How do you save on energy bills?

[Brightspark]

Curious to know what people do to save a few quid here and there.
Obviously winter is well on the way so most people use more gas and electric but just wondered if anyone has any tips they want to share.

For example, I HATE tumble dryers (cost a fortune to run and shrink clothes constantly) but the mrs lives by the bloody things, so to compromise I ordered a condenser to actually make use of the heat it gives off instead of throwing the hose out the window...

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

We moved to Fuerte 

I always make a flask of coffee/tea rather than just a cup (if I'm using instant), saves keep boiling the kettle. Or just put the excess hot water in a flask, ready for anything.

Where possible save the water that often gets wasted while you are waiting for hot water to arrive at a bath tap/shower by filling a bucket and using it to flush the loo. Helps the water meter bill.

Fill the cavity under a bath with loft insulation - the water stays hot for longer so doesn't need topping up if you like a long soak. I know baths are coated with something to retain heat but I found this really helped in a downstairs bathroom with a bare concrete floor underneath the bath.

[waggy]

Good one:-
Don't leave anything electrical on 'standby': some items like Teles can use up to 1/3 power on Standby.

Make sure everything's lagged and draught-free.

You don't need all that heat in the bedrooms.

Reset your Central Heating times to shorter intervals. Does it really need to be on when you've actually gone to bed; set it to turn off, say, a 1/2 hour before bedtime.

Put an extra layer on in the house and turn that Central Heating thermostat down a degree or two. 68F is a normal office temperature, not 86F, so you'll survive house temps the same.

Get a 'pay as you go phone' and get out of that crippling contract. Why do you need to constantly check your Facebook profile or the weather on your iPad or Android tablet?

Pay your bills quarterly: don't let the likes of British (owned by a French firm) Gas plunder your bank account via direct debits.

If you can't afford something, you can't afford it; keep off the credit addiction.

Don't waste food - better to run out of something and improvise than throw excess food away.

I could go on but but I don't want anyone slipping into REM sleep.

[glenys]

Share a shower   

[Spike On Q]

OH Glenys!!!!!!!!!!

[Spike On Q]

Although electricity is expensive in Fuerte you make huge savings on heating,  although A/C kicks in during Kalima.

Of course the type of food differs too with lots more cold foods / salads / etc. Beer and wine needs to be chilled too!

Solar panels for hot water are a great investment with a payback for full time residents over about 7 years of a 15 to 20 year life with care

I think we just use much less energy full stop, including petrol, as our speed limits are tightly controlled and fast driving is an expensive pastime

[Brightspark]

Good one:-
Don't leave anything electrical on 'standby': some items like Teles can use up to 1/3 power on Standby.

Make sure everything's lagged and draught-free.

You don't need all that heat in the bedrooms.

Reset your Central Heating times to shorter intervals. Does it really need to be on when you've actually gone to bed; set it to turn off, say, a 1/2 hour before bedtime.

Put an extra layer on in the house and turn that Central Heating thermostat down a degree or two. 68F is a normal office temperature, not 86F, so you'll survive house temps the same.

Get a 'pay as you go phone' and get out of that crippling contract. Why do you need to constantly check your Facebook profile or the weather on your iPad or Android tablet?

Pay your bills quarterly: don't let the likes of British (owned by a French firm) Gas plunder your bank account via direct debits.

If you can't afford something, you can't afford it; keep off the credit addiction.

Don't waste food - better to run out of something and improvise than throw excess food away.

I could go on but but I don't want anyone slipping into REM sleep.

Good advice, we don't generally have the house boiling hot anyway, though saying that we did get slapped with a huge gas bill last year, but we had only moved in just before the winter so really didn't have much of an idea what the bill would come out like, this year we will be a bit more in the know.

We had the walls and loft insulated this summer so hopefully we should see a difference this winter too.

And mobile phones.... barely use one now, the one I have is PAYG, don't do contracts anymore 

And Spike I agree with what you say, wish I could afford solar panels, they would be the way to go, maybe one day.
As far as using less we do try our best, I could get myself a car but don't see the point, it's a 10 minute walk for me to 2 big supermarkets and the buses and trains run all the time, saves me a fortune really with no tax, mot and all that.

[waggy]

I know it sounds like a small thing to do, Spike, but if you have an independent thermometer on a draught free wall of your main room downstairs it gives a truer picture of your ambient heat and you can adjust your thermostat to suit.