Turning off the gas supply.... to the house.

xlt_hunter

As silly it may sound, but this is something I want to work to. This was bought up when I was chatting to my uncle about fuel bills when I went over to sort his PC out. My Fuel has jumped from £34 a month to £47 a month since December due to fact of the increses and me taking in my brother and his GF as lodgers here.

So here is my problem. I am paying approx £30 a month in Gas and IGT "rent" as well and I have been thinking what could I do to get rid of the gas supply to the house.. or what can I do to make the house more greener.

House facts..

House is 4 years old with all of the green things you can crame in, like C.Wall Install, loft stuff, D.Glazing windows, energy saving bulbs in every light socket, using eco settings on Dish washer and washing machine, hangin out clothes on the line (when the weather warms up), spending extra ££ on better underlay for better thermo propertites.

My Gas combi boiler is also 4 years old (Baxi 130HE), so I understand this boiler can take pre-heated water. So have a Solar water system fitted is a good option. Ideally I would love to be able to switch the supply off for good as I feel I am getting robbed (my next door had issues with the gas line being incorrectly installed and other problems since... and things can olny get worse when gas prices kep on jumping 10-15% every time some tit in another country decide to turn off the pipeline. There has to be a another way that I can heat the home and warm up the water.

Note I do not have a fire in the living room, I want to speak to the council on the bases of what I need to do to have a wood burner install into a house with no chimney on it (extranal flue?)

Lots to think about... what are your thoughts?

Ken68

Hi Hunter...you would probably still have to pay the IGT rent.
Also could you not recover your extra expenses from your lodgers.
Otherwise it calls for a radical rethink of lifestyle. A woodburner would work with an indoor and high outdoor flue. This has to be above the roofline. Expensive and like a solar water panels system, a long long payback time.
You can ditch the fridge and freezer, if you have a garden.
and not buy things that need keeping. For example tinned stuff not frozen, and use fresh fruit and veg. Lots of stuff will keep without a fridge.... re-sealable long life milk,powdered dry milk and there is usually enough salt in things like cheese to stop them spoiling. You need to go back to how our ancestors lived. The old style board on MSE is full of handy tips on cheap living.Also a site called SelfSuffientish, look in google.
I would sooner keep the gas, find a cheap supplier, perhaps Ebico, and economise in other areas, like rainwater for flushing the loo.
What would do your lodgers think??