Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

ocemeer

if you use candles you could always save the ends of the candles and 'recycle' them into new candles by melting them (I use a tiny galvanised steel bucket i got with some herbs to melt the wax and only use the oven if already cooking) and pouring into an old glass condle holder. I get the wicks from ebay and have even after an expensive candle left loads of lovely chocolate smelling wax gave some as presents. Makes my candles go sooooo much further and quite enjoy it.

further to that sort of line has any one burnt the paper logs they have made, are they any good....please say yes have spent the day making papermache or so it seems

sheenaf

Yes, I make paper logs and they burn fine and slowly. Best with a little coal on top. Our open fire is a godsend as it heats water via a back boiler and when we switch on the central heating it draws down water which is already hot. We burn wood offcuts (OH is a joiner) a little coal, logs, paperlogs and rubbish like potato peelings which also help clean the chimney. I search the woods for fallen branches and saw them up with a hand saw. This is great exercise and keeps you warm. Save small twigs, orange peel, etc. for starting the fire and also make paper firelighters - fold 2 or 3 sheets of newspaper in half diagonally, roll into a tube then flatten. Starting in the middle fold one side over other time and time about (makes a kind of concertina) finally tuck in ends at opposite sides of block - Hey Presto, paper fire lighter about the size of a Rubic's Cube.
Do you know that in Menorca they fuel a power station with almond shells? My version of this is to save all peach and plum (we have a prolific plum tree) stones and when I have a good quantity - say a shovelful - bung them on the fire. They give off a great heat.
Another good thing about an open fire is that it retains heat even after it has burnt out. You can use it to make toast, boil a kettle or simply watch it glow and flicker. You can't do that with a radiator. Our fire had been blocked up with a sheet of plywood, but we opened it up, had the chimney swept, burnt the plywood and have never looked back. Also lets Santa in at Christmas!

MIRRY_2

This morning I was making boiled eggs for breakfast and decided to boil the kettle first then pour the boiling water into the pan and put it on the gas ring to cook the eggs.

I dont know if this works out cheaper but I also got a cup of tea out of the kettle at the same time.

Blairweech

Here are some reasons why radiators are buit under windows. It's to do with convection, the theory being that the radiator heats the cold air coming in through the window then radiates it round the room.

black-saturn

The light in my kitchen costs loads to switch on but the room is quite well lit with street lights in the evening. So I have put a little light in a cupboard which automatically switches on when the cupboard opens like a fridge does. It enables me to see the tea, coffee and sugar in the cupboard and I don't need to switch the kitchen light on in the evenings.

ka7e

I've always assumed that flourescent tubes are more economical to run for long periods of time - somebody please correct me if I'm wrong! I have one in the kitchen part of my kitchen/diner, one in the basement (v dark) where my sons have all their games consoles, PC, guitars etc and a round tube in the bathroom. The bathroom one is left on overnight as our landing has no window, so it acts as a guide to those needing the loo - as a child I once walked straight off the top of a staircase from an unlit landing!
Energy-saving bulbs don't throw enough light when you have 9.5' high ceilings!

black-saturn

ka7e wrote:

I've always assumed that flourescent tubes are more economical to run for long periods of time - somebody please correct me if I'm wrong! I have one in the kitchen part of my kitchen/diner, one in the basement (v dark) where my sons have all their games consoles, PC, guitars etc and a round tube in the bathroom. The bathroom one is left on overnight as our landing has no window, so it acts as a guide to those needing the loo - as a child I once walked straight off the top of a staircase from an unlit landing!
Energy-saving bulbs don't throw enough light when you have 9.5' high ceilings!

I think it costs more to switch them on and off a lot than it does to leave them on all night.

sammy_kaye18

Hi All

Im loving these hints
Have been nagging my MIL for ages to turn her lights off, keep doors closed etc but she wanders round with heating blasting , lights left on, drier on and wearing next to nothign and then wonders why her ills are so high!!

Me and my bf though live in a council flat so we are on a meter so we have to super careful nto to run out otherwise we cant get the boiler restarted and if we go onto emergency (£4 elec, £2 gas) then we are up a creak if they run out) . althgouh we were in a house christmas 2004 and in this flat 2005 they were horrible winters! - our heater broke over Xmas so we had a little fan heater and the cooker to heat a large 2 living roomed, 3 bedroomed house - not nice at all!!!!!!!! I think i wore more clothes that christmas than i ever have in my life! and last yar the boiler broke down and wouldnt relight so we had to use the same heater again adn sit wrapped in spare duvets for most of Xmas!

+ Anyway me and bf insist on having doors closed now - think its more a privacy thing too we liek being enclosed.
+ we always put the curtain above the radiators , althgouh we use to sit in on the top of the radiator but will put it on the window sill from now on.
+Im going to line all our curtains this year i think, see if that saves some heat and ill finally get some curtains put up in our bedroom - we barely use the light in there as we're near a main road and on the ground floor so every man and his dog can see in if the lgihts on.
+ also ill get curtains or a black out blind in the kitchen too and then it will hopefully keep the heat in too. Our drier and cooker heat the kitchen as it is only small, you can literally just fit me and bf in it comfortably. its tiny so we leave the door open and it heats the living room.
+ brought some fleece blankets at Shaws the other day - £1.95 each - and they are fairly big so think i will go back and get some more - they were intended to be used to snuggle in fron tof the TV in but one is put away ready for real winter weather, the other has become the dogs bed
+ will use them under the duvets too!
+ am going to turn the radiator in the hall way off and probably get a curtain for the front door too, so will probably move pooches bed into front room or give him extra blankets/pillows etc to snuggle into.
+ am goign to defiantely invest in some hot water bottles and warm them up before bedtime and put them in our beds to have them heated and snug for when we eventually get in them.

we were just given a uplighter too so we use that if we need lights on but most of the time we are sat in the dark. the drier is rarely on and we use an airer to dry our clothes, plus we have things on coat hangers hung round our shower rail and i brought one of those sock driers to help out too. We each have pyjamas , a dressing gown , warm socks or slippers(even our little man) and might even see about buying a doggy jumper! extra layers can be a god send at times and im determined this year to be nice and snug because last year was horrible!!!

cant wait for it now though

I do have a question thoguh - our windows are !!!!!!. we wake up and there is condensation and we even had mould last year on the inside of our windows, any ideas on what i can do to remedy this?? the sealant doesnt look liek it quite matches up in the corners so i stuffed it with toilet paper last year but i want to know if theres anythign i could try. am already enquiring about a heating grant thingy too.

msmicawber

Hi Sammy,

You need to air the place a little now and again or you will get a build up of condensation. Do you have air vents above the windows? If so, make sure they're open even in the winter.

If you wipe off the condensation with an absorbent cloth each morning and open the windows for a few minutes each day this should stop the dampness building up.

Fleur_2

MIRRY wrote:

we used to burn our own wood years ago.
Trouble is you need to store the wood in a dry place for a year to dry it out.
We found buying wood and coal quite expensive but you could go collecting in the woods for free.


make sure it doesnt spit over your carpet !

Keep an eye open on Freecycle for wood. Over the last few months my local freecycle groups (oxfordshire) have had quite a few ad's where people have seasoned wood to give away as well as 'green' wood to store for next winter.