Preparing for Winter V

Carrieandco

I also took the plunge and ordered two pairs of turtle doves from eBay which arrived this morning.  A pair in a soft taupe colour and a beautiful slate blue.  Can’t find anything wrong with either of them and considering ordering some for my daughter too.  Top tip Super Moose, thanks x

newlywed

Si_Clist said:

newlywed said: 

I did wonder if it uses much electric for the gas heating…. Will have to try putting the heating and hot water on early when e7 hours are still on if that is the case.

For what it's worth, for our boiler (Greenstar30i, 4 years old), the ratio of electric to gas consumption is roughly 32%.  So for every 3 units (kWh) of gas the boiler burns, it uses about one unit of electric.  Hope that helps a bit (or at least is interesting!).

Helpful and interesting thanks. Definitely need to adjust the morning hot water when the clocks change. Thanks.

that’s the only trouble with not having a smart meter… working out what things cost if they won’t fit in a tapo plug!

Have just done a lightbulb audit and realised the lamp is using 5x10w bulbs when it could be using 2w bulbs and be brighter!  Having worked out if we have each light or lamp on for 5 hours a day (that is one we use a lot) how many money we might save… the cost of new led bulbs for that would should be recouped in a year!  The other bulbs will save less than £2 a year so would take a long while to recover the £9 per bulb price.

my brain is aching from comparing lumens and wattage tho!

SuperMoose

Grumpelstiltskin said:

SuperMoose said:

Hello all

I can't remember which OS thread it was on but there was talk about Turtle Doves and their fingerless cashmere gloves. Thought this thread would be a good place to mention them.

I liked the idea of them but £35 is a lot of money to pay so I was really pleased to see they have an Ebay shop selling factory seconds for £7.99 including P&P.  If you want more than one pair it's even cheaper. You can't pick a colour but for that price I'm not bothered!

I ordered a pair that arrived 2 days later and I'm still not sure what is wrong with them They are fab and so warm.

Link in case anyone else wants a pair

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363986728235

I ordered a pair after I read your post.
They arrived super quick and when I looked at the colours on E Bay I thought anything but orange - not my colour but blue would be ideal.
I was a bit wary opening the box but not to worry - navy blue.
I think you should be on commission from Turtle Doves.

Sadly I'm not but glad you got a pair in a colour you like

Cherryfudge

newlywed said:

my brain is aching from comparing lumens and wattage tho!

I can see this is the next thing I need to try to get my head round - it seems like no time at all since we were all being urged to get long life light bulbs! In fact, my parents laid in a stock of the old 100W bulbs because they wanted the brightness and the new standard ones weren't quite as bright as their supposed equivalents.

I inherited the rest of the 100W bulbs and now my eyes don't cope as well with poor light, I was beginning to wonder if they'd come in useful - but they must cost many times what an LED costs to run.

And along the same lines, has anyone else found their lower-powered long life bulbs rarely wear out so they are stuck with them instead of LEDs?

Fruball

Super Moose 
Thank you. I too have taken delivery of the wrist warmers.  I got a lovely soft grey colour and am pleased with them. 

florianatwobob

@Cherryfudge I had a similar battle this week as I had to replace the lightbulb in the bathroom for the first time in about 10 years. I too have some energy efficient bulbs in stock but this was the first I’ve been able to swap over to LED!

C_J

@SuperMoose Thank you for the Turtle Doves reminder. The link didn’t work for me but searching eBay found their new listing, so I ordered a pair. An offer code popped up for £5 off, valid until tonight, so the wrist warmers ended up costing me £2.99 including postage. I’m delighted!

Jellytotts

Si_Clist said:

Jellytotts said:

My parents stayed here whilst we had a few days away, they used the heating every morning and mid afternoon/evening, set at 20 degrees.  They both showered daily too and the cost of gas for the entirec time was £5.37. (Dad was fascinated by the smart display unit so kept track of what the were using)

(our boiler and all radiators were replaced 3 years ago and we are in a bungalow - for reference)

We haven’t had it on ourselves yet, back doors and windows still open and summer duvet still on the bed.  Long may it last.

But what about the extra electric they used?  Don't forget that your gas central heating uses a significant amount of electricity too.  Watching the real-time consumption of both on your meter display while the boiler's running can be a bit of an eye-opener ...

Electricity usage whilst they were here was just over £4 for the 3 days (these are comparable rates to the 1st oCtober cap prices as we are on a fix)   So that's 3 days of kettles being boiled (we use a hob top kettle normally but Mum prefers an electric one), tv watching, computer use and electric blanket oh and the toaster/microwave for breakfast.  As we have solar panels it's all dependent on the light level for us.  Electricity usage was way lower than if we'd been at home as we have an electric car to charge, they don't. 

I can get a better idea of what the boiler is costing us electricity wise when we have it on and it's dark (which is rare because we light the fire instead of heating for afternoons/evenings)

Si_Clist

newlywed said:

... my brain is aching from comparing lumens and wattage tho!

At least you're comparing light outputs as well though!  I'm sure most folk just compare wattage, go for whatever's supposed to be an equivalent, and then wonder why the light seems dimmer.  Hardly surprising - it does rot your brain a bit ...

Wednesday2000

I bought a pair of the turtle dove gloves last year, but found them too tight although my hands are relatively thin compared to the rest of me! Oh well. I do have problems with my wrists and hands so maybe that is why. I donated them so someone else could use them.

I have noticed that the newer energy efficient bulbs last much less time than the old ones. The light bulb went out on my office desk light last night actually and we didn't have a spare screw in bulb so I switched it over with my bedroom lamp so I didn't have a lamp in my bedroom last night.

I used the solar lamp and my LED candle for light in my bedroom last night instead. I was trying to charge the solar lamp by the window and that worked in the summer months but now I have had to put it outside during the day to charge fully. I might just use them in place of buying a new bulb actually.

I am making a big batch of coconut red lentil soup today. It was very foggy and misty when I let my dog out early this morning. Perfect soup weather.:)