Oldvatr
Expert
- Messages
- 8,453
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
Indeed, if they are underblankets then they are not to be left on when in the bed. Mine is an overblanket and has safety cutoff with a limit timer.
Indeed, if they are underblankets then they are not to be left on when in the bed. Mine is an overblanket and has safety cutoff with a limit timer.Unless it is one designed to be left on when you are in the bed and is relatively new and undamaged please don’t do this. They are designed to warm up the bed before you get into it. I could have died in an electric blanket fire in my early 20’s living alone. My feet burning are the only thing that stopped the smoke inhalation being far worse than it was. The mattress didn’t survive and it was a while before I wore shoes again. A firefighter friend at the time estimated I probably came close to never waking up
I presume you are on a standard or fixed tariff. So your smart meter is probably not doing much to help reduce costs. There are a couple of suppliers who are offering a variable tariff for smart meter users where the cost per unit varies through the day depending on time in the day. In general, the electric is most expensive between 4 pm and 7 pm, but also between 6am and 10 am. I am with Octopus, and they can read my smart meter every half hour, and they publish the days tariff charge intervals the day/ evening before, so I am intending to reduce use during peak hours, and defer activities to the rump of the day when it is cheaper. I have only just applied so I have not yet started, but I have been practicing for a couple of weeks now in anticipation. It will happen in due course. It why they are rolling out smart meters after all.I’m all electric with a smart meter, last year a normal winter day with all heating on, using the oven every day, washer & dryer on at peak times at least once usually twice, 2 showers every day, 1 hour heating water, usual 2 TVs fridges, freezers etc and charging devices. A normal day would be about £7 - £9 depending. We had a really cold snap I remember cost average £12 for about 3 days.
Fast forward 12 months to now, I’m washing and drying clothes in the middle of the night, getting up to swap them over etc (not getting up specifically I’m usually up for some part of the very early morning) water on every other day, not used my oven in 4 weeks since I got the air fryer. Only heating the rooms we are using and then just enough to take the chill off. Layering clothing and using throws and even hot water bottles. Not showering every day. My average day is now £17 - £19 depending and one day when I didn’t do the washing until the day time I hit £25!
I’m doing everything possible and can’t do much more so not sweating about it (scuse the pun) but my god it’s scary- I feel so sorry for those who have to watch every penny, I worry about people I don’t even know every day. I’m very lucky that we can weather the storm and I thank god every day for that blessing
I’m on the economy 7 tariff - I’m on standard during the day of 34p per unit between 12 am and 7 am the tariff is 17p per unit, so doing things through the night rather than the day is definitely cheaper, my hubby can look on our account to see a daily graph of exactly how much we are using when. I’m waiting for new tariffs to open for electric car charging at home as hubby’s new company car arrives in January and it’s fully electric- none of the companies have those tariffs open at the moment. We will save a lot on tax and he will charge at work whenever he can as that is free, but he travels a lot and isn’t always at a main officeI presume you are on a standard or fixed tariff. So your smart meter is probably not doing much to help reduce costs. There are a couple of suppliers who are offering a variable tariff for smart meter users where the cost per unit varies through the day depending on time in the day. In general, the electric is most expensive between 4 pm and 7 pm, but also between 6am and 10 am. I am with Octopus, and they can read my smart meter every half hour, and they publish the days tariff charge intervals the day/ evening before, so I am intending to reduce use during peak hours, and defer activities to the rump of the day when it is cheaper. I have only just applied so I have not yet started, but I have been practicing for a couple of weeks now in anticipation. It will happen in due course. It why they are rolling out smart meters after all.
So i cook breakfast after 10 am and my evening meal after 7 pm. The dishwasher and washing machine get their chance to shine around midday, as a retiree I am able to follow this new rota quite easily.
My bedroom has not got past 14 degrees, but last night I used a hairdryer to heat the bed up before hubby came up to bed! It was bliss! Main room gets up to 19.7 and stays there but after a couple of hours drops to about 16. I have been looking for mens slipper boots but cannot find them for love or money.Here is an interesting (n=1) experiment on heating
Cold weather: What does an unheated room do to your body?
The BBC's health and science correspondent undergoes an experiment to find out how a cold home affects him.www.bbc.co.uk
Scrambled eggs work well in the microwave. I melt a little butter then add the eggs. You need to pause and stir frequently and watch like a hawk so they don't go over though. Hope this is useful.I will start the ball rolling. I usually have TWOMAD, a breakfast that is a fried English breakfast with toast and butter, and a grilled meat with potatoes and veg in the evening. I have been doing this for 7 years now since I started LCHF, and its a routine I have that suits me. But I have recently churned the energy consumption figures on how I do this, and it gave me a shock. This is something I repeat daily 365/annum so in a year and at present energy costs (pre October) my breakfasts cost me £90 p.a. and my evening meals cost £98 p.a just for the energy, My daily coffee cups cost me £200 p.a. because I use a kettle. This cost will almost dounble in the autumn.
So I looked at other ways I can reduce these costs. The obvious way is to migrate as much as I can to the microwave, which at 800W is quick and efficient. So far I have migrated my cups of coffee by just heating the mug of cold water for 2 mins and it makes a reasonable cup of coffee and its hot. I have successfully cooked my mushrooms at 2 mins in butter, Yep. So far so good. What I have not yet done is the bacon and the toast. The toast will remain being done in the toaster since that is better than the grill on the cooker. I await the arrival of the bacon crisper utensil for the microwave, but it should be possible to achieve a result. So yes my breakfast will transisition to the microwave, Cost will be around £20 pa, which is a saving of £70 at today;s prices.
Doing similar for the evening meal, I will be able to steam my pots and veg in the microwave, and I will try the meat crisper thingy for chops and burgers, but the fish will probably be steamed or poached instead of grilled. So its doable. Cost expected to reduce from £98 to £23 pa. My daily coffee habit reduces from £200 to £25 pa.
It will take a bit of getting used to, and involves a bit more utensil washing up but not too big a problem and I estimate to save around £300 pa off my bill today, and at least £600 pa from Jan 2023.
What I am not sure of transitioning is eggs (they can be poached or scrambled) or sausages or steaks. Salads don't fare well in a microwave either. But apparently stirfry and chicken is possible.
The oven will be needed at Christmas, and what I am doing may only be feasible as I am a household of one and the cat eats whatever I give him so long as its cold and smelly.
This technique is what I use to cook omlettes under the grill to avoid needing to flip them.Cooking a pizza in oven takes a lot of energy instead try large flat frying pan with lid.
Spray on oil or fat bung pizza in put lid on great results.
I have had some success doing fried egg in the microwave. I have a frying pan that sticks itself ro egge, so using the plastic steamer dish avoids lot of scraping and cussing You have to pop the yolk with a pointed thingy. My bacon crisper works a treat but one does need to cover it with something like kitchen towel to stop the spatter.Scrambled eggs work well in the microwave. I melt a little butter then add the eggs. You need to pause and stir frequently and watch like a hawk so they don't go over though. Hope this is useful.
Not surprised you're miffed at Bristol Gas doing that, I'd have been the same @AndBreathe
Have you got any room in your suitcase?!? It would be so lovely not to feel frozen every day. Hope you have a lovely time.
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