To think that a lot of cost saving suggestions are a false economy and actually aren’t that cost saving at all?

[GhostFromTheOtherSide]

So increasingly there are suggestions as to how to save energy.

Buy an electric throw/electric blanket/microwave/slow cooker/air friar.

And then people will tell you that these cost almost nothing to run.

Except they often cost £££ to buy, and if you settle for cheap you’re settling for a false economy.

Electric blankets/throws are notoriously unreliable and have a tendency to break.

Air friars are small so if you want to cook whole meals in them you need something like a double drawer ninja which costs a fortune.

So while you will be saving money on the energy, you’re actually going to be spending it on the measures to save on the energy.

Obviously if you already have these items then the cost has already gone.

But if you don’t then surely people should be thinking twice about whether to rush out and spend money they potentially don’t have on items which are going to cost them anyway?

YANBU

Before making these purchases we always weigh up the cost of the item, how much they cost to run and our current energy costs from not having said item

Air fryers are shit, never got on with them so I eye roll those suggestions from that angle

The electric dryer rack we costed up and it wasn't worth the outlay compared to our bills

I think that air friars have a place for some foods, but people who say they never use their oven and only ever use an air friar clearly only ever eat junk food.

Even the pro/con threads about air friars make that statement.

I have an instant pot with an air friar lid which gives a lot more variety because it’s an air friar/slow cooker/pressure cooker all in one. But A, I wouldn’t have bought it just to save money because it wasn’t cheap to buy, and B, gives more variety.

If you’re into eating nuggets and chips and everything else that’s baked then an air friar has its place. But if you want one that’s big enough to cook for a family you need one of the ultra expensive ones.

YANBU.

My dad keeps extolling the virtues of an air fryer, and he’s the type to buy me one if I don’t explicitly say I don’t want one.

The problem is, that he’s a single man and we’re a family of five with teens. Even the largest one I couldn’t fit everything in - I mean I could do one element of a meal
but not all. It’s just not worth it when I’ll still have to use the hob or oven anyway!

People always bring up slow cookers which to be fair are cheap, but also make everything taste like slop.

YADNBU
The Times at the weekend said that thermal lined curtains cost £95 and will save £££ a year.
Hmm I wonder where I can get these for the whole house and curtain rails fitted for this amount of money?

We haven't used the oven since getting an air fryer and we don't eat lots of junk food, although we do have a ninja that can fit in a lot. I think you are being a little unfair though - people advising posters to get electric blankets/air fryers etc are suggesting ways of future proofing for people. Yes the outlay may be considerable but in the long run these things pay for themselves. Of course if you don't have money for the initial outlay then you don't have it. But people are just trying to help - would you rather they didn't make any suggestions at all? As my favourite mumsnet saying goes 'it's not a race to the bottom'.

One made me laugh on here - “buy all thermal curtains for the rooms”. Thermal curtains are bloody expensive! For every room especially!

But for some of the suggestions you could look at it as an investment
i bought a heated throw last winter as my boiler wasn’t working right and it helped me through til I got a new boiler
this year I will use it again for wfh rather than having the heating on for long periods of time

"Grow your own vegetables" 😭

'instesd of working from home go to office and use their heating and charge all your devices.'

Great, except that it costs me £15 per day to commute to the office plus I'd need to pay breakfast club for 2 children.

@GhostFromTheOtherSide
but people who say they never use their oven and only ever use an air friar clearly only ever eat junk food.
We've had our Philips Air Fryer for 8 years, it is used most days - yesterday was chicken Fajhitas, tonight I am making salmon fillets with new potatoes and cauli cheese. It cooks a steak to perfection. Cheese on toast for lunch in minutes.

it really isn't only junk food.

I can't agree that "Electric blankets/throws are notoriously unreliable and have a tendency to break". I got a Dreamland throw and and an electric blanket in the sales each about 30 quid and they've gone on for years.

The throw saw me through two years of WFH without having to have the heating on all day and I was lovely and warm (tucked away out of sight on Team calls😀)

I weighed it up and my expensive dual air fryer will end up paying for itself. I hardly ever use the oven and we don’t eat junk food!

I also think a heated throw will be a money saver even taking the cost of it into account - DP works from home a lot in winter and uses a small
electric radiator in his office. The throw will save enough to make it worthwhile using instead.

It is true that a lot of money saving tips are pointless or based on outdated assumptions. For example, modern products don’t draw a lot of power in standby.

