Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

Sarahsaver

I use a hob top kettle to save worktop space as I have a 6 ring hob.
I will cook several things a time in the oven.
Still have a load of wood in the coal cellar from when there were builders next door last year! They were only too happy to get rid of the wood as it saved space in their skip. We have open fires in front rooms and 2 bedrooms, though i havent dared use the bedroom ones yet.
Thinking of making a quilt for the front room sofa;) Always shut the curtains before it gets dark, and after using the oven leave the door open when it's off to let the heat into the room.
In the deep deep winter I need to wear a coat and gloves just to go in my utility room and empty the washing machine Its getting nippy out there already.
ALso a man in the bed makes it warmer, but mine is on his stag do tonight so its pyjamas for me :rolleyes: IMHO grownups don't wear pj's;)

Skarabbit

Charge your mobile at other peoples houses:P

What a nice first post eh?

full-time-mum

Skarabbit wrote:

Charge your mobile at other peoples houses:P

The men who replaced our windows a few years ago did that to me and it annoyed the hell out of me - its one thing to use my electricity to power drills etc for the job in hand but I think that you could argue that them charging their phones was theft - rather than make an issue, I kept finding reasons to use the plug (ironing, hoovering) and then not plugging it in.

I charge my phone in the car as often as possible.

Sarahsaver

I saw one woman doing a whole bag full of ironing at the gym one day;)
I always use the hairdriers there too but rarely at home.

Anastacia

Morning
We live on the sunny South Coast which might account for why our house is a bit warmer that the one in the Highlands but its pretty much always warm in here.Its a 100 year old semi but it does have cavity wall insulation, roof insulation & double glazing right through. I may put the heating on for a few hours a day in Dec to Feb but it still doesnt cost a fortune, presumably because it a really efficient boiler ? A baxi bermuda. If you can get any of this with a grant (you can from our local authority)i would because i think the previous owners did here & we are reaping the benefits. I do have thick lined curtains right through, including the front door. I have two back doors to form a little porch & save heat escaping. We do have pretty good fuel bills because I am a reall tightwad, but this house really helps. One thing to do before winter is a new cover for the hot water tank as the one in there is all flappy strips of insulation, which i dont think do much. Also means youngest son has his window open all year because the room is too hot, which is a bit ridiculous.

vivaladiva

Our electricity bill arrives this morning and I was pleasantly surprised at how little electricity we has used over the last quarter. Aside form it being summertime so fewer lights on and only tumble drying in emergencies, our major change has been using a hob top kettle and doing the Sunday roast in the slow cooker rather than in the oven. Obviously the whistling kettle has to be dealt with and avoids the reboiling costs, which used to be a regular occurance in our house, but I am amazed at the difference it has made. (I reckon drinks are hotter too - so this might be better if you are storing hot water in flasks?

ColetteR_2

You see these expensive draft excluders that slide under the bottom of the door. Make your own. Get a remnant of fabric, (fabric shop ends box or a curtain from a charity shop) and two lengths of pipe insulation. Wrap the fabric round each piece of foam in the shape of the letter B but with a space in the middle - to go under the door. You can either sew it (sew it first then slide the foam in) or glue it. Make sure that the side that goes on the inside of the door is a bit shorter at the hinge edge than the outside to allow for the door opening. Open the door wide, slide it under the bottom of the door and it will stay in place every time you move the door, unlike the snake draft excluders that you have to keep putting back.

Mind you, if you have one of the snake type, why not pin it or double sided tape it to the bottom of the door, just high enough for the door to still open without trapping it?
Colette

Drummergirl_2

Would it be cheaper for me to heat water in a gas stove kettle rather than my element powered kettle?

vivaladiva

Drummergirl wrote:

Would it be cheaper for me to heat water in a gas stove kettle rather than my element powered kettle?

See my post 2 up. It has made quite a difference to our bill. Apparently one boil of the kettle is equivalent to leaving all your lights on all evening (or something like that!).

Drummergirl_2

kittiwoz wrote:

Unless it was a cheap kettle with counterfeit controls the boil-dry protection would switch the kettle off (and probably prevent it being switched on again until it had been removed from the base, i.e. to fill it, and replaced) and if that failed then the fail-safe thermal fuse would stop it from overheating.

I left my kettle on the other day (empty) and the thermal cut-out didn't work at all, I could hear this strange hissing noise coming from the kitchen but didn't register until I went to make another cup of tea. I reckon it had been going for half an hour or more and my usually over-sensitive fuse box didn't trip either. I guess you can't be too safe.