FabSwingers.com forum: Saving Energy

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

We know an embargo is coming, Russian Gas and Oil is going to be blocked

But we also know there are ways of cutting Energy consumption, not just at a personal level, but other ways.

Here are a few, complain about them if you want.

1. Crypto-Mining -An Energy footprint the size of Norway is being consumed currently by this, if those Crypto Mines were to shutdown until this crisis is over then the energy they consume may drop costs

2. Business hours - Shops and Supermarkets could look at not opening for a Sunday, or at the very least reduced hours through the week to cut energy consumption.

3. Travel - a ban on "ghost" flights, where planes are empty.

4. A country wide renewable energy upgrade, for homes and businesses where the money from a windfall tax from energy producers is used to discount installation of these systems in places and premises.

5. Working from home is brought back to stop energy being consumed for travel to the office.

6. The shift to increasing Ethanol production and increasing the mix in petrol - we were able to get lots of hand sanitiser for covid, same thing could apply maybe.

There are many options to prepare us for the worst, why isn't any of this being done?

If anything Covid has taught us it is very possible to adapt and overcome quite a lot. A large effort like last time does work.

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By *rFunBoyMan
over a year ago

Longridge

The only problem with working from home..

1x person sat in a house, heating, lights, computer on might not be as low energy than 30 people sharing buses/trains with others, office heating and lighting..

Depends how they travel, but friends energy bill shot up while at home..

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By *ools and the brainCouple
over a year ago

couple, us we him her.

Well council offices are one of the biggest wasters.

Something else that's probably caused usage to go through the roof the pandemic.

Schools being open being told to ventilate, hundreds of windows open and heating on full blast to compensate.

What about the government wasting hundreds of billions on smart motorways that must have a huge carbon footprint.

Buses with no people on them.

People who drive to work and live a mile from their workplace.

My daughter who seems to think having every light on in the house is acceptable grrrrr

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By *ichaelangelaCouple
over a year ago

notts

"Well council offices are one of the biggest wasters.

Something else that's probably caused usage to go through the roof the pandemic.

Schools being open being told to ventilate, hundreds of windows open and heating on full blast to compensate.

What about the government wasting hundreds of billions on smart motorways that must have a huge carbon footprint.

Buses with no people on them.

People who drive to work and live a mile from their workplace.

My daughter who seems to think having every light on in the house is acceptable grrrrr "

You forgot to mention the school run

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By *ovebjsMan
over a year ago

Bristol

"Well council offices are one of the biggest wasters.

Something else that's probably caused usage to go through the roof the pandemic.

Schools being open being told to ventilate, hundreds of windows open and heating on full blast to compensate.

What about the government wasting hundreds of billions on smart motorways that must have a huge carbon footprint.

Buses with no people on them.

People who drive to work and live a mile from their workplace.

My daughter who seems to think having every light on in the house is acceptable grrrrr "

And probably goes on about the older generation causing the global crisis

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By *rFunBoyMan
over a year ago

Longridge

The amount of energy pushed through schools while doors and windows wide open is going to be stunning..

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By *rFunBoyMan
over a year ago

Longridge

Think today's the day to source and order 6x 47kg Propane bottles for standby on the boiler..

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By *uck-RogersMan
over a year ago

Tarka trail

Reduce consumption increase cost. Win win for suppliers.

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By *ovebjsMan
over a year ago

Bristol

"Reduce consumption increase cost. Win win for suppliers."

Ain’t it the truth, convince everyone to insulate upgrade boilers to be more efficient saving money in the long run.

Then the prices go up and your back to square one

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By *ools and the brainCouple
over a year ago

couple, us we him her.

Well if they think I'm going to pay thousands of pounds to upgrade my boiler to an air source type just to line their pockets they can fuck the fuck off.

Like all electric vehicles I can't see it happening.

Yes all change to electric spend a fortune installing charge points then we can fuck you over even more by making electricity more expensive than petrol!

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By *rFunBoyMan
over a year ago

Longridge

I've said it on other threads..

There's cheaper options to heat pumps:

Solar

Batteries

Energy diversion to hot water

Air Conditioners for heating

I use 20% of what I used to, paid for itself at 7p/kw over 5yrs. Solar is cheaper now, energy is more expensive so payback a few years..

I can also ride blackouts using the batteries when they come.

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By *rincessvenusCouple
over a year ago

Hull

why dont we all give our tips to save money on bills on here here is one if your on a gas card bang as much money on it as you can spareand they cant put your gas up same with key meters for electri because youve alreay paid for it t cheaper rastes

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By *ighty_tightyMan
over a year ago

Norfolk/Suffolk

"We know an embargo is coming, Russian Gas and Oil is going to be blocked

But we also know there are ways of cutting Energy consumption, not just at a personal level, but other ways.

Here are a few, complain about them if you want.

