Preparing house for winter to keep energy bills low - ideas?

[Beaucoup]

We are taking the summer months to get the house ready for winter partly to avoid energy costs going even higher.

wanted to start a thread with peoples ideas to pool together.

things we are currently doing -

1. We’ve set up ceiling lines in our south facing conservatory which is a gorgeous space for us all to sit and play/host but doubles up overnights and slow days as drying space. Tumble drier stopped being used but we do switch on the ceiling fan if we’ve hung things up.
2. getting an electric blanket for my large downstairs office for WFH days to drape over legs instead of having heating on
3. getting blankets and dressings downs for us and DC to keep in ottoman in sitting room
4. getting a few microwaveable Sheep as hot water bottles without water!

need advice on a few things -

1. is an air fryer worth it to avoid oven?
2. we lack knowledge about insulation and draught proofing particularly - particularly for bedrooms upstairs and front door too
3. assuming that electric oil filled radiators are v costly to run and isn’t worth using those in rooms we are using rather than heating on centrally?
4. spouse is thinking of smart thingies on each radiator which means rooms can have heating switched on and off remotely on a timer depending on household routines. Am not sure what these are..
5. Also thinking of smart plugs at various points in the house to auto switch off things forgotten on standby

any other ideas ?

This is a good thread, thank you OP.

I bought thermal curtains for the house a few months ago. They were really reasonably priced from Dunelm.

We already have blankets to snuggle, but I’ll be buying base layers too. I did mean to do this last year.

We have electric blankets and hot water bottles (not on the same bed).

I’m reducing using my dryer. I can’t stop completely as there’s too much laundry, but I always have stuff on the line when it’s not raining (live in a famously wet city!). I have made the point that the kids get a body towel and hair towel each week, as they were going through one a day and sticking it in the wash! We also wear clothes for a few days (jeans mainly) to cut down on laundry use, especially when they’re still clean to me - we’ve seen a reduction on our water meter bills which is good.

Also saving up to pay the bills. Last October we went from £90 to £180 a month which was the cheapest, and possibly one of the very last real deals available. This October, given the price cap, we are looking at approximately £240 a month. Makes me feel sick.

I work from home the majority of the time, but can see the benefit of using the resources in my office. Will start going in each day for the free hot drinks and warmth!

As another poster said, batch cooking. I have an instant pot, which helps. Think this year will be the year of soups and stews.

@D0lphine I’m not sure downsizing if you rent is a viable option for a lot of people - I’ve seen four beds near me going for £1800 a month - they would have been about £1100 or £1200 previously. This is a good city in the north west, but this bit is a little ropey - definitely not commanding of that level.

no idea where these landlords think the money is coming from. Definitely taking advantage of people in desperate situations.

Market has gone mad.

Sadly, tumble dryer needed here as ds2 has severe Hay-fever and I'm not allowed to dry his clothes, bedding etc outside in summer...and I use a lakeland heated airer too (overnight so it's cheaper)

Just got a heat pump dryer which is half the cost per use of my old one.

I've got a heated blanket and an electric blanket.

Dh charges his EV overnight too which costs £3 for a full charge.

Had new windows and doors last year so hoping that helps.

Kids have oodies and I have thermals:)

Wool baselayer, socks and sheepskin slippers a woollen hat inside, we do fleece as wool makes our faces itch. Exclude draughts. Keep doors closed in winter. We live in a cold house and rarely turn the heating on, you get used to it quite quickly but dressing properly is key.

To replace kettle I really recommend this

caso-design.de/en/p/hw660-turbo/

You then only heat the amount you need. You can get bigger/ smaller versions ( and it’s cheaper on Amazon)

Also handy if anyone has a baby, as can heat the water to 70 degrees instead of 100 so it cools quicker

I just boil a full Kettle first thing and put the water I don't use in our chilly bottles.
Keeps hot for 12 hours...only boil the kettle twice a day now :)
Hot drinks all day :)

Don't forget that you also need ventilation, especially if drying clothes indoors in the winter and minimising radiator use. These days the professional companies who do insulation recommend increasing your ventilation. A dehumidifier will help, the last thing you want is a mouldy house.

@Beaucoup screwfix sell lots of things for doors such as storm strips www.screwfix.com/p/stormguard-extra-thick-weatherstrip-black-3-5m-2-pack/40425?tc=JB5&ds_kid=92700059835347618&ds_rl=1244072&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIro2pt8aL-AIV2I9oCR27_Qq_EAQYBCABEgJ8MfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'll be looking at getting an air-fryer, a carpet for the living room and putting up a curtain at the door to the lobby.
Unfortunately we won't be able to afford to replace our windows this year which is our main issue.

