Well , with the cost of energy rising so much in the UK, what can we do to heat and eat ?
I'm no expert, but here's what I'm doing to help myself . Any comments or other tips greatly appreciated!
There's never one magic bullet [ almost anyway], so these add up .
1. Travel . I now mostly travel by pushbike for distances of less than about 5 miles [ for me thats my nearest sizeable town] . I have a rucksack and backrack to help carry . For a big shop, then I treat myself to using the car . I go to exercise classes in the town, and gaining some street cred when any fellow classees see me coming into the car park .... For windy days, I will be using my ebike . I cant get rid of the car as I do travel further sometimes .
2. Bathing . Exercise classes now finish off with a shower sometimes [at the leisure centre]. I used to luxuriate by a shower followed by a bubble bath 3.5x/week . Now its once per week along with a quick shower if required + the gym...
3. Washing. Cold water- fast .
4. Laundry. Now putting washing on every 6 days rather than 5, and filling up the machine slightly more. I'm helping to compensate by wearing thinner tops than normal [ T-shirts primarily] , and bedsheets staying on a couple of days longer . I use an electronic calendar to keep track of whats needed doing . Later in the year ,I'll be washing jumpers much less frequently , at present I only wear them at night
5. Smart lights . Removed
6. Standby kit- stuff with remotes Turning off at the machine--- when I remember to do it
7. Lights . Turning off when leaving room. Im getting better at this ! I have a battery operated proximity light in the bedroom, Im finding using this useful as it gives time to turn on the bedside lamp rather than the main lights .
8. Thermostat . Everyone says to turn it down by 1C . Ive not had the boiler on for central heating since about April, and relied on a thick jumper so far. Come autumn, I'll most likely do so .
9. Chimneys and the like . Make sure you know about ventilation prior to doing this- gas appliances need to be able to vent to the outside and can be dangerous if the off gasses cant escape . I have a fitted gas fire which I never use. The chimney now sports an old shirt blocking [warmer] air going up the stack .
10. Double glazing. Yeah think every house has that nowadays. I moved my finger round the inside edges of my windows a few months ago and was shocked to feel a draught. Screwfix visit, £12 of kit and resealed , rather than £1000s fitting new windows . Looks much better too :)
12 Bedclothes . Well my duvet is rather luxurious , but if it does get cold over winter , there are easy ways to rectify that problem .
13. Insulation . I had my walls insulated courtesy of HMG a couple of years ago . FREE . Check whether you can get freebies ..... They wouldnt insulate my loft properly , however , but beggars cant be choosers .....
14. Renewable installation. I'm moving home soon, so I'd never get my money back from this personally in my present gaffe . If you're planning to stay in your home for a few years however, you might want to think about this and do the sums . I will be in autumn, the price of energy will make the payback in a few years only [ my guess is 4 at the current fuel price, and its a hedge against future hikes of course] .
