Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

Primrose

Now that I'm home all day and have more time I'm trying to use my washing machine less, and wash items daily by hand, letting them drip dry out in the garden. When the weather is wet, I just use the "Spin" option on the washing machine and let clothes dry on a retractable washing line in the bathroom with a window open for ventilation.

trying-very-trying

Primrose wrote: »

Now that I'm home all day and have more time I'm trying to use my washing machine less, and wash items daily by hand, letting them drip dry out in the garden. When the weather is wet, I just use the "Spin" option on the washing machine and let clothes dry on a retractable washing line in the bathroom with a window open for ventilation.

When my automatic washer kept breaking down it wouldn't spin. I found a spin dryer in a carboot sale about £3.00, it has a spin speed of about 2300 rpm. It was absolutely brilliant for towels, jeans all the heavy thing, they came out my dryer than the automatic. My elderly mil now has it and finds it very useful for her handwashing. It's so small and neat, about as big as a med size pedal bin.

I had a brilliant local wm repair man, and when he couldn't fix my machine he offered me a twin tub FOC. I almost snapped his hand off. I did get around to replacing my automatic, but I won't get rid of my twin tub. It's brilliant, I can do a whole weeks washing, from underwear to sheets, towels working right through to hubby's mucky working stuff or the floor mats, all with one load of heated water, in no time at all and if I do a full length spin on the heavy stuff, they hardly need any time to dry. Having extolled the virtues of the twin tub, then why is it my automatic gets used most days. Admittedly it's only for the short 30 minute 30degree wash. I really must train the kids better.

Uniscots97

Olliebeak wrote: »

Have been checking out switching suppliers and have hit a bit of a snag - well at least a snag for me!

I am in a new-build property and apparently, to save costs, the builders brought in an Independent Gas Transporter instead of Transco when putting in the gas pipework. When you switch suppliers, they usually charge a premium if they are NOT dealing with Transco. So, other mse'ers, please check on your meters to find out who your transporter is BEFORE contacting any new suppliers - it may not be quite as simple (or as cheap) to switch!

They did this with my new house too. Its a pain.

ceridwen

Hi

Well...I had "hunted around" in the past for the best fuel supplier. Today..I have swopped again. I was told (by 2 different price comparison sites - USwitch and cant recall t'other name) that one can only get price-capped deals now until end 2009. The 3 year deals apparently got withdrawn 2-3 weeks ago. So the best deal I could get was to have a fixed rate deal - fixed till end August 2009...and I have a price rise due in 6-8 weeks time when I swop to my new supplier of 13% and then have the assurance that there will be no more price rises till 1 Sept 2009.

Sat there feeling a bit tearful to start with - at the thought of this horrendous 13% price rise - and then angry that I had had to fix that to avoid the price rises I would otherwise almost certainly have soon - of I think it was around 25% for electric and 40% for gas (of that nature anyways).

So - what I have done is to "buy time" until September 2009. Then...all heck could get let loose on my fuel bills (with this darn artificial linkage between gas prices and the price of oil:mad: ).

I have "bought enough time" for the Government to "get its act together" and:

- stop charging this darn 5% VAT on our fuel bills (that never used to be there).

- cut this artificial linkage between gas prices and the price of oil

- to accept that people on low incomes will need HUGE percentage grants to swop their homes over to alternative energy (as we just dont have the money to contribute much at all ourselves)

- for the Government to stop hoping that individual householders will get the Government out of the hole they have dug themselves into and take over the responsibility for swopping our houses over to alternative fuel ourselves (the vast majority of us - including myself - have neither the money or technical knowhow to be able to deal with this ourselves) or, alternatively, that we will put up with the freezing cold houses that many of the previous generation routinely had to put up with (we won't!). We need a LOT more visible evidence the Government is at least seriously trying to deal with this than we have at present...think huge investment in wave power/solar energy/etc... What we need is for gas and electric to keep being supplied to our houses as per normal - at prices we can afford. It is not just a matter of us doing mega-insulation on our homes. To mega-insulate - we need workmen trained to do work to the correct standards (thats the first major problem) and then we would have to remove everything "chemical" in our homes (eg the standard type of paints most of us have on our walls for instance) - as our homes would no longer have sufficient air changes per hour to be able to ventilate out the fumes from standard paints/chipboard furniture/etc.

So - my message to the Government on this......"GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER NOW....WARP SPEED WILL BE ABOUT RIGHT"...otherwise wait for us all to vote you straight out come the next Election.

roxy7699

here here ceridwen

debbiemc_2

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

Forgot to add another good way to dry things like jumprs and tshirts os they dont take up line/drier space is to hang them on coat hangers and hang around the house or flat. I hang some tshirts/jumpers on hangers in my living room on the curtain rail if theres jsut me home or around the shower rail if im expectin guests

Radiator airers are a good investment, they hang in front of the radiators and have space for two or three things on them each. Good if you don't have space to have an airer up permanently over the winter. Hope that helps.

Debbie

foreversomeday

We have managed to get a capped tariff until 2011 - npower I think? It was a special deal not available online (he said anyway - it may be now!) which gives £80 cashback a year. Hopefully by 2011 either these ridiculous price rises will have levelled out, we will be in a better financial situation or both! Otherwise the huge jump in 2011 is going to be awful.

surfsister

Primrose wrote: »

Does anybody know whether you can have one single Economy 7 heater installed in a house which has central heating?
I'm wondering whether it would be more economical to use this to provide enough background heat which wouldn't necessitate having to switch the central heating on on milder winter days? Or would there by a separate standing charge for this service which would negate any cost savings?

Hiya I have all storage heaters as no gas here in the sticks! If you have Economy 7 the unit rate is dearer in the day and now it's quite a but dearer so wouldn't probably be worth it just for one heater. I do try to do as much tumble drying/washing/cooking in oven etc as ! can when economy 7 is on which is till 8.30 in the summer, which helps.

Could you use an open fire? We do now and have amassed a huge collection of free wood and coal from peole no longer using fires or moving etc! Also from skips!

Hopr it helps a little.

ceridwen

Does anyone know if people still get disconnected for being unable to pay fuel bills? - or is it the case that they get forced into having these expensive to use prepayment meters installed (whether they like it or no)? I'm not au fait with these things.

fizzel81

silly question

can my landlady insist that my gas/elec is with british gas, she wants me to stick with them but im sure there one of the more expensive ones, (she has this thing with bg homecare of whatever it is) i cannot fault bg but i feel im paying over the odds (though i could be wrong) 88 as month on gas and elec for a 3 bed tiny house.

i need to get in gear for winter, this house is old and well cold, the front bedroom celing is the roof (ie no loft etc between) and my conservtry/utility room is always cold, i was thinking of getting oil rads but would this be safe with 3 children running around?