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?

I tried this during the Pandemic and unless you particularly love gardening it is not worth it.

I tried green beans & tomatoes and definitely not worth all the trouble of remembering to water pots and police for slugs & snails everyday as frozen beans are around 80p for 1kg and tomatoes aren't that expensive.

www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/food/allotment-grower-gets-cost-down-to-35-per-tomato-20190209182321

We grow a lot of veg because we are retired and enjoy it, it certainly doesn't save any money.

I've had an electric throw for years and it's still going strong. Ditto the slow cooker. Both modestly priced.
I've tried growing veg. Utterly not worth the investment in time or money for me. Cheap faded curtains from the charity shop make great curtain liners. Sew them in if you're handy, otherwise just hang them back to back.
Try to plan meals so if you're using an oven/grill/hob you just use one and use it well. A tiered steamer for the hob cost me about £12 and has lasted years so far.

Do change any filament light bulbs you might have to LED bulbs - that really will save cash

YANBU.

It's unfair in the extreme for the government, and even Martin Lewis, to urge people to go out and buy new stuff to save a few quid on energy - it's guilting the public into providing a sticking plaster for what is essential a totally broken energy market.

It just feels like another cheap attempt to stimulate our failing economy by urging ordinary folk to spend, spend, spend.

Tbf - according to a thread I read the other day - people would have a lot more kitchen storage if they weren’t using their cupboards to store their fucking toasters (et al) in! 😂

Doing the maths and making sure something isn’t a false economy is EXACTLY what Martin Lewis has always been about so it’s very unfair to accuse him of wanting people to spend more.

I ignore all the things that involve huge outlays as most of the comparative savings are based on comparisons with very old inefficient appliances.

To be honest we have to (to some extent) accept things taking more time, feeling initially less comfortable, or being a bit less convenient.

I struggle with the time it takes to properly hang out a full load of laundry outside but accept that I need to make that time & use the tumble drier less.

I need to layer up clothes when working from home rather than running heating I don't need.

It's not though.

Air Fryers (for example) pay for themselves pretty quickly. True, you need the money to invest to start with but reducing energy usage in the long term is a good idea for all sorts of reasons.

I've brought my solar flood lights indoors to see how they function during the winter, especially if things get really expensive.

Years ago a bought a dozen or so Solar Camping Bulbs for my summerhouse/studio as there is not electricity there and I thought I might need them in the evenings (I paint). They are great and only need some form of daylight to charge them. I've never used them repeatedly so have no idea how long they last between charges. They are good enough to move from room to room with and I charge them in the windows in the day.

If electricity gets really expensive it will be like going back to candles.

Yes and a lot of the tips I’ve seen save literally pennies. I think I read once that putting the right amount of water in the kettle will save you £10pa. It’s obviously a good habit to have but even on a low income you’re unlikely to notice that over a whole year. ditto for turning “vampire” stuff at the wall (although there might be exceptions if you have any very old electronics due to EU standards changing).

one tip I’ve seen a bit is to take battery packs into work and charge it there then use that to charge your phone. But unless you already used the battery pack on a daily basis (I use mine for travel) you will shorten it’s lifespan by charging it constantly and replacing it will cost more than it would to just charge your phone at home. I think I read it’s about 5/7p to charge an iPhone at home.

I think air fryers probably save the most money in houses with less people. If I use an air fryer for one baked potato that’s going to be much more efficient than turning my oven on . Conversely if you have a big family and it’s six baked potatoes an oven starts to make more sense.

A heated throw should last a few years and if it doesn’t it suggests it’s faulty and you should get a refund. I did for mine when it was a year old.

I keep nearly falling for the buying thermals thing. Buying more clothes just to sit in the house when I wfh seems proactive but actually I have plenty of jumpers and even coats. I don’t need a special oodie thing when I already have a dressing gown

But apart from the veg growing, that's just normal household facilities, not unreachable aspiration.

Most people are not 'living in a bedsit with no money' and no-one is saying that you should batch cook if you are in this situation.

We've lived in a council flat, a back to back terrace and a small 2 bed semi, none of which have been anywhere near the average MN expectations of a nice family home, all tiny kitchens.