2. Business hours - Shops and Supermarkets could look at not opening for a Sunday, or at the very least reduced hours through the week to cut energy consumption.

3. Travel - a ban on "ghost" flights, where planes are empty.

5. Working from home is brought back to stop energy being consumed for travel to the office.

6. The shift to increasing Ethanol production and increasing the mix in petrol - we were able to get lots of hand sanitiser for covid, same thing could apply maybe.

There are many options to prepare us for the worst, why isn't any of this being done?

If anything Covid has taught us it is very possible to adapt and overcome quite a lot. A large effort like last time does work.

3. Ghost flights would not be happening if they were not economically viable. They keep pilots in hours, reducing training. They keep planes flying reducing maintenance/storage/reactivating costs.

4. Working from home increases personal costs for heating and electric.

5. Increasing ethanol in fuel will reduce mpg and damage older engines meaning more cars being scrapped to be replaced. Keeping cars for longer is more efficient then replacing them every few years.

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By *rFunBoyMan
over a year ago

Longridge

"why dont we all give our tips to save money on bills on here here is one if your on a gas card bang as much money on it as you can spareand they cant put your gas up same with key meters for electri because youve alreay paid for it t cheaper rastes"

I tried setting another post up with this idea but got the pees taken..

There are some great ideas out there, here's one.

I managed to find TUYA Radiator valves half price on Facebook as he'd changed his mind.

They link to the Smarthome app and then to Alexia. Using Alexia or the Smarthome app, I have scene's to selectively choose which radiators get heated at chosen times of the day.

Morning weekdays

Lounge Radiator - bedroom only if cold at reduced temp

Daytime working from home

Lounge and back bedroom (office)

Evening

Whole house

Nighttime

Bedroom and lounge only

It takes 12 minutes to heat up Lounge to 22 degrees, 18 minutes to heat up back bedroom and lounge, no longer 2 hours to heat whole house.

I can override any room at anytime via Alexa or app.

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By *rFunBoyMan
over a year ago

Longridge

Some more..

After boiling kettle, put what you don't use into a flask and reheat later for another brew. If you gave Solar, boil kettle when sun shining and fill flasks for nighttime brews and cooking. This saves me around £150 a year.

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If cooking pasta or Spaghetti, don't use a pan. Instead, put into flask up to around 2 inches from the top. Drop of salt, fill flask with boiling hot water leaving inch gap from top, and leave 15 minutes gently turning over every 5 mins. It comes out perfect.

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Get two sets of steam pans. You'll get two bases and two tops (as a spare). Plan cooking tines, spuds in the water, carrots and longer to cook veg in next layers, then as cooking progresses, just add the additional pans to the stack. By having two sets of pans, I can cook Xmas Dinner for 6 people and only using one hob ring. Steamed veg tastes great too.

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Switch off oven 10 minutes before and add extra 5 mins to cooking time. When finished, leave oven door open to warm kitchen.

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Boil water for pans in a kettle, element is more efficient than pan base.

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My favourite, turn central heating off early and use 20watt heated bed sheet, using Alexia, can preheat before getting in.

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One surprise I did get. I always assumed a toaster didn't consume when not cooking. Wrong, my Sainsburys one uses 25watts standby, that's £44 a year. It's now got a delay timer on it.

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Using Alexa and cheap 'radio' sockets, not expensive Internet versions, and a BroadLink adapter linked to Alexa, when I say "Akexa, night night" everything in the house gets switched off. 3 RF sockets are around £7, BroadLink £25.

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That's all for know, plenty more if anyone's interested.. share your ideas, less load on the Grid, less stressed the pricing.

Currently running fan and oil, going on heaters as batteries charged and its free electricity. If stays sunny, air conditioners are going on. 1kw electric = 4kw heat output.

This will pre heat house for tonight.

These with Solar, my energy us currently £65 (was £40 until new tariff in October) per month, both gas and electric, it can be done and not expensive.

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By *eroy1000Man
over a year ago

milton keynes

"We know an embargo is coming, Russian Gas and Oil is going to be blocked

But we also know there are ways of cutting Energy consumption, not just at a personal level, but other ways.

Here are a few, complain about them if you want.

2. Business hours - Shops and Supermarkets could look at not opening for a Sunday, or at the very least reduced hours through the week to cut energy consumption.

3. Travel - a ban on "ghost" flights, where planes are empty.

5. Working from home is brought back to stop energy being consumed for travel to the office.

6. The shift to increasing Ethanol production and increasing the mix in petrol - we were able to get lots of hand sanitiser for covid, same thing could apply maybe.

There are many options to prepare us for the worst, why isn't any of this being done?

If anything Covid has taught us it is very possible to adapt and overcome quite a lot. A large effort like last time does work.

Getting supermarkets to use freezers and fridges that have doors instead of the open versions should help a bit too.

