Energy saving ideas.

also when it gets dark go to bed, only get up when it is light. genius!

Smoked eggs, sounds very Heston

boiled not smoked, did you think i shoved them in the fire?
pan on top of wood burner, no gas used. i've saved at least £1.27

Get ur Chimney swept and Inspected , You can chop down local trees  to burn ,Especially if living in a storm damaged area .

You need a couple of Egg Codlers north, would be Ideal for your Stove tip .

what is that?

Small egg cup like things with a lid , Pinch of Butter and pepper put egg in , Screw down lid Leave on Stove ,Egg cooks within very nice TBH , might have to experiment time wise

But the smoke will go in the water

You could sell them for £20 a pop
to some trendy bistro, that might
cover an hours heating bill

Smoked egg salad.


Reminds me of I had a sort of chicken soup...

... The water I boiled my eggs in...

Usually just put in a pot of water like you would an Egg , thinking about it maybe the stove might effect the Coddler Causing it to Explode , I would definately proceed with caution , wonder if for instance the coddler could be put in an oven if that's the case should be fine on the Stove , We need a coddler expert TBH .

is that for fraud poached eggs?
poached eggs are the best of all the eggs but need made in a pan.
i have been trying 30 years and i can't perfect it. i get it right
about 50% of the time now.

Never had problem with poached eggs

Use a big pan so egg doesn't lower temp
of water too much.

The amount of water you heat for an egg or two makes poaching expensive these days.
Donny is right, eggs absorb smell and taste. I put some eggs in a lock and lock box with a black truffle, eggs make truffle omelette the next day.

i do use a big pan, i just lose focus. you need to be on it for good poached eggs.
it is a very inefficient way to cook eggs

It is, you lose a fair bit of egg in the swirly water an' all. I just do em like fried eggs but use an half inch of water in the frying pan and put a saucepan lid over the egg so it steams the top.

i kinda like how this just turned into a how to make eggs thread.

I like eggs, wouldn't eat em without salt though, seems essential imo.

the number of people i have seen that will put a pan on to boil without a lid makes me boil.
i mean work out the isothermal process people!
Also if you are making a cup of tea of cofee then boil a cup don't fill the kettle up

I tried to work out cost of
heating water in kettle v in pan
to make a cup of coffee when I was
at school.

Got pretty close to it being cheaper
in a pan.( with lid, wide base pan)

With today's gas v electric prices it
must be tight again.

If you use the water you've boiled smoked
eggs in, to make coffee, you could save
even more.

Let's know what it tastes like!!!

you've gone too far

if we are using our cooking water to make tea we may as well be savages.

Wood burning stoves give off lots of PM which is very bad for the atmosphere.

If you want to save money turn off your central heating and buy a copy of Reader's Wives!

well if you buy birch logs there is but nothing compared to coal and it sustainable
as they are planing trees but not planting oil or gas.
also i'm heating one room. i'm really trying to keep the CH off.

i think the wisest comment i ever heard was " it took millions of years to compress
the carbon in the earth and it will be take about 150 years to burn it all back.
how can that inbalance go well?"

many on here keep warm of an evening by gathering together around a burning cross

Don't get too close A_T, you might singe your beard.

Crippens doesn't gladly share

also shivering keeps out the cold

Get sum candles
Energy prices surging
£5K  FROM oCTOBER INCOMING
Assuming gas is available

How will people living on benefits or low incomes afford the soaring energy costs?

I think there's going to be a few unpaid bills soon.

It's cold again.
Anyone out walking today without wearing an overcoat hasn't got one.

Not cold in Durham.

Overcoat, lol

Scrap all the advice
USA have put forward a proposal to ban Russian energy imports

You cant make it up
Wheres the nearest CAVE

Until they withdraw from Ukraine, great idea.


We won't even seize their assets in plain view
floating around landengrad.

Hope you got the £5k
or £10k this proposal could cause

Why?

Oil companies don't have increased costs.

They can chip in by selling oil at a fair price.

Doesn't take much for government's to organise

Like that time they got together to bail out
the banks...

Governments...... Ffs phone

Russian foreign minster suggesting ban would lead to
$300 dollars a barrel
What thats in petrol increase?
£20 a gallon?

300 dollars a barrel they won't be getting.

F**k me just turn the thermostat down to 15 and  get some wooly socks, a vest and a fleece.

