Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

Catmeister

I have just gone through this post with the intention of posting about the benefit of hanging clothes in door ways, only for Purple grape to beat me by hours! Another happy side effect of this method is that creases drop out, making them much easier to iron. I also find 'non-iron' shirts are always creased, and then impossible to iron, but by hanging them whilst they dry they get totally crease-free! :j

Loads of great tips in here - I will definitely be heating my hot water bottle tonight - already make good use of hiking socks, but as our wooden floors are slippy, maybe slippers would be a better idea!

One thing I would say though, at the beginning of the thread there was loads of people advising to go to neighbours houses for a 'free warm' - isn't this a bit cheeky? I can bear most things but not the cold indoors, (grew up with icicles on the inside of the window panes - never again brrr) and it's not appropriate for my husband as he has a metal bone which gets terribly painful when it gets cold so I woudn't put the heating up if people came round as no need, but I'm sure lots do - a bit rude then if you're saving pennies by calling in on people when you're effectively making them pay for you!

Apologies if this has been said in the middle of the thread; just a bit worried - I'm all for money saving, but non if it's at the cost of your friends and family!

SusanCarter

Catmeister wrote:

One thing I would say though, at the beginning of the thread there was loads of people advising to go to neighbours houses for a 'free warm' - isn't this a bit cheeky? I can bear most things but not the cold indoors, (grew up with icicles on the inside of the window panes - never again brrr) and it's not appropriate for my husband as he has a metal bone which gets terribly painful when it gets cold so I woudn't put the heating up if people came round as no need, but I'm sure lots do - a bit rude then if you're saving pennies by calling in on people when you're effectively making them pay for you!

Apologies if this has been said in the middle of the thread; just a bit worried - I'm all for money saving, but non if it's at the cost of your friends and family!

I guess the theory is that the someone else will have their heating on anyway and also that if there are more people in a room, the room will be warmer and require less heating as people generate heat. You do have a good point though as I do tend to put the heating up if it's a bit cool and people are coming round.

skintas_2

yeah i hear what you are saying, i dont have to have my heating on a lot, as i have 2 adults and 5 kids live below and 2 adults and 2 kids live above so my flat in the middle is always warm, plus i have neighbours nxt door. only had heating on for 15 mins today just to get hot water for bath, then the rads are warm to dry clother, the rest are put over doors or hung up over the bath on hangersd to dry. i have online tariff and bill is goin down

mirry

Hasnt it been mild, we have had the heating on 14 days over the whole winter and only up to 1 hour each time.

Apparently its going to go really cold soon (so they say) .

Seakay

stilernin wrote:

I have just moved into a new (1896) house. The combi is relatively new and is upstairs outside the bathroom.

Can someone tell me if it is cheaper to boil a kettle or to run the tap for washing up for one person? The kitchen tap runs a whole bowlful of cold before it becomes hot, which presumably means that there is that amount of hot water left in the pipes when I turn it off.

Thanks

Hot water does get left in the pipes - I "harvest" it after washing up by turning on the cold tap and "capturing" the hot water in the kettle until it actually runs cold, (we have a combi as well), so the next kettle of water doesn't take as long to heat.

purplegrape

Catmeister wrote:

I have just gone through this post with the intention of posting about the benefit of hanging clothes in door ways, only for Purple grape to beat me by hours! Another happy side effect of this method is that creases drop out, making them much easier to iron. I also find 'non-iron' shirts are always creased, and then impossible to iron, but by hanging them whilst they dry they get totally crease-free! :j

Hehe, great mind think alike!

kittiwoz

We have had the heating on two hours in the early morning and three hours at night since about November which I consider to be good going. Unfortunately our house is poorly insulated with a solid wall, huge single glazed windows, no carpet underlay and badly fitting doors and it has high ceilings, a basement and only one small radiator in each room. Since we rent there is nothing we can do about any of that.

Now it has got so windy it is starting to get pretty cold and we have had the heating on most of the day. Next post I make I will probably be typing away in my fingerless gloves with a hot water bottle on my lap.

iceicebaby

I have had the heating on very little so far this year and in fact find myself switching it off cos its too hot!

Supposed to be a cold spell next week though, so i spose ill have it on a little bit more although i do also plan to have all my fleeces at the ready too.

ironed_out

:eek: I've just checked our electric/gas account online to find we're £366 in credit:j :j :j They read the meter today, so will look for an update in a few days time for a truer (is that a word? lol) reading.
For the past few months (well, since this thread started really) we switched the water heater on just once a day on a timer for a couple of hours instead of it running 24/7.
Also been unplugging things when not in use (microwave etc) filling a flask with any extra water that was boiled in the kettle but not needed, to use for my coffee during the day
Haven't needed the central heating much at all tbh, but mainly use the gas fire in living room and just put central heating on if it's REALLY cold, just for an hour and need to warm upstairs (bathroom/bedrooms)

Missy79

Tip for those who boil water and store it: don't boil all of your water in the morning and store it, it will inevitably lose some heat during the day even in a good thermos. Boil the minimum you think you need when you need it then if you've overestimated store that in a thermos and add it to the water next time you boil some.
It takes the same amount of energy to heat a certain volume of water to a certain temperature regardless of whether you do it all at once or not.
You're only losing energy by boiling too much if you just let it cool back down again and don't use it/have to reheat it.
This may even save you a tiny bit more as the water in the tank will be a bit warmer later in the day from the heat of the house/higher outside temp etc