How to live without heating - save £000s

HertsLad

Catplan said:

 I start to get a cold nose, hands at around 14 when I work from home which is sat typing. Same if I was sitting watching tv, or reading. 

(This forum has a bug of sorts. I tried to trim the quote to one sentence, at first attempt, as above but then found it impossible to move the cursor back to the area where I should be typing, Has the forum been adequately tested? Then I can't post because it says 'Body is 9 characters too short)

Interesting. I have never felt my nose or face being cold but very occasionally my hands will start to get cold. The answer, as I have mentioned before, is to add insulation to my legs, like thinsulate lined ski trousers. And that is on top of two layers of thermal long johns and down insulated trousers as well. Then my hands warm up. What do you wear on your legs? I see some people wearing shorts in winter. Crazy!

PennineAcute

Today is my complete day off from work.  Got up at 7.30, heating comes on (21 C) just before this time, and I am sat in my dressing gown having a few brews.  Even with the heating on, I can feel a draught on my legs.  Heating will be on until 10 tonight, unless I nip out and I turn it off.  For the pleasure of keeping me warm today, even with my now higher tariff, it will cost me around £2.15.

January's gas bill was £50.06.  Jan '21 was £35.58 (should have been less, but was with SP as Yorkshire Energy had gone bust), so around a 41% increase. 

I have two fish tanks, one heated and one not heated.  If I reduce my heating (gas) then my electricity consumption goes up, due to the heaters having to kick in.  My two tanks cost me around £1 a day to run - around the same cost of feeding my JRT before she sadly passed.  Having no heating on would then also add extra cost, as I would then have to start heating my unheated tank.

Yes, I am feeling the pinch, but I can imagine it would take me a long time to reap the money savings after I kit myself out for arctic conditions. 

PennyForThem_2

Why has HertsLad been so vilified?  Yes, he has taken extreme measure in that not turning heating on but his advice is good.  I have thermostat at 14 degrees.  Wear layers, over 70, not on all day, use shawls and duvets, wood burning stove in living room on from midday (wood costs £300 ish p.a.)  This is sensible advice for healthy adults - and those that are not healthy should be sensible enough to ignore.  Just cannot understand why there is no critical judgement on an individual level taken to this rather than a general vilification and condemnation....

I have CH termo set to 14 - wear layers, wear hat when below freezing (why wouldn't you as 30% body heat lost from head), have insulated house, wood burning stove in living room, and a cat, which can, when compliant, provide extra warmth - I am with the energy company that suggested cuddling your pet but I can also understand the backlash on that statement!

wild666

Armengar said:

how do you plan on removing the mould spores? Once those take hold then you are going to pay more to get the infestation removed  Even an overpressure system with lightweight fan wont prevent this.

If he was ever to get mould spores then he would use a mould and mildew remover as has I did just don't follow the instructions to wipe it off but leave it on. When I had mould in another flat, about 15 years ago, I used to follow the instructions and the mould always returned but the one time I left it on, accidently, without wiping it off after the recommended time it never came back in the 15 months I lived there. IMO the manufacturer of these products want you to keep buying and reapplying the product so they have a steady income from the product. 

elsien

HertsLad said:

elsien said:

I’m curious as to how the OP dries their laundry in winter? A normal winter, I mean, with rain, snow, frost etc? 

Good question and here's the answer - I use a spin dryer to remove most of the water after rinsing. Then I hang the damp garments inside the house at whatever the (low) temperature is. The drying time depends on the fabric, so polyester base garments will be dry within 24 hrs and pure cotton shirts within 2 or 3 days. If I need something dry within an hour I hang it in a wardrobe with a dehumidifier inside. 