I was a bit 🤔at something I read on here about saving energy costs: sort your insulation out (cavity wall, loft), replace single with double glazing. Some other things I've forgotten.
Obviously these things will reduce your heating costs, but I think if you've got £ sitting around to replace all your doors and windows and redo your loft etc then you're probably not one of the families who are going to struggle to pay your bills. You'll notice the increase, but are moving in a different world to others.

I’m planning on baking salmon in my air fryer this evening, so not junk food.

However, I cook for at most two people so that makes sense. If I was cooking for 5 and multiple parts of the meal needed baking, the oven might well be cheaper. I’ve never bothered to cost it as 10 to 15 minutes in a small air fryer is obviously cheaper than heating the oven for almost everything (I do batch cook occasionally and stew, lasagna or cottage pie, plus a macaroni cheese and a tray bake go in the oven either together or one after the other).

I do agree that a lot of suggestions for staying warm require outlay which means they aren’t suitable for people who need help the most.

I’ve already spent a couple of hundred pounds getting ready for the winter (air fryer (on sale), oodie (also on sale), uniqlo thermals, heated throw). I see it as future proofing since there is no way of knowing how long the higher prices will last and for all I know, it may be forever. Also, I feel the cold so the clothes / throw will be in use for a long period. However, that’s the cost for one person. If I had to buy 4 or 5 sets of clothes and heated throws plus a much larger air fryer, it would be a lot more. Some people simply can’t afford the alternatives and can’t afford the heating. What are they supposed to do?

Well, obviously you need to weigh things up to see if they make sense to you, but really the long term solution to high energy prices is to invest in ways to reduce energy usage.

So that does mean spending money up front for long term gain.

Agree OP.
'Buy in bulk' also irritates me. My in laws constantly tell us to do this, they have a double garage to store it all. We live in a small semi with a tiny kitchen......I have nowhere to put it all!!

I unfortunately find a lot of 'money saving tips' are completely irrelevant to me. For example;
bring a packed lunch to work,
stop buying takeaway coffees,
pay your car insurance annually instead of monthly,
do your grocery shopping at Aldi,
get books from the library instead of buying new,
cut back on alcohol,

• things I already do/did.

Cut your dishwasher tablets in half - don't have a dishwasher
Get cheap school uniform items and sew on the crest - my DC don't have a uniform at school

Ooh, I messed up the formatting there 😳

This - in order to start batch cooking, I had to buy a stand-alone freezer which is in what used to be the boiler cupboard because I paid to have a combi fitted (at vast expense) as it turned out the current location of the tank boiler wasn’t legal. The two drawers in the fridge freezer compartment in the kitchen weren’t close to enough and I wouldn’t have had the space without the outlay on the boiler. I can also store bulk buys in the same cupboard.

Basically, in order to be able to bulk buy / batch cook and save money, I had to spend literally thousands of pounds. That obviously wasn’t why I got the new boiler, just a fortunate side effect. There is no way I’d have spent that money just for that reason.

Completely agree - on a thread about saving money someone suggested buying a one cup water boiling device.

It's good to think about what you already have, or smart replacements, plus also what makes the most difference. So I have an air fryer and often use the oven just for me. I'll use that instead. And we have a very draughty front door so I bought some long lined curtains (pair) and they have lasted many years. It makes a real difference but even more so if I'm at home all day and can keep it closed.

I do spend money on m&s thermals but I need them for sitting at football so great for wfh too.

I have an oil filled radiator which is electric so will cost more than the GCH, but I will use it for a short boost because it's very easy to work out how much it's costing me. Also I had to buy it to replace one I borrowed which broke! But they are a bit fragile and it turns out the oil leaks after a few years so wouldn't recommend one.

Definitely need to weigh up the cost benefits of these things and how they fit into your lifestyle. So slow cooker for us rather than air fryer and picked a small one up on our local freecycle group before investing in a larger family sized one and passing the other on. Heated throws definitely a money saver and had my Aldinone for 4/5 years now with no problems. Will be investing in another one and at new gas prices and cost per hour this winter, will recoup the cost in about 8 hours of not needing to run the central heating.

@TheOrigRights - not only that but when I had a report done it turns out all those improvements only reduce bills by a pretty small amount. I was shocked at the cost - benefit.

I think that air friars have a place for some foods

Friar Tuck-in to my dinner? No, thank you

How do you do fajitas in the air fryer please @QforCucumber