First month of heating: reduced gas usage by 33%

SensibleSarah

BethP said:

 We have cats who love sitting on our laps so lots of heat from them. Each cat & human has a fleece blanket that we fold in half and cover ourselves while watching tv. Not turned on our GCH yet.

I live alone with 3 cats and 2 big dogs that all want to be next to me or on me whenever possible. They genuinely do help me keep warm apart from when they've been out in the rain that is! 

EssexHebridean

Mstty said:

I haven't read this fully and like your reductions but for info this must be one of the warmest October's on record. We have not had our heating on at all and it's not by reducing temps of thermostats or boilers just the fact it's not been needed.

Last October 662 kWh this October so far 275 kWh.

However good prep for moving into November when it looks like the temps will plummet from where they are now.

I’m currently sitting here in East Anglia with windows and doors open to air the place - the internal temperature here was at over 20°C first thing this morning. The only heating we are using currently is a small heated towel rail that takes the chill off our bathroom - that’s been running for 2 hours a night at a grand cost of under 5p a day - I think we can just about cope with that! 

Miser1964

There's some meteorologists who are forecasting normal or slightly above normal temperatures in Europe this winter due to the ongoing effect of La Niña. Cold snaps in Britain could be brief with few if any multi-weeks of below zero cold.

AccuWeather 2022-2023 Europe winter forecast | AccuWeather

Leon_W

We've had to put the summer weight duvet back on !  We're still on summer usage for gas heating which is the sum route of nothing !

No heating on so far but the old cottage we live in has felt a bit damp at times with all this hot moist air being brought up from the equator.

[Deleted User]

No gas used at all for heating this month. In two days time, I will get my usual email from Tado telling me that I have saved 100% on my heating this month and that I could save 50% more if I went for their monthly energy monitoring subscription service!

Mstty

Of interest maybe for those with Air Source Heat Pump heating.

We are not looking to fire up the heat pump until single figures are on their way it is cheaper for us to pop the fan heater on in the kitchen and lounge with electric blanket for us and electric dog blanket for the pooch overnight.

We have the backup of the multi fuel burner in the lounge as well so we may well try and go til December before we watch the dial spin on the meter.

BUFF

EssexHebridean said:

Mstty said:

I haven't read this fully and like your reductions but for info this must be one of the warmest October's on record. We have not had our heating on at all and it's not by reducing temps of thermostats or boilers just the fact it's not been needed.

Last October 662 kWh this October so far 275 kWh.

However good prep for moving into November when it looks like the temps will plummet from where they are now.

I’m currently sitting here in East Anglia with windows and doors open to air the place - the internal temperature here was at over 20°C first thing this morning. The only heating we are using currently is a small heated towel rail that takes the chill off our bathroom - that’s been running for 2 hours a night at a grand cost of under 5p a day - I think we can just about cope with that! 

Somewhat further north in Glasgow but my upstairs windows haven't been shut since May.
GCH hasn't been on yet (but that is normal for me, usually mid-November before it goes on).
& this in an Edwardian mid-terrace with un-insulated walls.

Ally_E.

It's been very damp lately. I used the dehumidifier to get humidity to 65% this morning and then as it got 20C outside I opened all windows and the humidity rose to 76% undoing all the work dehumidifier had done. My plants are loving it, but I'm worried about the fabric of the house.

It was still 16.8C in the living room this morning. 

wild666

Heinzbean said:

Well done Alley_E

I started a similar energy saving plan.

I turned the flow down on the radiators. Just basically started at the closest rad to the boiler and opened that valve ¼ of a turn next rad ¾ of a turn etc.

Turned the gas regulator knob on the front of the boiler from 8 clock position to 5 o-clock position.

I don’t use the stat . I just turn the stat up for 20 minutes then turn it off.

This saves me money 62cf3 per month using the stat . Manual control 42cf3 per month.

My boiler used to use 0.3cf3 per 20 minutes now it uses 0.2cf3 for 20 minutes. That’s 33% difference. The hot water turned that down so its the right temperature not to add cold water.

I like the way I use my heating I know at 35.31p per Kwh it costs me £0.65p for a 20 minute blast .

Electrically I swapped all my older energy saving lamps (20w) for the newer led lamps (9W),

The kitchen fluorescent light I swapped the 58W lamp for a 20W Led lamp.

So effectively cutting my lighting bill by 50%.

I stopped using the old electric kwh hog oven. And bought a “instant pot duo”.This is 700w . The pot can steam a 3lb chicken in 24 minutes faster than the Kwh hog(2500w).

I turned off my second freezer that was a 25 year old freezer. What s the point of freezing food and never eating it. I don’t leave anything on standby apart from 5g modem which has an my Voip landline running on it.(might put this on a timer ).

When I make tea if its 2 cups I measure 2 cupful's exactly boil the exact amount of water.

Previously on a Sunday when the old cooker was used , extra freezer, old lighting etc it could be

10Kwh for that day. Now im down to below 5 Kwh .Yesterday 3.66 Kwh. Yes I am sad . While I am waiting for the kettle to boil in the morning I pop my head under the stairs and take a daily meter reading takes me less than a minute. No good trying to energy save without being able to check your results.

Meanwhile I look at my neighbour that uses a tumble dryer in the summertime and has every single

light on in the house .

2 years ago my usage was over 8 kWh per day but now it's between 3.6 and 4.2 depending on what I'm using. I'm saving an extra 600 Watts most days due to buying a refurbished PC that is using less than the 10 year old PC it replaced and an air fryer.

SAC2334

I have made it to my target date and almost  reached November without switching my big greedy boiler on at all for heating all through a very mild October . 
The weather has been weirdly mild though and I fully expect Carol Kirkwood on BBC weather to be warning us of icy roads and sub zero nights any day soon .

I have three thermometers on view in my main living room and they all are wildly different and I have no idea which one is correct if any .

 I am close to my limit I will stand so a drop down to 8 c on the mercury ( actually its an alcohol filled one because it is blue )  thermometer will mark the end of gas bill money saving and the heating is going on.
An old mercury thermometer in my barometer which reads around 10 c in the evenings
a cheap Ebay digital  thing which reads between 13 and 14 c 
And a temperature setting on my small  bike computer which reads higher than the ebay thing at 16 c .