Frugal fuel tips

Sapindus

Slinky said:

When showering we turn off the water after wetting hair, shampoo, turn the shower back on to rinse, turn it off to wash the body (using a shower scrunchie which saves on bodywash), back on again to wash off the bodywash, job's a goodun.  

Can you not do shampoo and body wash in the same operation and save even more?

Rosa_Damascena

C_J said:

YORKSHIRELASS said:

Hi all, just wanted to say that Marks and Spencer Heatgen Plus are the thickest thermals I have found.  If you look on Fleabay you can often find new ones for sale, at a reduced price but they are worth the investment and last years.  I couldnt live without them.

I'd just like to say a massive thank you to @YORKSHIRELASS for the recommendation for M&S Heatgan Plus thermals. Although we have been lucky here in the South with the winter being pretty mild so far, I think we're not out of the woods yet, so I splashed out on a set of Heatgen Plus in case the temperatures plummet again. They arrived today and they are FABULOUS.  I have the long sleeved T shirt on underneath a jumper now, and I have had to turn the central heating off completely (I'm working from home today and usually sitting still for hours at a time makes me feel chilly ... but I'm roasting).

They look good but are pricey!

Eta: inspired by you I have dragged out a pair of old Primark thermal leggings and put then on over my tights and under my jeans - they have helped a little.

Topher

FreeBear said:

CapricornLass said: In answer to newlywed's comment - yes you can get problems with condensation.  We did, so much so that I called in a specialist surveyor to check our walls in our bedroom as I was beginning to wonder if the DPC had failed.  It hadn't but he did say that we would have to keep our house at a minimum of 18 degrees, and install a special ventilator.

One silly thing which has helped is to close doors to rooms.

Have a small box room that was always cold and suffered from condensation & mold. Partly my fault for turning the radiator off and leaving the door shut for <mumble> years. Now that the walls have been insulated, it only needs a small radiator to heat it up. Keeping the door open means it gets fresh air in there along with a bit of warmth from the rest of the house.

Maintaining a temperature of 14-16°C seems to avoid any problem with condensation (don't think you need to go as high as 17°C).

Can I ask how you insulated the walls please? We live in an ex-council house, the ground floor was built with a cavity wall, but upstairs was not. Outside is a “decorative” ledge that runs round the building just above the level of the ground floor windows, the upper floor external walls are recessed slightly above that. Unfortunately that ledge in the original build was built using flat terracotta roof tiles (I had a friend who was housing manager for the council and investigated the build of my house). When the houses were first built they had some decorative (external) rendering to the upper floor, but mine, when I bought it had the whole lot spray rendered. (Adding little to the appearance or insulation). Across the road a similar house has had some good looking cladding put on upper storey walls but I’m conscious that they may have been depending on the ledge being of proper build and not the non buildings regulation, non-supportive tiles. Also next door’s electricity is provided by a mains cable that runs around the outside of our ledge. 
n other news I need to buy replacements for the old radiator reflector sheets and have the best (most efficient) type. My last lot was the stick on type with reflective metallic style plastic, a sticky backing and a thin foam insulating layer. this has lasted some 15 years but has left a dark crumbly residue on the walls behind the radiators which comes of on clothing that I put on the radiators (I never put wet clothes to dry on radiators, just ironed or air dried clothes that need a final airing). 

Floss

Topher said:

... Also next door’s electricity is provided by a mains cable that runs around the outside of our ledge....

^^^ this
Is that legal and / safe?!

Topher

Deleted_User said:

I have just received our January electricity bill - £70.11. I pay on receipt of bill by choice. We are on LPG gas in a tank which is currently at 70% and I won’t be topping it up this year if I can help it.

I am at home all day every day (health issues), here are some of my tips:

• as has been said - heated throw. Absolutely lovely and cheap as chips to run.
• We no longer run the dishwasher, too expensive and actually a quick wash by hand takes seconds if I do it as I go. 
• WM goes on twice a week and is dried in front of the wood stove on or the line - no TD here. I handwash the odd bits, eg I will have swimwear to wash today which I will do by hand.
• All things off at the plug except fridge freezer and internet router.
• I keep a camping stove on top of the wood stove so we have hot water all day; I decant it into flasks as the day goes on, then use either for cooking or hot water bottles for bed.
• Going outside for a bit then coming back in - you always appreciate being indoors then! 
• We shower twice a week and strip wash in between. We have an old electric shower that costs an arm and a leg to run.
• We cook on top of the wood stove wherever possible, eg today I will cook our veg on there.

