Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

LouiseJ

What a great thread:T

I am currently being called a bit of an obbsessive in my house regarding the energy used but after one of my teenage sons left the immersion heater on for 2 days (no cut off thermostat so water was bubbling away) and a delongi dragon oil filled heater being turned up to 35degrees with no one in the room, I believe I have just cause.

My main trouble is that I run my central heating from LPG bottles as we are rural so no mains gas and we are up on top of a hill so it gets very windy here.

Has anyone insulated their floorboards? We have underlay and fitted carpets throughout downstairs but when it is really windy you can actually see the carped levitating!!!

kbarty

Hi all,

a quick way I've found to make rice bags is to get a pair of girls tights (my dd had a lovely rainbow pair she'd grown out of, prob age 4-5 or something) and chop off the legs where they meet the body. Fill with rice about 2/3rds or whatever and then get a hair bobble and tie it tightly round the end. They hair bobble mustn't have any metal on it though - v important as will be putting in the microwave. And voila - easy quick and nice looking rice bag. I'm going to make some more now I've found more tights, a black one will do nicely for the male members of the family!

Had a bargain in Wilko's the other day. They were selling off the smmer quilts and there was just one left in King size and so I snaffled it. Should have been £6 and as it was reduced once to £5 and then had a half marked price sticker I got it for £2.50!! Is on as main duvet now, but will change it to go under our sheets once it gets cold. Need some for the kids now as all my spare ones go round the water cylinder. Might have enough to spare, must check!

Also made some very basic nightlights for the kids based on Sun Jars. I really liked the look of them but didn't want to spend so much esp as I fancied them for the kids rooms and so I'd need 2. So I got a very cheap solar garden light from the £1 shop, took the top bit off, shoved it on top of a jam jar with some tracing type paper inside and ok it doesn't look brill, but it works and the kids were over the moon with their new lights. Should save a bit on lighting as it gets darker. We've only just weaned the kids off having lights on all night but hopefully these will also help for when they're in bed and I'm still up times.

ZCC72

looby-loo wrote: »

How is this film attached around the edges please? Normal Sellotape or what?
Thank you.
I found it in B&Q but my son used it for the front of his solar oven experiment and it did work well, but not on the windows yet

It comes with double sided sticky tape - you put the tape on the window surround, and attach the cling film to the tape, then trim it, and shrink the cling film with a hair dryer! It comes as a ready made kit....works wonders!

ceridwen

squiggles wrote: »

my gas is turned off at the mains using the lever as i dont need gas in summer months.But i live in council property so when i need the gas back on i just ring for a workman to come around and switch it on again.

Thanks for that.....confused as to why you need the workman to come and switch the gas lever on again - is it in some madly inaccessible place or there's some other sort of difficulty I dont think I have . In my case my gas lever is right next to my gas meter - in a cupboard in the sitting room. So I reckon all I would have to do is a simple flick of the lever to the off position and "bobs your uncle" - sorted. My house couldnt possibly use a scrap of gas and would be perfectly safe and I could reverse the situation and have all the gas appliances back to normal by just flicking the lever back into the on position

??????? Am I right in thinking that??

ceridwen

LouiseJ wrote: »

Has anyone insulated their floorboards? We have underlay and fitted carpets throughout downstairs but when it is really windy you can actually see the carped levitating!!!

Nope...as not in the same position as yourself - so figured I could do without it.

But - it would be recommended to install a sort of sheet "membrane" underneath your floorboards from what I recall about retrofitting houses.

You'd best try googling "retrofitting houses" and see what comes up about underfloor insulation.

ceridwen

Some useful links - food for thought:

http://ecovation.org.uk/htmldesigns/casestudies.html

www.msarch.co.uk/ecohome

www.zerocarbonhouse.com/

http://www.local.theoildrum.com/node/4098

larmy16

I am pretty sure this may have been posted as it seems a bit obvious, but due to long long long thread, I shall post anyway.:)

I have those radiators which have a kind of ledge in between, I think they may be called double rads?? Anyway it occured to me this morning that you could find some kind of suitable vessel and place them in these gaps to warm up water??? I have my thinking cap on currently as to what these vessels could be. Plastic could melt and glass could shatter so any ideas anyone? Maybe fabric conditioner bottles could withstand heat being thicker rigid plastic. I already use these as hot water bottles.

It was a sunny day yesterday and to my joy I felt my solar shower was heating up but as I was at work until 6.30 I was unable to use the water as I am presuming it then cools down. Maybe one day myself and my solar shower will synchronise!

LouiseJ

Thanks for that ceridwen:D

Another "heat guzzler" is the living flame LPG gas fire that pre-MSE days we though looked pretty and cozy:rolleyes:

I understand that they eat the gas and the draught from it when not in use "takes your legs off" not to mention the howling gale it sucks from under doors.


We have 2 options I can see.

1 - Take it out and replace it with a closed unit rather than an open flue.

2 - Block the flue somehow or front of fire to stop the draughts, which is probably our option at the moment as funds are a bit low.

I can find "chimney balloons" for solid fuel fires but cant find any products that will stop draughts from an open living flame gas fire.

OH is not quite so MSE and just advises to put the fire on if you feel a draught:eek: :mad: but other people must have had the same problem.

nicki_2

ceridwen wrote: »

Thanks for that.....confused as to why you need the workman to come and switch the gas lever on again - is it in some madly inaccessible place or there's some other sort of difficulty I dont think I have . In my case my gas lever is right next to my gas meter - in a cupboard in the sitting room. So I reckon all I would have to do is a simple flick of the lever to the off position and "bobs your uncle" - sorted. My house couldnt possibly use a scrap of gas and would be perfectly safe and I could reverse the situation and have all the gas appliances back to normal by just flicking the lever back into the on position

??????? Am I right in thinking that??

AFAIK you should not switch your gas on at the mains (after its been switched off) without calling out a qualified person in case there is a gas leak or something. I know the main switches have always had warnings on them about calling someone out to switch it back on in my past experience. I've just gone to check mine and I don't have one :eek: I did have, but I don't now.

carriebradshaw

LouiseJ wrote: »

What a great thread:T

Has anyone insulated their floorboards? We have underlay and fitted carpets throughout downstairs but when it is really windy you can actually see the carped levitating!!!

we used to have the same problem in a cottage we lived once,the wind would come up through the cellar beneath us and the carpet would lift. We lined the floorboards with hardboard sheets nailed down over the top then put the underlay and carpets back down.Don't know how much this would cost these days as it was about 15 years ago when we did it.It does make a big difference though.