Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

minibudgetgal

This is a great thread! I read with interest till nearly 6am, then cleaned out my airing cupboard cos was so motivated to "do something" lol! I have posted this already in the utilities forum but thought I would politely ask for help from you lovely bunch.

We live in a 6 bedroomed three storey house. I am so sorry if this has been asked before but can someone answer these questions. I trawled throughn the forums last night, and looked on the internet, but got conflicting info.

From what I understand, we have a gas powered boiler in the garage (potterton kingfisher II)- very old but we cant afford to replace it at the moment. This is switched on to heat our hot water for 2 hours per day and gives us loads of water. Would it be cheaper to turn off the timer and just put it on manually for an hour each evening. The hot water NEVER runs out at the moment.

We also have a separate immersion heater in the airing cupboard. It is newish and has been lagged by the manufacturers. WE have had this switched on 24/7 since we moved in (gas bills are bad enough, but we are averagin £1040 per annum in lleccy)- I have read some advice that it is more economical to have it switched on all the time, but that makes no sense to me, as it would be like leaving your kettle on all the time! What should I do?

At the moment I am doing an experiment.
1. The timer is switched off and I will put it on manually every evening between 7-8pm so everyone has enough for a shower.
2. Immersion tank is switched off. I have also reduced the temp of water slightly in the immersion tank (but I guess this only saves money if the immersion is on! D'oh!)

I think we will run out of water, but would like to find out where the cut off is, if you know what I mean, between having way too much hot water and just enough. Our combined gas and electricity is about £1800 per year (atm! price hikes aside) and I am anxious to get the bills pared back as much as poss.

Sorry for the horrendously long post, but I would appreciate some kind person giving me some advice,
Mini xx
:j

mrs-moneypenny

im a tinker for listening to the radio all day via my sky tv:o. i'm guessing it would be cheaper in the long run for me to listen via my dab radio, i've got one of those rechargable cube ones.
could anyone tell me if im wasting much doing it this way.

sammy_kaye18

mini budget gal - i have absolutely no idea but rest assured that im sure one of the more in the know ladies will be along shortly with a good answer.

mary43

minibudget - can't help you a lot with that I'm afraid except to say we have our gas boiler on to heat the water for a couple of hours a day and thats sufficient for us. OH says its cheaper that way........but he's no expert so maybe someone else told him about it. It's all very confusing I think.

moneypenny -sorry can't help with that either (am I useless of what! ) but I love my radio, its on all day and its just my little portable one.
Plus computer is on a lot ..............but surely we have to have some pleasured don't we?
Chap on the radio today said he saved a lot on his gas bill just by turning off all the upstairs radiators. We never have our bedroom one on anyway as OH hates a warm bedroom but the kids we've got tend to use theirs as 'their bit of space' and I dont feel I deny them a bit of warmth. They don't have them on high anyway -just have to educate them into turning everything off at night at the plug so nothings on 'stand by'...........been telling them this for a long time now but I think they have 'selective hearing'...........lol

halia

love the ideas on here, desperate to reduce our energy bills as they are HUGE!

I know one of our biggest things is the tumble dryer, during the winter its impossible to dry stuff outside here (well during most of the spring and autumn too) and drying stuff inside resulted in peeling plaster/wallpaper and coughs last year due to the water condensation and damp.

I have an airer in the utility room so I will use that and close the door but I was thinking of getting an overbath one too - again I can close the door in the bathroom so moisture doesn't spread.

Can't fix anything to the wall in there but i'm sure i've seen folding ones you prop up?

The washing machine must be an energy hog too - any ideas about how much it costs in energy terms for one load?

We already use a duvet underneath as well as on top in colder months, must try and persude OH into warmer clothes rather than putting the heating on. I'm also fiddling with the hot water as we seem to have loads or none at all. I'm trying for no more than 30 mins a day, problem is it takes 20 mins to heat up and I need it morning and evening. It doesn't seem to stay hot throughout the day so I guess I'll have to settle for 6am-6.20am then 5pm-5.20pm.

Does anyone have any idea how much you actually save by replacing each bulb with an energy efficent one over a year. So taking into account the cost of the bulb I mean.

We have an open fire and sitll have logs from last year, I plan on doing scavanger hunts with DS at weekends for free firewood and kindling. Probably won't be able to supply the whole fire but we should be able to get kindling, come to that I might start now and keep a pile.

I thought maybe if I found out how much it cost to do a normal job with an appliance ie one washing load or one kettlefull and stuck a postit above the appliance it would remind us all.

[Deleted User]

kayjay that is exactly how I have been able to fine tune our energy consumption. I have always been an eco type of person ie low energy bulbs and batch baking etc but a cheap power meter did the trick for me and gave me choices especially in the kitchen. I have seen a couple of people posting the wrong consumption costs but I haven`t said anything cos that would be churlish but it is down to inputting the wrong decimal places ie 12.72 pence would look like 0.1276 and 2.86 pence would look like 0.0286. I am saying this because some (if not all) give their consumption in pounds

primrose you are spot on re family brainstorming. LOL its just like me getting an idea into my dh`s head then me keeping quiet and after a while he`ll think it is his idea. Perhaps the children could help you do a bar chart over time so they can see usage fall

sb44

ceridwen wrote: »

..and I was only thinking earlier today about the poster on this Board whose O.H. got them onto a fixed rate tariff for fuel until 2010. I wish - I am thinking "thank goodness - I fixed my prices over to Scottish Power till 2009 - just in time, before that deal went".

That was me!



Yep, so we are paying the same rate that we were in 2005 and will be until 2010.

Just think how much the cost has gone up in the past 3 years since then and will do before it ends in 2010.

At the time it was slightly more expensive with BG and it did seem to be a long time to tie ourselves into the scheme (and there was a penalty for leaving early), but at least we knew roughly what we would be paying for 5 years. OMG, that was a good decision looking back.

pukkamum

can i ask i have a smallish house with gas central heating, in the living room i have an electric fire, which i never use as i know they make the meter spin, however, when it is chilly in the evening is it better to use the fire for 15mins to heat just the front room or to put the heating on for an hour?

troo

I wanted to write a list of how many units each of my appliances uses, I can't find most of my manuals so I had look online, only one of my things has a online manual :rolleyes: But I came across THIS, I know it depends on how energy-efficient your own things are, but thought it was a useful guide

lauren_1

Where can i get a consumption meter from that gives me an indication in pounds and pence?