Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

JillD_2

a bloke at work says you should put reflective foil down the back of radiators to reflect the heat back into the room. Apparently you can buy proper stuff at B&Q but I suppose tim foil would do ?

One thing I wondered about was, in our bedroom the curtains are floor to ceiling, they should surely let more heat through if I take them up so they hang above the top ?

Another thing I heard was that at some point it becomes cheaper to leave the hot water on all the time rather than let it cool down to outside temp of a few degrees and then start heating it up again in the evening.
But I'm sure there'e a critical point below which this doesn't work.

I wonder if anyone know sof a way to work out when it becomes true ?
BTW I have a physics degree so I should be able to work it out! But that was 14 years ago and I have since had 2 kids and seem to have lost my brain

eilz

SO WHATS CHEAPER TO RUN?A WOOD0BURNER, A HALOGEN heaters or a OIL Filled Heater?I would have thought that a OIL Filled heater would heat the entire room, where the HALOGEN only specific part.Ultimately it seems like a Wood Burner is ideal, BUT am I right in thinking a Wood Burner should only be installed downstairs inside the fireplace, and so no good for the upstairs when sleeping(I maybe wrong).

beccajune

Hello
I am new to posting on this thread but have read it with interest. Could anyone please tell me whether it would be better to buy a combination microwave for cooking things like individual pizzas when I am on my own rather than heating the main oven?
Thanks
Beccajune

EagerLearner

Lillibet wrote:

After baking/cooking leave the oven door open to let the heat into the house.

HTH;)

Ohmigod - never, ever would have done that! Thanks so much - what a fab idea! :T

SusanCarter

beccajune wrote:

Hello
I am new to posting on this thread but have read it with interest. Could anyone please tell me whether it would be better to buy a combination microwave for cooking things like individual pizzas when I am on my own rather than heating the main oven?
Thanks
Beccajune

If you're just doing something small then it could be worth it but it's probably cheaper to fill the big oven and then reheat stuff another day (using the microwave). I bought a combination oven when I first lived on my own but I found that when I did want to use the oven, it was too small anyway.

Liney_2

mirry wrote:

mandy my pup does the same,shes like a hot water bottle.


Ok I have just had a letter from British gas saying that they have reviewed my direct debit for gas this year and it will now be £46 a MONTH !
I nearly fell over, it was £22.50 , so has more than doubled.
Please keep the tips coming.

---

Now I really want a wood burner , they are so expensive to buy, can any one reccomend a good place to buy ?

Phone British Gas and query it. Powergen did it to me a while back and then when I called and protested they said it was a standard letter sent out to loads of people and I adjusted it to a more suitable rate.

mhoc

MIRRY wrote:

also what about candles ?

I dont know if they work out more expensive than electric

We have started to use candles around the bath when we have a bath rather than using the electirc light. It is certainly more relaxing and you do tend to linger a bit longer. Baths do warm you up so if you go straight to bed afterwards (and take a cat as well!) you avoid having to go back into a cold living room.

Mind you our bathroom is freezing in winter so I think it would need a awful lot of candles to heat it up!

We have also just got rid of the old shed and husband has buitl a lean to, no door but it should keep the worst of the wind off the back door. The kitchen is also freezing in winter. I cook in a fake fur coat in winter!

Mary

maryb

mhoc wrote:

. I cook in a fake fur coat in winter!

Mary

I thought it was just me who cooked in my coat. Mind you that's often because if I don't get started the second I get in from work I run the risk of running out of steam completely especially when the kitchen is like an icebox and i just don't want to get up out of my chair

Funny thing is I can remember my mother doing exactly the same thing - do we all turn into our mothers?

tirednurse_2

Do we turn into our mothers? I think so.
But I have turned into my grandmother!!
I have bought thermal vests, big-knickers-for-real-women and woollie socks.
I am one step away from buying those black bootees with the zip up the front and the fur around the top.

moggins

tirednurse wrote:

Do we turn into our mothers? I think so.
But I have turned into my grandmother!!
I have bought thermal vests, big-knickers-for-real-women and woollie socks.
I am one step away from buying those black bootees with the zip up the front and the fur around the top.

I've got worse than my mother as she never wore thermals. It is really starting to get cold here now, I don't if it's the tail end of the hurricane or what but I was hoping to be able to cover all the draft proofing when DH is off work next week but I think I'll have to set too by myself.