End of the race, start of savings

Our final week of the race showed even greater savings via our meter reads. Our electricity usage was 42% lower than the week before the race started and our gas a mighty 48% lower! Ok, so some of the savings are due to the weather improving (slightly) but if we could keep this up all year we would save over £600!!! Our estimated savings on the ideas we've put in to practice, see below, now total nearly £450 which we are surprised and delighted with. Surprised because we thought we were already pretty energy efficient( (oops!) and delighted because this will result in more actual money in our pockets (hurray!).

Well just because it was the last day of the race we didn't slack off. Whilst I was at work, Toni took the kids and their holiday homework to the library so that we could turn everything off and keep saving. I think Tom and Sammy enjoyed it more than doing homework at home as there were less distractions and more to investigate.

Dreaming of better weather, we fitted some door strip blinds which allow cool air in but not the bugs. This will mean that we can keep our back doors open in the summer and not have to use electric fans to cool us down.

One final energy saving action that I have been doing for the whole 4 weeks is that I stopped shaving with my electric razor.

I think it probably saved about 50p and the family's reaction wasn't overly positive so one I might not be able to continue! Apart from that we are going to keep saving with all the plans and ideas we have put in place and will now be more focused on our energy use in the future (watch this space for any new ideas we come up with!).

ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVINGS
No electric shaving                         £5
Door strip blinds                           £10
Lined back door curtain                  £5
Draught excluder to seal gaps       £15
Unpowered propagators                  £5
Plugged-in doorbell off                   £2
Video & DVD player unplugged    £2
Chimney blocked-up                       £4
Radiators bled                                 £4
Fridge vents/fins cleaned                £3
Radiator shelves                            £10
Free water saving stuff                    £5
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £30
Door draught seal                            £5
Lined front door curtains               £10
Bathroom energy saving light       £30
No power games & activities        £10
Less charging (car inverter)          £15
No power lawn mowing                £10
Reduced ironing                            £15
Hall energy saving light                £30
Front door solar light                    £30
Lined bedroom curtains                  £5
Cooking Co-operative                   £25
Dishwasher used only when full   £20
Bed half an hour earlier                 £25
Washing Machine at 30 deg C      £15
Reduced Heating & Hot Water     £50
Ditch the Tumble Dryer                £50
Still Less TV & Xbox                   £10
Total Annual Savings                  £445

ACTUAL SPEND
Door strip blinds                              £9
Lined back door curtain                 £14
Draught excluders                          £20
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £26
Door draught seal                            £5
Pulley bathroom airer                    £43
Lined front door curtains               £21
Bathroom energy saving light       £20
Invertor                                          £20
Hall energy saving light                £27
Front door solar light                     £25
Lined bedroom curtains                 £10
Total spend                                   £240

And finally a huge thank you to B&Q and The Observer for selecting us to take part in the Great Energy Race, its been Electrifying!

TTFN

Free Time



Even though not the nicest of days, we turned everything off and all went to the park to watch Tom play football (the easiest way to save energy!)..

 



 I think Harry (our dog) enjoyed it the most as the boys lost despite a brave second-half fight-back. 

The result for the whole morning was energy used nil, energy saved loads!

This afternoon we carried on the theme of getting outside and turning everything off. Tom went out to play with his mates and the rest of us sorted out the greenhouse. We potted-up some of the lettuce seedlings we had grown and sorted out the strawberry plants. We are now all looking forward to lovely summer salads and strawberries that mean we don't have to use the oven!

Whilst in the greenhouse, we had a bit of a brainwave. With the weather warming-up and our ditch the tumble drier plan there may be rainy days when our old-fashioned pulley airer in the bathroom can't cope with our washing. So, we strung-up some old washing-line cord in the greenhouse for speed drying! As long as we open the window and vents to let the condensation out, this should be perfect for drying our washing on warm but rainy days.

Then the, by now, usual routine of one bath shared in turn by all four of us, a family board game(kids v adults trivial pursuit again - adults still only ever beaten the kids once!), some reading (Sammy's school topic next term is rainforests so we found "The Big Green Book", very "eco", and linked in the Great Energy Race and how this will help the rainforests) and early to bed.
 
ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVINGS
Lined back door curtain                  £5
Draught excluder to seal gaps       £15
Unpowered propagators                  £5
Plugged-in doorbell off                   £2
Video & DVD player unplugged    £2
Chimney blocked-up                       £4
Radiators bled                                 £4
Fridge vents/fins cleaned                £3
Radiator shelves                            £10
Free water saving stuff                    £5
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £30
Door draught seal                            £5
Lined front door curtains               £10
Bathroom energy saving light       £30
No power games & activities        £10
Less charging (car inverter)          £15
No power lawn mowing                £10
Reduced ironing                            £15
Hall energy saving light                £30
Front door solar light                    £30
Lined bedroom curtains                  £5
Cooking Co-operative                   £25
Dishwasher used only when full   £20
Bed half an hour earlier                 £25
Washing Machine at 30 deg C      £15
Reduced Heating & Hot Water     £50
Ditch the Tumble Dryer                £50
Still Less TV & Xbox                   £10
Total Annual Savings                  £430

ACTUAL SPEND (will add items in as we install them and estimate their savings)
Lined back door curtain                 £14
Draught excluders                          £20
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £26
Door draught seal                            £5
Pulley bathroom airer                    £43
Lined front door curtains               £21
Bathroom energy saving light       £20
Invertor                                          £20
Hall energy saving light                £27
Front door solar light                     £25
Lined bedroom curtains                 £10
Total spend                                   £231

Last day of the race tomorrow, but not of the energy saving!

TTFN

A Draughty Day

After some lovely weather this week, the cloud is back, temperatures are down and the wind is up. So a great opportunity to check for draughts.

 

 

Sammy and her little yellow feather (no animals were harmed during this test!) tested all our external door and window seals for gaps. Any gaps would obviously let in draughts and we would see the feather flutter (other good testers are a piece of ribbon, very thin paper like a tissue or candles, joss sticks, lighters etc. - but not near flammable curtains or with kids).

 

 

The happy smiles showed that we found very few draughts (we had new double glazing put in all our old pvc frames when we moved-in 7-years ago - much cheaper and much more eco friendly than having all new double glazing panels fitted - and had our external doors adjusted to stop draughts about 3 years ago). Where we did find draughts we were ready for action with draught excluder foam seals we had bought from B&Q.

 

 

Then we put up another door curtain, this time at the back door - again one of B&Q's clearance bargains - and Harry (our dog) checked that for any remaining draughts!

 

 

Finally, Tom put on his woolly Stevenage FC hat for bed! I don't think it has got that cold, at least we haven't had snow this week!

 

 

 

ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVINGS
Lined back door curtain                  £5
Draught excluder to seal gaps       £15
Unpowered propagators                  £5
Plugged-in doorbell off                   £2
Video & DVD player unplugged    £2
Chimney blocked-up                       £4
Radiators bled                                 £4
Fridge vents/fins cleaned                £3
Radiator shelves                            £10
Free water saving stuff                    £5
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £30
Door draught seal                            £5
Lined front door curtains               £10
Bathroom energy saving light       £30
No power games & activities        £10
Less charging (car inverter)          £15
No power lawn mowing                £10
Reduced ironing                            £15
Hall energy saving light                £30
Front door solar light                    £30
Lined bedroom curtains                  £5
Cooking Co-operative                   £25
Dishwasher used only when full   £20
Bed half an hour earlier                 £25
Washing Machine at 30 deg C      £15
Reduced Heating & Hot Water     £50
Ditch the Tumble Dryer                £50
Still Less TV & Xbox                   £10
Total Annual Savings                  £430

ACTUAL SPEND (will add items in as we install them and estimate their savings)
Lined back door curtain                 £14
Draught excluders                          £20
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £26
Door draught seal                            £5
Pulley bathroom airer                    £43
Lined front door curtains               £21
Bathroom energy saving light       £20
Invertor                                          £20
Hall energy saving light                £27
Front door solar light                     £25
Lined bedroom curtains                 £10
Total spend                                   £231

Had to feed others tonight as part of our "cooking co-operative" but again don't think we used any more energy than just feeding ourselves. Last couple of days and still a few energy saving ideas to come - we hope!

TTFN



Up in the Loft

One place we haven't checked, although our Energy Assessor did, is up in the loft. We had our hot water tank moved up there a number of years ago to give us more bathroom space so there's more to check than in most but it is one of those places that gets forgotten. A good start as we have an insulated loft hatch and all the gaps are sealed.

The hot water tank and all the pipework are also all insulated. We can't do much about the power switches that are on as they operate the pump, wireless thermostat and remote shower pump.

The thermostat on the hot water tank is already set at about 58 deg. C, nicely below the recommended 60 deg. C.

The loft insulation has been "topped-up" and although not quite the 270mm optimum our Energy Assessor said adding any more wouldn't make any real improvement.

So unfortunately no new energy savings but aren't we feeling smug with what we've already done!

