Spill the beans... on your extreme energy saving tricks

skarne

I have just moved into a one bed flat, which is massive (especially the living/dining area) as it's a warehouse conversion type place. I love it, but erm, I'm not just paying out of my nose rentwise, all orifices are excreting pennies to cover rent etc. Still, that's besides the point (before anyone points out I could have chosen somewhere cheaper, the area I had to move to for work is all this ridiculously expensive, I have no savings for a mortgage and my salary is only modest!).

I have discovered:

- Turning everything except the fridge off helps a lot.
- Candles. Candles, candles, candles. More importantly, POUND SHOP candles. They provide heat, light, and sometimes a nice smell if I pop in one of the vanilla scented ones I got by mistake. They are also very cheap.
- I am so glad that I am not the only person who does the leave-the-oven-door-open trick.
- Luckily, hot water is on demand. So, shower properly every other day, but standing wash otherwise, (I can assure you I don't stink), do the washing up once a day - and minimise use of pans etc by doing one pot meals - and I don't put the heating on at the moment, and I won't til it gets to using a duvet when sitting on the sofa (note duvet, not just blankets. Duvet is, like, snow weather), and/or guests are over.
- I have to leave the door open when bathing/showering as there isn't a window in my bathroom, but this means the heat does dissipate throughout the flat
- I'm in the middle of a flat above and below - stealing excess heat tee hee
- I'm on Orange and can access a BTOpenzone free wifi in my flat, and do most of my work from my phone instead of firing up the laptop
- I charge my phone at work
- I listen to the radio sometimes, while the ipod is charging on it, and then listen to my ipod at night instead of using the mains radio all the time
- My one luxury is my 32 inch TV. I won't budge - I live alone, I need company! But it is only on for an hour (or two if DVD watching) every other day at most, and switched off at plug when not in use
- Did I say candles? :-)

So, I stink, have bad eyesight from candles, steal energy (in the whole entropy way, not an illegal way!), take advantage of little-known wifi opportunities, don't do the washing up and have a lot of blankets. Still, the flat's nice.

mrs.frugal

grahamc2003 wrote: »

So, to summerise the energy saving ideas up to now, we put all empty boxes in the loft for extra insulation, put any old unironed knickers and socks on the walls to help with insulation, turn the thermostat down to -18C so it doesn’t come on unnecessarliy, stick soggy newspaper into the electricity sockets to block that source of draughts, give the wife a cuddle under a couple of electric blankes and various eiderdowns during the 5 minute per day radio (not TV!) allowance, capture the warm smoke from smokers outside pubs and bring it inside to warm the room, burn arsenic on the stove but wear a gas mask to clean the fumes, drink warm bacteria solution from the hot water system, chop value sausages into tiny cubes so they fry quicker, spend October to April in the Bahamas, install a proximity system to detect when anyone enters or leaves the house and automatically swtiches off all electrical devices, limit yourself to one hot drink a day at 03:00 to use cheap electricity, ask neighbours if you can bathe in their bathwater before they pull the plug, only iron clothes for people under 3 months old, ensure all clothes are either silk or cashmere, look upon mould as an attractive wall covering, use night vision goggles if you want to read after dark, have 2 pairs of thermal lined curtains at each window, turn laser printers off 24/7 and dot matrix printers on 24/7, or vice versa, ensure all appliances are AAAA rated, and even then don’t use them, cook food in the same pan - with a large pan you can cook soup, eggs, tarte tartin, dumplings and soufle (but not Maris Piper potatoes) all together just by adding hot water, wash clothes in mouthwash and dry them in the greenhouse, make a nice carpet from used bathtowels, and last but not least and my favorite, ensure your bath is physically too small to get into!

Phew, better get to it.

