MSE's 2011 Petrol/Diesel Cost Diet Challenge: Put your money where your pedal is! 24 December 2010 at 11:01PM edited 11 January 2011 at 8:29PM in Motoring 168 replies 75.4K views

grizzly1911

pgilc1 wrote: »

I've moved from spending £500 a month on diesel and £1500 a year on home heating oil to ZERO fuel costs (i dont have a car as such and now work from home) and we use wood pellets / solar panels in our new house.

Are the wood pellets commercially available an ddo you need a particular type of burner? Is this just far single room warmth or heating/water too?

Weird_Nev

I've been trying to be good:
1997 BMW 328 estate, with a 2.8l straight six engine! Not the best choice for out and out economy. But it is a hoot to drive.

The last two weeks have seen my train line shut down for engineering, combined with me working literally every day this month, and some odd hours meaning I've had to drive 70 miles a day where I would normally cycle and get the train.

I average 30Mpg normally, But pushed this up to 35Mpg over the last tank. Unfortunately late last night and just wanted to get home, causing a heavy right foot and dragging the new tank average down to 28Mpg, but it's back up to 31 today after a gentle drive it.

It can be remarkably efficient ,35 mpg average over 2,000 miles around france in July (running on 98 RON which makes a big difference on this car).
I also get around 5-8% better economy on Shell 95 compared to Morrisons Ullage, enough to offset the 1p/l price distance.

Anyway, not bad for a 175,000 mile car, but I'm looking forwards to getting back on the bike next week!

motorguy

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Are the wood pellets commercially available an ddo you need a particular type of burner? Is this just far single room warmth or heating/water too?

Yes, they're supplied locally here in Northern Ireland by a company called Balcas.

http://www.balcas.com

Its a 'standard' pellet burner as such, comes with an auger to pull the pellets from the main storage bin (holds about 8 tonnes of pellets)

Its 25KW and heats the whole house - around 4000sq/ft - with underfloor heating upstairs and downstairs and each room is a separate zone so can be heated individually.

It heats the water also, when its not warm enough for the solar panels.

Works out about 50-60% of the cost of oil, plus fully renewable as the wood is grown specifically for wood pellets.

motorguy

grizzly1911 wrote: »

Are the wood pellets commercially available an ddo you need a particular type of burner? Is this just far single room warmth or heating/water too?

I've corrected my post to read 'zero oil based costs'

morrisp6

Been looking around for this, and can't see anybody doing this which makes me suspect there is some legal reason why it hasn't been done.. but i don't know what that would be.

Essentially rather than driving to the petrol station to refuel, why not bring the petrol station to you ?

I am sure the overheads should be lower for not having a fixed "station", and i would love to have someone come and refuel the car without me having to leave the house.

Has anyone heard of anything like this ?

Paul

JDPower

morrisp6 wrote: »

Been looking around for this, and can't see anybody doing this which makes me suspect there is some legal reason why it hasn't been done.. but i don't know what that would be.

Essentially rather than driving to the petrol station to refuel, why not bring the petrol station to you ?

I am sure the overheads should be lower for not having a fixed "station", and i would love to have someone come and refuel the car without me having to leave the house.

Has anyone heard of anything like this ?

Paul

Thinking logically I can't see it would work. Instead of driving your relatively light car to the station you would have a much heavier vehicle driving from somewhere to you, using more fuel, producing more pollutants and probably, most importantly, there would be no control over safety at your house - can you guarantee your neighbour won't step out of the house fag in hand.

grizzly1911

morrisp6 wrote: »

Been looking around for this, and can't see anybody doing this which makes me suspect there is some legal reason why it hasn't been done.. but i don't know what that would be.

Essentially rather than driving to the petrol station to refuel, why not bring the petrol station to you ?

I am sure the overheads should be lower for not having a fixed "station", and i would love to have someone come and refuel the car without me having to leave the house.

Has anyone heard of anything like this ?

Paul

I think it would be more expensive for you.

Bit like Corona pop and Davenports beer at home and the milkman.
Ask your dad if you are too young to remember.

Or like waiting for your sofa to be delivered.

I used to have a part time job delivering Paraffin to "poorer housing" and old people for heating, we had a 150 gallon tank in a Transit Van and a mini fuel pump, with gauges powered by a big 12 volt battery. Interesting trying to stop, with that lot sloshing around in the back, even with uprated brakes. Remember the battery connection shorting and flaming alittle why driving taht concentrated the mind a little.

I upgraded to being a petrol pump attendant after that until I left school. Those were the days.

cripps9

Hi guys 1st post for Me here so could'nt help but notice how few people mention (shock horror) trying motorbiking. I was sick of the high cost of fuel and car ownership in general like everyone else then a thought occured why don,t I use the full motorbike licence I got when I was eighteen (a very long time ago) I bought a cheap 250cc banger for 300 quid to see if I would take to it again and after a week or so really enjoyed it again so much so I only missed using it last winter in all that bad weather six times. Yes you do need you're wits about you but thats a good thing when driving anything on today's roads. I traded in that bike for a bigger newer one and it's fantastic. If, at the risk of boring one or two of you , I could briefly give you a quick tech. spec. Fully comp insurance £155 road tax £70 12.5 miles per litre (55mph+) and will be away from traffic lights, if need be quicker than any car. My round trip to and from work , 26 miles of near solid traffic, is now a pleasure with a bit of care and consideration and if you are polite most car drivers now move over for you for which I always acknowledge with a wave or signal of thanks. I now wonder as I pass this near stationary traffic how i stood it just inching forward and wasting all that fuel. So all in all I save on all aspects of motoring now and at least 3 hours travel time. I ride to work now with a smile on my face. motorcycling cannot suit everyone I do realise but for anyone thinking of it give it a go and maybe like me you might just wonder why you did'nt do it years ago.

Rolandtheroadie

Thought about getting rid of a car recently and commuting on the bike, but my car was needed for some things (runs on veg oil and handy for all the running around) and the wifes is needed for some things too (7 seater as we've 4 kids).

Mines averages 45 MPG, I only TPFT it (about £50 after cashback) and it's a hobby when not being used for commuting.

Never stuck in traffic and enough get up and go to be fun.

adi_clarke85

Just coming into this now and as an ex driving instructor, this subject is very close to my heart. I had a 1.4 petrol Fiesta which was getting roughtly 40 mpg when teaching and 48 when I drove. I recently got a DS3 1.6 diesel which was offering 60mpg when teaching and up to 80 otherwise. I loved it but decided to give up driving instruction.

I'm now car sharing with the OH. She has a 2004 Audi A3 2.0 TDI. I started driving it regularly last month and the MPG rises by 0.1 mpg each day, think I will work out how to reset the trip computer and see what I can get next time I fill it up. We filled up on Saturday, it cost £73.00, the range said 730 miles, it has 3/4 left in the tank and the range is still around 500 miles - may be a lot lower now as the OH is driving it today!