Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

cheerfulness4

It was so sunny here yesterday that I had loads of washing on the line but still couldn't fit on all the backlog. Noticed that the heat was streaming through all the windows at the back of the house so I hung those round, peg jobbies that you get from the cheap shops with socks, hankies & pants attached to them. Dried in 30 mins. :T
Then gently (didn't want to bring poles down) hung coathangers with light cottons (teeshirts, shirts, pj bottoms) on them. Copied the market stall holders idea of used a pole to clip them up there. Got masses of washing dried. The tumble D is definitely sacked!

Ruby_Pudding

Well guess what I've just gone and done............bought a tumble dryer :eek:

But, there is method in my madness because:

a)My husband is a central heating fiend and will turn it on to dry a few clothes on the radiator even when it's sunny outside - so by buying a new TD I hope he will think sensibly about drying a few bits in that and using the radiators only when we have the heating on to keep warm anyway

b)The TD was bought using a £100 refund from Powergen for the amount of credit we were due - DH was v. excited about this and is starting to understand that the less energy we use, the less we pay out so he knows that the dryer cannot be used 24 hours a day or there will be no more lovely electricity refunds in the future

I'm going to keep a strict eye on it's usage (it'll be kept in the spare upstairs bedroom as no room for it in the kitchen) and I'm hoping that I can balance the cost out by using the central heating less.

uf353432

I love the Tesco R&R policy - got a Avent Breast Pump Free of Charge shortly after daughter was born and plan to sell it on Ebay soon! It will be 100% profit!

We just picked up a load of woollen blankets and old pillows from a lady on Freecycle. Perfect, will put under the bottom sheets of all the beds and use the left over blankets to line the curtains in the door way. The pillows we don't use I think i'll use to insulate the bottom of the doors, by making them into sausage dogs.

Still not needed to put the heating on yet - we're going to get the coal soon in preparation of getting those home fires burning. But not yet.

We also just changed the water heater to only come on in the evening. The kettle gives us a bowlful of water in the mornings for washing and then there is water in the evening for showers and such only. Doesn;t make sense having the water come on in the morning and we never use it.

There are some energy saver lightbulbs that have a light sensor on them - we've installed one in our outside light so that now the nights are drawing in the light is on when the light fades. We live where there are no streetlights so it helps us see where to put the key in the lock.

Other developements since my last post is that I have finally used some sealant around the window that was drafty, and put a letterbox draft excluder on the door.

You know thinking of it - might lift up daughters bedroom carpet this weekend and put some of those woolen blankets down as an underlay - that might keep the room a bit warmer.

Good luck with the weather proofing and keep the ideas coming
ian

tawnyowls

tawnyowls wrote:

I use thermal vests. Granted, they're not the sexiest item of clothing ever invented, but they're very warm and very thin, so you can wear them even under skinny-rib jumpers without them being visible. Usually possible to get matching leggings as well, which produce far less static than tights, so very useful to wear under trousers. Damart do the best, but they're quite expensive, and most of the chain stores (certainly Peacocks and Primark) do them much cheaper - usually about £4 for the tops and £6 for the leggings.

And talk of the devil - Aldi are doing thermie tops & leggings for £2.99 each. Only short-sleeved tops, unfortunately, but still v. good price. And don't forget, they had energy-saving bulbs in last week for 99p - might still have some left.

cheerfulness4 wrote:

hung those round, peg jobbies that you get from the cheap shops with socks, hankies & pants attached to them.

Those little peg ring things are brill. I also bought just last week a fabby little extendable clothes line from the 99p shop. Someone was asking about these on an earlier thread and said that theirs was quite flimsy (which they usually are, because they're just meant for hanging smalls above a bath), but my one is really quite strong; there are four quite thick cords, almost as thick as usual clothesline, but string rather than plastic, and the winding wheel at the side pulls out to lock it very firmly in place. Well worth 99p!

kethry

its a beautiful day here today (Manchester), warm (16*C according to the BBC weather website) and sunny - so we've flung open all the doors and windows for a last-gasp airing of the house before winter.. I'm cleaning as well (and falling more and more in love with stardrops.. my cooker has *never* looked so good) so having the windows open is helping with that...

still not turned the heating on - and will resist doing so for as long as possible. If the weather keeps up like this then we'll be lasting well into november...

keth
xx

furrypig

We still haven't had heating on yet but our pilot light is still not fixed and we are having boiler removed and new one fitted on Monday so we will not have any hot waqter either! That's when the challenge will really begin!!!

Any tips for washing grubby children, husband and self with no hot water!!???

HappyShopper3

You could boil kettles of water and just wash in the sink. Not ideal but at least it's only temporary. Does hubby have shower facilities at work? Are there showers at your children's school? What about going to the local leisure centre with the children. You all get to keep fit in their swimming pool and have a free shower after! You could always ask a kindly relative for use of their shower.

maryb

use a garden pressure sprayer and stand in bath or shower tray and pump like mad. You can get a very good shower with half a kettleful of water. we use it when we go sailing

HappyShopper3

That reminds me about those cleaning devices that were on the market to clean the car. It has a brush one end fitted to a hose that goes in a bucket and it somehow pushes the water through the hose with no pump. Can't recall what they're called but remember them advertising them on TV. Substitute cold water for boiled and you're laughing!

TCM_Junkie

furrypig wrote:

We still haven't had heating on yet but our pilot light is still not fixed and we are having boiler removed and new one fitted on Monday so we will not have any hot waqter either! That's when the challenge will really begin!!!

Any tips for washing grubby children, husband and self with no hot water!!???

In an emergency I've stood in the bath & done a strip-wash with a small amount of soapy water and used a kiddies watering can to rinse off - it worked a treat.