Introduction, MF wannabe

edinburgher

Nail polish - think that'll be something to do with the yeast?

We use a mix of Philip's Master and Aurora LED bulbs in our house.

lincoln-potter

choccielover wrote: »

Which bulbs did you go for? I'm looking to swap out too but don't know what make to buy!

The GU10 bulbs I went for the same brand which our electrician put in, they are BELL. I found them online at lightbulbs4u at a good price, although the delivery took a while. But for the price it was worth it.

DD1 has some very old light fittings so tomorrows job is to finish wiring her GU10's in.

DD2 has some G9 bulbs, those I went for just some off ebay, make was sunix and the quality seems fine enough.

Finally DD3 has yet another.... she had G4 led bulbs... again they were off ebay.

Hopefully I'll notice some difference in the bills, although choosing the wrong "light" didn't help. I would go for warm white option, I chose pure white which is a little too bright.

edinburgher wrote: »

Nail polish - think that'll be something to do with the yeast?

We use a mix of Philip's Master and Aurora LED bulbs in our house.

Yeah I did wonder if it was something like that, they'll be fine for toast I suppose

I'm tempted to swap our remaining low energy bulbs for the Phillips hue, not to save money as they are the same energy but for the smart features. Being able to have a schedule set and having a when we go away for it to appear like the house is occupied.

lincoln-potter

We have just ordered a 4kw solar panel system, it says 9year payback based on the figures given, I am sceptical it will be that soon but I am hoping to use dishwasher/washing machine etc on timer for during the day.

Hoping to being our £85 a month electric bill down. Ideally I want it around the £20 (which is possible for summer months, how it'll be in winter....who knows).

LED's are still being fitted (some where dafg GU5.3 12V..... which complicated things).

lincoln-potter

So we had our home efficiency check done and we made the grade D required to get the solar panel feed in tariff. All systems go for fitting.

OH seems quite keen on the panels and using electric during the day, hopefully she'll continue this once they are fitted. I looked at our usage and as far as I can tell the main culprits are: Oven (electric), washing machine, tumble & dishwasher. The kids playstations didn't impact our usage as much as expected. So with some planning I am sure we can use the washing machine & dishwasher during the day using their timer function.

I also finished last night converting the last of the GU10 & GU5.3 bulbs to LED. Typically the very last one had a short cable so I had to go up into the tightest spot of the attic in order to remove the 12V transformer. All done and looks a lot better (& brighter).

Looked to vote in the poll today but the polling station was busy on the way to work so I'll have to suffer the queues tonight after.

lincoln-potter

Solar panels are fitted just waiting for the new fuseboard to be fitted and then they will starting bringing in the cash. I'll see after a few months if they generate what was promised....

Not much money saving wise has gone on, just spends on existing projects. We do need to pull out finger out on wedding preparations as there is now less than a year to go and we only have the honeymoon booked ha.

lincoln-potter

Its been a week and so far the panels have been generating around 14-15kw on average a day, the peak so far was 18kw and the low of 11kw.

Once the builders have finished on site with the garage build I'll be able to assess just what the likely payback period is likely to be and see how far out their estimates were.

lincoln-potter

Panels have been going up to 3kw/h with the extreme heat which apparently is too hot and makes them less efficient. Had a high of 29kw produced in one day and so far to date its produced 321kw over 23 days so averages 14kw a day. That's a massive £21.75 feed in tariff payment lol.

The winter period will be the key test, but so far I am happy with that.

Final days on the garage build, just had to do the final stage payment (El skinto now).

Lots more jobs to do on the house though.
Water pipes need replacing as they are corroded it seems.
Drive needs ripping up and re-doing with some area's turfing.

Its never ending.

misscousinitt

You have been busy LP.

We are about to start all this sort of stuff.

MCI

PennyJar

Hi there,

My electric bill definitely needs TLC - currently looking into what bulbs to get to help saving and where from, but not a clue really where to start?

I just started MFW diary called 'Penny by Penny' and would greatly appreciate any tips/tricks. Have triple glazed windows, switch off lights etc but we still come in super high on our bills?

Thanks,
PennyJar

lincoln-potter

Argh I've been slack again and not come on for a while.

misscousinitt wrote: »

You have been busy LP.

We are about to start all this sort of stuff.

MCI

Well some of the LED bulbs I bought for the kids room are naff, 3 out of 4 already broken.....

PennyJar wrote: »

Hi there,

My electric bill definitely needs TLC - currently looking into what bulbs to get to help saving and where from, but not a clue really where to start?

I just started MFW diary called 'Penny by Penny' and would greatly appreciate any tips/tricks. Have triple glazed windows, switch off lights etc but we still come in super high on our bills?

Thanks,
PennyJar

I'll pop down in a moment and check your diary out Penny.

Regarding bulbs, what I really want are Phillips hue because not only are they energy saving LED's but you can control them via your phone (great for making sure the kids are asleep), they also can link to Samsungs smarthings alarm. (I do love a good gadget).

But to start off with some some standard bright white or warm white depending upon what brightness you want LED's will do.
Safest is from B&Q or somewhere, best price from Ebay but like me some aren't so good, the other styles I got like GU10 connectors work perfectly.