how to reduce gas and electricity use?

[MrsLargeEmbodied]

any suggestions?
turn lights off?
dont use oven?
turn off heaters in unoccupied rooms?
fill a flask?

@verdantverdure My mum says she's turning her fridge freezer off overnight in wintertime. I haven't looked into that one. Might turn the internet router off though.

I don't think routers use much when not in use. About £1 a month (current rate) if on all the time. Fridge freezer uses more, but I'm not sure it's good for them to be constantly having to go back down to temperature - which costs more than maintaining a constant temperature. Or maybe that's just one view rather than fact.

@bellac11 Nearly all of our sockets are behind heavy furniture, Im not convinced things on standby are ramping up the cost compared to other things.

I don't think standby is a major problem, but we have so many and day after day, it adds up. We have some remote control sockets that I bought years ago to control electric blankets - have brought those out again, and going to pull out chest blocking the sockets to TV, Apple TV and BT box. Mine are now obsolete, but you can get them for about £5 each - not sure how long it would take to get that back.

@verdantverdure a fridge uses more energy if it is full while a freezer uses less energy if it is full. So your mum needs to have an empty fridge but a full freezer to minimise the energy it uses.

As a PP said it isn't good to turn a fridge or freezer off overnight as they will have to use more energy to get back to the right temperature. Also depending where you are in the country your food may go off quicker as winters aren't consistently cold.

I'm sure most of these have been said already, but...
Avoid using dishwasher and tumble dryers.
Do bigger loads in washing machine and wash clothes at 40 degrees unless really dirty.
Invest in slow cooker and air fryer.
Only put oven on once, whole family eats at same time.
Use candles or fake candles when possible.
Don't leave tvs etc on standby.
Unplug chargers when not in use.
Buy an electric throw/blanket.
Showers instead of baths.
Don't shower for too long.
Turn heating off at night.

Weekly showers
Please say that won’t be necessary

Thanks for the fridge and router replies, I will look into it and report back.

After I casually mentioned how in the 1970s my dad put tin foil behind all the radiators on outside walls to reflect heat back into the room, DH rushed out and bought a roll of this to do the same!

www.screwfix.com/p/radiator-reflector-foil-470mm-x-4m-1-88m/88629

My ds and I will continue sharing bath water. I'll go to bed with him at 8 and watch TV instead of staying downstairs.

I forgot to add if you are on Virgin or similar then your router updates are pushed through at night.

Yes we have extension leads but they're behind the furniture I dont like wires everywhere

So the eco is about the water amount used?

OH says that when he washes on a shorter wash,, the detergent doesnt come out as well as the long eco wash. I paid a fortune for that machine I dont know whether I need to get it looked at

He says the shorter washes dont spin as well either so everything drips

1. Use less detergent. On the MSE forum in the 00s I learnt you could use less detergent and soda crystals.

1. The spin speed is the same for the shorter wash I use, and I can set the maximum spin speed.

Yes he is quite fussy though about what he uses. I would do it differently and barely use anything and use the loose powder but its not my job so accept he does it his way.

The spin speed should be the same on mine, not sure whats going on there.

Eco programmes do tend to be about water as well as energy - watch those rate go up too. My machine is too old for an eco programme, but it does have a 40deg half hour wash which is fine for just about everything and uses 0.3kwh. I put the powder in the drum and it's fine.However, I can choose the spin speed, the max being 1200 which I use all the time. Nothing comes out dripping.

Check the manual - if it was that expensive, your machine probably has a range of options with different spin speeds if you can't select it yourself.

Get the throw then you can put it on top of the bed.

I've got an electric under blanket and no way would it keep me warm in winter.
A decent throw is what you need.

I would prefer it if he just used the half hour wash but he says that for whatever reason, the detergent doesnt come out. He wont use loose powder and insists on the tabs.

I dont know whats up with the spin, its at the highest rate and knowing me the manual is long gone (I tend to chuck things like that out). I should get it serviced perhaps

Thank you. I can use my bread maker now and not panic.
I bought a cheap loaf from Aldi and couldn't eat it, it was vile but the cost of decent bread is getting stupid.

Thanks for this.

@bellac11 as long as he is paying his share of the bills then you just need to leave him to do what he wants.

Though it seems by using tabs he's using more detergent than necessary so another money saving would be using powder or liquid so you can adjust the amount used.

Google your washing machine brand and model and download the pdf of the manual (I do this whenever I buy something and store it in your Google family drive). Then search the document for terms such as 'kwh' or 'spin', so you can zip to the right page. Even if you don't use it now, it's useful to have the manual for an emergency.