Mike, if you moan about threads existing and then post in them you just create strife. How is that helpful to anyone? The community aims to support each other. That's why we are here.
Mine is cut too @Busy-Lizzie to a size of between 50 - 70cm I have an open fire place. Mixture of beech and oak. I haven't priced wood this year, as I have some left over from a delivery last year (big load - good price -wait for it - 60euros/stere) so hopefully can burn that off this winter as it's getting dry. I also burn vine trunks when I can get them as they burn hot and clean. It won't be that price now with transport costs.
A stere is a cubic metre @Lyn which is between 500kg and 700kg in weight.
My main source of heat is the diesel run boiler which still has a bit of diesel from a fill up last September - so I'll see how we go - I paid .89c/litre then and it's now doubled in price. So I'll wait a bit. I only heat the lounge. The kitchen is not insulated so it's short and sharp in winter and eaten in the lounge. Main meal is at lunchtime so soup or leftovers in the evening. Once you are in the shower, the bathroom is warm enough but it's a quick dash to the bedroom!!
I have a conservatory which opens onto the lounge. On sunny winter afternoons, I can get some sort of heat in the lounge so I usually turn the boiler on at the last minute - mid November if we have a "golden" autumn. The fire is open 3 sides, and once the bricks are hot, it gives out a good heat and gets lit during October as the days shorten. I find it is still warmish at 6pm, so don't light the fire, then regret it at 8pm when the cold hits!! I have cooked on the open fire - bbq mainly, but my sister-in-law of Spanish origin, has cooked paella. I have a tripod to put a pot on - but of course there is no thermostat!! And a very black pot!
I’m not worried. I moved from a large difficult to heat house, to a small rental property. It’s a new conversion, really well insulated with south facing windows. It’s surprised us how cheap to run it is. My car is electric.
I’m not feeling smug, I’m feeling guilty when there is so much worry about. I’ll make sure I ask my friends if they think they might need a bit of help through the winter.
I have been making some kind of efficiency improvment to the house each year since I moved in - cheap fixes. But I haven't done any yet this year and I should. I would do loads if I thought I wasn't going to move again, but this isn't a 'forever home' so I have held off on expensive items like triple glazed windows. The upstairs needs insulation under the floors and insulation on the walls. I have closed off the loft (which makes a big difference) and have thick curtains over doors which also cuts down drafts. Still lots to do...
I live in a conservation area with tight covenants but people have started putting up solar panels facing the street and getting away with it.... which is a new shift. It should be a great time for green energy to make its way into people lives, if there was any kind of govt support.
I'm lucky and fixed at a low rate till Nov 2024. But my brother is coming out of his fixed period and they are offering around £3000 per year on a new tariff, yikes!
We heat with gas and have electricity all from one supplier. We continued our fixed contract and remained £67 a month. But we were £160 in plus.
What we did was we reduced the temperature during winter from 19 to 16/17 degrees Celsius which saved us half the gas use. It’s like with a car; driving 70 uses 30% more petrol than driving 50mph. We kept the freezer half empty. I know that our freezer costs us 25% of our entire energy bill. We work from home but having the computers on is still not this what a freezer costs a month.
Fortunate enough to be sufficiently comfortable financially that we’ll at least be able to pay the bills without going without elsewhere. Also grew up below the poverty line, so quite capable of coping without if it came to the crunch. At least we won’t have to go to bed in the dark at 7 pm, to keep warm, and save the last shilling piece for electricity in the morning, so the six of us could get ready for school. I feel very sorry for those who will find themselves in dire straits as a result of fuel costs, and I certainly never take for granted the luxury of not having to go without.
I think the younger ones will suffer more as they’ve never know real poverty. Things didn’t really change from the 30’s to mid 60’s or later for a lot of us.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Posts
A stere is a cubic metre @Lyn which is between 500kg and 700kg in weight.
My main source of heat is the diesel run boiler which still has a bit of diesel from a fill up last September - so I'll see how we go - I paid .89c/litre then and it's now doubled in price. So I'll wait a bit. I only heat the lounge. The kitchen is not insulated so it's short and sharp in winter and eaten in the lounge. Main meal is at lunchtime so soup or leftovers in the evening. Once you are in the shower, the bathroom is warm enough but it's a quick dash to the bedroom!!
I have a conservatory which opens onto the lounge. On sunny winter afternoons, I can get some sort of heat in the lounge so I usually turn the boiler on at the last minute - mid November if we have a "golden" autumn. The fire is open 3 sides, and once the bricks are hot, it gives out a good heat and gets lit during October as the days shorten. I find it is still warmish at 6pm, so don't light the fire, then regret it at 8pm when the cold hits!! I have cooked on the open fire - bbq mainly, but my sister-in-law of Spanish origin, has cooked paella. I have a tripod to put a pot on - but of course there is no thermostat!! And a very black pot!
@Fire - that's about 28/29euros for a 13.5kg bottle of gas. A bit more than here.
I haven't been to England for a while now, but it seemed your supermarket shop is cheaper than ours.
But my brother is coming out of his fixed period and they are offering around £3000 per year on a new tariff, yikes!
I ♥ my garden.
At least we won’t have to go to bed in the dark at 7 pm, to keep warm, and save the last shilling piece for electricity in the morning, so the six of us could get ready for school. I feel very sorry for those who will find themselves in dire straits as a result of fuel costs, and I certainly never take for granted the luxury of not having to go without.
Things didn’t really change from the 30’s to mid 60’s or later for a lot of us.