| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Fee |
What are you doing to reduce electricity consumption?We had a candlelit evening playing Trivial Pursuit last night, it was lovely Even cleared the dining table and ate there by candlelight!
And while the oven was hot from cooking our roast dinner (which was almost entirely cooked in the oven at the same time, instead of boiling/steaming a lot of stuff as well as the oven being on), I made a chocolate cake for OH to eat while I'm away...seen as he's being really good and taking on this reduction of lekkie so enthusiastically. Now I'm away working, in Bath, until Friday, so I've left hubbie with instructions, which are: - No electricity to be used whatsoever in the bedroom (no TV, radio, stereo, or light...though I did say he was allowed to turn the light on briefly to see his route to the bed over the mountain of clothes and junk on our bedroom floor, aren't I generous?). - Lights to be used sparingly where needed, and no two lights allowed on at any one time in the house. - The PC has to be turned off if it's not being used, including both monitors off proparly, not just on stand-by. THough I have asked him to turn the PC on before he goes to work, and switch it off again when he gets back, to simulate me being there working from home in office hours, otherwise it wouldn't be an accurate image of what we use and what we could use. - The TV is to go on only when something we've planned to watch is on...or, we were thinking maybe we should set the Sky+ box to record anything we want to see, and watch only those programmes...so no flicking around channels trying to find something to watch. Think that's it, what's everyone else doing differently this week (though I know a lot of people here already do all the things above)? |
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| marigold |
My main thing is to have put my beloved blow-heater away. I DO like having a quick blast of warm air round my ankles when I'm making my brekkie before the CH has kicked in  . Other than that, just being a bit more vigilant about switching things off and using the cooker efficiently. Oh, and I won't be doing any hoovering or ironing this week!! 
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| Jonnyboy |
A really useful thing is to carry out a last minute walk around before bed, checking all lights are off, including outside, TV's turned off rather than standby etc.
It's also wise to incorporate this into a fire safety check, make sure all candles/naked flames are out, devices unplugged which aren't meant to be left plugged in, that all doors etc are shut properly (even a non fire door will give you 15 minutes) |
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| Penny |
I cooked a roast yesterday, but whilst the oven was on, I did another four meals, which will cut down the use of the oven a lot during the week. (I was exhausted last night though).
We've not had the telly on yet - and will only put it on if there's something specific we want to watch. Looking at what uses the most electric in our household, we've hopefully sorted the oven with the cook-a-thon yesterday. We're only running the hot tap for a bath every other day, and sharing it (we don't have a shower  ). I'm only washing the clothes that are absolutely neccesary, and as the weather looks OK this week I should be able to put them outside to dry.
Is it better though to leave the emersion tank on, or just switch it on to warm when we need hot water? We will need some for washing up every day though. Anyone any advice on this? |
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| bernie-woman |
I am not doing anything which I don't consider sustainable - my first thought when doing this challenge was to not use the washing machine, computer, oven etc.. for a week but then I would be producing false usage - particularly as we have looked very carefully at our energy consumption already
However, the good thing that has come out of this challenge so far is that a number of bad habits have slipped into use since we made energy saving changes - so we are turning the tv off from standby every night again - identified a number of other appliances being left on standby - we are turning things off at the socket (does that make a difference) and we are ebeing very careful with lights
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| Jonnyboy |
Take a look at the lights in your house and decide which ones are on the longest. Pick as many as you can depending on finances and swap for eco bulbs. Four would be a good start. | ||||||||||
| mochyn |
In a perverted sort of way I'm jealous of you lot with electric cookers, CH and so on. We have a solid fuel Rayburn for hot water anf cooking, a Wood burner in the parlour, no CH, no electric kettle, etc etc etc. We do, however have 2 freezers, one of which I emptied and turned off yesterday. As we don't have any TV reception we only watch TV (videos & DVDs for an hour or so on most evenings and we don't have any outside lights. So we can't cut our consumption by much except to check nothing is left on when it's not being used. | ||||||||||
| pricey |
Penny, immersion heaters are 3 kw, it really depends on how well insulated your tank is. I f it's fairly newish it will be covered in expanded foam like stuff, very well insulated. If it only has a fibre glass filled sectional jacket on, then get as many blankets/ duevets around it as possible. This will cut down on the amount of time it bi-oles every hour. Also turn the stat down to 55 deg, this is well hot enough, but this involves taking cover off, so please every one turn of electric first. I wouldn't like to think I wiped out 30 odd downsizers 
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| Fee |
I forgot to say that we shared a shower this morning too, very nice start to a Monday morning it was too 
We're trying not to do things we won't reasonably be able to keep up either, hence me asking OH to put the PC on during the day when I would normally be at home...I'm doing this challenge for us really, I'm not too concerned about the actual result at the end of this week...well, as long as it;s lower than last week 
Plus, the washing machine not being on isn't too much of a biggie, it hardly ever is (hence th big pile of clothes on the bedroom floor )
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| moongoddess |
I've been vigilant about lights and have now turned off the stereo components at the wall (they're usually left on standy all the time).
