Electricity?

Roz_V

Hi there,

Those of you who read OS will probably know already that I'm moving into a new flat in a few days time. :j We are renting and bills are included in the rental price (well we have an "allowance" of £30 for water and £30 for electricity each month). However, I am really worried about going over our allowances and was just wondering the best ways of keeping our electricity and water consumption to a minimum.

There will be two of us living in the flat, which is a mid-block affair ie. only 2 external walls. My OH is at work all day but I am a student and tend to be in most of the time. There is no gas supply to the flat and it is not centrally heated. I do not think we will have to use the wall-mounted heaters as the flat was really warm when we looked round, despite being empty for 3 months and as it is fairly open plan, I think using the oven will heat the kitchen & lounge. And we have plenty of woolley jumpers and fleece blankets and can always :grouphug: to keep the cold at bay!!!

So... What is the best cycle to run my washing machine on? And how much electricity [where electricity, read money!! ] will I save by not using my tumble dryer for anything except bed sheets and to finish off towels? Does having a bath rather than a shower really save that much water when my showers last 10+ minutes?! And are energy-saving lightbulbs worth the expense? Will lined curtains make a difference?

Any electricity and water saving help/advice etc is very much appreciated from the most basic to the more advanced!

TIA Roz x

I thought this may be the best place to ask as the less electric I use, the more money I am saving and the more green I am, but feel free to move it if you feel it is more suited to somewhere else?

scuzz

Hi Roz

Fellow OS member here!!

Have you searched the other forum? Look under keeping the cold at bay and things like that as there are some good tips in there

I'd say try not to leave anything on standby, switch things off at the plug where possible, and try to do washing over night when it's cheaper

Energy saving bulbs do last longer, but don't seem as bright to me.

I know there's water saving tips in this forum already, so have a good ol' nose!!!

Ken68

Searching the forum is the best bet, just too many tips.
In the winter when I took down the bedroom net curtain, I found the room was warmer when I come to draw the curtains in early evening.
Insulation and draught proofing of any sort is never wasted. The cheapest washing cycle is with the least rinses, so do mine on gentle refresh, using just 15 litres, and the occasional hot 40degree wash. Can't believe a 90degree wash is ever needed, unless your OH is a coal miner. :-)) Do you have storage heaters ???

SaverSarah_2

Hi Roz

One point stands out for me more than all others: YES, energy saving lightbulbs ARE worth the money. They cost twice as much, but last 10 times as long and use half the energy.

No brainer really isn't it?

Our leccy bill went right down after we switched (no pun intended!) all our bulbs over to low-energy. I take the point about them not being as bright as some of the older bulbs weren't great – they tended to be dimmer, took longer to switch on and occasionally flickered – but I bought these cool spiral-looking bulbs and they're bright as heck (they're also v small so they're perfect for lamps, where the old-type bulbs were so big they'd stick out over the top!!).

For more info on energy saving, see here:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/n6m/index/family_parent/housing/energy_efficiency.htm

and top ten tips for saving energy in the home from the Energy Saving Trust website here:

http://est.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/est.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=579&p_created=1149176765&p_sid=rbEnk5ai&p_accessibility=0&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD0zMTQmcF9wcm9kcz0wJnBfY2F0cz0zMSwzOSZwX3B2PSZwX2N2PTIuMzkmcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1

Good luck!

xx

Frugal_Goblin

SaverSarah,

Where did you get the spiral bulbs from? We have quite a few lightfittings which don't fit energy saving lightbulbs, you may have just solved an ongoing problem in our house!

SaverSarah_2

Hiya, I got them here:

http://www.yourwelcome.co.uk/acatalog/Compact_Flourescent.html

They're £14.99 for eight which is a total bargain and even cheaper than when I bought them (damn)!

HTH

xx

tr3mor

I find that energy saving bulbs are bright enough, as long as you replace all your 60w incadescents with 100w equivalent energy savers.

Wig

If you buy energy bulbs make sure you keep all your flats bulbs somewhere to swap them back when you leave, and take your bulbs with you.

IMO I think you have no worries with 30 pound a month allowance for water and another 30 for leccy,

Make sure the meters are read (and keep a record of the reading safely) and a finalised bill sent out (if possible) when you move in.

What you can do also is record your use, start with the meter readings when you move in then keep accurate records of 7 day readings, you will be able to work out if you are going too cheap or using too much. However beware if you plan to be there longer than 6 months your leccy use should rise in the winter.

I'm wondering if the 30 per month is spread out accumulated throughout the time you are there, so if your quarterly bill in summer are low, and under the 30 allowance are you allowed to bring the amount you didn't spend into the next quarter?

Water meters usually the whole numbers are in units of 1 cubic meter, you can check on your water comapnies website how much they charge. There will be:
A standing charge for water
A cubic meter rate for water
A standing charge for sewerage
A cubic meter rate for sewerage (usually about 95% of the water used)

So 1 cubic meter on the meter reading will be charged once at the water rate and once again at 95% of the sewerage rate. For me (in Welsh water) 1 cubic meter reading unit costs me
£1.14 water + 7.4p per day standing charge
£1.32 sewerage x 95% = £1.25 +13.7p per day SC

Total for 1 unit on meter = £2.39 + standing charges


Electricity: Your meter should read in units of Kwh so 20 whole units = 20 Kwh
20 Kwh depending on tariff is about £2.00. Most leccy tariffs are based on initial expensive units and then cheaper units there after. Economy 7 brings in a 3rd rate.

If your tenancy agreement is for longer than 6 months you can insist that the leccy company be changed to whichever supplier/tariff you want. You might want to ask what tarrif & supplier it is currently on. You might have an economy 7 meter (2 meters or even 3 meters in some cases) Which will make life more difficult to keep track.

black-saturn

Heres some ways in which I keep the water and electric bills down:

Don't leave anything on standby.
Don't leave the television on in the background, if no ones watching it switch it off,
Don't have the radio on as background noise,
In the evening use candles for lighting,
Measure out water for hot drinks so your not using more water or electric than you need,
Only flush the loo every other time you go for a number 1, it doesnt have to be flushed every time,
Take showers instead of baths wherever possible,
Take all over sink washes instead of showers wherever possible,
Don't leave the tap running while you brush your teeth,
Only use the washing machine when you have a full load that needs washing,
Let your hair dry naturally instead of with a hairdryer,

My water bill is currently £12 per month and my electric is £15 per month and theres 3 of us living here.

Roz_V

It is a brand new flat so shouldn't have any problems with ex-tenants outstanding bills!! But will double check so that we don't get charged for anything the builders may have used!!

I'm not sure whether we will even see the bill to be honest as I would think that it will be sent to the landlord as he is paying, but I will check and ask for a copy to be sent (is this a good idea?)

thanks for all the help

upton66

I beg to differ with most people that showers are more economical. Put the plug in when you next have one and you'll find that you may well have used as much, and probably a lot more water than having a bath.