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Hacks to reduce energy costs

Oldvatr said:
Powercuts may be unusual to young 'uns, but we oldies should be able to cope like our grandparents did. I mean they went through the War after all. I went to a school that had minimal heating and it certainly was not luxury at the flick of a switch. It was a boarding school and we used to have to break the ice and unfreeze the pipes to get our morning and even evening wash. I remember hoar frost on the windows so you could not see out.
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Totally agree, I was born in the sixties with ice inside the windows, one coal fire in the living room, went through the blackouts and strikes in the 70s, doesn’t mean I’m relishing it and want to cope with it now lol
Oldvatr said:
The sky is NOT falling down. It will be inconvenient for sure. dust off the thermos. consider an LPG heater. get batteries for the torch. consider a windup torch.
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Try telling that to a person with an autistic brain, rigid routine, rigid thinking, severe anxiety and PTSD, not only is the sky falling down but the world is ending, and it doesn’t just last for what will be the suggested 3 hour cut but the anxiety that will build for hours before it happens and continue once the power is back on for the next time. imagine your body being on high alert like that for days sometimes weeks , this on top of every other tiny little thing that makes him anxious - it’s exhausting for all of us

For example We had a power a few months ago for a couple of hours due to high winds- my son still carries a camping lamp every where around the house with him since that day just in case it happens again - in fact hubby will say - oh here comes Florence Nightingale lol
 
lovinglife said:
Totally agree, I was born in the sixties with ice inside the windows, one coal fire in the living room, went through the blackouts and strikes in the 70s, doesn’t mean I’m relishing it and want to cope with it now lol

Try telling that to a person with an autistic brain, rigid routine, rigid thinking, severe anxiety and PTSD, not only is the sky falling down but the world is ending, and it doesn’t just last for what will be the suggested 3 hour cut but the anxiety that will build for hours before it happens and continue once the power is back on for the next time. imagine your body being on high alert like that for days sometimes weeks , this on top of every other tiny little thing that makes him anxious - it’s exhausting for all of us

For example We had a power a few months ago for a couple of hours due to high winds- my son still carries a camping lamp every where around the house with him since that day just in case it happens again - in fact hubby will say - oh here comes Florence Nightingale lol
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You are so right. This is the way my son is too. Sending love to you all
 
lucylocket61 said:
We have 4 oil filled radiators, on wheels. They are great for topping up heat or if it's too cold for the Rayburn to cope with. They are thermostatic control using a dial, so they click on and off. Mine done have timers. However, this doesn't help when the electric is off. They are good for quickly heating up a room and come in various sizes.

Mine are not chargeable. I didn't realize some came with chargeable batteries.
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T used the term 'charged' as being heat filled pror ro the planned powercut. Not an electrical charge as in battery. Sorry if I mislead. So the heat in the radiator acts like a battery. We will in future see house battery supplies with an inverter unit to connect the output to the mains supply as a backup feature, and these could be used to collect solar or wind energy when the cost is low, The technology is available today to do this but installation is not cheap.
 
lovinglife said:
Totally agree, I was born in the sixties with ice inside the windows, one coal fire in the living room, went through the blackouts and strikes in the 70s, doesn’t mean I’m relishing it and want to cope with it now lol

Try telling that to a person with an autistic brain, rigid routine, rigid thinking, severe anxiety and PTSD, not only is the sky falling down but the world is ending, and it doesn’t just last for what will be the suggested 3 hour cut but the anxiety that will build for hours before it happens and continue once the power is back on for the next time. imagine your body being on high alert like that for days sometimes weeks , this on top of every other tiny little thing that makes him anxious - it’s exhausting for all of us

For example We had a power a few months ago for a couple of hours due to high winds- my son still carries a camping lamp every where around the house with him since that day just in case it happens again - in fact hubby will say - oh here comes Florence Nightingale lol
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I assumed the comment was aimed at posters in here rather than some of our more vulnerable family members. Of course we have to deal with the fallout. I’ve found staying as calm as possible helps them a bit and planning ahead and demonstration that we will cope helps us all.
 
HSSS said:
I assumed the comment was aimed at posters in here rather than some of our more vulnerable family members. Of course we have to deal with the fallout. I’ve found staying as calm as possible helps them a bit and planning ahead and demonstration that we will cope helps us all.
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I didn’t take it personally I know @Oldvatr didn’t mean me personally :) but there will be lots of vulnerable people, old, those that need electricity for machines that deliver medical support, those that need to be warm, it’s fine saying to those that are vulnerable to get stoves, camping lights, calor gas heaters etc but that’s all added expense that some may not be able to afford - it’s certainly a catch 22 situation for many - I’m lucky that I can put other things in place but not everyone is sadly - I worry for them
 
lovinglife said:
I didn’t take it personally I know @Oldvatr didn’t mean me personally :) but there will be lots of vulnerable people, old, those that need electricity for machines that deliver medical support, those that need to be warm, it’s fine saying to those that are vulnerable to get stoves, camping lights, calor gas heaters etc but that’s all added expense that some may not be able to afford - it’s certainly a catch 22 situation for many - I’m lucky that I can put other things in place but not everyone is sadly - I worry for them
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Indeed, there are going to be a lot of people for whom the suppot is lacking, and who will suffer if there are powercuts. I see this thread as encouraging those of us able to take steps to reduce our own demand thus leaving more of the scarce resource for others. Also for us to help others save money which is also a diminishing resource. Sadly we appear to have a government that is driven by dogma in preference to the people thay are supposed to serve.
 
