Any Budgetary Tips?

johnfás wrote:

Yea been a couple of times and anyone I know with family there is as I have said. I played a cricket match over there once and virtually the whole team was employed by Barclays!

They have no Corporation Tax and no Capital Gains Tax either.

Fair play. I couldn't live there myself. Off to watch the Daily Show. gl

Employed by Barclays or another bank and all previously lived on Jersey!

I like the Isle of Man though.

Something for yourself and the SU to cosy up to, rocky. I grew up with my grandmother and she had a range and she'd fill them out of some kettles of water bubbling there. Sounds cosy but as a teenager I found there were zones in her house that you didn't go into in winter or you'd be froze!



Another investment worth making I think is in one of these



And get rid of your immersion or don't use it. One of these will pay for itself eventually (cheapest is 200 quid) and you'll have more comfort.

If you have Sky get rid of it and install a satellite dish free to air for less than 200 quid. It's a once-off payment Also cut down on newspapers and read MN online

Yet another investment is in a stove instead of an open fireplace. When the SU is away visiting her sister, rip the old open yoke away and stick in a stove which you can buy for ... less than 200 quid if you go cheap. You'll get a little stanley for about 400. These things are much more efficient than the open fireplaces so you'll get more heat and probably burn less fuel. You can also get yokes that tap into your central heating system if you know a handy plumber but that's a bigger project. I like these things in a house as they involve a bit of activity instead of just flicking a switch on the gas real-fire imitation.

Buy yourself thermal curtains if you're freezing badly because you've felt under pressure from half of us here to switch off all your heating. Or buy a hat and wear it everywhere except in the electric shower - it's cheaper.

An electric shower is it Auditor? We have one of those so we barely ever have the hot water tank on but I have never had a clue about the efficiency of the thing - it gets fairly regular usage.

Nothing better than a hot water bottle - I still take one to bed with me in winter! I thought most people did!!!!

We'd definately get rid of Sky here except we're sports mad and the only reason we have it is for Sky Sports and Setanta Sports! You can watch it all in pubs but the parents don't like pubs so I don't think we'll be getting rid of it any time soon.

I do. Though I seem to have misplaced mine when I went to look for it yesterday evening.

The only bad thing about electric showers is that you never have hot water for shaving.

Johnfás there's a thread on askaboutmoney - cheapest way to have a shower - and someone reckons the immersion is more efficient. I can't believe it is because the electric one is 'on demand'. Maybe if you're in a big family maybe the immersion is more economical ... ? I think you might have to be very organised though unless you have a tank that loses no heat - I think cactus has one of these. If you don't then your tank is losing heat into the house so it's acting as a heater as well as a shower.

So maybe the immersion is more efficient but you need one of those tanks - it's like a thermos flask in your hot press - it loses something like 1º every 24 hours - cool eh? But the convenience of the electric shower is worth it I think...

Good point about the lack of hot water for shaving cookie.

That point regarding the heating from the tank is an interesting one though. With us all installing flourescent lightbulbs I wonder will we all be burning more fuel to heat our houses. Breaking it down to the fundamental principal that energy can neither be created or destroyed, only changed from one form to the other, when we turn on our old fashioned lightbulbs we are both lighting and heating our house. Now many of us are only lighting our house so that heat will have to come from another source.

I suppose that is where insulation comes in!

johnfás wrote:

That point regarding the heating from the tank is an interesting one though. With us all installing flourescent lightbulbs I wonder will we all be burning more fuel to heat our houses. Breaking it down to the fundamental principal that energy can neither be created or destroyed, only changed from one form to the other, when we turn on our old fashioned lightbulbs we are both lighting and heating our house. Now many of us are only lighting our house so that heat will have to come from another source.

I suppose that is where insulation comes in!

I was thinking a bit about the like of this today - home heating. Heating a house can be very uneven - you've all sorts of appliances that throw out heat like ligntbulbs but that's not their primary purpose at all. Should they be doing that? Newer and newer lights will heat less and less if eventually at all - same as laptops and televisions, you'll see. Are we becoming more experienced in home heating technology I wonder? I was watching a house programme last night where your man had designed his house in such a way that he could get away with heating it for around 150 euro per year. What do you think of that? Another fella today built a little studio in his garden as an experiment and he used straw bales - anyone see that? It had a stone wall on one side, insulated floor below a level of floorboards and Pilkington double glazing which he felt kept more heat in.

