Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

Ken68

MIRRY wrote:

so is a steamer cheaper to run than using a cooking pan ?

I would have thought so, Mirry, after all you are heating an element to heat a pan to heat the food when using the hob.
Microwaves take some beating for cheap cooking, and better still slow cooking on E7.

elkieb

I don't have any innovatve ideas for this but my husband and I have some light blankets we keep behind our sofa for when it's a bit chilly but we don't want to put the gas fire on (tightwads that we are!) - not only do you warm up fast but it's quite cosy..! I'm a big advocate of layers too, and hate to have the heating on unecessarily so tend to have a cardigan or jumper that's just for around the house that I slip on when I need it.

flufff

Before my divorce my ex used to squander money.I remember snow being on ground.Fine for him at work all warm but we had no heating.So iI used to take kids library for a few hours just to keep warm.
Looking forward to day he gets his cumuppance.
I wont have my heating on this time of year but when its cold my house will be cosy and warm.

katieowl_2

starlite wrote:

One thing in our house, which I can't get OH out of the habit of and really annoys me (and irritates our electricity bill too).
He'll wake up, put on the kettle, then go for a shower, put it on again, then get dressed, put it on again and forget about it whilst he watches the news , finally make a coffee, then drink half very slowly and reboil the kettle to 'top it up' with hot water as it's gone cold.etc etc.

Same happens when he comes home, he sticks on the kettele, then forgets about it.

Any tips? short of throwing it out and boiling it on the stove so he actually pays attention to it?

LOL The same happens in our house (same culprit ) It's a phenomenon called "Thrice Boil-led Kettle......" Last year the darling got all confused when I tried to switch from the electric kettle to boiling one on the Aga to save money, and put the plastic electric kettle on the hotplate....... DD showed a level of response to the crisis I was truly impressed with flipping the smouldering puddle of molten plastic onto a baking tray with a fish slice, while DH stood in confusion and before you ask...he doesn't have Alzheimers LOL!

MY tip to save money also involves the Aga... but I am sure it could be adapted in another way. I have one of those antique Victorian Stone hot water bottles - I leave it to stand on the back of the Aga all day....put it in our bed wrapped in a cover at night, then return it to the Aga in the morning to re-heat. It keeps really hot all night, being big, and heavy, and as the Aga is on all the time, I don't have to boil an extra kettle to fill it at night. I'm sure you could heat one up on a radiator, or at the back of a cooker while the oven was on....keep your eyes peeled for one at a boot fair!

Regards

Kate

surfing_nanna

When using the oven, cook more than one meal at a time, you could get up to 4 different dishes in providing they are the right size. Freeze the unwanted meals to use at a future date :j

full-time-mum

Jolaaled wrote:

Ruby..do you have a recipe for sausage dog draft excluder??! do i just stuff my stockings with more stockings??

Would like to have something a bit more attractive..do you have any ideas?

Just found this thread, thanks to martins newsletter. Was just wondering whether buying an old duvet from a charity shop would work.

This may be complete tosh - I'm thinking on the hoof here - but could the quilt be cut into strips and then covered with an attractive tube of fabric. Perhaps make a tube by turning the short ends in then sewing up the long edge. Stuff the quilt strip inside and then tie the ends sort of Xmas cracker style.

Maybe old quilts could be used for other insulation problems such as stapling a piece to the loft hatch door - always strikes me as odd that we spend a fortune laying down insulation between the rafters then leave a dirty great hole with just a lump of wood in it.

katieowl_2

full-time-mum wrote:

Maybe old quilts could be used for other insulation problems such as stapling a piece to the loft hatch door - always strikes me as odd that we spend a fortune laying down insulation between the rafters then leave a dirty great hole with just a lump of wood in it.

I have to say....I just used an old single duvet as a replacement cover for the hot water tank, as the plastic stuff was filthy and falling to bits (DH just build me a new airing cupboard - and I wanted it all clean and nice) the water seems to be NOTICABLY hotter. I just wrapped it round and fastened it with safety pins.

Regards

Kate

Ken68

katieowl wrote:

I haven't read through the whole thread, but in answer to the last two posters I would suggest covering the windows in bubble wrap. The effect on the room temperature is almost instant. We have Victorian wooden sashes, so I drawing pin a sheet over each window in the corners and middles, then seal the edges with masking tape. You can see the wrap billow out as it catches the drafts! You can hardly see it from the inside, if you have nets or voile curtains, and it doesn't seem to cut out much light. If you can't get a sheet wide enough you can join it with sellotape. You can usually by a roll for around £3-4, try a decent garden centre, they sell it for insulating greehouses sometimes, or a stationers that sell it for packing.
Well worth the effort!

Regards

Kate

That's what I've done, Kate, bubble wrap from a DIY store.
Used double sided carpet tape, the transparent sort, and you need to take orf any fittings first, put the tape onto the frame, then peel and carefully stretch on the bubble wrap.
Can't see it from outside. Got 'em in the unused bedrooms.

MIRRY_2

full time mum, what a great idea you had !

when my hubby gets home today, I will send him up in the loft to design some sort of insulation for the loft hatch.
Our loft hatch opens downwards but thinking about it surely it would be better to open inwards ?
because then the insulation could overlap the edges.

---

Katieowl, I forgot about the old ceramic water bottles, I have one somewhere in my loft, it was my grandads which he used in the war and fits in a pocket.

moggins

Does anyone have any ideas what I can use a mountain of flat packed cardboard boxes for?