Travelling On

Alchemilla

Karmacat said:

Ach, didn't do any of the gardening, but did actually do the cooking - I have to accept that the first time I did the twice-the-size cookery, when it went really well and tasted great, was beginner's luck.  Need to go back to normal size bake, and then it will be perfect.

I kind of knew I wouldn't do much else   

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is nothing.

Profundity courtesy of DD2's meeting at school!

debtfreeoneday

I’m intrigued now (slightly delayed catching up) on other energy bills. Ours was £278 last month. We don’t have gas. 😬

Karmacat

Alchemilla said:

Karmacat said:

I kind of knew I wouldn't do much else   

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is nothing.

Profundity courtesy of DD2's meeting at school!

That's a pretty good profundity - maybe we all need to hear that sometimes.

debtfreeoneday said:

I’m intrigued now (slightly delayed catching up) on other energy bills. Ours was £278 last month. We don’t have gas. 😬

Yikes!  Mine is comparable in terms of expenses, because it includes all the fuel I use.  Debtfree, that's a lot, in my eyes Are you single glazed, or old boiler, or a massive house?  Or almost 24 hour needs, like Cheery sometimes has for months on end?  I'm a bit concerned for you, you work so hard at bringing in extra money  💚

I just bought a Christmas present, for the parents of the new baby - they have *everything* they need, and lots more in stock, so I followed sister's suggestion and bought lots of posh snacks, from the gluten free page at Joe&Sephs.  I've realised that I really do only have 4 sets of presents to buy, which feels extremely weird, but does no end of good for my budget and my environmental concerns.  These snacks will go straight to the couple, so no need to test my wrapping skills, and paid for a gift tag so they say the delivery slip will be discreet total for the three of them, sort of, £20.50 a head.

debtfreeoneday

None. It’s our heating that costs as it’s electric. Our bills in the warm months are £50. Have tumble going a bit. Kids / washing and all that. 

Suffolk_lass

debtfreeoneday said:

None. It’s our heating that costs as it’s electric. Our bills in the warm months are £50. Have tumble going a bit. Kids / washing and all that. 

my GNU original pulley clothes airer is brilliant - 10 minutes in the tumble-dryer then on hangers on the airer in the cupboard with the boiler (used to be the hot water cylinder) and it dries overnight.

Karmacat

It's always heating that costs, isn't it!  Thanks for that, debtfree.  I must admit, when my washing machine dies (and they do, a lot, don't they!) I'm going to buy one with a tumble capacity.  I don't like it, but it shouldn't take too much extra raw materials to make, and I really don't intend to use it regularly, but I'm really struggling to dry bedding and bathtowels during the winter.  

I was determined to go out for a morning walk today: getting melanin levels set, using those abdominal muscles etc etc ad infinitum.  Cloudless blue sky, and I was out by late morning, lets say, I was thrilled.  New housing estate going up, so I walked round to the far side of it and checked out the footpaths - they've now just about been joined up, and I can see there's a further one as well, I'll investigate that another day.

Late to lunch because of that, and I'm finally ready to do the rest of my stuff.  Top priority is submitting my tax return - nothing's leaped out from my subconscious to worry me, so I'll do that now.  Will also carry on with sorting what I want to do for the year.  Oh, the green bin work.  I wish my diary would turn up, I'd like to get it running.  Oh, there's quite a bit to do, isn't there, I'd better get off my backside!

Cheery_Daff

I've been impressed by how much our dehumidifier helps with the washing. Didn't buy it for that - we bought it to dry out new plaster and help with general dampness, but actually with that plugged in next to the washing hung on an airer, it's usually dry within 24 hours, even bedding (I don't run it for the whole 24 hours, usually just a few hours in the day). I do only tend to wash one of sheet/duvet cover at a time as I don't have room on the airer for both. But this has certainly made a difference to how quickly I can get through the washing! 

Doesn't help me put it away though sadly 😂😂

No idea how it compares in terms of cost/resources to a tumble drier. It cost £120 to buy, and is a lot smaller than a tumble drier! But it's certainly not instant (I've never had a drier as an adult though so I don't know what I'm missing!)

rtandon27

KC - we've been using a tripod airing stand and a dehumidifier to dry our winter washing, including bedding & towels.  I shut it in the small hall between the kitchen and bathroom and most loads are dry in a few hours.  To be fair our dehumidifier is a leftover from our old place where we had to run it 24/7 to keep the walls from weeping & the mold at bay. Even at the old place, I'd shut the laundry in the downstairs utility room with the dehumidifier for a few hours and everything was dry in record time.

I'd wanted a washer/drier, but could not find one that was energy efficient and had good reviews, so ended up purchasing a s@msung large capacity & energy efficient machine so at the very least I can do less loads in the warm weather and hang everything up outside.  At the moment in cold weather & with working from home, I have the luxury of washing smaller loads & drying them all withing 24 hours - it's a great feeling to actually put it all away quickly!

edwink

We are another with a dehumidifier here and not just to help dry the washing but we have a damp patch on two of our bedroom walls caused by a problem with the same chimney breast. If there is dampness anywhere or just a damp feel in the air in a house the dehumidifiers are great for getting rid of it and bringing the house down to a more comfortable humidity level and doing that makes the area feel warmer, so in turn costs less to heat.  I've read, can't remember were, that humidity in a house should be between 40 and 60 with 40 being the optimum level for the winter months. When we first got our dehumidifier our reading was over 80. We often leave it running upstairs during the day to keep humidity down and in turn that warms the air up. It would cost more to heat a room with high humidity than one that had much lower levels, so a dehumidifier could reduce heating bills in the long run. 

Edwink x

Chiglepig

I've had washer/dryers for the last 20-odd years. Number two (2007), a JL budget number is still in the garage and is now just used to wash and dry dog towels. Number three (2014) is in the utility and still going strong, but is only used to dry towels, everything else goes into the airing cupboard if the weather isn't good enough for line-drying. I know they don't get great reviews compared to separate dryers, but I've never had a problem.