[jambutty]

Originally Posted by jaysay

I saw that on Ceefax too JB, and I think the writer had a point, but I agree its just a con, my gas and lecky bills have just gone up by £30 a month, yet no amout of gimics will help me pay the extra cost

Yup! I saw that letter on Ceefax too - page 145. I guess that the writer was keen to make his point.

Being on a fixed income with no chance of gaining more I have always been energy conscious.

I’ve been sent a variety of those new fangled low energy light bulbs but I’m not using any of them and I certainly won’t be buying any. Why? Simply because I only have one light on for any length of time and that is a 60 w table lamp on the telly when I’m watching it or after dusk if I’m using my computer. All other lights in the flat are only on for a few minutes at a time. So there is not much saving there.

The kitchen radiator has always been permanently turned off. That just leaves four radiators for the whole flat, living room, bedroom, lobby and washroom. All are needed to keep the damp at bay.

The room thermostat has always been at 18° C even at the height of winter because it is positioned in the lobby near the front door, which is always colder than the rest of the flat. This setting puts my living room at a comfortable 21° C. I don’t like it too warm. If I turn it down some more it gets too cold and the damp sets in especially during the recent rainy weather.

I’ve tried turning off the bedroom radiator but all that does is draw the heat from the rest of the flat making it colder, the central heating unit kicks in more often and thus I use more energy.

Seeing as I get up when I wake up and that can be at any time between nine and noon, the flat heating timer is set to come on at around nine, turns off at one, turns on again at four and finally off for the night at just after ten.

The problem with heating a ground floor flat is that even with a decent carpet down the cold still permeates from below. I counter that by having a box under the computer table, on which I put my feet. Whilst watching TV my recliner chair lifts my legs off the floor. So the only time that my feet touch the floor is when I walk around.

The overall temperature of the hot water has always been turned down to hand hot. Not so much because of economy but because of personal safety. As you get older your skin loses its toughness and whereas years ago very hot water wouldn’t scold it or if it did you would heal quickly, now it could give a nasty burn with all its inherent problems.

I’ve always only filled the electric kettle to the minimum, which is more than enough for one brew.

The self contained shower has been turned down to well below hand hot but still comfortably warm. The shower head has been turned to produce a narrow spray and a recent test revealed that I can have a shower and only use a bucket of water.

My washer/drier is now only used as a washer on the lowest temperature wash so that I can wash everything at the same time as one full load as opposed to two half loads, except for bed sheets that require a hot wash.

Not being able to put the clothes outside to dry because of the weather I have a maiden that is placed on a table near the living room radiator to take advantage of the warmer air in the top half of the room. It looks unsightly for two or three days, but what the heck I get my clothes dried for free. But the drying produces damp air. However, fortunately my windows have a closable vent near the top so hopefully most of the damp air will leave by that route.

Cooking can be wasteful. It takes the same amount of gas to cook a meal for two as it does to cook for one but there is nothing that I can do about that, unless I find a 60 years old widow willing to share a flat. Except that these one bedroom flats are not designed for two people.

In a nutshell I cannot make any meaningful energy savings apart from not using the washer/drier to dry my washed clothes so I will have to find the extra cost elsewhere.