Well we have made a small saving elsewhere by not using our electric propagators to germinate our veggie seeds this year. Instead we have used normal sized, unpowered propagators and the mini ones that are sold with kids seeds. These have been put on sunny windowsills and we've had no problems with germination (even with chillies!). The small one in the pic is one that Tom and Sammy planted in the garden last weekend and we have nice young seedlings already.

ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVINGS
Unpowered propagators                  £5
Plugged-in doorbell off                   £2
Video & DVD player unplugged    £2
Chimney blocked-up                       £4
Radiators bled                                 £4
Fridge vents/fins cleaned                £3
Radiator shelves                            £10
Free water saving stuff                    £5
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £30
Door draught seal                            £5
Lined front door curtains               £10
Bathroom energy saving light       £30
No power games & activities        £10
Less charging (car inverter)          £15
No power lawn mowing                £10
Reduced ironing                            £15
Hall energy saving light                £30
Front door solar light                    £30
Lined bedroom curtains                  £5
Cooking Co-operative                   £25
Dishwasher used only when full   £20
Bed half an hour earlier                 £25
Washing Machine at 30 deg C      £15
Reduced Heating & Hot Water     £50
Ditch the Tumble Dryer                £50
Still Less TV & Xbox                   £10
Total Annual Savings                  £420

ACTUAL SPEND (will add items in as we install them and estimate their savings)
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £26
Door draught seal                            £5
Pulley bathroom airer                    £43
Lined front door curtains               £21
Bathroom energy saving light       £20
Invertor                                          £20
Hall energy saving light                £27
Front door solar light                     £25
Lined bedroom curtains                 £10
Total spend                                   £197

Just in case you were wondering, the "cooking co-operative" is still working. Only eaten at friends and family once so far this week but got Friday "booked" and working on at least one day out this weekend!

TTFN

Free Ideas

Had time to double-check that we had turned-off, turned-down and blocked-up everything we didn't need working all the time. Realised that we were still using our plug-in doorbell so switched that off straight-away. What with a good old-fashioned door knocker, and Harry, our dog, who goes mad with excitement when anyone comes near the house, we should be ok.

Next we noticed that our DVD and video players switch on whenever we turn our TV on because they are plugged into the same extension lead. The extension lead is really easy to get to so we unplugged them.

As our house was built in 1935, we have 2 chimney breasts and there would have been 4 open fires. The 2 downstairs these have been blocked-up with ventilation grilles inserted to prevent damp. The fire place in the main bedroom has the old fashioned flap to close it off and we don't feel any draughts. However, the fire in Sammy's room had been taken out and just an open void left. Not only was it draughty but also very noisy when windy - giving Sammy a good excuse to crawl into our bed for a cuddle some nights! So with a couple of battens, an off-cut of board with a sheet of polystyrene stuck to it (all from my favourite place in our home - my shed!) and a bit of banging around with my hammer, it was sealed-up. No more draughts (or sleepy Sammy clambering over us in the middle of the night!).

Then it was on to bleeding radiators (they are a necessary evil but I meant getting any air out!). A 20 minute job around the whole house but something we forget to do. Obviously, if there is cold air filling the radiator and not hot water then they are not going to do their job and will make the boiler have to work harder using more energy!

A bit like the radiators is the back of the fridge-freezer. Over time the vents get clogged with dust and prevent it from working efficiently. Again a quick job to clean then but, as you can see, one that gets forgotten.

ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVINGS
Plugged-in doorbell off                   £2
Video & DVD player unplugged    £2
Chimney blocked-up                       £4
Radiators bled                                 £4
Fridge vents/fins cleaned                £3
Radiator shelves                            £10
Free water saving stuff                    £5
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £30
Door draught seal                            £5
Lined front door curtains               £10
Bathroom energy saving light       £30
No power games & activities        £10
Less charging (car inverter)          £15
No power lawn mowing                £10
Reduced ironing                            £15
Hall energy saving light                £30
Front door solar light                    £30
Lined bedroom curtains                  £5
Cooking Co-operative                   £25
Dishwasher used only when full   £20
Bed half an hour earlier                 £25
Washing Machine at 30 deg C      £15
Reduced Heating & Hot Water     £50
Ditch the Tumble Dryer                £50
Still Less TV & Xbox                   £10
Total Annual Savings                  £415

ACTUAL SPEND (will add items in as we install them and estimate their savings)
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £26
Door draught seal                            £5
Pulley bathroom airer                    £43
Lined front door curtains               £21
Bathroom energy saving light       £20
Invertor                                          £20
Hall energy saving light                £27
Front door solar light                     £25
Lined bedroom curtains                 £10
Total spend                                   £197

Just noticed that the pictures are pretty boring again, sorry. Will have to get Harry, our dog, or the kids back in the action.