A lot of it is less about heating than draughtproofing or damp proofing. Fixing this can be done reasonably inexpensively these days. I know builders who just glue insulation board onto walls and glue stuff onto floors etc. and attic wool is cheap too and worth getting. It's horrible to work with though - Hell would be to spend a night naked in a blanket of glass wool

Auditor #9 wrote:

Good point about the lack of hot water for shaving cookie.

It's easy to tell when Cookie is home alone when he arrives into work unshaven and grumpy. I have my morning bed-to-train timed with military percision to allow maximum bed time and any little hiccuo like finding myself with no hot water for shaving tends to throw things to the wind a little. I tried shaving with cold water once, I took most of my skin off but somehow managed to leave almost all the offending hair intact. I have particuarly coarse facial hair but even with that in mind it was a spectacular thing to pull off in the early hours of the morning.

cookiemonster wrote:

Auditor #9 wrote:

Good point about the lack of hot water for shaving cookie.

It's easy to tell when Cookie is home alone when he arrives into work unshaven and grumpy. I have my morning bed-to-train timed with military percision to allow maximum bed time and any little hiccuo like finding myself with no hot water for shaving tends to throw things to the wind a little. I tried shaving with cold water once, I took most of my skin off but somehow managed to leave almost all the offending hair intact. I have particuarly coarse facial hair but even with that in mind it was a spectacular thing to pull off in the early hours of the morning.

I know how that is.
Heat up some water and soak a small towel in it - very old fashioned and a bit slow. I find it good to shave after the shower though people find it more logical the other way around. After the shower the hair is soft and ready for the blade which should be cleaned with cold water because cold water contracts the little tiny microscopic nicks in the metal and gives you a better shave.

I've seen some people with a unit at the sink which heats up water on demand. That's convenience.

Alternatively, you can do it IN the shower, which is even more efficient. Though not having your glasses on can be a tiny problem if you can't shave by feel...



This is why I love MN - our onlie begetter even provides us with snugglies - which is what we called them when we were young. Ahh, those were the days.... (says she, pretending she doesn't still use one now.

I'm taking one of those and heading off to bed.

cheers!

shaving after shower is much closer, but i tend to have to do it by feel, the mirror in the bathroom steams up and herself won't allow me to open the door to let in cool air because the sound of the fan disturbs her 40 winks.

i used to shave in the shower. much more efficient and no cleaning of sink! shower took an extra 5 mins tho. 10 if you had been out the night before.

i now have an absolutely brilliant phillips electric razor. much cheaper in the long run, one charge lasts about 4-6 weeks (it has a pedestal which retains a further charge along with having a little clock!) and much quicker shave with the same closeness as a blade.

I shave after shower. I throw the window open making the bathroom freezing which means it is all nicely clear for me to see my reflection.

Having said that, if you cut yourself, shaving before the shower is much more appropriate as all that water and shampoo/shower gel seems to sort out the nicks before you emerge.

Hmmmm, don't like electric razors, they never give as close a shave. I have one but only bring it on holidays to places where there is unlikely to be running water like when I decide to go camping in funny places. That said, when you are camping you really need a rustic stubble to go with the image.

Here's a few tips that may save money:

1. Insulate every square inch possible. There might be some grants coming up in the next budget.
2. On sunny days such as today, pull back every curtain where the sunlight is streaming through to let floors and walls absorb the heat until the sun passes. Close the curtains fully at dark to trap the heat.
3. Get a condenser boiler, very much more efficient than a standard boiler (up to 98%).
4. Get an industrial immersion with moulded insulation and a thermostat on top. A quick glance will tell you if you have enough hot water to either turn the boiler on or off (saves on pumping).
5. Fit an aerator to your shower. Gives the same shower with 70% less hot water. Electric showers eat electricity.
6. Add up all your bills for the year, add 15% for emergencies, and transfer 1/52 of that amount each week into a separate account.

