|
|
|
|
 |
Author |
|
| Message | |
|
moongoddess
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
Posts: 673
|
|
|
|
 |
Penny Outskirts
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....
|
|
|
|
|
judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire
|
|
|
|
|
ken69
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 316
Location: Norfolk
|
 Posted: Tue Apr 04, 06 10:54 am Post subject: |
 
|
quote from moon goddess..
I'd be really interested to hear what people's average bills (gas, oil, wood, electric etc) are. I was appalled how much mine was when I worked it out. We had used over #16 last week and I felt highly embarassed  We never buy wood though, we always forage that, although we have run out, hence the electric blast this morning...........
#16, Moon...is this electric kwh??....
I ran a Rayburn for years (rusted away)with free wood from gardening, and wouldn't mind getting a small woodburner to help with the gas CH bills. One of those low sort that come out into the living room about a yard. £500 I think. Where do they get the prices from, can't be that much demand ?? |
|
|
|
|
bernie-woman
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7824
Location: shropshire
|
|
|
|
|
judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire
|
|
|
|
|
Penny Outskirts
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 23385
Location: Planet, not on the....
|
|
|
|
|
judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire
|
|
|
|
|
moongoddess
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
Posts: 673
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 04, 06 11:07 am Post subject: |
|
| ken69 wrote: |
| #16, Moon...is this electric kwh??.... |
Sorry ken - I can't find the pound sign on this keyboard, when I type it, it appears as a hash sign.
So to clarify - I spent 16 pounds on electricity last week.
We've run out of wood, so we were using electric convector heaters. I felt that 16 pounds was alot for us. We don't have gas in the village, so admittedly, it is all the bills we have, but I still felt it was a lot perhaps compared to others. (4 bed semi, 2 adults (here all day) and 1 child).
A small woodburner / rayburn would be good if you can still get hold of free fuel for it. I do see them advertised quite a lot around here second hand for about #100 - 200, but like you say, you have to make sure it isn't too old and about to rust away
Hope you find what you are looking for; perhaps buying in the summer might mean a better deal? We got around #150 off ours buying it 'out of season'
mg |
|
|
|
|
moongoddess
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
Posts: 673
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 04, 06 11:13 am Post subject: |
|
| Penny wrote: |
| Even a third reduction is pretty brilliant mg - just think how much electric would be saved if everyone in the UK did that!!!!!!! |
Yes, I need to focus on that don't I? You know how it is - you just think of the tiny dent you are making as an individual, but forget about the collective sometimes........thanks for the reminder
| Quote: |
| It seems that it's the cooking, clothes washing and drying that are the real killers |
I don't have a tumble dryer, but I think I use a lot of hot water.....
You're right about organisation. Batch baking in the oven (although mine is tiny, so I'm not sure how to get around that!) is a biggie
| Quote: |
| I baked a lemon yoghurt cake last night, and that took about three units!!!! |
Wow! it's a real eye-opener this challenge isn't it?
| Quote: |
| The good news was that the dishwasher didn't seem to use much at all - phew!!! |
Oh, that surprises me. I was given a dishwasher 3 months ago and it's just filling a gap in the kitchen; I've never plumbed it in, figuring it would run away with the electricity..
| Quote: |
Looks like I'm going to have to get much more organised with everyone's clothes, and find a way of drying them which doesn't involve the dreaded tumbly  |
I dry mine over the woodburner and one of the best places it to put it along the banister - I can dry a king size cotton duvet cover over the banister in a day. If it's windy enough i'll put stuff out to dry in light rain and it still dries..........I find that the wind dries quicker than the sun on many occassions.
mg x |
|
|
|
|
Anna-marie
Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 980
Location: West Wales
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 04, 06 12:23 pm Post subject: |
|
As the pub doesn't have a garden, I haven't had a washing line for three and a half years  
Don't have a tumble-dryer either, so everything gets dried in the house - in an un-heated spare bedroom (none of the bedrooms here have radiators in them)
The main problem is drying OH's work clothes. He is away all week, so clothes get washed sometime over the weekend, but don't dry by Monday. 
