Frugal fuel tips

flowercandle

Hi i have a little tip that will only save a tiny little bit of electric (but every little helps), if you use a solar powered light you can use it instead of a lamp.  I have a set with flamingos on which i wrapped round a plant and an outside owl with big solar eyes (never been outside), they charge up on the windowsill during the day and then come on at night automatically so i only have the tv on in the living room (i used to have two lamps on instead).

in_my_wellies

flowercandle said:

Hi i have a little tip that will only save a tiny little bit of electric (but every little helps), if you use a solar powered light you can use it instead of a lamp.  I have a set with flamingos on which i wrapped round a plant and an outside owl with big solar eyes (never been outside), they charge up on the windowsill during the day and then come on at night automatically so i only have the tv on in the living room (i used to have two lamps on instead).

I have a table lamp in the kitchen/diner which I set to come on from dusk till bedtime. I know it's on all the time but I think it saves in the long run as when anyone goes in the kitchen if it's dark the switch is flicked and all 6 ceiling bulbs come on and 6 in the diner too quite often. Invariably these are all left on for ages until I notice. 

charybdis26

I'm a singleton, still washing dishes by hand. For more than a year now I've not needed to use hot water when cleaning cups, crockery and cutlery.

I do an initial rinse with cold water to flush away most adhering food residues and then put the merest dab of washing-up liquid concentrate on the bristles of a small short-handled brush. With not too much effort, after some scrubbing and rinsing under the cold water tap, everything comes through perfectly clean. Drying is with a tea towel.

No hygiene, or aesthetic issues in the year or so I've been doing it - and water consumption is minimal. Apparently water temperature isn't as important a factor as you might believe in killing any bugs present.

I wash as I go so accept that the technique may be less appealing with a family's worth of dishes to contend with...

ZolaBuddy

Sometimes when I boil an egg or two in the milk pan, I reuse the boiled water by tipping it into the kettle to be used  a little later on for a cup of tea/coffee/pot noodle. I might even use it in my small hot water bottle to keep my feet or hands warm on particularly cold mornings/evenings.

If however, the water from the pan is a little milky due to an egg splitting, I may use a sieve to remove it and just use the finish water for a small washing up.

Slinky

We have 2 battery powered catflaps where the batteries need changing before they are completely flat, otherwise they don't stay locked. I use them up with a set of battery powered fairy lights.

Unfortuanately rechargeables don't work very well in the catflaps otherwise I'd switch to them.

Slinky

When I'm cooking things that require a lot of stirring on the gas hob, I use the burner a size down from the one the pan appears to fit best. That way I don't lose as much heat up the sides of the pan as more of it is concentrated on the underside of the pan.

Cherryfudge

I found this comment from some years ago on the forum - it doesn't reduce the total cost but for those who can afford it it may help save towards the payment.

MrsPorridge

Cherryfudge said:

I found this comment from some years ago on the forum - it doesn't reduce the total cost but for those who can afford it it may help save towards the payment.

I like this idea for using my electric fire - when I switch it on I'll transfer a £1 into my online heating pot.

Rosa_Damascena

We need help, and we need it now. No amount of trimming our fuel consumption is going to make a significant dent in bills that are out of our control.

markin

Slinky said:

Slinky said:

Elmer_BeFuddled said:

Effician said:

It occurred to me that as the washing machine is cold fill only ........

Which genius thought cold fill only wash m/c's were a good idea when you have a gas combi boiler which gives (nearly) instant cheap hot water as opposed to using (expensive) electric to heat the water? Even worse, which twonks listened to them?

I was told by somebody in a showroom that because the machines use so little water now, that drawing it from the hot water tank or the combi boiler, there wasn't likely to be much hot water reach the machine due to the amount of cold water that would be in the pipes between the machine and the source of hot water.

Very interesting. I suspected as much.

"cold fill only wash machines"

Sounds like salesman BS to me, if you have a long pipe run, most don't, The water would at least be room temp 18-20c rather than ground temp 6c, but likely far higher if its just come out the combi within the last 30min and should be insulated anyway!, The truth is more likely so they don't have to have 2 versions, and that its also uncommon in the EU to have hot fill.