As The Workhouse Approaches....How To Do Everything To Avoid It, the Old Style Way

smileyt_2

Who was asking about covers for raised beds? What about the frame of a toddler's trampoline? My neighbour recently threw one out. I rescued it, threw the base in the bin, and kept the 16ft bungee rope and the frame, which will fit nicely over my raised bed. I will cover it with some plastic. Et voila! I imagine you can pick them up very cheaply on ebay.

I am sitting here using my solar powered lamp instead of having the light on.

I have a new cooker arriving in the morning (my old one developed a leak and was condemned) and I've just realised there isn't a clear passage through the house :eek: So I'm off to bed and will get up early in the morning to have a panic-stricken tidy; I'm too tired to start now.

Sweet dreams, all!

LittleBrownFrog

Sorry - no time to read all the replies at the moment (can't believe how many posts since I was on here earlier!) ... re. terracotta pot/nightlight heaters for greenhouses. Not sure if I'm missing something ... could you not just put the tealight on a plate or baking tray & put the pot over the top - the drainage hole in the pot should be enough to let air to the tea-light?

claudiac_2

Greenbee - I would go the whole hog on green energy - solar, wind etc, but since all that costs a fortune to set up, can't see it happening any time soon, so if I get myself a wood burning stove it will satisfy some of my need to feel that I am doing a bit to save myself from being dictated to by big companies. It's as you say - we need to do what we can, in line with our own values, and I like to think that in a small way we are fighting back!
Redlady - I have been reading lots about the types of wood and their burning qualities, just need to figure out a way of remembering what I have read!! Helps a bit that OH knows his trees/wood types, so he can keep me on the right road I hope. And I am hoping that he will take charge of the wood chopping - have I not got enough to do every day already??

saveabobortwo

are yours from the garden centre?:rotfl:ours were from b and q they are white and shaped like lamps they do charge up really well but are not powerfull enough to light our rooms up properly infact they are now just left in the garden and used as a garden GLOW . Oh and our dog pees up them:D

smileyt_2

Hi saveabob, no it's a desk lamp from ikea. A friend bought it for me last year. It's ok for close up things like reading, or shining on a black computer keyboard.

My parents are in Australia at the moment visiting family. They've just phoned and apparently it's as cold there as it is here! I know it's winter over there but it's normally around 23 degrees C. Looks like the weather is kaput all over the globe, then All that way and no sunshine!

saveabobortwo

what you got to light your rooms re solar and something that lights up properly please

saveabobortwo

if there s any thing thats a more economical replacement so i never have to switch on the electric again emphasise on affordable im all ears:)

mardatha

Redlady, the HA put the heating in , not us. They do that here cos a lot of their houses are very rural and we get frequent power cuts. My house is much hotter than the neighbours, they all moan they're too hot when they come in. But we found it easier to leave it on than to light it every day. Its a huge stove and takes so long to get going and uses so much coal to fill it that we just leave it on, but turned to 0. Also the longer you keep a coal fire on, the warmer the stone of the house becomes, and then it stores the heat. Is a dear way for you of buying coal though, if you have to buy the wee bags

HariboJunkie

redlady_1 wrote: »

Just a quick one for those talking about woodburners. Be warned. This is not a cheap alternative to gas/electric. Factor in the installation, a decent stove, the price of wood, coal, sweep, repairs, time, cleaning and dust you wont have saved much. The only people who do save are those who source free wood - and you need alot of it to keep a burner going. I get through one former outside toilets (that is my wood shed) worth every month in the Winter and that will cost me anywhere from £75 upwards. It works out about 1.2 cubic metres.

We are lucky enough to have free wood and the fireplace is ready to go. OH will do as much of the installation as is legal and the chimney is lined.
Our electricty is high because we use it for our air to air heat inverter system and for hot water. We currently pay £120 per month. With a fire in the living room and kitchen we would have little use for the inverter and the back boiler would mean constant hot water. OH is constantly boiling the kettle (gas stove top) so it would be good to make a saving there too if we used the woodburner for that too. It would just be so nice to decrease that direct debit as we're not frivolous with electricity so once we wiped out the immersion heater the bill should drop alot.

Am hoping OH's business does well enough in the coming year so we can pay ourselves enough to keep up with these rising costs.

June is my majorly expensive month with birthdays and lots of extra expense. I have saved up for it but it's always a shock.

July will be frugal but fun provided we get some bl oody sun. :cool:

lizzyb1812

Hi - back on the boards after a couple of years away.

Like a few I've seen on here I'm fairly newly single at a fairly ripe age - by choice and loving it but with plenty of challenges to meet.

Re: the raised bed cold frame thing - I've got a raised bed that I've added 2 tiers of extra planks to. Some neighbours had their windows replaced and I took - with permission - the old windows. Couldn't work out a workable greenhouse with them so freecycled them but did keep the clear acrylic sheet that had been used to secondary glaze one of the windows. I've made a frame for this and lay it over the heightened raised bed - instant cold frame!

Now XOH has gone I'm free to be aggressively tightwaddy (my inspiration is Amy Dacyczyn) and have discovered through trial and error that having the boiler on for just half an hour is sufficient for a quick shower and washing up - the washer is cold fill and I've switched to using the quick programmes (why do modern washing machines take over 2 hours and endless washes/drains/rinses?)

I've been uplifted by the creative, supportive atmosphere on here and decided to "delurk" - by the way re the drying thingy, would a mini greenhouse plastic cover fit over a concertina-type clothes dryer?

Looking forward to getting to know you all better - and, Mardatha, I'm definitely doing bedroom windowsill tomatoes next year

Lizzy


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