Avoid using GAS and ELECTRIC !

SusanCarter

Presumably the people who boil water first thing and store it are on E7 so they are boiling it when it is cheaper.

Rage_in_Eden

Mr Rage and I have been discussing the possibility of getting a wood burning stove and putting it in the fireplace in the back room. When we moved into the house the old-style wall-mounted baxi bermuda (my Mum's prize possession !) was removed as we were having a new central heating system with a boiler in the garage. The flue bricks at the back are still there and the chimney is open with the flue in it (although we have boarded over it) but at the moment it just has a rather fetching ikea print, some fairy lights and a couple of plants in there. We were thinking that if we got a stove we could (a) burn wood from the trees we prune in the garden on it and (b) make newspaper bricks to burn as well as get wood from the local farmers. Has anyone else done this and what would it entail? It looks like we can get a stove off the internet for about £200 and we could even run up to 3 radiators off that. Help and guidance would be appreciated!!

bizzylizzy

Because of lack of space we have put up 2 bookshelf type shelves about a foot above 2 radiators. One is in the kitchen where it has saucepans etc stored on it and the other shelves are actually used for books in the iddy-biddy hall. The heat from the radiators goes up and heats up the bottom shelf. So in an attempt to deflect the heat back down and into the rooms I have stuck kitchen foil on the underside of the shelves. Do you think I am kidding myself that this will make the slightest difference? Does anyone have any other ideas that would work?
(And no, I can't move the shelves!)

SusanCarter

Apparently shelves above radiators are a good idea because they direct the hot air flow into the middle of the room instead of letting it go up to the ceiling.

chinagirl

Take a look at where your thermostat is for your gas central heating.
If it is in the hall, you will be using too much gas. As each time you open your front door, the air temperature will drop, and the thermostat would trigger the boiler to fire up to increase the temperature in the radiators all round the house!

Best place for it is situated in the most popular room of the house, say living room/front room, in a warm alcove where there will little fluctuation in air temperature around it. That way you will making sure your main living space is the optimum temperature instead of the hall being it. This will save you money in the long run. May even pay to get it moved if feasable!

carolt

Was freezing this morning, snow outside, sneezing away - thought to check the thermostat. It was on 55 degrees F - a bit cold I thought. Turns ot DH 'can't do fahrenheit' and had set the thermostat on that thinking it was about right - it is about 15 degrees C - no wonder our house was freezing!

I've just turned it up to 65 degree F to warm me up - about 18.3 degrees C. So that's one way to save money - accidentally set the thermostat way too low! (It's OK for him as he's out at work in nice warm office - I'm at home with baby dressed in big jumpers.....)!:rotfl:

anne99

Rage in Eden - #853

We have a wood burning stove and we love it, except that it gives off so much heat we have to leave the door to the hall open or roast! We try to keep the fire low, and stoke it with a log every hour or so, but if you go away and forget, it burns out and has to be relit. So it's a bit of a faff, but worth it in room you use a lot. Another limitation is that our main heating is storage heaters, which are always warm in the winter even when the stove is lit. If you have radiators, with a room thermostat in the room with the stove, your heating system would cut out when the stove is on and you would save gas.

We bought our stove about 10 years ago, and didn't really know what we were looking for. We went for the smallest 'air-wash' model, that has a special airflow to help keep the glass windows clean. That is definitely an important feature IMO, unless you have one with metal doors of course.

We have also tried making 'bricks' from old newspapers, but we gave that up quite quickly. I never felt we really mastered the technique, or at least we didn't find a successful one. You have to wet the paper to make it stick into a brick shape - a form of paper mache, I suppose. Wet it too much and you have loads of foamy water to squeeze out, and a brick that takes days to dry out, and if you don't fashion some sort of rack to dry it on, it sticks to the ground and/or never dries out. If you leave it too dry, the paper sheets don't stick together, and after all your pressing and squeezing you are left with ... bits of newspaper. I never did find a happy medium between these two extremes.

Now, we use about six sheets of newspaper made into 'knots' to light the stove, and recycle the rest in our recycling bin.

purplecatlover

ok i have only read a few pages of this thread but someone said their cat helps keep the heating costs down........its my cat that makes my costs go up. she is old and likes the house hot enough for me to be in short sleeves and even then she wants on my knee and under my blanket!

(but my loft is getting insulated soon and warm front should be out to evaluate and do stuff soon too)

skintmummy

I have been finding this a really good read thought I would give it a bump.

MORPH3US

Got my first quarterly gas / electric bill yesterday - £136 from 1st November to 8th Feb... well chuffed with that.

DD is currently set at £60 and has given us a credit of £44 in the winter months so am well happy!!!

M