Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

culpepper

If some of your light fittings cant take energy saving bulbs get a table or standard lamp for that room and dont turn the ceiling light on.
At a real pinch you could carry the lamp from room to room.
This summer I bought one of those solar showers.I lay it on the ground on a sunny day and it gets hot then take it in and hang it from a hook over the bath and get a free hot shower.I can hang it in the plastic greenhouse too on windy days ,so long as it is sunny,it will get hot.I must have used it about 30 times this year.I turned the hot water timer down by 30 mins to allow for less use.
When I was young we had no heating at all.My parents had a fan heater which ate electric meter money .
We have an oill filled radiator in the kitchen with a thermostat which seems quite economical.The oil keeps hot and the thermostat only kicks in when it goes below a certain point so it isnt constantly heating like a fan heater or the bar type electric fires.

homersimpson_3

just a few questions
1) if you have a kettle and leave it plugged at the mains with switch on mains on does it cost you money or is only when you put the switch on kettle you actually starting paying- does that make sense?
2) is leaving clock on video on expensive?
3) should you turn off turn off gas boiler at all times (apparently uses electricity) and only put it when you need it

twink

Jolaaled wrote:

Thanks for this.. i think i've got an idea of what you mean..sounds like a good idea to have something that moves with the door, as i can't imagine the kids are gonna replace an ordinary sausage after every single door opening!

Do you find that it stays in place ok, as you open and shut the door?

yes thats the whole idea of it really, the flat bit of fabric is between the two tubes and runs the length of the tubes and slips under the door, the flat fabric is about 2"wide to fit under my door

dronid

There are two of us in the flat we’ve been trying to plan for winter.

So far over the summer we have the hot water on for an hour a day, ½ hour in the morning about ½ an hour before we get up and ½ an hour before we get home from work. The cylinder is well insulated so that covers our hot water for the entire day – particularly since the dishwasher and washing machine heat up water internally (I’ve checked, it is cheaper.) All our lights are Long life ones (some of them now have 2 settings so you can reduce the light if you want them dimmer). All standby devices are now turned off (particularly our PC monitor) apart from the Sky+ box, which we’re getting rid of in a month. Hopefully these measures will build us up some credit for the winter. We will continue to use the Tumble dryer as it’s a condenser one so a lot of heat comes into the flat when it’s in use and as we have no outdoor space in the winter we can suffer from damp if we dry the clothes cold inside.

I used to use the cellophane stuff for the windows but I can’t find where they do it anymore, and the lack of ventilation can cause damp again, can’t win sometimes!

Good cooking advice is a Pressure Cooker as things cook much quicker, so less electricity and many have division baskets so you can cook a number of items at the same time. A slow cooker is great for food where you want the ingredients flavours to mingle but a pressure cooker is great when you want the carrots to taste like carrots and the brisket to taste like brisket!

I have found for draft excluders, a bit of Velcro tape on the bottom of the doors and on the excluders does ensure that the draft excluders stay with the doors and continue to ‘exclude’ when you have an inattentive person in the house.

Jumpers, layers & hot water bottles have been well mentioned but I haven’t seen tea/coffee made in a Thermos so it can be enjoyed all evening. Great for hot chocolate and brandy and mulled wine which has rather kept us going some years!

Timers! Ikea used to do plug in timers for about £1.50. Put those on the devices you want to turn off rather than on standby so that even if you doze on the sofa it’ll turn them all off at ‘bedtime’

Sorry – that all rather exploded from my mind, hope it’s useful! ;->

susank

I unfortunately bought mine from Lakeland so there may be a picture somewhere - its very good as we sleep with window open at night and the excluder stops the colder air getting through the house. Great idea

mookybargirl

OH half just gave me an idea. I've fallen over in shock!

Charge your mobile phone at work instead of at home if you can, or charge it in the car. Might only save a few pence, but every penny helps

tirednurse_2

When cooking rice/pasta or vegetables I bring them to the boil, put the lid on the pan, then turn the gas off. These then cook without using any fuel. This only works if the saucepans have tightly fitting lids.

recovering_spendaholic

MIRRY wrote:

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

Yes I think so.

Horasio

I am seriously thinking of hibernating this winter with several duvets

Cooking with firewood and using candles for light

john_kent

I find that getting in to the idea of turning lights of when you leave a room , even for 30 seconds will help cut the leccy bill. Dont use tumble dryer unless you have to, Listen to radio via broadband rathe rthen the radio if your on the PC. Replac ebulbs with economy ones ASAP. Defrost Freezer every other month , Turn down heating , Turn down fridge as it empties throughout week.

But best thing ever , is the firepit. My friend built one for me and we can sit round it , even on cold evenings and cook and get warm , we use scavanged wood for fuel.