Solved the problem by having two sets! Even jeans dry before the week is out 
All our wood is free, too. DH collects it in a trailer from the local docks. They have loads of good timber hanging about from when the steel is delivered.
Just goes to waste if we don't use it 
Uses less than a gallon of fuel to get there, plus a little petrol in the chainsaw to cut it up.
Will last two weeks, heating the pub for when the customers come in.
Heats water in the tank, too, enough for a bath and for the rest of the following day.
Even when winter was at its coldest, I didn't bother with any heating for myself. Just made myself warm by keeping busy in the meadow, or walking the dog.
Washing machine gets put on at night, at cheap-rate electricity costs.
Anna-marie |
|
|
|
|
alison
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon
|
|
|
|
|
Bugs
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 10744
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 10, 06 7:33 am Post subject: |
|
I thought I had done this post before but couldn't find it
Apart from being fanatical about switching off lights (and we're not, in my opinion, compared to other people's houses we visit, particularly bad at this):
- put on washing as soon as we get in, meaning I can do a bigger load, because I can get it out to dry off a bit for a couple of hours rather than doing the radiator shuffle; already have it permanently on quick wash and either 30/40 degrees for most washes except towels and bedclothes, and already hang most things on hangers because we very rarely iron
- avoiding my afternoon tea habit, not out of hairshirtness but because I don't often drink the whole thing!
- very carefully measuring kettle water; min. marking is enough for one mug
- remembering to change in to scruffy clothes for the garden when I get in, so that I keep day to day ones cleaner
- getting on with things in the garden or the kitchen as soon as I get in so they are done while it is still light
- washing up saucepans by hand a bit more, which cuts down on the dishwasher use
- taking dinner out of freezer to defrost as soon as I get in so it takes less gas or warm water to get ready
However, I was away all this weekend and TD was working so a lot of our cutting down is probably false, plus the lighter days meant less need for extra lighting/heating. Even so such habits are useful to get in to. |
|
|
|
|
Lozzie
Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 10, 06 10:42 am Post subject: |
|
Well, the computer stayed off, along with its screen, speakers and printer.
The telephone answering machine stayed off unless we all left the house at once.
All of the clock radios were unplugged, and the tv, video and dvd player.
The microwave, dishwasher and washing machine were only turned on when required.
The oven was switched off so that its tiny little clock took no charge.
The heater in the conservatory was unplugged, and the children made to wear more clothes when playing out there instead (however this doesn't really count as the heater had not been used in the previous week to make a comparison by).
I fitted the SAVAplug to the fridge freezer in the kitchen (no, still did not manage to empty the freezer in the garage).
After dark we kept the lights off and the curtains open, finding instead that the ambinet light from neighbours' driveway lights and the normal street lighting was enough to function by, most of the time.
The kids read by wind-up torchlight, which they absolutely loved as you can well imagine.
The oil lamp was pretty, but also pretty useless - ordinary domestic candles threw much better light, especially when placed in front of a mirror.
I confess that husband and I watched tv for about an hour and a half each night (but we didn't read - did that duing the day, instead), and we kept one CD player going during the day to help amuse/chill the children as required.
I too was careful about what clothes I wore, so as not to add to the pile of washing that still had to be done. I tried using the hand-wash cycle, as it washes at only 30 degrees, but it didn't spin at all and the clothes were almost too heavy with water to hang up properly. Now, if I had had a mangle ... 
Did as much as possible during the hours of daylight.
Defrosted food in the refrigerator overnight (helps the fridge to be more efficient). Then we would take food out and allow it to reach room-temperature before cooking it immediately - this seemed to reduce cooking time for things like sausages under the grill VASTLY. |
|
|
|
|
gil
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 18409
|
|
|
|
|
|
Archive
Powered by php-BB © 2001, 2005 php-BB Group
Style by marsjupiter.com, released under GNU (GNU/GPL) license.
|
).
View Latest Posts