Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

DUKE

This may come in for future reference - buy/rent a house that faces south, that way it can be freezing outside but so long as the sun's out then you'll be able to turn the heating off

poppyolivia

Hi there!

Not usually on this thread but was having a nosey!lol Weird thing is I finished reading a wee bit and the postie came with my gas bill, for 3 months it is £78.78.. is that good? I think it is but I might be wrong lol... itsfor a 4 bed terraced house. My electric is about £8 a week and thats with a key metre that was here when we moved in.

Thanks xxx

cw18

I'm in a 4 bed detatched, and from 29/8 up to and incl 1/12 my gas (C/H, hot water and hob) has worked out at £58.77, with the last week of the period accounting for £10.84 of the spend :eek:

poppyolivia

is your house cold? Mine is baltic!lol

cw18

Nope, it's fine -- I run the heating from around 8am to 9pm (about to change to come on at 6am so it's warm for younger DS getting up for college and me getting up for school runs with GDs -- I have to get up and ready before collecting them from elsewhere to drop them off), and I keep it at around 18 degrees. I only have the water heater on for about 20 mins in a morning as standard though -- it's enough for the three of us and washing the pots (which I'm currently only doing once every couple of days!)

poppyolivia

You have your heating on all day?? How come your bill was quite low??? I just put mine on at night or when there is more people than me in the house!lol You get wind chill stepping out into my hall!! There is even a big radiator there too! My walls are stone and the floors are concrete, maybe that has something to do with it??
Also need new double glazing but that will be a wee whiley yet, saving for it.

crikey and there was me chuffed with my £78 bill!!!lol

cw18

It's normally on all day, but there's people in most of the time including younger GD (3.5) from 11:30-5pm on a Monday and 2pm-5pm on a Tues and Wed, and both GDs (elder one is 5) from 7:30am until just before 9am (school run). It was off from 9:30am-11:30am this morning (I was out, and the timer kicks it off at 9am with me manually kicking it back in shortly after) and I could tell when I walked in the door that it had been off a while !!!! Both boys were still in bed 'cos it was cold, though younger one had been up and got washed/dressed before getting back under the covers, and was about to head out for a bus to college.......

Up until a couple of weeks ago I was having to run it at 21-22 degrees all day as DH was seriously ill and feeling the cold -- but younger DS and I were struggling with the heat !!!!!

Mine's a modern house -- new build completed May 2002 -- so I guess we've got pretty good insulation, and our DG is pretty good (though I still feel a draught as soon as I open the kitchen blind!). We're also carpeted throughout apart from the kitchen (ceramic tiles), but I'm probably going to be changing some to laminate or padded vinyl next year (easier to keep clean round the dogs, and I'm considering registering as a child-minder, so an 'easy to clean' hall and dining room would make my life much easier).

ETA: My electricity for the same period works out at an average of £9.40/week - so you're doing better than me on that

Primrose

poppyolivia - I'm sure that if you could put some inexpensive carpeting down in your hall it would make it warmer as the cold air probably condenses onto the floor. In our first year in a new house with just wooden floors it was very cold. The following year we carpeted it with a good underlay and the difference in temperature was noticeable as the carpet acted as good insulation.

picklepick

just thought id tell you guys in case it might help anyone. i recently made a draught excluder for my front door. got a piece of scrap fabric i had lying around, you could use an old pillow case cut to size or bed sheet i used an piece of blanket fabric. sewed a simple sausage shape and stuffed it with some hollow fibre filling out of an old pillow. works a treat!

just have to remind OH everytime he comes in to put it back! grrrrr

at the moment im sitting with just the xmas tree lights on for lighting in an effort to save electric! im tempted to sit in candle light... how stingy is that? lol

poppyolivia

Wow you guys are good at this eh?

Primrose the hall has some fake wood planks on it and I think the carpet idea is a great idea (and good underlay) The hall is needing done so will look into getting a new carpet for the floor and stairs.

I was speaking to someone a few days ago, her mother used to live next door to me and she said (our houses are about 50 years old) that when she was little and lived there the rooms were absolutely freezing, a very cold house. I said mine was like that now and she said the council redid all the houses bar mine years ago and instead if renewing the electrics by gouging (sp) them out the stone walls they kind of layered the walls with more plaster board and put in the electrics that way (obviously more to it than that).. so for instance my stairs are wider and so are the rooms but they are stone cold!lol Basically I think I have an old wreck!!lol I have been in my 3 neighbours houses and its true enough!
The people before us put in an extension and that room is super warm its at the back of the house but we can't hear the kids in their rooms at night or people at the front door so we sit in the living room with 12 layers on!!haha!

one day I will get my head screwed on and get baby moniters and a door bell;)

Just thought Id add I actually don't have babies just a 7 and 3 year old but I don't like not hearing them haha!