Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

Olliebeak

For those of us on a capped tariff, where would it leave us if the energy companies did reduce the costs? Do you think they would reduce the capped rates as well as the standard ones?

ixwood

Capped or fixed? Capped will reduce, fixed won't.

Olliebeak

ixwood wrote: »

Capped or fixed? Capped will reduce, fixed won't.

I'm on Price Protection 17 - think I'll give them a call to try and find out where I'll stand if the price comes back down again.

Thank you.

halia

Olliebeak wrote: »

.......but the remainder of the house (bathroom, kitchen, hallway) would be freezing cold wouldn't it? Or is that for c/h in the living room only?

Yep the rest of the house would be cold but my point was there are periods of 2-4 hrs that are spent just in one room (except for bathroom trips). I'm OK to shiver down the corridor to the bathroom for 5 minutes!

It does seem that rather than heating the entire house (3 story victorian monstrosity) I should yank out the old oil filled radiator for evenings in the living room.

jscalow

I have just read a great article in the Sunday Times magazine regarding the 2,000 Watt Society. The basis being that to combat climate change we mustn't consume more than 2,000 Watt's per day In theory, it shouldn’t be difficult, because 2,000W is what the average human uses already. But that’s an average. In practice, consumption varies enormously. The typical Bangladeshi uses just 300W. Across Europe the figure is about 5,400W. And in the US it’s a stonking 11,400W.
Recent calculations suggest that IT will very soon overtake aviation as a guzzler of energy. All these videos on YouTube and unread blogs take up space on servers that suck ever-increasing amounts from the grid. An avatar on the online game Second Life uses as much energy as the average Brazilian.
It might help if people knew how much they could save. This year the average domestic fuel bill reached £1,000 for the first time. By reducing consumption to 2,000W per person, households could save more than £600 a year.

If you would like to read the full article-
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article5188314.ece

I found it fascinating, just to realise that posting this will consume more energy, not my pc use or yours, but the added memory needed to store this on mse server somewhere.

Yategirl

can anyone give me some advice please:

we are suffering terribly with condensation on the windows every morning, mould is starting to appear round the window frames, we have always had problems in our bathroom with mould on walls and ceilings...

we already - open the windows throughout the house every morning for at least 2 hours, keep our bathroom window open a crack from morning to bedtime (open wider if not too cold or we have just had a shower), wipe the windows down every morning as soon as we are dressed, dry clothes outside as much as I can (only have them drying inside when the weather is v.bad or just to air as they come in off the line).

We have installed a ventilation fan in the bathroom - we cannot use it as our neighbours moaned they could hear it (seemed to be some sort of resonance noise) though we cannot hear the noise - we are working on fixing this so that they don't hear the noise and we can use it. The bathroom has always been a problem. Dh checked insulation in the loft and made it thicker that has helped but the condesation/mould is still bad.

Windows are doubleglazed - the only one to have a 'vent' is the patio door - this is open all the time. Front door is singleglazed (we have replaced the bottom panels with wood and have noticed a difference in warmth of the house plus 2 windows less for me to wipe!! We normally have a door curtain up but are currently preparing the hallway for replastering/decorating)

I am currently looking at moisture traps - will they help? is there anything else we should/can do? We have our heating on rarely, tbh we don't need it a great deal just the occasional burst - is it the lack of heating causing the problem?

anyone? help! it is driving me mad!!!

jscalow

where is the moisture coming form? You may have water coming in through an external wall which may need sealing with a product like thompsons waterseal. I have been using adehumidifier which can help. I think you may need to turn your ch on a bit more.

jscalow

This weeks results-

• £8.79 on gas
• £8.28 on electricity

Total you have spent on energy since starting imeasure (13 weeks ago):

• £73.52 on gas
• £104.04 on electricity

Can see the gas usage really creeping up now. Had the ch on all day on Sunday, I think during the depths of winter I will budget for £10 per week. I know the imeasure costings are an average but when I next get my bills I will post to see the comparison-hopefully will be £ less! Still happy with the bubble wrap, although am getting condensation on the glass, always have even with out the bubble wrap. am taking off on a sunday to wipe and dry down and when its sunny am peeling back a corner to let the moisture escape. Does anyone else get the same ?

Ches

Yategirl we used to have a mobile home and to prevent condensation while it was shut up for the winter we used moisture collectors (sorry don't know the proper name) on advice from other more experienced caravan owners. These worked really well and the containers collected all the condensation so it didn't make the inside of the van damp. The problem was that the containers were quite expensive to buy each year (they sell them in Woolies) as we had a problem tracking down the refills of the granules used inside them. Then we were advised to use cat litter as after all it is designed to absorb moisture. We tried this and it worked just as well. May be worth putting some in plastic boxes around the house to see if this helps. The proper boxes have vented lids for the moisture to enter but I can't see that this matters so worth a try. Keep out of reach of children though.

Yategirl

Thanks Ches.. I will grab a bag next time I am shopping..

we kept the bathroom window open all night last night rather than shutting it as we went to bed.. that did make a slight difference.. am going to experiment over the next few days and see if I can find a suitable solution!