Don’t you find they start to smell? All my clothes are line dried but if it’s not warm enough for towels, jeans etc to dry overnight they get that vile musty damp dog smell. 

maisie_cat

PennineAcute said:

Around March last year, my 12 year old fridge freezer gave up the ghost.  I could not afford a new one, so bought a second hand fridge to keep me going.  Elec consumption fell around 1 kWh a day.  Over the summer, I then bought a new fridge freezer and noticed very little difference in energy consumption.  If a fridge freezer is not an essential for an individual, but has around the same runnning costs as a fridge, I'll take the luxury anytime.

I've just tested the consumption of our chest freezer in the garage and it uses approx 0.25 KWH per day, the fridge freezer in the kitchen uses twice that. So neither make up a large proportion of our 10KWh per day

PennineAcute

maisie_cat said:

PennineAcute said:

Around March last year, my 12 year old fridge freezer gave up the ghost.  I could not afford a new one, so bought a second hand fridge to keep me going.  Elec consumption fell around 1 kWh a day.  Over the summer, I then bought a new fridge freezer and noticed very little difference in energy consumption.  If a fridge freezer is not an essential for an individual, but has around the same runnning costs as a fridge, I'll take the luxury anytime.

I've just tested the consumption of our chest freezer in the garage and it uses approx 0.25 KWH per day, the fridge freezer in the kitchen uses twice that. So neither make up a large proportion of our 10KWh per day

The last holiday I had, back in 2017, according to my IHD, I used an averaged of 2.2 kWh a day.  Before leaving, I turned everything off besides the fridge freezer and house alarm.  So around 92 W an hour.

Now, with new fridge freezer, my first 7.5 hours usage of each day uses 0.818 kWh, so an hourly average of 109 W.  This includes by two fish tank filters (75 W for both), so an hourly average of 35 W for both fridge freezer and house alarm.

My very unscientific calculations mean than my new FF is using 57 W an hour less than my old one, so 1.37 kWh fewer a day.

Considering my daily usage is around 5 kWh a day - it takes 28% of my daily usage.

HertsLad

elsien said:

HertsLad said:

The drying time depends on the fabric, so polyester base garments will be dry within 24 hrs and pure cotton shirts within 2 or 3 days. If I need something dry within an hour I hang it in a wardrobe with a dehumidifier inside. 

Don’t you find they start to smell? All my clothes are line dried but if it’s not warm enough for towels, jeans etc to dry overnight they get that vile musty damp dog smell. 

Not at all. But if I forget I have a bucket full of clothes in detergent, then they can start smelling after a day or two. My approach is to wash them again and I also use anti-virus type liquid, only in that case, not generally. I guess the smell comes from micro organisms and the anti virus liquid kills them and the smell.I have now started using washing powder/liquid intended for whites but I use it for coloured garments too because it includes bleaching agents and seems to minimise the risk of a smell coming from the detergent solution. I wouldn't use it for any important clothes but if my underclothes start fading a bit because of the bleach, so what? They are not visible. Furthermore, I also use fragrance granules and perfumed fabric conditioners. So after up to 3 days drying, the clothes not only smell neutral, they smell good from the fragrance. One of the products actually claims to be as fresh as line drying. Perhaps I will start using an outdoor line.

pallyman

Liquid detergent for whites does not contain bleach.

Catplan

HertsLad said:

Catplan said:

 I start to get a cold nose, hands at around 14 when I work from home which is sat typing. Same if I was sitting watching tv, or reading. 

(This forum has a bug of sorts. I tried to trim the quote to one sentence, at first attempt, as above but then found it impossible to move the cursor back to the area where I should be typing, Has the forum been adequately tested? Then I can't post because it says 'Body is 9 characters too short)

Interesting. I have never felt my nose or face being cold but very occasionally my hands will start to get cold. The answer, as I have mentioned before, is to add insulation to my legs, like thinsulate lined ski trousers. And that is on top of two layers of thermal long johns and down insulated trousers as well. Then my hands warm up. What do you wear on your legs? I see some people wearing shorts in winter. Crazy!

I wear thick trousers / joggers ones I wouldn’t wear in summer, cold nose goes quickly after the heating comes on. Legs / feet are fine, its more face / head.