My supplier has just announced it is the first to introduce a Smart Tariff. I do not have the details yet. But my direct debit has suddenly dropped very significantly which is probably the government discount scheme kicking in. I aint complainning.
 
Brekkie said:
Hello @Oldvatr
Is the Smart Tariff for only those that have those smart meters?
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I believe so. Their Agile tariff was the Beta version of this and that needed a SMETS2 smart meter. Mine is a SMETS1 standard, so may not work with it. It also needs a droid phone, I believe, but cannot find that specified. They have an API to set up routines on for switching things in and out acccording to cost data they send out each day. Their literature is not very clear how it goes together. It is done with applets like Alexa uses, but how those are defined is not mentioned. It is apparently IFTTT language (If This Then That). But it needs internet controllable devices and switches which I don;t have.

It annoys me greatly that an applet controlled device requires a smartphone. I have a laptop that could do that job from a spreadsheet or word processor, but they wil not share their technical info to let anyone develop a PC version. My central heating is the same, but they have finally provided a web browser version that runs on the laptop. I can actually wave a finger, and turn the heating on and off now.

The other thing is that although their new tariff varies the unit pricing depending on availability, there is still the standing charges, and an extra handling charge on top. The domestic price cap does not apply and they have an upper limit of 75p per kwh which is twice the domestic fixed price, So it is probably not going to save me much even if I do electrify my plugs and sockets.
 
carty said:
We use coal and wood for heating and hot water I just ordered more coal because it usually goes up in price in September .The coalman says that the next lot of coal that he will need to buy is due to go up £10 per bag so I am glad I ordered now Also next May we won't be able to buy normal coal only smokeless .One tip I read was to switch off the microwave at the plug when not in use even on standby it costs .Thanks for starting this every little helps
Carol
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Anything that has a light or gets warm is using power. We now unplug our CD player and all phone chargers as well as microwave when not in use.
 
If, and it's a big if, there are power cuts, its better they are planned than sudden.
I remember the 1970s ones. Batteries, candles, eating at different times, board games, extra clothes. As a child it was quite fun.
Will be interesting to see how today's generations cope
 
It was easy to cope back then. We had no central heating, just a log fire, so we didn't get cold. The fire provided some light too which helped. We boiled water and warmed soup and made toast on the fire as well. Nowadays central heating systems need an electric pump. Telephones didn't need electricity either as there were few answering machines.

I worked in a bank and whilst computerisation was in use , it was easy enough to do most things manually by torchlight.

I can't see modern shops with their barcoded goods being able to function.
 
MrsA2 said:
If, and it's a big if, there are power cuts, its better they are planned than sudden.
I remember the 1970s ones. Batteries, candles, eating at different times, board games, extra clothes. As a child it was quite fun.
Will be interesting to see how today's generations cope
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They will still have their mobiles provided they charge them up in time. And Tablets. The mobile network will have standby power so internet should still keep them amused. Streaming TV will still be available,
 
Oldvatr said:
They will still have their mobiles provided they charge them up in time. And Tablets. The mobile network will have standby power so internet should still keep them amused. Streaming TV will still be available,
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However, home networks and modems will crash out so laptops may not work.
 
Just watched a story on CNN just now, The Cerebos factory on the coast of South Africa produces table salt with a large de-salination plant. They are collaborating with another firm to expand the site to use the unproductive scrubland to host a solar farm and a wind farm. This and the desalinated water from the salt operations will then be hydolysed in a new plant to provide ammonia for fertilizer, and also green hydrogen. The ammonia will also be used as a diesel and crude oil replacement and the ships and tankers that will use the local docks will use ammonia to power themselves as they deliver the produce globally. They have already laid in the pipes to the docks in readiness.

This is the sort of development we could use here in the UK. Why can't our politicians get onto this?
 
I used to use a 2 tier steamer on the hob to cook my veg and potatoes (I can manage 2 or 3 baby pots) and it used to use 20 mins of a 1 kw hob on full blast. So 0.33 of a unit.

I now use a 2 tier steamer in the microwave to do this job. Apply 6 minutes at 60% followed by 2 minutes at 80% power, which works out at 0.22 of a unit.

I do this most days in a year, So I save about £15 a year.

I notice it is getting colder now. I have so far avoided putting the heating on much to my daughters chagrin, and I find I have to give my coffee cup an extra 10 seconds to compensate.
 
MrsA2 said:
If, and it's a big if, there are power cuts, its better they are planned than sudden.
I remember the 1970s ones. Batteries, candles, eating at different times, board games, extra clothes. As a child it was quite fun.
Will be interesting to see how today's generations cope
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I was pregnant with my youngest son at this time and as I was having him at home the midwife said that if he was arriving at night when there was a power cut she would get the fire brigade to set up a large searchlight outside the bedroom window !! Fortunately we didn't need it
 
Outlier said:
Another vote for the oil-filled radiator. Mine must be 20 years old, and only used upstairs in the coldest part of winter. We don't have central heating - our only other heating is a downstairs gas fire dating from the 1970s. It's all perfectly survivable, just a bit inconvenient. Dressing for the cold is also an art that helps.
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Ah dressing for the cold its like glamping in our house but used to it from living in a cold drafty georgian house growing up and frost on the inside window panes. Seeing your breath like the exorcist! Shame we are having to go through this.
 
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