Low energy lifestyle - in case it helps

TimSynths

Planeteer said:

Every bit helps.

Speaking of which, I now shop more at Lidl than Tesco.

I've just gone back to Tesco this weekend after a few years at Lidl- shopping there is now pointless as they never have any stock in, not had litre bottles of toilet bleach for months, two Saturdays ago (bearing in mind this is the most important trading day of the week) by 08:05 they didn't have a single egg on sale. I've often struggled to buy tissues, deodorant, cod liver oil, multi vitamins, cooking sauces, noodles- the list is endless, they are useless in Shoreham.

Went to Tesco and fully stocked (only complaint is that @ 07:30 I was a bit too early for the bakery).

MarcoM

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.

Re house insurance, if I am not mistaken so long as it isn't empty for more than thirty days consecutive the policy would not be invalid?
If this is the case technically you would need someone to stay one night every month in order not to invalidate the policy.
So one could get a relative to sleep in the house once a month and be ok.

Coffeekup

ariarnia said:

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

Wrong forum really... But you can grow lettuce, spinach, rainbow chard, and eat over winter. If you have some plants ready of can buy some sprouts, and broccoli can go in now and you can eat over winter to early spring.
If you have chipped potato you could put a few in now and have for your Christmas dinner... But it may be a week or two late.

Planeteer

Section62 said:

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.

@Section62 thank you for that correction: I had thought the bacteria develop if the water is sitting in a tank, but it makes more sense that they're already there before they get to the boiler. However, considering we drink (cold) water straight from the tap, I guess that's not affected as it doesn't come from/through the boiler? So, is the risk of bacteria ingestion only if one drinks warm water from the tap?

Auti

Section62 said:

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.

Hi, sorry for my not understanding of legionella and I am getting more confused and worried (autistic). I use gas to heat water in a tank (I have yet to find out if it is fed directly from mains water or from a storage tank, there is a little plastic box type thing with water in the loft which I think the man said was an expansion tank - it is small) and it is set to 50 degrees for safety temperature wise. I heat once a week using the hot water button on the programmer rather than setting timer for it to come on and go off. I use water for my child‘s shallow bath and then for my shallow bath about 2/3 hours after it has been heated. The next day I use the hot tap and the hot/warm water to wash my hair and hand wash clothes. My questions are: If my tank is fed directly from the mains is there any risk of legionella as it is treated water from the  mains? But, if my tank is fed from this plastic box (no idea where this water is coming from) am I putting myself and child at risk of Legionella? What also of using the cooled down water on the subsequent days given legionella can grow in pipes etc, is that dangerous too? I am getting to the point I should use a kettle for everything and now worried about washing clothes at low temperatures as legionella will be on them. Sorry for my not understanding but everything is now becoming scary as trying to be frugal but now maybe putting my child and me at risk of serious illness.

Herbyme

[Deleted User] said:

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

Yes, 78 and 22 for gas. 

Herbyme

Ally_E. said:

I do all of these except a few months abroad in winter and I have 1 cup of coffee in the morning. My usage is 2300kW/h for electric and 22600kW/h for heating for a couple in a detached period home. 

I feel your pain. We live in a 1980s house, annual gas 23000, electricity 7000. We too keep the thermostat low (16 or 17, but I doubt that's an absolute figure, however it's certainly not over warm), wear lots of layers, try to turn off what we can, little heating in bedrooms, dishwasher/washing machine on at night on Economy 7 ., never use the tumble dryer.....I even use USB hand warmers for long video meetings, and a rug on my knees...

So it feels like there's not much more we can do either. But I'm planning to add more loft insulation, that's the only thing I can think of. Also just ordered an IHD and a plug appliance monitor to see overall usage and per appliance usage. (There are people in my house who sometimes put the immersion heater on!!! and I need to know if they have!). And I want to know how much their huge gaming set ups are using, both in use and on stand by (and my PC, if it comes to that.)

I hope you manage to find a little saving here and there, I know it's really hard to be told to do all the things you're already doing, yet still to have a huge bill

Alnat1

Why are you on E7 if your heating is gas?

Surely most of your electricity costs will be at the daytime (more expensive) rate even if you do use washer/dishwasher overnight?

Herbyme

Alnat1 said:

Why are you on E7 if your heating is gas?

Surely most of your electricity costs will be at the daytime (more expensive) rate even if you do use washer/dishwasher overnight?

You’re right, it only broke even really, I have just gone onto a normal tariff now. I think I kept it so I could do the odd hot wash at night with a clear (sort of!) conscience. Pretty illogical really. But I think it was cost neutral +/- a few %

Section62

Planeteer said:

Section62 said:

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.

@Section62 thank you for that correction: I had thought the bacteria develop if the water is sitting in a tank, but it makes more sense that they're already there before they get to the boiler. However, considering we drink (cold) water straight from the tap, I guess that's not affected as it doesn't come from/through the boiler? So, is the risk of bacteria ingestion only if one drinks warm water from the tap?

The risk is primarily from inhalation of water droplets containing the bacteria, rather than ingestion. Legionnaires is a form of pneumonia.  The risk comes with appliances - e.g. showers, toilets, taps - which cause aerosolisation of the water, and you then breathing in the droplets, allowing the bacteria to get to work in your lungs.

It is important to keep the risk in perspective though, in the domestic setting it is relatively rare.  Nevertheless it is important for people to understand how the risk occurs - i.e. that it isn't an issue limited to stored water.