Frugal fuel tips

littlemoney

An heating pad makes a great hot water bottle in bed. When I wake up with cold feet I just switch it on and then can got back to sleep with warm feet. Much better than getting up into an unheated house in the middle of the night to fill  a hot water bottle

bouicca21

One of the things that irritates me is that the really cheap cuts of meat are either difficult to find or ridiculously expensive.  I did an experiment before pandemic- bought a whole oxtail. I weighed it before cooking and weighed the bones afterwards to see how much meat I’d actually got.  The stew was delicious - but my calculation showed that it actually cost more than buying ordinary stewing steak and of course took longer to cook.

Siebrie

The key to staying warm is to not get cold

So, I layer up before I notice that it's growing chilly in the house; I open all the windows for 15 minutes in the morning to get rid of the sleepy air and then close them again before I fire up the central heating by 0.5 degrees to get the chill out of the house (only if it feels chilly).

Almost all our electronics are on extension chords with an on/off switch.

Pixiekazza

Our house is just electric. I have Economy 7, which comes on in two blocks thankfully. One overnight and one in the afternoon. I'm on a fixed rate but my bill was still £115 for Jan, and I was away for some of it :-( so being as frugal as I can.
 
Currently working from home. I set my alarm to go off in time for me to boil enough hot water on cheap rate to fill two 1l flasks. This does me and OH enough hot water for coffee all morning. During the pm E7 session I boil another couple of flasks for hot water to cook with later and for a hot water bottle.

My storage heaters devour electric, so I have them to come on for the 4 hour overnight E7 session if needed. I have a logburning stove which heats the hot water tank so I have stopped using the immersion heater when the stove is lit. I've also got a stovetop kettle which is fine for coffee and washing up water. I try to have showers during cheap rate, not always possible so I've started having stand in bath with jugs of hot water wash. 

I am sat at my desk most of the day so try and move at least once an hour! And go out for a walk at lunchtime. I have thick tops to wear and woolly hats and blankets. Many layers! I usually use the oven and a steamer to cook our evening meal. We can't cook on the cheap rate as we're both still working. OH doesn't eat chillis / pasta sauces for batch cooking and heating up.

I'm so fed up of living like this. I work full time on a reasonable wage and struggle, so it's disgusting that people with less income are having to freeze and choose between food and heat. 

CarolineD68

We invested in a new type of kettle which boils only what you are using so we are not boiling water to let sit and boil again. Also started keeping the heating on but turned down to keep a constant temp. Pretty sure next winter will be harder though. 

LadOnTheHill

Heat the body, not the space. It's cheaper and more efficient too.

Heated throws are fab. I love mine. Fingerless gloves have worked in the past, too, and are cheap to buy and free to run.

You can get heated hats and jackets,  too. They run off a battery and have carbon mesh heating elements inside, so they feel like normal clothing. Decent ones are expensive, but a pair of gloves or a hat is pretty cheap.

If you sit at a desk, or similar, make a curtain around it and put a little heater underneath. The curtain traps the heat in, keeping your legs warm. The heaters use about 250w, most come with a thermostat so they don't keep running and running. The Japanese invented the kotatsu, or heated table, which works very similarly.

If you have a particular spot you find gets cold, try a reptile heat lamp. They're cheap to run and heat radiantly, so you can aim one at your hands on a keyboard (for example), and they will heat just that spot. They vary in strength of output, usually between 20-50w.

Ski wear is another option. Good stuff isn't cheap, but you can sometimes find deals on. I've been known to wear two tshirts rather than one, layering is better than one big thick thing. Keep your core warm enough and the rest of you will follow. Your body generates heat in your core, even when you're sitting still.

Use a clear shower curtain and extending rail to to reduce the size of a room. If your chair and TV are at one end, put the curtain across the room and only heat the bit you're in.

LadOnTheHill

Also,  an old scouts trick is to wash your feet in very cold water, dry them and then put thick socks on before getting into bed.

Elisheba

As people have said, heated throws or a hot water bottle are good ways to keep the heating off. Lots of layers, fingerless gloves, a little hat.

With cooking, if you fill a pot with boiling water and then put pasta or rice in, put the lid on and bring back to the boil, you can then turn the hob off and leave for 15 - 20 minutes and it will cook. 

Don't leave things on overnight to charge - once they are full your charger will still use power. If you plug it in to charge in the evening and turn it off before bed you'll bee good to go.

Always turn switches off at the wall when not in use. Appliances can still use power when not active. 

Make a big pot of tea in the morning (or coffee etc) and fill flask with it. With a good flask it should stay hot all day while you have lots of cups of tea to hand. Don't put milk in the flask and it doesn't affect the taste too much.

Check the temperature in your fridge. The higher the number on the dial, the more energy it is using. 

Open the fridge and freezer as little as possible. It has to burn more energy to cool again everytime you open the door and let heat in. 

Keep your fridge and freezer full. If you don't have food to fill them then fill old milk cartons with water and put them in. The fuller they are the less energy needed to cool them, and the less energy lost when they are opened.

Wash your clothes less. They only need washed of they are physically dirty or smell. Other than socks and undies, most clothes can be reworn quite a few times. 

Consider showering less. If you shower everyday, could you have a sink wash every other day instead? 

If you work from home you could try working from your local library on days you don't have meetings or calls. 

An extra quilt on your bed, and a hot water bottle of its very chilly mean you shouldn't nerd any heating or electric blankets on at night. 

Rosa_Damascena

Brambling said:

I run to hot these days but layer your clothes if you need to turn down your heating, tights under trousers, vests or long sleeve T shirts etc.  Look out for thermals in the sales, they usually start to come down in price by spring 

That is so very true! The days of me throwing tights away once they've had it is over, I chop the feet off and wear then under trousers and it is amazing what a difference it makes!

Eta: sitting in my snug library with the doors closed certainly makes me feel snug. There's only one of me so heating the rest of the house feels wasteful.

Rosa_Damascena

LadOnTheHill said:

Heat the body, not the space. It's cheaper and more efficient too.

Heated throws are fab. I love mine. Fingerless gloves have worked in the past, too, and are cheap to buy and free to run.

You can get heated hats and jackets,  too. They run off a battery and have carbon mesh heating elements inside, so they feel like normal clothing. Decent ones are expensive, but a pair of gloves or a hat is pretty cheap.

If you sit at a desk, or similar, make a curtain around it and put a little heater underneath. The curtain traps the heat in, keeping your legs warm. The heaters use about 250w, most come with a thermostat so they don't keep running and running. The Japanese invented the kotatsu, or heated table, which works very similarly.

If you have a particular spot you find gets cold, try a reptile heat lamp. They're cheap to run and heat radiantly, so you can aim one at your hands on a keyboard (for example), and they will heat just that spot. They vary in strength of output, usually between 20-50w.

Ski wear is another option. Good stuff isn't cheap, but you can sometimes find deals on. I've been known to wear two tshirts rather than one, layering is better than one big thick thing. Keep your core warm enough and the rest of you will follow. Your body generates heat in your core, even when you're sitting still.

Use a clear shower curtain and extending rail to to reduce the size of a room. If your chair and TV are at one end, put the curtain across the room and only heat the bit you're in.

I love this post as it really captures the principles of heating the immediate vicinity! I'm going to drag out a barely-used ski base top from the back of the wardrobe. 

Am not sure I would use the curtain trick, but googling "kotatsu" is certainly fascinating. I like the "familyness" of it although I wouldn't fancy living in an uninsulated draughty home!