Regarding public transport, I read last week that a bus gets 2.5 miles to the gallon. Seems rather expensive, given the cost of depreciation, driver's and mechanic's wages, overheads, etc. to run an almost empty bus.

Buying to last costs money, but in the long run if you can do it, it saves. I've got all of my grandmother's iron cooking pans - I use them every day and they are good as new. A good pair of leather shoes polished and soled and heeled can last for years. I have some woollen jumpers that are more than 50 years old and are in perfect condition.

Anyone else got any old favourites?

clareman51 wrote:

Here's a few tips that may save money:

1. Insulate every square inch possible. There might be some grants coming up in the next budget.
2. On sunny days such as today, pull back every curtain where the sunlight is streaming through to let floors and walls absorb the heat until the sun passes. Close the curtains fully at dark to trap the heat.
3. Get a condenser boiler, very much more efficient than a standard boiler (up to 98%).
4. Get an industrial immersion with moulded insulation and a thermostat on top. A quick glance will tell you if you have enough hot water to either turn the boiler on or off (saves on pumping).
5. Fit an aerator to your shower. Gives the same shower with 70% less hot water. Electric showers eat electricity.
6. Add up all your bills for the year, add 15% for emergencies, and transfer 1/52 of that amount each week into a separate account.

Regarding public transport, I read last week that a bus gets 2.5 miles to the gallon. Seems rather expensive, given the cost of depreciation, driver's and mechanic's wages, overheads, etc. to run an almost empty bus.

Would an electric shower be much more demanding than an immersion? Plus, putting in a tank with moulded insulation is quite an expensive job plus you need the space...

What's a condenser boiler?

Try rvr.ie for explanation of condenser boiler. I have one at home (gas) and 4 large beasts at work.

The tank is about 65 inches tall but narrower than a standard tank, and the moulding is all around.
Both of these would pay for themselves within two or three years.
Better idea is a shower driven by a pump (power shower).

All these are one-off costs that will result in lower bills. If you are ever down my way, send me a PM and I'll show you exactly what I have.

I'd very much agree about the condenser boiler, but had heard that power showers were very heavy on energy use.

Power showers use a pump that switches on only when the water is running, and turn off again when the shower is finished. I also connected to the bath so that the bath fills in about 60 seconds. Very startled the first time I used it, as the power was amazing.

clareman51 wrote:

Try rvr.ie for explanation of condenser boiler. I have one at home (gas) and 4 large beasts at work.

The tank is about 65 inches tall but narrower than a standard tank, and the moulding is all around.
Both of these would pay for themselves within two or three years.
Better idea is a shower driven by a pump (power shower).

All these are one-off costs that will result in lower bills. If you are ever down my way, send me a PM and I'll show you exactly what I have.

Thanks for that - I'll bring a box of Lyons tay What about an indirectly-heated copper cylinder - isn't that using the central heating-heated water in an efficient way? I love my electric shower. I could alternate it with indirectly-heated water shower though.

I love those tanks too they're like thermos flasks but I didn't think they were so tall. 65 inches is five feet five inches - that's nearly my own height

edit
You can't bate wikipedia all the same - they're about €2k on the rvr site which is not so bad - a bit less for a tidier size.

Quote :

A condensing boiler is a water heating device designed to recover energy normally discharged to the atmosphere through the flue. When a condensing boiler is working at peak efficiency the water vapour produced by the burning of gas or oil in the boiler condenses back into liquid water - hence the name "condensing boiler". The boiler uses a heat exchanger so that incoming air or water cools the exhaust, forcing the condensation of the water vapour it contains; this heats the incoming air (if an air-to-air heat exchanger is used) or pre-heats the water (if an air-to-water heat exchanger is used). A small proportion of the extra efficiency of the condensing boiler is due to the cooling of the exhaust gases, but the majority of the energy recovered is from the condensation of the water vapor in the exhaust gases. This releases the latent heat of vaporization of the water - 2260kJ/kg (970btu/pound) of condensate (the water vapour released whenever one burns fuels containing hydrogen).

