How to save energy and money (From Bucks Free Press)
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How to save energy and money
10:30am Sunday 26th October 2008
The clocks have gone back and now it will be too dark to spend time in my garden when I arrive home from work.
The pleasure of pottering around in the evening twilight for a couple of hours will be replaced with being trapped inside my house with the curtains closed in a world of electric illumination.
At this time of year my electric consumption increases but I am mindful of the exorbitant energy prices. So I have decided to reduce the amount of electricity I use.
Recently I invested in a plug-in electricity cost and usage meter. It's a device which looks like a time switch with a socket on the front which plugs into an electricity socket and measures the cost of the electricity used by the appliance plugged into it.
So far I have worked out that it costs 15p to run my desktop computer each evening while my laptop uses only 4p. Now I use only my laptop after all it's just as good as my desktop and uses just a quarter of the electricity.
My friend put the meter on their TV and video which amazingly used 1Kw of electricity in a week while just on standby and switched on for a couple of hours a night.
To save on heating costs the thermostat on the central heating has been turned down and I have invested in a jersey to keep me warm if I start to feel cold.
To keep the kitchen warm I've also started leaving the oven door once my food is cooked. After all it seemed a little silly heating the oven up only to shut the door on the heat in the oven once the food was cooked. So why not let the heat out into the kitchen? Of course you have to switch the oven off when the door is open!
When it comes to cooking my triangular saucepans have been fished out from the darkest depths of my larder. Being triangular in shape it means that three saucepans can fit on one ring so the cost of cooking my vegetables has been cut by two thirds. I would like to buy some more triangular saucepans but sadly the shops don't seem to sell them any more.
Not only are my energy costs reduced but I'm helping to reduce my carbon emissions too and that can't be a bad thing.
Have you got any good energy saving ideas?
Comments(34)
Melanie1
says...
1:43pm Sun 26 Oct 08
ivor
says...
1:56pm Sun 26 Oct 08
Yes, all excellent ideas. I put some draught excluder on my windows a few weeks ago I should have put that in my blog.
I have also heard of people placing cooling fans in front of radiators to blow hot air around the room and heat it up quicker.
Melanie1
says...
2:23pm Sun 26 Oct 08
ivor wrote:It's patently ridiculous to burn electricity with fans in an effort to heat your house quickly.
Re the comments of Melanie1 at 1:43pm Yes, all excellent ideas. I put some draught excluder on my windows a few weeks ago I should have put that in my blog. I have also heard of people placing cooling fans in front of radiators to blow hot air around the room and heat it up quicker.
If I remember rightly you don't have double glazed windows. In the late 70's one of my parents neighbours used to get sheets of clear plastic and tape them to the inside of their windows to provide a 'double glazed unit'. They used to put it up at the end of Oct and take it down at the end of March. Though of course this meant that they couldn't open their windows.
ivor
says...
2:27pm Sun 26 Oct 08
Indeed I do still retain the traditional windows that my house was built with as I feel double glazing makes the house lose it's character.
I have thought of putting up polythene over the windows as a form insulation but the effort required to put it up and take it down again has put me off the idea so I prefer to use a heavy curtain instead.
smiley cat
says...
3:42pm Sun 26 Oct 08
Low energy cost light bulbs are brilliant and last forever. Making sure that the TV is turned off at night and not left on standby. Turning unnecessary lights off .We have just had double glazing fitted and new exterior doors which does make the house warmer. Not leaving the heat on all day whilst not in. As I say small things but hopefully useful.
ivor
says...
5:09pm Sun 26 Oct 08
I have recently succumbed and installed some low energy light bulbs myself. They are all right but some of the bulbs are too long for the older lamp shades.
It's a shame you can't get a device which plugs into your light socket and turns the lights off when there is nobody in the room. Now that would be a useful gadget.
It shouldn't be too difficulty to make as all someone needs to do is combine a light socket with a motion detecting device.
smiley cat
says...
5:50pm Sun 26 Oct 08
ivor wrote:I know what you mean about the lampshades LOL.
Re the comments of smiley cat at 3:42pm I have recently succumbed and installed some low energy light bulbs myself. They are all right but some of the bulbs are too long for the older lamp shades. It's a shame you can't get a device which plugs into your light socket and turns the lights off when there is nobody in the room. Now that would be a useful gadget. It shouldn't be too difficulty to make as all someone needs to do is combine a light socket with a motion detecting device.
