Any energy saving tips?

Gerry1

worrywart_3 said:

Gerry1 said:

worrywart_3 said:

charge phone in car.

You cannot be serious !

Charging a phone uses a negligible amount of energy.  It would actually be more expensive to charge it in the car because petrol and diesel is taxed far more heavily than domestic electricity.

Even in an electric car it would not be cheaper, especially if you charge it away from home: electricity from charging stations is far more expensive and is also subject to 20% VAT.

When your using your car not specifically taking the car out to charge your phone 🤣

Still completely wrong.  If petrol / diesel the engine will have to work very slightly harder to charge your phone, and the cost of the extra fuel will greatly exceed in percentage terms what it would cost using domestic electricity.

Same for EVs, wherever the vehicle is charged, using it to charge the phone it won't be cheaper.

It's electric room and water heating that drives up the bills, not the minute amount of energy charging a phone.

chris1973

If you've got kids, stop them spending all of their free time using games consoles - those things burn through energy as do high spec gaming PC's. Reduce the weekly time that they do get to spend on these by 30 minutes every time they leave a light burning in an empty room.

If you sit for long periods reading / watching TV, Knitting / working from home etc. Consider a heated throw, and turn the room heating off or down. These generally use around 60 watts - which is about the same as an old fashioned filament light bulb.

Make sure any outside floodlights are correctly set up and aren't being falsely triggered by passers by / cats / wind etc.

Use a shower and just boil a kettle to do the washing up etc. Saves having to heat a tank of hundreds of litres of water.

Have a few family evenings every week, playing board games - keep that energy guzzling 50 inch tv off. The world won't end if you miss Corrie.

Teapot55

Thermal vests keep you lovely and warm - the supermarkets sell them nowadays - thin shoulder straps are best so you don’t sweat into them & have to wash them so often. If you choose black ones they don’t look so odd if they accidentally show. 

Hang your shirt up on a hanger in an airy place as soon as you take it off - if the underarms don’t smell the next day you can wear it again. 

Turn the water off while you’re rubbing the shampoo or conditioner through your hair. 

QrizB

chris1973 said:

... just boil a kettle to do the washing up etc. Saves having to heat a tank of hundreds of litres of water.

For many people, for much of the year, that's a really questionable suggestion.

• If you have a gas combi boiler you don't have a tank and it will cost you 1/5 as much to heat water with gas.
• If it's cold enough that you need to run the central heating, the heat in the tank isn't lost; it adds to the background heating in your house. And the water you use still costs 1/5 as much to heat with gas as it would do to heat it with electricity.
  

cheaperme

Only boil the amount of water you need in the kettle.
Turn lights off when you don't need them.
When the cold weather starts, I find it best to try not to start putting the heating on straight away. It will feel cold at first, but you can allow the body to get used to the cooler temperatures, and if you do that right from the start then you can get used to it better, I find.
Get LED light bulbs when any need replacing.
Don't leave windows/doors open because there will be loss of heat from the house.
Use lower energy consumption appliances - more efficient fridges/freezers, lower power consumption PC & TV for example. I am thinking of changing to have maybe one day a week not sitting in front of the PC one or two evenings per week - use smart phone instead, or put the radio on (much lower energy consumption), read a book etc. Sleep when it's dark, be awake when it's light, rather than the other way around, to reduce electric lighting needs!
During the summer I tried to use the oven less because it can be very hot in the house anyway and it saves energy - so more cold/salad foods, or foods that cook quicker on frying pan or grill, or boiled/heated in a pan. Cook all the packet of some food at once and then save in a box in the fridge - for example both (vegan) sausage rolls from a packet can be cooked in the oven and then save one for the next day and eat cold.

cheaperme

Also, thermal underwear is really good. One year I bought some from Aldi, and I sometimes wear it at night in bed during the winter - really good for keeping warm.

cheaperme

Thick socks for keeping feet warm in winter can make a big difference as well.

paulhgc

cheaperme said:

Also, thermal underwear is really good. One year I bought some from Aldi, and I sometimes wear it at night in bed during the winter - really good for keeping warm.

Terrible for ya sex life tho 

elfounctildl

Buy an electric blanket/throw (I like the Dreamland Relaxwell ones but they're probably all much of a muchness) and put it over your knees when you sit on the sofa in the evenings, instead of heating the whole house to keep you warm.

Use a slow cooker to make stews and soups.

In my understanding both electric blankets and slow cookers use about as much electricity as a lightbulb does to run.

LippyDoodle

paulhgc said:

cheaperme said:

Also, thermal underwear is really good. One year I bought some from Aldi, and I sometimes wear it at night in bed during the winter - really good for keeping warm.

Terrible for ya sex life tho 

   Nora Batty springs to mind.