TTFN

Still Saving

Amazingly, despite the polar weather last week, our meter readings show that we managed to keep our savings for the third week consistent with the first two weeks. So we have cut our gas use by 30% and electricity use by 35% and are on track to save £440 per year!!!

Even though the weather has warmed-up significantly we are still trying to do more to cut our energy use. Last year we put radiator foil behind our radiators on outside walls. This is meant to stop some of the heat going straight out the wall and reflect it back into the room.

So the only thing left to do to our radiators was to stop the heat going straight up and heating the ceiling rather than the room (surprisingly, the Romans had the right idea 2000+ years ago with underfloor heating that meant the heat went up through the room space and the floor stayed nice and toasty for your toes!). We'd seen radiator fans that sit on the top of each radiator and blow the warm air into the room. However, as they are a fan they make a noise a bit like a computer and have to be plugged-in. We are not big fans of using energy to save energy (although they do say that what you save in heating can be over £100 more than what you pay in electricity for them to be plugged-in - that's if one is in every room at £30-£40 each!). So we chose to put-up simple radiator shelves (from FREE old shelves stored in our loft) to bounce some of the heat down and back into the room.

Sorry about today's boring photos, hope to have something more exciting later in the week.

ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVINGS
Radiator shelves                            £10
Free water saving stuff                    £5
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £30
Door draught seal                            £5
Lined front door curtains               £10
Bathroom energy saving light       £30
No power games & activities        £10
Less charging (car inverter)          £15
No power lawn mowing                £10
Reduced ironing                            £15
Hall energy saving light                £30
Front door solar light                    £30
Lined bedroom curtains                  £5
Cooking Co-operative                   £25
Dishwasher used only when full   £20
Bed half an hour earlier                 £25
Washing Machine at 30 deg C      £15
Reduced Heating & Hot Water     £50
Ditch the Tumble Dryer                £50
Still Less TV & Xbox                   £10
Total Annual Savings                  £400

ACTUAL SPEND (will add items in as we install them and estimate their savings)
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £26
Door draught seal                            £5
Pulley bathroom airer                    £43
Lined front door curtains               £21
Bathroom energy saving light       £20
Invertor                                          £20
Hall energy saving light                £27
Front door solar light                     £25
Lined bedroom curtains                 £10
Total spend                                   £197
TTFN

Easy Savings

Well we came up with little that was new today but because the weather was so nice we spent most of the day outside using very little energy. First thing Tom had a football match (fantastic job in goal again and his team won 5-2) which we traipsed-off to a little bleary-eyed following the clocks springing forward. Then between Harry (the dog) walks we spent most of the day in the garden and even got Tom trying to be a bit green-fingered!

Despite it being Mother's Day, Toni cooked for the 5,000 (well not quite) to return some of the meals we'd had at others as part of our "cooking co-operative." Although we cooked for more I don't think we used any more energy than if we had just cooked for the 4 of us so we definitely believe the plan is working. Sammy even used the oven that was already on cooking our Sunday dinner to make some lovely cakes.

Also notice the tiered steamer on the hob cooking all our veg off just one gas ring!

Due to the lovely weather, we got none of the planned jobs done fixing-up our last few B&Q purchases so will have to make time during the week.

Tom tried to claim new energy savings by turning his thermostatic radiator valve down from 3 to 1, not knowing that we aren't going to have the heating on with this warm weather! Still shows he is trying after 3 weeks.

ESTIMATED ANNUAL SAVINGS
Free water saving stuff                    £5
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £30
Door draught seal                            £5
Lined front door curtains               £10
Bathroom energy saving light       £30
No power games & activities        £10
Less charging (car inverter)          £15
No power lawn mowing                £10
Reduced ironing                            £15
Hall energy saving light                £30
Front door solar light                    £30
Lined bedroom curtains                  £5
Cooking Co-operative                   £25
Dishwasher used only when full   £20
Bed half an hour earlier                 £25
Washing Machine at 30 deg C      £15
Reduced Heating & Hot Water     £50
Ditch the Tumble Dryer                £50
Still Less TV & Xbox                   £10
Total Annual Savings                  £390

ACTUAL SPEND (will add items in as we install them and estimate their savings)
H2O alarm clocks x 4                    £26
Door draught seal                            £5
Pulley bathroom airer                    £43
Lined front door curtains               £21
Bathroom energy saving light       £20
Invertor                                          £20
Hall energy saving light                £27
Front door solar light                     £25
Lined bedroom curtains                 £10
Total spend                                   £197

Final week starting tomorrow, so one final push to find a few more practical energy saving ideas.

TTFN