[Misc] Suggestions to save energy this winter…

[Audax]

Don’t leave electrical appliances on standby.

If you've got modern electrics, this saves a lot less than you might think. As I've got a smart EV charger fitted, I've got an app that provides me with per-minute usage tracking. Leaving (for example) our 10+ year old TV on standby overnight costs f-all. Even charging my phone overnight uses so little it's not noticeable in the background use that can't be switched off (fridge and freezer). I'd argue it's probably not worth the effort of going around the house turning everything off before bed.

Come October I shall be taping up all the bedroom and toilet windows at the opening points,even brand new windows can let in cold air so let warmth out, basically go round the house and anywhere that you can feel a draught tape it up if practical,we've a log burner so have no need for radiators in the living room at all

Log burner requires oxygen. If you're using it and you've plugged all the "air leaks" in the property, unless it's drawing that oxygen from outside (in which case you're feeding the fire with cold air and it'll be less efficient) you'll be sucking the oxygen out of the air you're breathing with no way for it to be replaced.

Why do some people think electricity is cheaper overnight?

That's only true if you're on Economy 7, surely?

And generally only those with storage heaters are better off on Economy 7.

Depends. Smart meters and suppliers such as Octopus means that for some cheaper over night electricity is a "thing" again, without needing to be on Economy 7. As I've got an EV, I've signed up with Octopus and got their Octopus Go tariff. As part of that, I get a 4 hour window over night (between 12:30 and 4:30) where I'm only charged 7.5p / kwh. All based around the fact that the Grid needs to be "balanced" and they actually *want* us to use electricity over night. Going to be very useful in winter when my solar panels won't produce enough to charge the car.

We are with Ovo, and have a smart meter. They update our account details daily, so we can see how much gas/elec we used during the previous day and how much each fuel type cost. The website also provides us with the ability to look at the previous days usage so we can can see when we used the fuel. Therefor I have no need for any additional apps.

While the daily aggregates are very useful, what you really want to see is even finer detail than that if you can. Your smart meter should be capable of producing half hourly readings. You might need to talk to Ovo about getting this enabled (unless that's what you meant with the "previous days usage so we can can see when we used the fuel"? - if so, apologies!). Octopus do half hour readings by default (they have to as a lot of their tariffs are based on when you use energy rather than flat rate) and the extra detail is useful. I also have real-time readings for electric thanks to my house set up (solar panels, EV charger) and those are *really* useful. It makes it very easy to see (for example) how much the kettle draws etc etc. It can help with identifying which specific electrical things in your house you could be targeting to use less to save energy. As an example: guess what time we turned the TV off last night:

 

[virtual22]

I see a few have switched or going to be using log burners, isn't this a really bad pollutant? I think I read somewhere that they are being banned? I did read this recently as well:

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ood burning in homes produces,from 38% to 17%.

"Other recent research has shown that wood-burning stoves in urban areas are responsible for almost half of people’s exposure to the cancer-causing chemicals found in air pollution particles. Even wood-burning stoves meeting the new “ecodesign” standard still emit 750 times more tiny particles than a modern HGV truck, another study found, while wood burners also triple the level of harmful pollution inside homes and should be sold with a health warning, according to scientists."

We can all start wood buring before getting in our "green electric cars"!

 

[Fungus]

All our sinks have single-lever mixer taps. I realised I was in the habit of moving the lever to “hot” to wash my hands, but I’d be finished before the hot water arrived, which seemed a waste of gas to our combi-boiler. Now I’m training myself to use the “cold” position (except when I’ve been digging manure in the garden, obvs).

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Die

Die was?

 

[Pavilionaire]

Thermals, Long Johns and a case of whisky.

 

[raymondo]

my issue too! I have two teenage sons and for a generation that is meant to be environmentally conscious they are terrible. They never turn lights off, leave the microwave door open, leave the oven on when they have finshed cooking and generally have no energy awareness. Thankfully one is off to Uni halving the issue

Except that you'll have to help him pay his exorbitant fuel bills at some point...

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

my issue too! I have two teenage sons and for a generation that is meant to be environmentally conscious they are terrible. They never turn lights off, leave the microwave door open, leave the oven on when they have finshed cooking and generally have no energy awareness. Thankfully one is off to Uni halving the issue

. . . and virtually doubling the university's electricity bill single handed it would seem.

 

[Daddies_Sauce]

While the daily aggregates are very useful, what you really want to see is even finer detail than that if you can.
View attachment 151412

I can 'see' 30 min intervals via the website,

In addition, fortunately we had Solar and a battery installed last December, the default reporting on the solar was pretty pants, so I've added Solar-assistant to our reporting options, and can drill down to 10 second intervals on electric generation, battery storage and utilisation and general electric usage.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

I was defrosting our old fridge, and thought the thing about not using a knife to do it was just some sort of safety warning about it slipping and cutting you or something. Anyway, I pierced the gas thing at the back, which hissed and stunk the room out.