Just caught up with this - wonderful, Graham - and I shall of course be following all your tips to the letter.....

katieclampet

grahamc2003 wrote: »

So, to summerise the energy saving ideas up to now, we put all empty boxes in the loft for extra insulation, put any old unironed knickers and socks on the walls to help with insulation, turn the thermostat down to -18C so it doesn’t come on unnecessarliy, stick soggy newspaper into the electricity sockets to block that source of draughts, give the wife a cuddle under a couple of electric blankes and various eiderdowns during the 5 minute per day radio (not TV!) allowance, capture the warm smoke from smokers outside pubs and bring it inside to warm the room, burn arsenic on the stove but wear a gas mask to clean the fumes, drink warm bacteria solution from the hot water system, chop value sausages into tiny cubes so they fry quicker, spend October to April in the Bahamas, install a proximity system to detect when anyone enters or leaves the house and automatically swtiches off all electrical devices, limit yourself to one hot drink a day at 03:00 to use cheap electricity, ask neighbours if you can bathe in their bathwater before they pull the plug, only iron clothes for people under 3 months old, ensure all clothes are either silk or cashmere, look upon mould as an attractive wall covering, use night vision goggles if you want to read after dark, have 2 pairs of thermal lined curtains at each window, turn laser printers off 24/7 and dot matrix printers on 24/7, or vice versa, ensure all appliances are AAAA rated, and even then don’t use them, cook food in the same pan - with a large pan you can cook soup, eggs, tarte tartin, dumplings and soufle (but not Maris Piper potatoes) all together just by adding hot water, wash clothes in mouthwash and dry them in the greenhouse, make a nice carpet from used bathtowels, and last but not least and my favorite, ensure your bath is physically too small to get into!

Phew, better get to it.

This made my day!!! :rotfl:

katie

aurongrande_2

grahamc2003 wrote: »

So, to summerise the energy saving ideas up to now, we put all empty boxes in the loft for extra insulation, put any old unironed knickers and socks on the walls to help with insulation, turn the thermostat down to -18C so it doesn’t come on unnecessarliy, stick soggy newspaper into the electricity sockets to block that source of draughts, give the wife a cuddle under a couple of electric blankes and various eiderdowns during the 5 minute per day radio (not TV!) allowance, capture the warm smoke from smokers outside pubs and bring it inside to warm the room, burn arsenic on the stove but wear a gas mask to clean the fumes, drink warm bacteria solution from the hot water system, chop value sausages into tiny cubes so they fry quicker, spend October to April in the Bahamas, install a proximity system to detect when anyone enters or leaves the house and automatically swtiches off all electrical devices, limit yourself to one hot drink a day at 03:00 to use cheap electricity, ask neighbours if you can bathe in their bathwater before they pull the plug, only iron clothes for people under 3 months old, ensure all clothes are either silk or cashmere, look upon mould as an attractive wall covering, use night vision goggles if you want to read after dark, have 2 pairs of thermal lined curtains at each window, turn laser printers off 24/7 and dot matrix printers on 24/7, or vice versa, ensure all appliances are AAAA rated, and even then don’t use them, cook food in the same pan - with a large pan you can cook soup, eggs, tarte tartin, dumplings and soufle (but not Maris Piper potatoes) all together just by adding hot water, wash clothes in mouthwash and dry them in the greenhouse, make a nice carpet from used bathtowels, and last but not least and my favorite, ensure your bath is physically too small to get into!

Phew, better get to it.

Hey, I came in at the end of that :rotfl:

It's true, my bath can't be called a bath, but I'm not the only one suffering with this problem no thanks to my local council. They've been going round all the council owned homes they own and bringing kitchens and bathrooms up to standards. However, the bathroom or kitchen has to be at least 10 years old.

It's a government thing. Making sure that people have a decent living standard. But councils being what they are, they do this sort of thing to a minimum cost. Show shallow baths, cheap inefficient showers etc get fitted.

I'd attach a photo of my bath as proof, but you can't do that in this forum.

maisiemac_2

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

grahamc2003 wrote: »

