Manage Your Gas & Electricity Price Increases?

I think that heating one room, rather than 3 or 4 rooms , looks cheaper by far, Susan.

The Central Heating also provides my hot water, for baths, etc., but I have set the hot water (Central Heating Controls) to come on for just 1 hour a day.so that there is warm water to wash by, in the morning, etc.

I’m getting into this project, more & more!

I don’t have a kettle, instead I use one of these under sink heater devices, that needs a bit of thought!

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Thank you Ted. So maybe I’ll turn c h on first thing in the bitter cold days say for a couple of hours then turn off and use my gas fire and be snug in the lounge. We have all got to think of ways to cut back now .

I changed our security lights to LEDs. The back garden light used to be a 300w one - now it’s just 30w (300w equivalent it said on the box). The one covering the drive was also 300w (far too bright for a short drive) - now it’s just a 10w LED (= to 100w stated on the box). They cost no more than a total of £30 to buy.

Would it be worth closing your savings account if, as you say, it’s only small, and stashing the money somewhere safe like premium bonds or even under the mattress? Then, maybe, you could claim Universal Credit.

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If you do not already have a water meter, ask for one to be fitted. With just the two of us here most of the time, our water supply only bill (waste water separate billing) is £7 monthly and we’re always in credit.

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This is where a condensing gas combination boiler wins. There is no stored hot water to loose heat while it waits to be used. Mine is mounded right between both bathrooms right above the kitchen, so the draw-off time is greatly reduced, again saving money.

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@Percy_Vere ,Yep,mallready done that, just kept a bit back for emergencies,
but that seems to be a mistakeAnd now lve got the premium bonds they have
put the bank rate up !!
Cant win it seems??
Donkeyman! :frowning::frowning:

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Shouldn’t have to have the heating on to heat the water , or do you mean you have to have the boiler on ?

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We’ve had PB’s for well over 30yrs and our returns far exceed anything we could have achieved even with risky investments. With the rise in BR, it wont be long before the PB rates rise too providing more ‘winnings’.

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:+1: Can’t wait.

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Brilliant idea (no pun intended) I should have thought of that!

Thanks Percy. I’ll get some over the week end!

Thanks, LD

Yes, Already metered here.

TC

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Yes, The CH system supplies HW & Heating, depending on the position of the 3 way valve.

Both timed individually.

I should have explained it better.

TC

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@LongDriver ,mWell so far we are slightly better off with the PBs so l
hope you are right about that ?
Donkeyman! :roll_eyes::roll_eyes:

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What’s your insulation situation between sheetrock and the exterior walls, ceiling and attic?

My exterior walls are double skinned with brick (not plasterboard) and the cavity is filled with water repellent blown white fibre**, plus a further outer layer of insulation slabs before a final render of sand & cement covered in spar chippings (pebble dashed). The top floor ceiling has a double layer of 200mm rockwool laid at right angles over the ceiling joists.
** Superwhite 40 Blown Cavity (Retro-fit) - Superglass Insulation Ltd

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We have gas central heating and we still have them on in all the rooms but only 1 hour in the morning and 1 in the afternoon. We have a gas fire that’s always on and all the doors to the rooms are always open. Especially downstairs because we have dogs. We did have a small electric company that went bust so we’ll have to pay more before it goes up more. Some people have the heating on all the time but very low but we haven’t done that. We have a water meter so we save on that and only have showers, could save a bit more by just having a wash in the sink, that’s what we do and wash our hair once a week. I’ve been saving a bit on the cooking by using the microwave more. We have all the house insulated years ago so can’t do that anymore than we have.

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Yes, need to have a think about how good that is!

Thanks for that!

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It’s good what you are doing with the security lights, ours aren’t remote ones so just have them on if we go out, but some people have them on all night.

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My off peak hot water tank is outside, don’t want it taking up house space, they invariably are here.

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We used to laugh at a friend who never left a device switched on a second longer than necessary, who would switch to whatever device came along which would cut his costs.

He’s gone to a place where heating is not needed, any more, but we don’t laugh at him now!

Anyway, the cost of replacement boilers is changing,

Hydrogen boilers: everything you need to know - British Gas