Heating Bills

Good points,mikkimac,and thanks. VAT removal "E"-mail to P.M.a sensible idea.

We have seperate dining room and lounge, 3 stories (a loft conversion), 1920's build. No cavity walls,double glazed wooden windows,wooden doors and wooden floors. Home all day. Gas £480, Electricity £540, Wood £480 annually.

That doesn't sound so bad to me, greydo.

We have insulation coming out of our ears (cavity wall and loft) double glazing, and I'm home all day.

Sadly, no mains gas, but we pay £900 electricity and about £900 oil - obviously variable.

Our house sounds about the same size as yours, but better insulated, so I'm not sure if you could improve on that if you don't have cavity walls that you could insulate.

well...I think u have a long way to go to reduce bills...1920's no cavity..I would check the fit on the windows..doors..put insulation strip round doors, windows where u feel a draught on yr hand.even if u have double glazing, we had wood doors etc.double glazed but draughty round edges...u can also run sealant along any wood floor gaps...your electric charges seem very high compared to gas..(turn off all items that work on standby they use quite a lot of juice) unless u also use portable electric heaters? also..making tea ?..only use the water u need, don't fill kettle to top or near.. any blank unused fireplaces can be "sealed" to stop heat loss...is wood use..for real heating or visual pleasure...find a garden man who cuts trees..he might be happy to dump a few off for u ?

Interesting, Sabre! It appears that insulation is the key! Our house is draughty as the log burner pulls air through. I have considered changing it for a more efficient model that takes air from outside, as we really enjoy the flames!

I should have also said we have a room upstairs in the loft which has loads of insulation etc. and is used as a "adult" play room (nothing naughty) just computers, television, stereo, electric organ and my play stations are set up on televisions. etc.

We never got to the bottom of this "adult room" it has a habit of cropping up here and there... hmmmm

I'm keeping the rest a secret Serena.

Now you are being cheeky to G-man Serena you've only been on today and look what you have covered - e by gum your a rare lass.

Would love to hear more about the 'electric organ', Sabre......

Sounds as if you have a lot of gadgets, Sabre...

Ah the organ Feline - don't play with it much nowadays !!!
Am too busy on the forum to do lots of things I used to do. Friends say I'm neglecting them so will have to be more considerate towards them and perhaps limit myself with the forum but I get such pleasure out of the postings and it puts me in a great mood for the day.

I might add it's my hubby's birthday and he's had loads of cards from women and 'phone calls, perhaps with me being busy I have missed something !!!! will have to look into this matter further as some of the cards are extremely rude.

Oh, Sabre, please don't mention the organ - I'm coming over all unnecessary now..!

It's a very large organ Feline - plenty of room to play on !!!!
a tinkle here and a tinkle there - all very exciting.

Oh Sabre, and you say I'M naughty?!! Naughty Sabre!! Lol!

serena1, I appreciate your figures. It is abundantly clear that a draughty house, 3 stories tall and not much insulation means greater heating costs. I've got to take this like a man!!
The post has given me ideas and comparisons. Thanks.

Yes I would agree greydo it must be the fact that you have a draughty house which is letting a lot of your heat out. I would have thought you could look into it and see if you can find a solution.

I think i also will look into cavity wall insulation especially with G-Man figures it must be worthwhile i do wonder how much the cost will be???

I was advised against cavity insulation as it increases condensation. G-Man, any problems with that?

Yes its true with cheap cavity wall and especially on older houses that already have a lot of condensation but we recently had it done and they use a fibre spray now rather than the polystyrene balls or foam now - the cheapo installers use these two methods - the good ones use the fibre insulation.

Good advice, G-Man!! Thats fantastic! I would love to pay that a whole year!!! I think i must look into cavity wall insulation i wonder how much that would cost? Have you had it done long?

Hi,

It was already done when I moved in 25 months ago :)

I have to admit though, I have a reputation for not feeling the cold too much :)

Lucky you, G-Man!
You must have a good woman to heat you up lots of cuddles ah bless...

Nah, just internet porn ;-)

At least your honest! lol

Lol!

I can confirm constant rubbing of the stik can keep you very warm - just watch you dont set yourself on fire when you get wood!
>;o)

your incredible, Omen!!!

Omen that's outrageous, and very funny!!

Thanks, yummymummy08! On comparison sites, consumption or cost factors offer equal results to compare tarrifs. Best of luck. PS. It used to be said that the cost of double glazing took 25 years to recoup from fuel cost savings.

I think your figures are normal yummy mummy. I ended up getting new double glazing windows and doors when i moved in and i didn't give the cavity wall insulation a thought but i might look into it.

Thanks,ihateavatars, a useful comparison! Actually,our home is semi-detatched, and, yes, firewood is expensive per kw. I do not cut my own, but we can buy good off-cuts at £40/tonne bag. This is easy, as it can be lorry hoisted over our rear garden wall, and straight into our log store. We love the glow,also, and bask in the nil-carbon warmth as well! That is why the research into solar panels that highburyhouse mentioned is important,as I am sure you and other forumites will readily agree.

Nil-Carbon ? I dont think so. Logs are just very young coal. Coal is formed by trees and other organic material plants etc decaying over 1000s years (we did this at school)and if you burn logs it gives off Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide etc just like burning other stuff. The reason the eco movement and even the home energy audit people like logs has nothing to do with "lower carbon" (or shouldnt be !) its because it is relatively short term renewable i.e. you can plant another tree and harvest it in 20y or less, to "plant" another coal seam takes a bit longer. That wouldnt actually matter if we had not vastly overpopulated this planet. I seem to remember a survey somewhere recently that showed that the most cost effective method of reducing greenhouse gas emission in the Uk was to issue everyone with free condoms on demand. If you think about it that does seem to make sense, we could solve all these problems the planet has in less than 100 years if no more humans were born i.e. problem solved in one "lifetime".Obviously thats not going to happen but it is worth bearing in mind the advantages in reducing population growth compared with other more complicated / technical solutions.
£40/t is good price.

Hi ihateavatars... You can get 'carbon neutral' fuel where enough new trees are planted (which consume CO2 from the air) to offset the carbon released from burning the logs. I'm guessing that's the kind greydo is using.