There are timer devices that you can get that just turn on when you go into a room and turn off when you go out of the room if that is what you mean.
ivor
says...
6:00pm Sun 26 Oct 08
Yes, that was what I meant. It would be nice to have the light come on when I go into a room and go off when I leave as surely that would be the best way to save money.
When they designed the newfangled low energy bulbs surely they would have though about the lamp shade problem however it appear not!
Melanie1
says...
6:08pm Sun 26 Oct 08
ivor
says...
6:56pm Sun 26 Oct 08
Yes, I know about the lights switches because I've got them in my house too but I was wondering if there were automatic switches that would turn the lights off if I forgot.
It's a shame you can't get low energy security lights to replace the 500w halogen bulbs.
tom.marlow
says...
7:02pm Sun 26 Oct 08
Another good blog Ivor. But you should get some double glazing. It makes a huge difference.
You can get low energy bulbs is a variety of shapes. I've got sume that are the same size as a regular bulb. They fit OK in some wall lights we have that were always a tight fit with ordinary bulbs.
Seriously spooky - my security word this time is "fuel-lack"
ivor
says...
7:15pm Sun 26 Oct 08
Thank you for your kind words of praise.
I can imagine the children having fun turning the lights on then leaving the room with the lights still blazing!
I believe we have had the double glazing debate before. As you know I am not a fan of white plastic windows so I shall have to make do with a heavy curtain and some draught excluder.
I can only find the long and straight low energy bulbs in the shops but I will have to have another look if you say you can get them the same size as a regular bulb.
Melanie1
says...
8:21pm Sun 26 Oct 08
ivor
says...
8:29pm Sun 26 Oct 08
I looked at heating my house with off peak electricity but found it to be too expensive having to put all the equipment in from scratch. But for those who have the facility the off peak tariffs are certainly beneficial.
With the washing machine running through the night doesn't it make an unpleasant situation to wake up in the morning to a load of washing that needs sorting out?
Melanie1
says...
8:42pm Sun 26 Oct 08
I didn't even realise that we had two tariffs until I got the first bill after we'd moved in here.
I don't have a problem with sorting out the washing machine in the morning, at this time of the year it's perfect because by the time I get back from work about 9am if it's sunny it's warmed up enough to put it out on the line and it has at least 6 hours to dry. If it's raining, then I put the tumble dryer on while I have my morning cuppa before leaving for work and it's still on the cheaper tariff.
It doesn't matter what time of the day you do your washing you still have to deal with it when it's finished.
ivor
says...
8:54pm Sun 26 Oct 08
If you already had it installed then it would be cost effective for you but the cost of installing from scratch was just so much for my house.
Indeed you still have to deal with the washing when it's finished but I don't think I could get up in the morning knowing there is a load of washing to be sorted out. Of course doing the washing isn't the hard part. It's the ironing that's the worst part in my mind.
tom.marlow
says...
9:13pm Sun 26 Oct 08
Just google "low energy lights bulbs" and you will find a number of companies selling them online. I expect they are cheaper than buying them in the shops.
Double glazing does not have to be white uPvc. You can get timber double glazed windows. They look really nice, but are pretty expensive.
smiley cat
says...
10:01pm Sun 26 Oct 08
tom.marlow wrote:Thanks for that info re the lightbulbs Tom cos I did not realise!
Ivor said " can only find the long and straight low energy bulbs in the shops but I will have to have another look if you say you can get them the same size as a regular bulb." Just google "low energy lights bulbs" and you will find a number of companies selling them online. I expect they are cheaper than buying them in the shops. Double glazing does not have to be white uPvc. You can get timber double glazed windows. They look really nice, but are pretty expensive.
We have got double glazing all over our 1926 built house and I am sorry ivor but we do have white uPVc. They look fine and they are low maintainance so no more painting the window frames - hurrah!!
ivor
says...
1:45am Mon 27 Oct 08
Thank you for that advice. I see they now do the low energy bulbs in GLS and Candle sizes. I will have to send off and buy one then I will be able to put the light shade back up in my hall!
Perhaps you know where I can get some more triangular shaped saucepans?
Do you mean you can get timber effect uPvc windows or you can get double glazed windows made of real timber?
ivor
says...
1:47am Mon 27 Oct 08
Yes, the info about the light bulbs from Tom was really good. You learn something every day when you read my blog!
