watervole | Saving money and the climate

About a year and a half ago, sparked off by a really excessive phone bill (http://watervole.livejournal.com/96055.html) I started looking into ways to cut down our household bills.

I'd say it's been pretty successful. We don't have any more money coming in than we did back then, but we were able to go on holiday this summer, we're supporting

exalted_mugwump though university and I can still afford to go to conventions.

It makes me notice how sharply climate issues have come into focus recently when I realise that I started the quest in order to save money, but the same quest is now allowing me to reduce our CO2 emmissions. I'm absolutely positive that our gas bill will be down on the last twelve months - that will be partly due to double glazing (we already have best loft insulation around), but also due to tricks that take the maximum advantage of passive solar heating. (we're blessed with a south-facing rear)

I'm shaving down the electricty usage (quite serious shaves in some areas). The little socket meter I got earlier in the year has paid for itself several times over.

The latest trick is an easy one (you can try this at home, folks). Pour 1 mug of water into your kettle and paint a line on the kettle. Do the same for 2 mugs, one thermos flask, or whatever you normally use. If you only fill the kettle to what you need, you'll save money. If, like

waveney you typically overfill by about one mug, then you'll save £8-£9 per year. However, if, like my next door neighbour, you normally fill your kettle to the 'max' level for a single mug of tea, then the potential saving is more like £30 - £40 a year. She was astonished when she realised what it was costing her. She'd simply never thought about it before.

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I'm absolutely positive that our gas bill will be down on the last twelve months - that will be partly due to double glazing

It should cut it by quite a bit. Mam and I had central heating put in about a year before she died and it was a good 6 months after I inherited the house that I had the worst windows replaced by double glazed ones( on the back, north facing, of the house). They knocked about 25 percent off the bill, 18 months later I had the front of the house done and another 25% was knocked off my bill. If I had an attic I could lag my suppliers would be getting about £10 a month off me instead of the £20 I pay now. Very thick stone walls help. They heat up an act as radiators, I only have to have the heating on from about half the day when I'm home.

That's a big difference and more than I was expecting. We have a large window area, so maybe we'll save a lot!

How come you don't have an attic? Surely there must be some access to the roof space? We actually made a new hole to be able to insulate the roof over the office here.

We only have the heating on morning and evening.

It's not that we can't get into it, we do not have any attic. My house was built in two waves between 1820 and 1840. The back part was built first as a two up two down very substantial house, built into the side of the hill it had a cellar on the down hill side and was the village pub at one time. The two rooms upstairs would have been open to the rafters when first built. Some time during the ensuing centuries and inner lath and plaster lining was added but to keep a reasonable height it is just an inner lining to the roof looking a bit like this / \at the top walls and flat over the top so there must be a small triangular space at the top but not get-atable without demolishing the ceiling. The front part of the house was built like a two story lean to with a sloping roof, with just an inner skin hiding the rafters and giving the house a very small kitchen and a large but low(5 ft 8 ins) Pantry, and one long room upstairs. The old bedrooms upstirs are very low, my father who was 5ft 10 ins tall could paint the ceilings without needing a ladder. The front bedroom is just over 5ft 4 ins high on the outer wall(i'm that height and can just stand up with my back to the wall) on the low side and aboyt7ft high on the inner side. The thick walls are18 ins wide.

Some time during the ensuing centuries and inner lath and plaster lining was added

That's where you put your insulation, between the lath and plaster and the rafters. Depends on how easy it is to get behind the lath and plaster, but the top of our attic has board across the rafters and loft insulation behind the board.

The front part of the house was built like a two story lean to with a sloping roof, with just an inner skin hiding the rafters

Same there. Roof insulation doesn't have to be on a horizontal surface.

Well I suppose 2 ins of insulation is better than none, and that's all I'd get in the front and at the sides of the back rooms. In fact thinking about it there might be that amount there already. My parents had a new roof put on in 1973 and I remember Mam writing to me that they were putting awfully thick felting on the roof under the tiles. ( I was away at college)

While you're considering rebuilding your ceiling(!) check out a decent builder/ builders merchant. There's a thin (20mm) blanket like material which has the same R value as 4 inches of conventional insulation , comes in four foot wide rolls and includes an integrated vapour barrier.

Felting would be on the outside of the rafters, wouldn't it?

2 inches will be a lot better than nothing. And you could always use insulation board to replace the plaster/lath board.

It's also interesting how much can be saved with a solar panel for hot water and a wind turbine - both need substantial investment but should repay themselves in 5-7 years - and can now be readily obtained via B&Q. The turbine may require planning permission though - most people would cut about 60% off their energy bills with no carbon emissions either!

I was in Greece a month ago - over half of the houses used a panel to heat water!

As an aside, you can save even more on the kettle if you have hot water as a by product of eg heating - simply start with hot water from the tap!

Alastair

Saving money and the climate

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