Its amazing how creative you can be when needs must. Hoping for a lower February bill x

I applaud your efforts Sparkly B. I’ve experimented with some of the things you mentioned, the pay off for me is what it does to my state of wellbeing though. May I mention that I know I’m lucky to have some level of choice (i.e. some manoeuvrability on where I focus my money saving ideas), but I’ve lived through times where not only did my low income mean I risked losing my house if I couldn’t pay any one of a range of bills, but that my ex was waiting to pounce and gain custody of my children if our living standard fell below the rock bottom I was living in - what I’m saying is, the choices I can now make may make me sound privileged but that’s not the whole story. 
1) dishwasher: I tried not running it, the constant hand washing lead to my hands becoming sore and in need of a couple of hand creams (cheap from Savers after a shop around to weigh up the different prices) the cost of which probably used up any saving I’d made on the dishwasher abstinence. 
2) only run washing machine when full, however with clothes care involving splitting colours up, some washes can take up to a fortnight to accumulate, this means we have to have quite large quantities of some of the garments we can’t wait two weeks for. I specifically mean pants, M&S pants do last more years than Primark, so keeping up with owning lots of pairs, although initially expensive, is financially sound long term, (both of us use a lot of black for the very reason that we can run a wash load more frequently as they accumulate to a full load more quickly) - it’s an intricate plan.
3) kettle, we’ve learned how much to fill the kettle with for a single boiling that is just enough for our tea, with no excess, tea from thermos flask water is dire and fussy to re- decant and re- boil.
4) I used to cook on a wood stove at a previous house. The control over heat levels (like turning it down for overnight) was amazingly accurate & efficient. Porridge cooked overnight and stews cooked across the working day. I’m thinking of having a modern dual fuel one in the current house as the open fire is a pain to keep from causing a draught. 
My main difficulty is when I struggle and freeze all day to save a few pence on the bills and my husband comes home form an over heated office, leaves doors open, (including the main doors to outside, turns heating up, refuses to wear thermals but whinges about being cold and makes me feel that my endurance of poor conditions in the daytime was worthless. (Which also makes me more unhappy cowering under a blanket in the day time when I know my efforts to save pence will be overturned). 
Finally, love your idea of going out and coming back in. My dog walks cause this, and I get a really good feeling of wellbeing when I get indoors again to warm up. 

YORKSHIRELASS

@C_Jso pleased that you like them, I must have about 8 of the Heatgen Plus long sleeved thermal tops, after a couple of winters they do start to go a bit thinner but they are so worth the money.  I wear them for walking and cycling too.

Going to have to go out in the car tomorrow which breaks my rule of not using it on a Thursday or Friday.  Think its going to be too cold/icy to cycle.

Nothing spent here today which is good.  Have got my replacement credit card so I can do a balance transfer and make the most of 0% deals.  Under my heated blanket with my library book for the rest of the evening.

Topher

Floss said:

Topher said:

... Also next door’s electricity is provided by a mains cable that runs around the outside of our ledge....

^^^ this
Is that legal and / safe?!

Not in the least, but when we’ve had work people from either gas or electric companies see it they’ve commented, but would you believe it? It’s no-one’s responsibility apparently. 

otb666

i just wanted to add something so i use baby shampoo as you dont pay VAT, I have never bought clothes just used hand-offs from children+ hubby.  I prefer mens/boys pants as thicker.  I always cut my own hair and bath once a week.  Since menopause dont seem to need deodorant anymore.  I know 2 of these dont relate to fuel apart from you will have more money to spend on it

FreeBear

Topher said: Can I ask how you insulated the walls please? We live in an ex-council house, the ground floor was built with a cavity wall, but upstairs was not. Outside is a “decorative” ledge that runs round the building just above the level of the ground floor windows, the upper floor external walls are recessed slightly above that. Unfortunately that ledge in the original build was built using flat terracotta roof tiles (I had a friend who was housing manager for the council and investigated the build of my house). When the houses were first built they had some decorative (external) rendering to the upper floor, but mine, when I bought it had the whole lot spray rendered. (Adding little to the appearance or insulation).

Sounds very much like an inter-war build to a Tudor Walters report design. The corbelling & tile detail between the two floors makes for an easy way to age a property. There are a few properties around here that have had external wall insulation fitted. The detailing around areas like bay windows & roof line leaves much to be desired in my opinion. There is just one property with EWI that looks half decent - The upper half has been timber clad, and the lower half finished with a smooth render (possibly K-Rend).

For my house, I'm using internal wall insulation. This allows me to do one room at a time as & when budget (and other factors) allow. Using IWI avoids having to extend external window cills, moving rain/foul water downpipes, and a host of other detailing. I can also insulate around the window reveals to avoid cold spots forming. As an added bonus, nice flat walls without any cracks ready to be decorated. Downside is a loss of some 75mm of floor space, but this isn't noticeable.

SadieO

Topher said:

2) only run washing machine when full, however with clothes care involving splitting colours up, some washes can take up to a fortnight to accumulate, this means we have to have quite large quantities of some of the garments we can’t wait two weeks for. I specifically mean pants, M&S pants do last more years than Primark, so keeping up with owning lots of pairs, although initially expensive, is financially sound long term, (both of us use a lot of black for the very reason that we can run a wash load more frequently as they accumulate to a full load more quickly) - it’s an intricate plan.

A year or so ago (at some point since working from home during The Virus anyway) I experimented with not separating washing. It took ages for us to get enough lights for a full load and stuff was lingering in the washing basket. I figured it was worth an experiment, we don't have particularly expensive clothes or fancy fabrics such as silks, we mainly live in jeans, hoodies, pj's etc. Plus nothing is that new so if anything was going to run I think I would have known by now, so I started just throwing everything in together. Nothing bad happened! And now washing is so much more efficient. 

I know this is not very "old style" but I am a convert to my air fryer. I haven't done the figures but it is so much quicker than the oven, and heats up immediately so I am sure it must be more efficient. Between that and my slow cooker I could easily live without an oven now.