| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| AnneandMike |
Energy prices up - so save money!!I know we have done this before but what bright ideas are there out there for saving energy and so cutting fuel bills.Here is my starter.......... I used to warm plates in the oven even when I hadn't used the oven for cooking - big waste of gas. Now I put a bit of water on one plate, invert another on top and pop them in the microwave for about 90 seconds. Piping hot plates for negligible energy (about 1/60th KWh). |
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| wellington womble |
Use a steamer over your spuds to cook veg, and try only to use the oven if you've several things going in (or make it so - baked spuds or roast veg instead of rice or mash) | ||
| JB |
Cook lots once a week and then reheat for the rest of the week. It's quicker overall and reuses as much oven and hob heat as possible. | ||
| RichardW |
Re: Energy prices up - so save money!!
Put them onto of the sauce pans as a lid for the last for mins of cooking. Same result for no cost. Justme |
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| vegplot |
Re: Energy prices up - so save money!!
I sometimes warm plates by sitting them on top of a saucepan in use instead of using a lid. Bit risky when you forget the plate can get bl**dy hot. |
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| vegplot |
Beaten to it 
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| Green Rosie |
We got much needed new wood burner just before Christmas. It will happily keep a kettle and pans of all sorts of things simmering and we cooked yesterdays chops on it in a baking tray. Gas bottle lasted a week longer than normal (+ unseen electricity saving)
Also bought a small grate to fit over hot ashes and have cooked meat and fish that way. Plus of course, baked spuds. If baking a cake, do double mixture and freeze the second one Use the pressure cooker and slow cooker more |
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| marigold |
If the oven isn't on I warm my plate by setting a hot saucepan down on it for a minute or two.
I'm trying to do better at using the oven for several things at once, using one saucepan instead of two for two kinds of veg and cooking more one-pot stuff. Also trying to remember to turn the hotplate off a few minutes before stuff is cooked. Pre-soaking rice takes a good few minutes off cooking time. I'm also training myself to wash my hands under the cold tap instead of hot, so the combi isn't firing up so often. I think I'm fairly careful already, so saving 15% more is going to be a challenge! Might start doing weekly meter readings again... |
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| Rowanlady |
Snuck round and turned the TRVs down just a tad - so far DH hasn't noticed
Warm my plates on top of the boiler (it's on the floor in a cupboard) or on the eyelevel grill plate Got a set of two 'half' pans - two veg - one ring Use my pressure cooker and slow cooker as much as possible |
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| Helen_A |
20 mins less heating at one end or the other of the usual heating 'time'
Um - socks. Extra jumpers and turn it all down another degree... (yes, my parents believed in extra jumpers before extra numbers on the thermostat, and yes my DP can't quite cope with it yet  )
Helen_A |
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| wishus |
I've had the heating on a bit more this week (I'm bloody freezing!), so I've probably gone a bit extreme, but in addition to the second duvet, bedsocks, sleepy jumper, and hot water bottle, I've also moved from my bedroom to the sofa bed downstairs, so I have less rooms to heat (just got my gas bill, and it's wrong already )
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| hamster |
Make stock in the slow cooker instead of on the hob.
I work from home and we worked out it was more efficient to get an oil-filled electric radiator and heat one room when I needed it during the day, rather than heating the whole house. (Obv if you're going between lots of different rooms this would be less efficient.) Big thick curtains! |
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| Helen_A |
Ooo yes - when we turned the tv on again (months of only having DVDs was great, but DP sucumbed to the GP season!) we've got it up in our bedroom only. Ostensably this was so that the children could only go and watch it when we agreed - but in practise it means that in the daytime they and I go and watch it upstars in my bed altogether, it heats the room at a time that the central heating isn't on, we've got the duvet if it is cold, etc. And its actually rather nice to turn it off and all sit in bed together whilst reading, knitting etc. 
Helen_A |
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| Green Rosie |
This is a brilliant article by Penny on scrimping that has some great money saving tips |