Low energy lifestyle - in case it helps

QrizB

"Period home" is estate agent speak for "expensive to heat".

Ally_E.

QrizB said:

"Period home" is estate agent speak for "expensive to heat".

As you can see it is expensive to heat. We keep it at 18C max and also use woodburner to heat the living room in the evenings during winter period. Can't imagine what the gas usage would be if we heated to 20C and no woodburner. Point is, OP's advice is not that useful to save energy.

I can also add we collect rain water and grow our own veg. And so what? It's all relative. 

Planeteer

Herbyme said:

I looked at Octopus Tracker and their website  basically said don’t do it, it won’t be cheaper. How did you work out that it would be cheaper for you than the cap alternatives?

@Herbyme Octopus Tracker comes with an 'inbuilt' Maximum Price that acts as a ceiling tariff. This is coming close to the Oct cap, and therefore makes it worth switching to, using the MSE calculator. 

[Deleted User]

Haven't they just put it up to 78p or something today?

Planeteer

datlex said:

Planeteer said:

1. No car. I have a bike which allows me to get to work and about town.
2. No dryer. We use the garden whenever possible to dry laundry.
3. No standby. We switch off all gadgets at mains except fridge, freezer and Skybox (this has an eco setting for night time).
4. No tea/coffee. We've never drunk either, so no need for the kettle.
5. No toaster or airfryer. Prefer German or French breads, which don't need toasting.
6. No baths. Always use the shower.
7. No Aircon. Judicious use of curtains and windows to maintain natural cooling on warm days. 
8. Low number of showers. I mainly shower at work on weekdays as I cycle to work, and at the gym on weekends. 
9. Low water temperature for boiler. Reduced to about 37 C to get warm water to shower and taps, without having to heat water higher to then mix with cold.
10. Less clothes. we carefully separate outdoor clothes from indoor clothes to avoid germ contamination (pandemic habit). Conversely, for the winter i keep fleece tops and bottoms, nice n cosy.
11. Less time in the UK in the winter. Our savings allow us to be abroad for a few months every winter, so less gloom and lower energy consumption. 
12. Only energy saving lamps in the house: I don't have the latest LED bulbs yet so still using up the previous type - all from 5-10 years ago.
13. Outdoor fitness: I love fitness and the outdoors, so do as much as possible outdoors. This keeps the temperatures lower and less equipment or dirt indoors.
14. Invested in a new German combi boiler that has a lot of intelligence built into it - hoping it will result in lower gas bills.
15. Considering investing in solar roof panels,  so would welcome any tips or recommendations of reasonable installers in London?
16. Last week switched to Octopus Tracker to secure prices for next 12 months at near new SVT tariffs - only made aware of this thanks to this forum's very helpful members.

Hope this gives people some basic ideas for what's bound to be a difficult winter. 

Re 1) gave up a car over 10 years ago savings have been huge. 
2) Alright if you have a garden and don't mind leaving your washing out all day whilst at work.  Thankfully I have solar panels so those pay for my dryer, also as an aside it warms the place as well when being run so don't need the heating at that time in the winter.
3)Got timer switches to turn things off over night.
4) I guess you have no hot drinks at all? 
5) I don't have an airfryer but am considering asking Santa depending on the cost as they seem cheaper than an oven to run.  I do have a combination microwave, grill, oven so rarely need my main oven.
6) A relaxing self pamper bath with all the trimmings is cheaper than a spa trip.
7) Only air con I have is those portable ones.  You can actually get some which run off a USB pack.
8) Low number or short showers ?   I can showered in under 3 minutes.
9) -
10) how is that energy saving? If you one of you is female the fluffy slipper boots are great in winter. (not sure if you are two men? or young male and female couple)
11) -
12)-
13)-
14) Now this is on my to do list a new boiler or heat source pump.  Not sure which is better
15) re solar got mine free as fitted the criteria. Right region, right EPC, right income. Lads that fitted mine were via EON. (you don't have to be a customer, I am not)
16) I fixed couple of months back, every day it seemed the predictions were getting higher and higher.  I am definitely saving.