I haven't used electric heating except this morning because dd was nearly blue with the cold, so it went on for a 15 minute blast. Unfortunately, we have workmen in this week and they're drinking a lot of tea I only use the kettle once a day, but I've already made 6 cups of tea today and of course, they have all the lights on in the room they are working in.
I've been turning my computer off instead of standby and last night used the little built in light on my screen instead of the table lamp _ i figured it might use less power, but I'm not sure. That's about it. I don't think I am going to get an astonishing result. I was planning on handwashing, but everything is in total chaos due to building work and I don't think I can manage it (mind you, the washing machine isn't plumbed in anyway, so I don't quite know what I am thinking will happen - does the washing faery still exist?). 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............
rambling horribly, mg x |
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| marigold |
I'll happily swap with you mochyn!!! Ever since I saw your kitchen windowsill pictures I've had to keep muttering to myself "you CANNOT move to Wales, it is totally impractical, can't afford it, miles from friends and family......"  .
Anyway, apart from my naughty fan heater I'm not sure that I will be able to save much either, though. I don't have TV or outside lights and am pretty careful about switching things off anyway. Not hoovering or ironing isn't going to save me much - I rarely do either anyway .
It'll be interesting to find out just how much the fan heater does use up, assuming everything else stays much the same. I did think about buying some energy efficient light bulbs, but the full-spectrum ones I want cost a fortune, so they remain on the "one day" list...... |
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| alison |
I have decided to only do things I will carry on doing, so I won't be giving up using the washing machine for example.
I am looking at the clothes a bit more to see if they can do another wear, but with three messy children, who knows! I have hung three loads of washing out on the line (usually use the tumble dryer), got the aga kettle out, so no leccy one. While I was pulling plugs out I turned down the timer on the central heating (oil) so it isn't on for as long now, and turned down the hot water temp very slightly. Also turned down / off a couple more radiators. I am changing some lightbulbs too to energy efficient. All these should be permenant changes too. I will add the number of people who stayed on site to my figures at the end of the week, and last weeks too, as obviously I cannot do much about their consumption. The pc has been set to 1min standby, for pc and screen. I may try and reduce a freezer down in a minute too, so I can turn one off. Now I am looking for ideas Any one else? |
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| Fee |
Same here! SO jealous, Mochyn |
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| Jonnyboy |
Good suggestion Alison, turning down the thermostat a couple of degrees, turning off radiators.
If you have a thermostat on the hot water tank then that can be turned down. Ours is set to give a hot but not scalding bath of water. |
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| Anna-marie |
There's not much that I can do, really!!
Lights are only turned on when the pub is open, and these are a necessary evil, as the customers need to see what is floating in their beer
My only form of heating is the woodburner in the pub, and this also runs the central heating upstairs. But as I am downstairs, anyway, I never turn the pump on!! 
I always turn lights off whenever I can, and no appliances are left on standby
My cooker is electric, but I rarely get the chance to cook!! 
Crisps and chocolate are the staple diet of a vegetarian, did you know?
Telly is only on when the customers want to watch football or rugby. (Or darts, snooker, indoor bowls, synchronised beer drinking, etc, etc, ) and is switched off immediately anybody turns away from it!!! 
Like Mochyn, I'm not sure what else I can do. Oh, I suppose I could always cut down on my coffee intake
But then, I would probably kill someone
Anna-marie |
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| tahir |
Well you know what they say; REDUCE, reuse, recycle... |
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| Northern_Lad |
I've got some space in my freezer so tonight I'm going to stick another bottle of vodka in there so it's not going to waste. | ||||||||||
| Mrs Fiddlesticks |
I didn't get a chance to register my leccy figures but I'm still going to try and reduce if I can.