So, to summerise the energy saving ideas up to now, we put all empty boxes in the loft for extra insulation, put any old unironed knickers and socks on the walls to help with insulation, turn the thermostat down to -18C so it doesn’t come on unnecessarliy, stick soggy newspaper into the electricity sockets to block that source of draughts, give the wife a cuddle under a couple of electric blankes and various eiderdowns during the 5 minute per day radio (not TV!) allowance, capture the warm smoke from smokers outside pubs and bring it inside to warm the room, burn arsenic on the stove but wear a gas mask to clean the fumes, drink warm bacteria solution from the hot water system, chop value sausages into tiny cubes so they fry quicker, spend October to April in the Bahamas, install a proximity system to detect when anyone enters or leaves the house and automatically swtiches off all electrical devices, limit yourself to one hot drink a day at 03:00 to use cheap electricity, ask neighbours if you can bathe in their bathwater before they pull the plug, only iron clothes for people under 3 months old, ensure all clothes are either silk or cashmere, look upon mould as an attractive wall covering, use night vision goggles if you want to read after dark, have 2 pairs of thermal lined curtains at each window, turn laser printers off 24/7 and dot matrix printers on 24/7, or vice versa, ensure all appliances are AAAA rated, and even then don’t use them, cook food in the same pan - with a large pan you can cook soup, eggs, tarte tartin, dumplings and soufle (but not Maris Piper potatoes) all together just by adding hot water, wash clothes in mouthwash and dry them in the greenhouse, make a nice carpet from used bathtowels, and last but not least and my favorite, ensure your bath is physically too small to get into!

Phew, better get to it.

Carriannelouise

newcook wrote: »

my mom was telling me about these - they do them at primark! just got to wait until payday til I go and get mine!

we have free heating in our building (well included in our rent) but untill it comes on we live in our tellytubby suits! the postie seems to think they are hilarious!!! x

shirleymarye

Katie-Kat-Kins wrote: »

I have tried doing this but it sets our smoke alarms off. I hate to waste the heat from the hob or oven once I have left the room by shutting the door behind me but in winter it seems to set of the smoke detector.

Yes the terribly bright builders thought the ideal place for a smoke detector would be outside the kitchen door....

It is soooo over sensitive that even though I have covered it in cling flim it still goes off when I open the kitchen door or if I cook with the door open. It isn't that the oven needs cleaning the electric hob and the toaster also manage to set it off on a cold day. I think it is the warm air moving that does it.

Any suggestions for temporarily disabling the thing? It is wired into the mains so I can't just take the battery out......

Oh and before I get a fire safety lecture I have another on the upstairs landing that is in full working order and is not tampered with. But this one is driving me potty! It must drive the neighbours nuts too as it goes of pretty much daily.

I have one of these right outside my kitchen door,I can't use the grill on my cooker because it always goes off,I tried opening the window when using it but it makes no difference!
This one is also wired in as well!

djmikeyt

:TOnly fill the kettle with the amount of water that you will use immediately (e.g. enough to make two cuppas). Once you empty the kettle, fill it again straight away with enough to make one or two cuppas - the element will still be hot and it will part-heat the water and save you energy the next time you boil it because you are then boiling warm water, not cold water from the tap.

Mary_Hartnell

Bezique wrote: »

Anyone know what this stuff is called and where I can get it? Can't find it anywhere.

Last year we kept the curtains drawn most days during winter and used thermal linings and old bits of board and plastic against the windows to insulate more. Seemed to help as heatings costs stayed about the same despite being much colder.

When I upgraded my loft/attic room, to make a small comfortable office, I had to decide what to do about its existing 1960's casement window (one of those hinged swing opening ones, with another little push open one at the top of the rectangular window. made of easy to rot pine:mad:). The rest of the house is already double galzed with sealed units.

A neighbour recommended this stuff:
http://www.magneglaze.co.uk/index.php

So I piggybacked on his order - It came to about £100 if I remember correctly and took about an hour to stick two panels to a flat scrubbed clean white window frame. Tip I was given - don't butt the panels together unless you must to avoid draughts getting through. Leaving space for a finger nail, allows for expansion between summer and winter so turn on the heating and fit in a warm room, ready to keep it that way.
Well that was three years ago, did the job, almost invisible as clearer than glass and anyway the edges are hidden by curtains.

Not only did it stop the cold draught as I sat staring over the hills,
instead of getting on with the job in hand, but it also stopped the condensation that always tries to find its way to the least heated room in the house.:D

Peonie

Use the water from cooking the veg to make gravy, it not only saves energy and water but also tastes a lot better than using water straight from the kettle.