I noticed you never mentioned things like movie nights with the lights off.  Picnics in the garden.  Sharing evenings with friends and family.  

We're  a young married couple (m/f). Picnics and sharing evenings with friends is something we do a lot - just wrapped up from a dinner for a neighbour in the garden. Life's to be enjoyed, while living within one's means. You're incredibly lucky with the free solar panel build! If your house is well insulated and given your solar panels, the heat pump may not be a bad idea; for us that Vailliant boiler and an intelligent learning system seemed more appropriate. 8 is for fewer showers at home for me, though longer for her and 10 is about fewer clothes to wash.

Planeteer

[Deleted User] said:

Haven't they just put it up to 78p or something today?

Unaware of new ceiling - wouldn't be surprising. I fixed the day before cap announcements. 

Planeteer

comeandgo said:

MarcoM said:

Planeteer said:

MarcoM said:

Planeteer said:

@EssexHebridean @pochase thank you both for your thoughtful responses. I can see that there's advantage (if not privilege - loaded word...) implicit in some of my suggestions. To be fair, I was merely sharing my lifestyle, not speaking Gospel to every Briton.  Maybe I will delete this post if it strikes a wrong and unnecessary chord for people. No harm intended...

Hi may I ask where you spend the winter months?

Sure, so far I tried Canaries, India and this year south of France. 

How do you deal with health insurance?

I thought one could not be insured for more than 30 days. 

You just pay for the duration of your trip.  We are away to warmer countries for three months so just buy insurance for three months or if you have a yearly policy upgrade it to include the extended trip.  The problem I’m having is house insurance for a property empty for three months.

And did you find a solution for the home insurance issue?

ariarnia

datlex said:

5) I don't have an airfryer but am considering asking Santa depending on the cost as they seem cheaper than an oven to run.  I do have a combination microwave, grill, oven so rarely need my main oven.

we got an air fryer a while ago. it can be cheaper but it depends on what you are cooking (like with most things). we also have a mini oven/remoska and it's more expensive than using the mini oven when cooking something like a full tray of sausages for bulk cooking or a joint. ad you wouldn't do something like a casserole or pasta bake in there! but it also cooks differently so a baked potato part cooked in the microwave and finished in the air fryer is nicer and cheaper than finishing in the mini oven, or roast potatoes or hash browns are both quicker and i think nicer. anything you want to be crispy really. 

ariarnia

Ally_E. said:

I can also add we collect rain water and grow our own veg. And so what? It's all relative. 

can you recommend a good starting point for someone who would like to grow some veg?

we have a huge and over grown garden but i do have some mobility issues so OH would be building me raised beds out of block and render. maybe two that are 8 foot by 4 foot and about hip hight. but not sure what can be grown in there and what is easy for a beginner. not to save money btw (no pretending that we're going to do that anytime soon starting from scratch) but because its something ive wanted to do for a while and hope to get the kids (tweens) involved. i was thinking fennel because its huge and tasty in salads

Section62

Planeteer said:

mmmmikey said:

Interesting to hear about your lifestyle choices, thanks.

Just one point to raise if I may. Water heated to 37 degrees is the perfect breeding environment for legionella bacteria so although it makes sense from a money saving perspective there is a significant health risk in doing this that you should be aware of.

Not meaning to pick holes, I certainly found your post interesting, but felt I should raise this as it is an important safety issue.

Thanks

@mmmmikey thank you very much - also for the pointer. I had been reading up on here about that point, and came to the conclusion that is an issue if the heated water is stored. We don't have a hot water cylinder, just a run through combi boiler - and neither do we drink warm water from the tap, so I'm hoping that's ok? Happy to be corrected though!

It isn't about whether the water is 'stored'.  It is about whether live legionella are present to start with, and how long the water stands at a temperature which is conducive to them multiplying.

Water storage tanks can be an ideal breeding ground, but legionella don't know whether they are in a storage tank or in a pipe - if the conditions in pipes are suitable then they will multiply there just as well.

Think of it the same way as undercooked food containing pathogenic bacteria.  Whether the food is then kept in a box or served on a plate makes no difference if it is left at a 'dangerous' temperature for long enough.