Today is main electric usage day in that I clean the house so 'fraid the washing machine, vacuum cleaner, iron and washing machine again have been on. At least the washing is on the line as opposed to being in the tumble drier. And I've shoved the kids out on their bikes rather than sit in front of the telly/computer/PS2 which sadly is their idea of a holiday. Things I can't change - we are all electric here; I've turned the storage heaters down but it will depend on the weather whether they remain down as they're our only source of heating. |
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| Cathryn |
Well yesterday - we left the sitting room lights on all night - first time ever, today left computer on all day - ditto
Hey what do you mean Marigold - no friends in Wales - there's quite a lot of us on here!
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| marigold |
I meant a long way from the friends I've got here . Though no doubt they'd all be coming for extended visits if I lived somewhere as lovely as mochyn . I had my chance in the late 80s when you could buy a cottage in Wales for about a fifth of the value of my house in Brighton, but didn't take it.... so I mustn't grumble now . Sometimes it's best to keep your dreams as dreams, eh?
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| Penny |
We've started logging our electric each day. (I've become addicted to looking at the meter to see how much we've used so far )
Also I'm noting down what electrical items we've used. For example, today the dishwasher has been on once and the cooker for 10 mins. Also, at the end of each day I'm gong to make a note of how good we've been with lights (good, average, poor) and how much the computers have been used. (we work from home sometimes, so this can vary considerably from day to day). So far today we've used 9 units - and I don't expect that to increase a great deal tonight - maybe another one or two, but considering last week we were averaging 35 a day, something seems to be working. Having said that, yesterday we used 40, but I did do all the washing, and cooked all the week's food, so if I average that out, we're still down a considerable amount. |
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| alison |
Another thing I am now doing is regestering my electric with another company. With the same useage I will be able to save about £350 a year
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| nettie |
It's hard to know what else I can do, really.
Am in 1 bed flat, with low energy bulbs all round, and only have one on at a time. Nothing's ever left on standby; everything is unplugged, during the day, and at night. Hot water gets switched on for an hour a day; hope to get rid of the tank and get a boiler soon. Try to cook in bulk on the weekends or at least do a roast to feed me for a few days, and live on salad a lot anyway. The only vice is to have an extra freezer but I think the savings in food outweigh it! I need to cut down on laundry further - I was a bad girl and took up smoking again so had to wash clothes after one wearing - but I've been 3 days without fags since the lurgy took hold and everything's smelling of roses again, even with a blocked nose!! That's it! I have no idea how I end up paying ninety-odd quid a quarter
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| wishus |
Changed the very last lightbulb in the house to a low energy one... well thought I had, then I noticed the lights in the conservatory aren't - shows how often they are used!
I've only really started today, but there's not much I can do really, as I always switch things off at the socket anyway, but I'm probably going to drink a little less tea. Spent most of the night so far sitting in candlelight and not using any electricity, but that was only because I was on the phone to my boyfriend - that is, my ex as of last week . Was kind of hoping he had changed his mind, but sadly no. He is sending me some confusing signals - enough to warrant a 2 and a half hour conversation anyway.
So, I haven't had the chance to switch anything on until now. |
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| Penny |
Poor you - hope it all works out for you. It may cheer you a little to know that you are the third lowest user of electric in the first week of the challenge, probably no cheer at all, but big hugs anyway. | ||||||||||
| monkey1973 |
I've been turning the laptop off instead of leaving it on standby and the routers been switched off too for the last two days (although it's on now obviously). We've only been switching one light on in the kitchen and we've had a couple of evenings of nice candlelight in the livingroom. We allowed ourselves a half hour luxury to watch Universally Challenged last night but otherwise TV has been a no-no. The outside light hasn't gone on at all yet and we've had the log fire on both nights. We're also charging the mobiles in the car whenever we're running anywhere. I think thats about it really. | ||||||||||
| ken69 |
I've switched orf the fridge freezer for good, hopefully, and will shop each day, tho with mostly home grown fruit and veg (and foraging)not a lot to buy.
