The cost of living... what can we do?

Reduce wash temperature on the washing machine cycle. Start program up, stop the program for 30 minutes and let soiled washing " soak in the water" then recommence the program .
A good old free soak never did any harm in the old days,
Jenny namaste

 

Reduce wash loads. We do one load each a week, one load linen, one load towels. Wear Clothes more than once. I don't think any of us are unclean. I also go back to the days when we didn't have a bath and were clean. A lot of younger folk can't/won't appreciate this.

Water garden with grey water. Have to say that is not applicable here.

 

Get used to cool showers. If you haven't done anything that makes you smelly, you probably don't need a hot bath or long hot shower. In our house, we've already put a dent in our energy use by swapping a daily bath for a quick shower.

On the washing machine, use the coldest and shortest program it has. Modern washing detergents do a perfectly good job at low temperatures.

Look carefully at what's in, and what goes on in the kitchen. Our regular cooker came to the end of its life. I took the bold decision NOT to replace it. We have a slow cooker, electric steamer (3 tier), microwave, George Foreman grill, and I recently added an electric wok to the equation. Oh and a mini electric oven that only sees occasional use. We had to more or less re-learn how to cook. But now we're finding the food is tastier, and I'm most cases cooks in a fraction of the time, using far less energy. I'm not suggesting people throw their cookers away, just that we make best use of our most efficient equipment.

Invest in a plug in energy monitor. They're only about 20 quid and will tell you exactly what an appliance is using. It's quite an eye opener, because it's often substantially different to the nominal energy rating of the appliance. As an example, our little 700 watt microwave actually uses nearly 1000 watts when cooking on full power, while the electric wok rated at 1500 watts actually averages about half that as it switches off when it reaches temperature, and stays hot for a while. Oh and leaving the microwave on standby uses almost nothing, unless the door is open, in which case it uses a whopping 25 watts just for one little light.

 

I would like to add here that having lived in the UK with no baths and an outside loo until 1959., I moved to America in 1963 with all amenities available ... then went back to the UK in 1977 with less ... then moved to Portugal in the country in 2001 with even less. Yes, no running water ... supplied by neighbours for years at their convenience. We ended up with five properties here (and two in the UK). As of last year we have one, our home, an old cottage now on mains. Anyone can adapt if needs must ... but you may have to make changes to your life.

 

We have a Philips Air Fryer which we do part-baked bread rolls in, french fries, Lyonnaise potatoes, meat loafs, beef/pork roasts, soups/stews, etc, etc, etc.

 

I replaced my old freezer, (the compressor was running all the time) with a nice new one.

 

I've been pondering over an air fryer for ages now but haven't took the leap yet. How do you find it? Is it any good? I've heard lots of mixed reviews. Can you make four portions of chips in one?

 

Only put enough water in the kettle that you need. Modern flat-bottomed kettles don't have a separate element to keep covered.

 

Yes, have had one for give or take ten years ... and there are two sizes. I think we have the small one. as there are only two of us and we don't eat large portions. You can also quickly heat or crisp food on them. Highly recommend. Never done it as we don't eat such much but I understand you can make fabulous cakes and desserts.

 

Use a microwave.

 

When you switch your television off switch the plug off. A modern TV uses almost the same power on standby as it does while on. Items that have a separate power supply (such as a laptop) consume energy even when switched off as the power unit consumes energy just sitting there. Phone chargers are another thing. Only switch the charger on when you are charging the phone.
If you have not done so already replace all light bulbs with LED bulbs.