The actual operating efficiency of a condensing boiler depends on the ambient air temperature and the relative humidity. If the incoming air is at 100% relative humidity, the condensing boiler will operate at its maximum efficiency (since it can - in theory - condense all the extra water vapor introduced by combustion). As the relative humidity falls, so will the actual efficiency of the condensing boiler (because less of the water vapor produced can be recovered from the exhaust).

zakalwe wrote:

are those for real??? how do they work?

They are for real, and I do recommend them. They're particularly useful if you have anyone in the family with sensitive skin - no more worrying about allergies.

I got them in Ecoshop in Greystones, but can't seem to find them on their website now. You can order them directly from the supplier (Ecozone) online, and I think there are a few other brands of similar gadgets. I can't vouch for the water softening gadget, though, as I live in a soft water area.

From CleanTechnica

This is budgeting long-term and is worth thinking about what the real use of your open fireplace is - a hearth or a monument to your 'wealth' ... ChimneyBalloon think they have the answer but it doesn't look like it to me .. http://www.chimneyballoon.us/chimneyballoon.html

It's annoying that most of your heat is going up the flue though. A stove would be a much more efficient item as more of it is in the house and there's a lot more control over the damper and airflow. It's not very sexy though is it? Only Charles Ingoldsby or the Unabomber have stoves and look what happened to them.

Quote :

How to Stop Your Fireplace from Being an Energy Eater

Editor’s Note: This post was provided by one of our paid sponsors, Chimneyballoon. Stop heat and AC from escaping through your fireplace or woodburner chimney with a Chimney Balloon fireplace plug draft stopper.

On a cold winter evening, who of us is not tempted to go to the living room, stoke up a fire in the fireplace, and read a book in front of the hearth? You may be thinking “I am doing myself a favor by supplementing the furnace with additional heat”. But there’s a dark secret about your fireplace: you are making your house colder, and could be contributing significantly to pollution depending upon how you burn. Fireplaces can be monstrous energy eaters!
The wood burning fireplace is an “Energy Eater”

The air action that a wood-burning fireplace initiates in our home is wasteful. The second the damper is opened, heated air begins pouring out of the top of the chimney. As the fire in the hearth accelerates, the combustion process grabs already-heated air from your home and burns the oxygen and combustible gasses in it. The heat that is created in this combustion quickly rises and grabs more heated inside air and tosses it up the chimney. You can restrict the amount of inside air that the fireplace has access to by installing glass doors, but this will also severely limit the amount of radiant heat that fireplace can cast forward into your living space. This radiant heat is the heat you feel on your skin in front of the fireplace, and is the only usable heat that the fireplace will produce since the combustion heat is pouring out the top of the chimney. In the meantime the home is drawing in cold outside air from other places (i.e. windows, light sockets, doors, etc) to replace the air that is escaping the home through the chimney. This is referred to as the “stack effect.”
Losing heat even while dormant

Even while the wood fireplace is not being used, the traditional metal dampers tend to leak air since they warp and degrade rapidly in the extreme heat and corrosive soot environment. There is a removable and reusable chimney plug available in assorted sizes called a Chimney Balloon fireplace damper that inflates into place in the flue and seals it off efficiently to stop fireplace odor, heat loss and the cold chimney draft.
The good, the bad, and the pollution

If you burn a fast hot fire, this creates very little smoke and pollution, and it can give you a noticeable amount of radiant heat gain in the room the fireplace it is in. However, this fire is also using huge amounts of your heated inside air for it combustion which exceeds your heat gain ratio. A slower fire is even worse since you are still losing heated air out the chimney, getting very little radiant heat in return, and generating black sooty smoke. This black type of fireplace smoke is a terrible pollutant and contributes to respiratory irritant for people with asthma and allergies.

Wood burning fireplaces are wonderful nostalgic centerpieces for many American homes. But a homeowner should be aware of the issues associated with fireplace use and keep them from being an energy eater.

Hello clareman - what's an aerator for the shower, and how does it work?

I think there are two types of shower head which will save you water.

There are those which have less and smaller holes in the head therefore using less water at higher pressure.

Then there are aerator head which mix the water with oxegen and make it all bubbly. Presumably it gives you the feel that there is more water falling on you than there actually is as half of it will be air.