And using the library for comp one hour a day helps.Reading more and less TV. Fully fitted out with low energy bulbs, and have spent the last year insulating the house, e.g. 2" polystyrene window shutters.Next project is to insulate the floors, and to make a window solar collector. Extra loft insulation, courtesy of a government grant via Powergen. Shower only, and a solar water panel DIY in progress for housing in the greenhouse, using filtered rainwater. The only other saving I can think of , is having no cooker, just a collection of seperates like steamer, slow cooker, toaster and so on. Don't think it can be done with a family. |
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| Penny |
We only used 14 units yesterday . Averaging out what we've used thus far, we'll be reducing by about 50%
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| judith |
The biggest consumers here are almost certainly the two big freezers and my work computer, which I can't do much about. I know I have been quite bad about leaving the computer on standby when I finish work, which is very naughty. OH put in a couple more sockets at the weekend, so I no longer have to scrabble inelegantly under the desk to switch everything off. I've also decided to leave the fax and printer switched off until they are needed, rather than having them on standby again.
I'll be interested to see how much difference this makes. |
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| moongoddess |
You're doing really well Penny. I'm feeling a bit disappointed. i just checked my meter and we've used 52 units in the past 48 hours, so about 26 a day. I've worked out that at this rate we will reduce our comsumption by approximately a third, but i was hoping for a far better result than this (half, at least). There are a few things that have thrown it - lots of cups of tea and full lighting on during the day for workmen, so we'll see if that improves once work has finished.......We also woke up to a frost this morning and I had to put on a heater for dd until she went to school. I've decided to take other's suggestions and only do the things that I will be able to continue with in the long-term as I feel this gives a more realistic idea - so the washing machine *will* get used, but I am going to spot clean things more often and get more organised with dd's clothes.......  I made breakfast in the slow cooker this morning and used a camping stove for lunch (I'm contemplating putting in a bottled-gas hob at some point, so thought I'd use this week as an experiment) but I really expected to see much more difference.
ho hum, it's all very interesting mg x |
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| moongoddess |
hadn't thought about the router. Out of sight, out of mind and all that.........I'll try and remember tonight. Thanks for the reminder Love your candle and firelight piccie
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| Penny |
Even a third reduction is pretty brilliant mg - just think how much electric would be saved if everyone in the UK did that!!!!!!!
It seems that it's the cooking, clothes washing and drying that are the real killers - and that's about being more organised IMHO. I baked a lemon yoghurt cake last night, and that took about three units!!!! Had I done it on Sunday whilst the oven was on for everything else, I could have saved that too!! The good news was that the dishwasher didn't seem to use much at all - phew!!! 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
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| judith |
It's a lovely drying day here today. Sunny, with a good stiff breeze.
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| ken69 |
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 ?? |
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| bernie-woman |
This might sound a stupid question but a number of people have mentioned turning things off at the socket - do you actually save any leccy by turning your sockets actually off - i.e if a lamp is off but plugged in and the socket is on does that use any leccy and if you do how?
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| judith |
It certainly uses leccy if there is a transformer. I would imagine not otherwise (but could well be wrong ).
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| Penny |
I know - I will try to get some out later today, but when you're not at home, it's difficult to predict the weather Kids school clothes for example - have to be washed Friday/Saturday, ready for Monday - if it's a wet weekend, what do you do???
It's a matter of me being organised - which up till now I haven't been, and the price paid for that is higher electric use It's get my arse in gear time methinks!!
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| judith |
It is difficult. With the weather as it has been for the last few weeks, we end up using the spare bedroom for drying - which means heating a room that would normally be left unheated. Swings and roundabouts I guess. | ||||||||||
| moongoddess |
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 |
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| moongoddess |
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
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
Wow! it's a real eye-opener this challenge isn't it?
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..
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 |
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| Anna-marie |
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 |
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| alison |
I have started a couple of more obvious things today.
The dishwasher (I know, I know, but I am not giving it up with the amount our lot produce) is now packed to the rafters, instead of being run about 2/3 full. I have also been running it on the econ wash instead of the normal. The difference is slightly less temperature water, and no blow drying. The washing machine has been run on one temperature programme less than I normally would use, therefore 30 for 40 degrees. I have used the microwave a couple of times, but I then pull the plug out straight away so the cooling fan does not kick in for the following minute. We only use it 2 or 3 blasts a day so it can stand and cool, it doesn't need the fan. Another saving has been we are going to bed about an hour earlier!! |
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| Bugs |
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. |
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| Lozzie |
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. |
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| gil |
Have you got a separate spin-only cycle ? The reason I bought my washer was that it has two dials - one for what kind of wash you want (quick / main / pre- / wool / spin-only etc), and one for what temperature you want to do it at (anything from 0 - 90 degrees). I fill mine from cold-only and wash usually at 30, very occasionally 40 for really really mucky, or 0 for relatively clean / wool / silk) I'll be switching off my fridge-freezer, transferring the freezer contents to the chest freezer, and putting the fridge stuff in the pantry. |
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| Northern_Lad |
Your PC is probably set up as w#nky y#nky, in which case, either set it to UK, or try out the right-hand side options (#,~,@, etc) |
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| Lozzie |
Yes, we have - we used it, but it seemed to go ON AND ON AND ON for ever!
