Prepping for the energy rise

[Moaningturtle]

I prepped for brexit and thank god I did because it meant I was unwittingly prepping for covid. I had weeks and weeks of dried food and household goods (although not loo roll…!) already stored in what is affectionately still known as “The Brexit Cupboard”. It’s important to note (before someone says) I did not panic buy, over several months I added a few items weekly to my shop to store up incase there were supply problems. It’s a habit I’ve gotten into and now almost always have a few spare bags of rice and pasta and tinned food.

I’m think I need to do some serious prepping now for the energy crisis. We can cut our usage but not by enough to offset the rises, so I need to do what I can now to make sure we stay fed in the coming year. Buying anything now makes sense because the prices of EVERYTHING will rise as manufacturers and retailers are paying more for the energy they use.

I’m thinking of upping my larder stores, particularly focusing on things that are high energy to manufacture (no idea what this is yet, I need to research). Making sure I have ample supplies of household goods.

Also finding new energy efficient ways of living. Hand washing lightly soiled clothes in cool water for example and just using the machine to spin before line drying? I don’t know, I’m just thinking out loud here.

Anyone want to share if they have any plans?

I too have a brexit cupboard and it has come in very handy with covid. As far as the energy increases go I've started uses the dryer on rare occasions rather than most days. I've halved the time the hot water is on. I have a thermal curtain on the inside of the front door and thermal ones on the patio doors. Inside doors are kept closed, hot water bottles used at night more often, I'm always turning off lights. I work 4-5 days a week now so I'm out during the day and don't need the heating on at home.

Oh and a wet flannel to sponge clean baked bean juice or similar off school skirts/trousers instead of washing them in the machine.

I’m definitely going to cut down on laundry. We wash clothes that would probably be fine with airing instead. Especially with warmer weather coming, I will hang day worn stuff out in the sun for a few hours.

Only use the tumble dryer in the depths of winter. Washing is thankfully drying on the line again.
Turn lights off when not using them
Unplug all chargers when not in use. Turn sockets off at the wall when not in use
I use the same bath water the kids have used
Only have the heating set to come on morning and evening. If it’s cold during the day put it in but it’s not needed every day.
Choose meals that don’t need lots of cooking.
Wash at cold or 20. Unless clothes are dirty.

I did the same as you, got a load of stuff in for brexit and then ate it during covid. I'm going to get a decent amount of soil in for the garden because the prices of that go up like crazy in the summer anyway!

It’s very sensible to buy high cost things now rather than waiting if you know they are going to be needed soon.

I'm getting back in the habit of hanging out all washing, normally I would put all the underwear in the dryer but I'm reducing how much I do that. I'm also turning the temperature down on washes we usually use 40 so will try 20/30.

I need to get another draught excluder we have them on external doors but our kitchen is v cold so I will be getting one for the internal kitchen door.

I'm also going to be trying meals that either only use the oven or one hob. We have one or two already and I notice the difference on the smart meter.

The sun shines on the front of the house and I pull the blinds up to get more warmth. I've begun doing so even in the living room where people can see in when walking by.

I had slipped back into the habit of putting eveything in the tumble dryer and will be going back to the pulley maid and washing line

wash on cold unless biological , if your machine allows.

boil only the water you need in the kettle.

go to bed with the dark and get up earlier. (I do not do this yet)

shop at the charity shop for woollies.

make do and mend clothes. (though my comfortable woolly underjumper is beginning to be more darn than jumper on the sleeves)

insulate the loft hatch

saving money elsewhere means you have a larger proportion for the things you can not change.

other ideas: buy food in season. stop buying strawberries when they go up per kilo in autumn and buy again in may when prices fall.

shop around if you have cheap supermarkets in range alternate which ones you go to to get the offers. buy stuff when on offer if you have enough money to do so.

AAiring cupboard. no tumble dryer.

plan your washing. wash well in advance and then you do not need a tumble dryer. (we do not have one, and are relying on electric heater as boiler is buggered. ) (could not do this at my mums as her house is much colder)

door curtain

draught excluder (old leggings or thick tights filled with old underwear)

If possible buy shoes/coats a size up in any sales offers Hunt around charity shops, when food items that are used ofter are on sale buy extra, make up meals that everyone likes and freeze so once defrosted less cooking time, think what you need for important events and if possible buy now before prices get higher and try to save a little cash for any owww fuck bills

We got 6 PV solar panels in late summer last year (well, 5 first as the max officially allowed for the govt grant, then the company fitted the 6th after the grant was finalised as there was enough space).