We've always had food cupboards, a fridge freezer, a pan set. Containers are cheap from Home Bargains, or you use old takeaway ones.

None of this stuff costs much or takes up much space and it makes people look quite ridiculous when they argue that buying a kilo of mince and making some bolognese and chilli is unachievable for the majority.

I'm an air fryer fan, sorry!

I haven't used my oven in 2 months, which is just as well as it's old and very inefficient now.

I cook for a family of 4 in a double drawer Ninja, including a roast dinner last week (deboned the chicken first and put in one drawer and potatoes in the other drawer).

We also cook salmon, lamb chops, sausages and vegetables in there so it's not just for junk food.

I have no doubt I've saved money as things cook in a fraction of the time and no preheating required.

I keep mentioning this and they aren't expensive. Dunelm do some liners that fit behind your existing curtains very cheaply and their blackout thermal curtains are extremely reasonable, cheaper than most of the non-thermal fancy ones. You don't need to buy new curtains for every room but adding them to rooms you use a lot makes a big difference.

Cheaper than buying an Oodie that I keep seeing suggested.

So true op.

The only useful suggestions I've seen are don't use your tumble dryer use your washing line (blatantly obvious but hey some people aren't the brightest) use airers stood in the bath/rig up a retractable washing line in the bathroom (both ideally) for the winter. When replacing appliances buy the best you can afford - eg I'm replacing my oven anyway so I'll buy one that's economical. Turn off lights, set thermostat at 18 and wear a jumper ...

I'm not buying gathers because they cost a large amount compared to the savings.

You can cook healthy food in a Ninja. I bought mine in December.

I haven't used my gas oven for a couple of months same as PP.

I keep nearly falling for the buying thermals thing. Buying more clothes just to sit in the house when I wfh seems proactive but actually I have plenty of jumpers and even coats. I don’t need a special oodie thing when I already have a dressing gown

That's true.. i keep nearly falling into this trap too. Plus the actual branded oodies are so expensive for what's basically some cheap polyester fabric with fleece inside. Couldn't believe the price of them when i looked them up the other day.

Well said!

I wouldn’t buy one full price but they regularly knock £35 or £40 off at this time of year. I find my oodie much warmer than just a dressing gown as well as being more comfortable

Except the people most vulnerable over this winter simply don't have any spare cash to buy any of those things, even if there were short term gains, never mind long term ones.

Sometimes even really cheap things can turn out to be a false economy.

I've been buying more stuff in Aldi instead of my usual switching between Sainsburys, Tesco and Waitrose according to where I'm shopping and what I need. The other week I bought Aldi compostable bags for food waste.

The first week I used them, the binnies left the festering food waste and a split bag in the big food waste bin. This week, I emptied the kitchen caddy and as I lifted the bag, the bottom of it disintegrated and all the minging contents fell out.

Clearly, Aldi compostable bags start to compost themselves in less than a week, so I've now resorted to putting 2 in, in the hope that at least one of them lasts 7 days.

What should have saved me a few pence has probably ended up costing me more!

YANBU OP, I have a slight headache trying to figure it all out. I already own a slow cooker, air fryer and tumble dryer. Just going to try and use less of everything without buying anything extra. Did pick up some cheap hooded blankets for us all though.

Ok I take it back re the air friar then :-) I have an instant pot duo crisp which does have an air friar attachment but thus far I’ve only cooked sausages, bacon and chips in the air friar part whereas I’ve done risotto/chicken/pork etc in the pressure cooker and in the case of the chicken I used the roast function to crisp it up

But as PP said, air friers need rebranding because from the name they sound like glorified chicken nugget makers.

YABU, I've had several friends telling me how they're buying stuff to save money. Some make sense, some don't.
Yesterday a friend told me she'd bought a flask so she can boil water in the morning and use it through the day. I explained that is costs almost the same to boil 250ml of water 4 times a day as it does to boil a litre once. I'm not sure she believed me. It will probably be a tiny bit more, due to heat loss, but it would take a long time to offset the cost of the flask.

Air fryers, I've been recommending to single people/couples who would be using the oven for small things otherwise.
One colleague told me she was switching most of her lights off, but had been using her oven to reheat food.

There's a lot of misunderstanding around energy.