But I enjoy painting window frames. I take great pride in having windows which are a different colour to everybody else’s.
smiley cat
says...
7:28am Mon 27 Oct 08
tom.marlow
says...
9:02am Mon 27 Oct 08
ivor wrote:I meant real timber, although I expect you can get wood effect uPVC as well. I'd reckon the wood effect uPVC is cheaper than the real wood. Try googing it and find out.
Re the comments of tom.marlow at 9:13pm Thank you for that advice. I see they now do the low energy bulbs in GLS and Candle sizes. I will have to send off and buy one then I will be able to put the light shade back up in my hall! Perhaps you know where I can get some more triangular shaped saucepans? Do you mean you can get timber effect uPvc windows or you can get double glazed windows made of real timber?
No idea about the triangular saucepans. I know what you mean though. I think my grandmother used to have some. They are no good on gas hobs as they will be unstable; they require a flat surface.
You could try googling it though or have a look on ebay.
Alternatively, why not get a steamer. Most vegetables taste better steamed than boiled and you can cook 2 or three levels at once. The only disadvantage is the the stuff at the lower levels may pick up the flavour from the stuff on top. You need to think carefully about what you put where.
A steamer is also very good for cooking chicken and fish.
smiley cat said "Thanks for that info re the lightbulbs Tom cos I did not realise!"
Actually, nor did I ! Also I discovered that the low energy versions of the halogen spotlights we have in our kitchen are a lot cheaper than I thought :-)
ivor
says...
10:20am Mon 27 Oct 08
Indeed everyone is different. If we weren’t it would be a dull and boring world!
ivor
says...
10:24am Mon 27 Oct 08
I have tried looking on eBay and visiting specialist cookery shops but unfortunately every looks blank when I ask for triangular saucepans. In this energy saving age I would have thought they would be the “in” thing.
I have never used a steamer before. Does it take longer to steam vegetables than it does to cook them in the ordinary way?
tom.marlow
says...
10:34am Mon 27 Oct 08
ivor
says...
10:37am Mon 27 Oct 08
I will have to give it a try. I am not an expert cook and over cooking things can be a bit of a problem.
faisal mahmood
says...
3:58pm Mon 27 Oct 08
Excellent blog:-)
Ivor wrote:
''Perhaps you know where I can get some more triangular shaped saucepans?''
Try the Asian shops specially Thara House, along green street 5mins walk from the town center as they have a lot of pans on display and are really cheap then eden shopping center.
Ivor why not get a dog as no one will want to break in if the dog deters them away from the house!
Anyway Excellent blog:-)
smiley cat
says...
5:25pm Mon 27 Oct 08
Ivor thanks you for your kind words of praise ;)
Ivor - I have to ask and this has nothing to do with your blog just me being curious...... what colour are your window frames and how do you manage to paint the upstairs outside..
ivor
says...
7:52pm Mon 27 Oct 08
Nice to hear from you again. I am pleased that you like my latest blog.
Indeed a dog will deter people from breaking into my house but surely it will cost a lot to keep in dog food?
ivor
says...
7:57pm Mon 27 Oct 08
For your information my window frames are cream just as they were in the 1930's.
I paint as much of the outside by leaning out of a first floor window but I also have a long ladder to do the hard to reach bits. The ladder is made of wood and dates from the 1930's. The last time I went up I was at the very top when there was a loud cracking noise and I noticed that unfortunately the wood of the ladder has split under my weight. I finished off the window I was working on and got down.
Needless to say I haven't been up the ladder since. That reminds me that I must get a new ladder sometime.....
smiley cat
says...
8:08pm Mon 27 Oct 08
ivor
says...
8:15pm Mon 27 Oct 08
Indeed I must get a new ladder but it seems a shame to get rid of the old one after all it has done such good service over the years.
I am thinking of using the good half of the extending ladder as a “short” ladder to save on money.
tom.marlow
says...
11:03pm Mon 27 Oct 08
... It will give the opportunity to write a blog about A&E services in Wycombe :-)
Only joking !
ivor
says...
11:22pm Mon 27 Oct 08
A&E services in Wycombe? You've got more chance of a Council Tax rebate than getting emergency treatment in Wycombe!
The old ladder did such good service. Three generations of my family have used it so it has become an old friend over the years. Still I will be able to use it as a low level ladder if I only use the good section so it will still be with me for a good few years to come.
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