Got a new fridge, A-rating. Our electricity usage plummeted overnight. It's about four years old now, and I reckon it has easily paid for itself in power savings alone.

Batch cooking. I was going to make a veggie curry this week. I've now bought 5x the ingredients and will bulk cook and freeze the leftovers. saves 4 times the gas cooking time.

Fridges do use a lot more electricity as they get older, but also use more when half empty. Try to batch cook in a slow cooker and then fill up the freezer, or else it is freezing air and is expensive.

 

[The Clamp]

Shame people seem to be turning to log burners. Very bad for the environment.

 

[Bozza]

Have you a large family, or is everything electric?

We have gas heating (not on at the moment), combi-boiler, and a gas hob - but on Bank Holiday Monday I was WFH all day, washing machine in the morning, then I did a Roast in the oven when the Domestic Manager arrived home - this was our usage.

3.7kWh for the day.

Just three of us and we have had for water and heat. But this goes back to my posts on another thread: trying to determine why we are using so much above the U.K. average.

We were away for four weeks recently so I can now look at those days for a baseline of usage with the house pretty much turned off.

On those days usage was always between 2.3-2.5kWh.

Here’s a sample graph - pretty much typical for each day.

So is our fridge freezer likely to blame? It’s quite old - we bought it second hand when we moved back to Sussex as we needed something to ride us over in a temporary rented house. We’ve kept it just because it works.

(Monetary amount might be wrong but the kWh should be accurate)

 

[keaton]

I have started making briquettes for the the fire out of paper and card. I've a briquette maker but a video the other day seemed to show you being able to do it with empty tins

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Live under blankets.

See by minimal candlelight.

Make sure the blankets don't catch fire on the candles.

Eat cold vegetables out of tins.

Charge your phone/ipad up at work or elsewhere that you can "borrow" electricity.

Life in UK 2022.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

Live under blankets.

See by minimal candlelight.

Make sure the blankets don't catch fire on the candles.

Eat cold vegetables out of tins.

Charge your phone/ipad up at work or elsewhere that you can "borrow" electricity.

Life in UK 2022.

This is a thread for helpful tips on saving some money this Winter. Would be nice to keep it that way. There is another thread for discussing the whys and wherefores

 

[nicko31]

Shame people seem to be turning to log burners. Very bad for the environment.

At least a decent Woodburner is about 80 percent efficient, far worse in an open fire which are about 20 percent efficient with most of the heat going up the chimney

With both having decently seasoned wood is important, wet and green wood is terrible

 

[Audax]

Shame people seem to be turning to log burners. Very bad for the environment.

Yup, it is. And I don't feel good about it either. I'm hoping this winter will be a one-off and that the Tories will wake up to the fact that the energy market is beyond broken as it stands and needs reform urgently. I've already seen that the EU are looking urgently at what it will take to decouple electricity pricing from the gas market so that cheaper-to-generate electricity from non-gas sources can help reduce costs at the household.

Did you know that in the UK the price for all electricity is set by the most expensive (currently gas) method of producing electricity, regardless of how much we actually use from that source? And that in a lot of cases the massive excess profits that generates for cheaper sources (such as solar, wind, and hydro) is automatically redirected to the government as part of fixed-price contracts those cheaper generators signed up for? Yup ... instead of cheaper electricity generation methods going towards lower costs for us, it is instead go directly into the government coffers.

 

[southstandandy]

Pray for a mild winter again. Last year we only put the heating on for 3 days. Hopefully it will be similarly mild. Go global warming!

 

[British Bulldog]

Go back to what we done when I was a kid in the 60's, Eat what you can afford and wear what you can to keep warm. We never died by having 1 coal fire to warm the house, net curtains frozen to the window on cold mornings and 1 bath run that we all took it in turns to use going down through the ages. (never been so happy to see younger siblings born)

 

[KZNSeagull]

What is the cheapest price that can be paid for logs for a log burner ? We bought a bag weighing 7.5 kg at the weekend which cost £5.69.

We bought a dumpy bag load (0.7 cubic metres) which is approx 250kg for £85 from a local forestry chap a couple of weeks ago.

 

[BrickTamland]

I work 3 days in office and 2 days from home. Will charge everything at work and hope it sees me through, at least won’t have to charge stuff fully.

Lights off if not in room and switch all appliances off at plug.

Go to the gym 3 times a week so will shower there on those days, might even start going before work the other days when I have time.

We’re in a 2 bed flat between 2 of us and partner works from home 4/5 days a week and someone who feels the cold so that will be hard to manage. Not lived in this flat over a winter so no idea what to expect.

We’re both earning full time but essentially expecting to have no spending money November through to March/April