Methinks further experimentation is required
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| moongoddess |
I'm still going!
I've just worked out my reading for this morning and it is a very respectable 40% off the first meter reading (about 35% off last weeks), so I feel pleased now. I wasn't even *that* careful - there is still more I can do, so I'll aim for another 5% next week
The main thing I did was take the electric heaters out into the garage and made dd wear more clothes! Interestingly, I've been eating lots of onions and garlic this week and it has made an enormous difference to my body temperature.......... mg x |
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| moongoddess |
only just found this post - do you know how would I set the keyboard to UK? thanks mg x |
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| Penny |
You need to find your "Regional and Language settings" which should be in the control panel. Check it says English (United Kingdom) | ||||||||||
| moongoddess |
Mmmm, curious. That's the setting......
Never mind, what's a pound sign between friends?
mg x |
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| gil |
I've carried on the challenge as well, because my leccy usage for each of the first two weeks was about the same, and I thought I should make some effort to reduce consumption.
This week, I've been here all week, and my usage is down by 21% on each of the last two weeks. If I'd been around for 7/7 the previous fortnight, it's 31% down on what it would have been, given that I had been using a fairly constant number of units/day. I unplugged the fridge-freezer on Monday afternoon. Fine without, so far. I've been going to bed earlier and reading there, instead of having the CH on. The weather is warmer, and the evenings are lighter. |
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| ken69 |
See, Penny, just thinking about it brings the bills down.
Same here Gil, fridge/freezer still off, had to modify meals but not by much. Running at 18 to 20 kWH per week. Debating whether its worth carrying on with this DIY solar panel, it equates to two kettles heated per day.Nice to have lots of hot water, but what would I do with it. |
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| gil |
solar panel = 2 kettles heated : one to wash/shave and make a pot of tea in the morning, one for washing-up solar panel = lots of hot water = washing, washing-up, baths/showers, laundry, etc. Depends what you'd use hot wtaer for, and how much/often. How to reduce my usage further ? Now using 6-7 units/kWh a day, 3 of which are the chest freezer. |
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| alison |
Right you brain boxes,
Light bulbs I need some of the economy ones which aren't too tall, so they don't stick out above the side lights in the bedrooms. The only ones I can find are too tall. Any recomendations. There are 14 side lamps in the B&B |
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| Penny |
Ikea has loads of different shapes and sizes, if you have one anywhere near you. |
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| Penny |
Now....... how do we get the rest of the world to think about it
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| Bernie66 |
What is the fitting and what length are you looking for? I will have a look at what we have in work. |
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| alison |
The fitting is a normal bayonet.
I went into homebase and B&Q and measured every bulb and lightshade, and the measurement from the frame to the top of the shade was the same. The bulbs are phillips 6watts I think(replace 40). The shades are the regular coolie type, nothing that out of the ordinary. Thanks for looking. Ali |
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| alison |
Penny The nearest Ikea takes me 2 1/2 hour to get to.
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| Penny |
Shame - they do have loads, quite cheap too
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| alison |
From the round thing on the shade, that goes over the fitment, to the top it is 4 3/4" or 12 cm. | ||||||||||
| sean |
The lighting shop near the bus station in Barnstaple does a really big range. We got some from them to replace candle style bulbs which would probably do the trick for you. | ||||||||||
| alison |
James electrical?
The one with the tiffany lamps in the window? |
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| sean |
That's the one. | ||||||||||
| mochyn |
Aah, a local shop for local people... | ||||||||||
| alison |
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| moongoddess |
Did you ever find anything Alison? The spiral candles at the top are just 11.5 cms http://www.yourwelcome.co.uk/acatalog/Compact_Flourescent.html mg x |
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| alison |
No mg I didn't, I am still looking.
I'll have to check those ones out and see what it looks like. |