So we get a fair amount of energy during a sunny day, and are running the washing machine and dishwasher during those sunny hours mostly. (We tend to set them on timers, and use the eco settings anyway). Any energy not needed in the house gets diverted to heating water until the tank is at max safe temperature, before exporting to the grid. Most sunny days, even in winter, we've had a full tank of hot water by the end of the day, even with 2 if not all 3 on computers all day, and the basic energy needs of the house as well (fridge, charging devices etc).

I have also got a solar panel for camping, since last summer, and a decent power bank. So I have started to charge the bank using that panel on sunny days, and then use the bank to charge my phone/ipad later rather than plugging in.

The other things I am getting back into doing (used to when we were starting out and smashed broke) are running the washing machine/dishwasher only when full, trying to remember to line dry rather than tumble dry clothes generally, using the oven efficiently (so putting a whole dinner in there at once, or baking and doing dinner things at the same time, etc). And getting back on the trail of changing all lights to lower energy bulbs/LEDs etc. I want to get a battery charger that shows when batteries are full - so I can charge those on sunny days too but know when I can swop out full ones.

I’m going to time showers so we get 5 minutes each, I tried it last night and managed to get soaped up and rinsed within the 5 minutes. We may have to switch to showers every other day and a strip wash instead on the other days. I hope not, but if the gas bill gets too high it will have to be done. As a kid I used to have one bath a week (Sunday night, of course!) and a sink wash the rest of the week. I was never dirty or smelly.

I'm cutting back across the board - trying to find cheaper, but still good, versions of what I'm used to.
I'm keeping an eye on prices and noting what's jumped the most, and looking for alternatives.

in the seventies, it was a bath once or twice a week and a flannel wash for bits and piits in between.

Obviously the focus will be on reducing energy use but other prepping things also often save money. Things like planting edibles can make a massive difference to overall finances if you have a garden. Particularly things that are expensive to buy but really easy to grow like salad, herbs, strawberries, perpetual spinach, raspberries etc

I had a brexit store that came in very handy during covid too.
I have an oil boiler, and have put it on eco setting which should use less energy.
Am following children round the house switching lights off. Need to put new washing line up to use Dryer less often.
That's about all I've got at the moment. Interested to see ideas on energy/heating/food.
We spend a lot on food but lots of the money saving threads on food are too extreme for me.

When it comes to energy best think you can do i reseal your doors and windows, use draft excluders where needed, make sure windows are dressed with interlined curtains, use high energy appliances as infrequently as possible, turn off anything not being used.

Interlining your curtains does make a massive difference, both in terms of keeping heat in and in keeping rooms cool in the summer

Hello. Popping in to let you know that we're doing a Q&A with fuel poverty charity National Energy Action about these energy price hikes on Wednesday 23rd Feb at 12 noon. The thread is now open for questions here.

I’m looking a wider financial issues. Sorted out my budget, bank accounts etc. switched mortgage product and saved about £90.00 per month so I would recommend everyone looks at there mortgages to make sure you are getting the best deal. Opened a monthly savings account with higher interest rate, not much difference but will be an extra £20.00 over the whole year. Claiming every extra hour worked at work whereas previously I may have taken it as time owing.

Converted my bicycle to an ebike and using instead of the car.

@OffCycling - I would like to do that too, have an ebike that is, but an ebike cant carry any shopping? Or not much?

[quote lightand]@OffCycling - I would like to do that too, have an ebike that is, but an ebike cant carry any shopping? Or not much?[/quote]
We have bicycle panniers which carry a fair amount and a lot of cyclists use rucksacks too. I think some waitrose stores have a bicycle trailer hire service for customers which might be worth investigating if interested.

I changed my lighting to just 2 E14 1w LED bulbs, one for my kitchen and the other for my sitting room but only have 1 light on at once! These bulbs just need the E14 sockets and they are very energy efficient to run.

I have got used to them now and no longer use the dodgy kitchen lights because they are as bright as the sun and cost an absalute FORTUNE to run despite being LED. The idiot who installed the kitchen light when the kitchen was fitted a few years ago, claimed that tennants had no choice with the the lights when we complained they are too bright for a tiny kitchen, we were told we had to have them but I won't be dictated to by dodgy contractors so I refused to use the bright light and its a very good job too when we now have to take out a mortgage to pay our utility bills.

Love my lighting now though, got them from a well known retailer online too and they claim to last about 6 years.

I have a new fast boil kettle boils in seconds and changed my microwave from 1200w to 800w and cook with 2 multicookers instead of a large cooker and that is about all I have done so far.😁