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By *V-AliceTV/TS
over a year ago

Ayr

"We know an embargo is coming, Russian Gas and Oil is going to be blocked

But we also know there are ways of cutting Energy consumption, not just at a personal level, but other ways.

Here are a few, complain about them if you want.

2. Business hours - Shops and Supermarkets could look at not opening for a Sunday, or at the very least reduced hours through the week to cut energy consumption.

3. Travel - a ban on "ghost" flights, where planes are empty.

5. Working from home is brought back to stop energy being consumed for travel to the office.

6. The shift to increasing Ethanol production and increasing the mix in petrol - we were able to get lots of hand sanitiser for covid, same thing could apply maybe.

There are many options to prepare us for the worst, why isn't any of this being done?

If anything Covid has taught us it is very possible to adapt and overcome quite a lot. A large effort like last time does work.

Indoor ski-slopes. As long as they exist, no rich cunt gets to lecture me about my energy consumption.

I can't, realistically lower mine any further, anyway - unless I wash less and never eat cooked food again. I've been wearing extra jumpers for years already.

Yesterday, I got my letter from my energy supplier, with the details of how my bills will be increasing.

I applied the new charges to my last bill - double checked my maths - and it's an increase of 38% for the total paid.

Basically, I'll never have a bill of less than £100/month again.

However, as I always say - I only have me to worry about. How the fuck are poor people with kids and/or elderly relatives to care for going to cope?

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By *rFunBoyMan
over a year ago

Longridge

My mother is awaiting new grants and applying to have Solar installed, same with two other elderly relatives I've just got into a 2 year fixed deal.

Heads up, 54% this April, there is now talk of October being at least 50%, more like 75% based on wholesale pricing the next few months, I based the fixed deals on 30%.

I understand not everyone can afford Solar, but if government set targets of 7 million homes with government backed finance (not grants) and a legal requirement for business industrial units to be forced to install Solar on roofspace more than 200 Square meters, then naturally demand will fall as would gas generation demand.

The knock on, would be cheaper electricity to generate and help lower prices per kilowatt..

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By *V-AliceTV/TS
over a year ago

Ayr

"My mother is awaiting new grants and applying to have Solar installed, same with two other elderly relatives I've just got into a 2 year fixed deal.

Heads up, 54% this April, there is now talk of October being at least 50%, more like 75% based on wholesale pricing the next few months, I based the fixed deals on 30%.

The knock on, would be cheaper electricity to generate and help lower prices per kilowatt.."

And if you live in a council house? I do - and I'm lucky enough to have had many energy saving improvements made to it, for my rent and council tax payments.

I'm not saying you're not giving good advice - I already follow a lot of it.

However, there are a lot of people out there, like me, who have very little more they can practically (or financially) do to lower their energy bills.

There are even more people out there who are far worse off than I am.

I fear for them.

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By *uddy laneMan
over a year ago

dudley

I will fly down south and stick my head in the sand.

Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way.

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By *rFunBoyMan
over a year ago

Longridge

"My mother is awaiting new grants and applying to have Solar installed, same with two other elderly relatives I've just got into a 2 year fixed deal.

Heads up, 54% this April, there is now talk of October being at least 50%, more like 75% based on wholesale pricing the next few months, I based the fixed deals on 30%.

The knock on, would be cheaper electricity to generate and help lower prices per kilowatt..

And if you live in a council house? I do - and I'm lucky enough to have had many energy saving improvements made to it, for my rent and council tax payments.

I'm not saying you're not giving good advice - I already follow a lot of it.

However, there are a lot of people out there, like me, who have very little more they can practically (or financially) do to lower their energy bills.

There are even more people out there who are far worse off than I am.

I fear for them."

My two relatives are on the edge of fuel poverty, if I'd not found the fixed deals I did last week, then they'd be crashing in October.. I fear April 24 for them without any mitigation.

There is an alternative way to fund renewables where government supply and install via local companies. Revenue then collected and recovered over 7 to 10 years by dual billing.

A lower rate for the consumed Solar, but this element is paid back against the original cost plus low interest. This encourages the use of cheaper power when available until a point the loan is covered, it's handed over. Like Economy 7 but day rate is cheaper.

Most social housing near here have Solar installed and gather this revenue is going to the councils pot who are giving hardship payments.

The point being, energy prices are so high is due to high demand and generation is over reliant on gas, causing a knock on in pricing.

Reduce the demand for gas in the electricity mix, prices will fall with it and reduce pressure on the system for supply - this in turn will help you as your prices fall in tandem.

The more demand taken off the grid, then less of the expensive gas is being burnt to generate it, meaning higher % renewables in the mix and prices fall. Everyone then benefits.

Speaking to the guy at Scottish Power last week, they are basically offsetting the high gas prices they're loosing money on against the windmills they operate. The Energy companies that went to the wall, didn't have this lifeline.

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Saving Energy - Reduce Consumption