Are air fryers really that good??

I made a door curtain last autumn for our north facing front door, it made a massive difference (used a curtain from the charity shop and lined with an old fleece blanket so it was very cheap). Also black out blinds in north facing windows

We have a ninja and did a Sunday dinner in it the other week. Gammon first, then veg, frozen mash in microwave and frozen Yorkshire in the toaster. Took about 45/50 minutes in total. Gammon is usually in the oven on its own for an hour and a half. We are also putting up that space blanket stuff on the roof joists, sorry not sure what they are called, the ones that run diagonal from the point of the roof. We already have lots of insulation under the floorboards in the loft so hoping this will help

Great thread OP. We insulated underneath our floors downstairs last year and replaced the last of the single glazed windows so I think that will be the biggest difference. Second above suggestion of electric blanket - over the winter we sit underneath it watching TV so the central heating doesn't need to be on. We've got an oil filled radiator in our loft room which is fantastic so will get another one for our bedroom, and our other job for this year is a big heavy curtain over the front door to reduce the draught through there.

Things that I've found helpful: one pot cooking (soups, stews, chilli, corned beef hash); when the oven is on make sure you're cooking several things at once (casserole, cake, biscuits, bread); turn the thermostat down a couple of degrees (you won't notice the difference much but it saves money); only boil the kettle for what you need rather than full up; make sure you have lined/ interlined curtains and thermal blinds at the windows; blankets, hot water bottles and furry slippers for evenings on the sofa; rugs on hard floors for comfort and warmth; make sure your loft is insulated ready for winter.

When insulating, remember to ventilate. The energy required to treat mould damage can outweigh the savings. And you can't repair lungs.
Your house needs to be min 13 degrees all the time to prevent mould.
Keep moving - especially if it is cold.

I have that exact model OP. Honest review, I'm still getting to grips with it months later. I live alone so only cook small amounts. I've been surprised how long e.g. steamed veg takes. You put it in foil with some water and wrap it up. It takes around 80 mins, vs 10 on my hob (no microwave/steamer) so negates any energy saving tbh for me. Meat is lovely in it though, and I can do jacket potatoes or wedges more quickly and cheaply than in the oven. Dont use the "extender" unless you really need the space as everything takes longer to cook.

My DM has a Tefal Actifry which I would get if I had the space and spare money for yet another appliance. Its quick and very very cheap to run.

I don't have a smart meter, are slow cookers, Tower air fryers and stovetop pressure cookers the way to go?

What are you doing about potential rolling blackouts and lights/fridge/freezer?

@BiddyPop can you say abit more about your solar panels? I assume big initial cost but they must surely pay for themselves relatively quickly??

@HillCrestingGoat

eould you mind telling me which infrared camera you bought. I'd rather buy one I know I'd hood than just take a punt. Thanks.

I'm not entirely convinced we'll have rolling blackouts, but candles, camping lights, torches for lighting. Charging battery packs for phones, iPads etc. when the power is on.

Fridges/Freezers should be fine if you don't keep opening them.

I think you need the Preppers board for that - this sort of thing is discussed there by folk who are preppers in one way or another. This is just a budgeting/cost saving ideas search I started in relation to OFGEM price caps!

I think I will just return to ignorant bliss, it's a nicer way to live, rather than trying to be grown up and sensible.

I see someone's already linked to one Stormguard draught excluder.

Take a look at the company website for ideas of all sorts of products to draughtproof doors, window, letterboxes, chimneys; and to insulate windows, pipes, etc.

www.stormguard.co.uk/stormguard-products/

You can buy cheaper versions of many of these products from B&Q, Screwfix, Amazon, etc.

Common draughtproofing can be brush strips, or foam of different thicknesses, or EPDM rubber of different profiles (V, P, E), to fit different size gaps.

@LucyLeaseExtension Of course. Dh did a lot of research for this and we were very happy with the one we bought which was

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B089GHDK49/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It is £358 though although hiring a decent one was at least £120 for one weekend for where we are. Dh wanted to be able to see stuff and then have time to fix it and recheck it to make sure it had worked. Plus use it at different times of year. It does feel like a complete splurge but that camera helped us identify cold spots and deal with them which should in turn help reduce our gas bill which is the one that fluctuates summer to winter whereas our electric consumption is pretty consistent.