Stop whinging

Slow cooker or one of those pressure multi cooking pots.
Also stop janking on Sunday after all its the day of rest

This thread is making me laugh but I am going to make some sad contributions.

Ok first shampoo and conditioners totally unnecessary I am not sure how long the human race has been around but I am pretty sure early ****’s did not have plastic bottles of shampoo and conditioners

Early man, **** sapiens

ffs the ones that came after Neanderthals, us. Homosapiens!

The woman out of the band Texas never uses Shampoo or Conditioner (or didn't when they were more prominent)  - hair naturally finds it's optimum point of secretion...just use water to rinse out dirt and debris and you'd be fine...purely out of habit tend to still use a very tiny amount of shampoo but far from a necessity..

Report•Quote•Block User----you-have-to-laugh--- • March 7, 2022 7:48 PM GMT
Why?

Oil companies don't have increased costs.

They can chip in by selling oil at a fair price.

Doesn't take much for government's to organise

Like that time they got together to bail out
the banks...


Why do you think the government didn't scrap the vat on fuel and energy. Also with the fuel duty they will be getting loads more money into the government purse.

Bread

We dont need bread. The price of bread is going to increase exponentially. I think Rus and Ukraine produce something like 40% of the World’s grain although I find that hard to believe.

In any crisis in the UK people rush for and hoard bread and milk.

Pasta is cheaper than chips, literally pence.

Wheat

Will be plenty of millions who need that wheat though


coupla sacks of flour in the garage just in case

chickpea flour worth a look too

It is very complicated,energy and food are intertwined,ie fertiliser,co2 production. As far as i read up on it Ukraine this year will be having a fairly normal crop though the wheat price has gone through the roof.

Irelands government are working with the farmers on a plan this year to have some semblance of food security,surely that should be applied in the UK?  The building of houses on grade 1 arable land and 'rewilding' projects are shortsighted to say the least.

Think Russian / Ukraine wheat is about 25-30% of global not sure if thats production though as think it might just be exports.

The problem is with the conflict and sanctions no ships can get insured and so won't go anywhere near there so doesn't matter if there was wheat as they could not get it. Also on top of tat don't think the farmers will be doing much for this years crops with the prospect of Russians coming and taking it all.

Definitely think you are right lapsy regarding food security. There is a food crisis waiting to happen and what is worse is the government are advertising to plant for trees on farm land.

Good informative post Logikal.

Google; RTE, Minister to discuss food security with farming groups in light of Ukraine conflict

They are taking this seriously and without being alarmist it is sensible. Only weeks away from crop planting so it is not the time to sit on your hands.

War is good for British farmers
Before the war farmers in Britain faced hard times
In 1914 Britain produced 40% of the food it consumed
During the war British production became more important
Many farmers made money from rising demand and wages of
skilled ploughmen and shepherds doubled

People could make a lot more use of their gardens if need be (appreciating not all have the luxury but would still help offset supply shortage)

not difficult to grow vegetables especially, in a self sufficient manner.

Somebody needs to deliver the single sheet toilet paper saver including tearing the top corner off

use the free newspaper innit

Cutting the top corner off is true gold

Somebody ask why!

why ?

USA to ban Russian oil imports
No gas for Europe then!!!
USA just happens to be nearly self sufficent in energy
Boris left stumped

Last post from lfc is broadly true. My family were farmers from way back. Did OK in the first WW and just after, lost everything in the thirties depression (when land was "rented" for free by landlords to anyone willing and able to farm it), survived the war by supplying the local village and then my Father bought 340 acres from 10 years profit from 1956-66. Since then profitability was OK from 1972 when I joined the business until 1992 but then it got really hard. After 3 years making a loss and living on my wife's salary, we sold in 2000 and have never regretted it. The present conflict may or may not have a big affect in UK but it might raise the prices for a year or two. Don't forget the lead time involved in making farming decisions. 6-12 months for crops, 3 years to produce an extra bullock, 11 months to produce extra pigs etc. Anyone brave enough to plough grass this week and plant wheat instead might do very well-if they can get the fuel, labour, fertilizer etc. but by the time they come to sell in September the price might be back down again.

BJ was asked about food security in PMQ's he ducked it,i presume zero is going to be done?

Meanwhile a multimillion package of support for farmers in Ireland for animal feed/fodder and tillage crops,this is trying to be done with organic fertiliser.

Potatoes only need the right equipment to harvest, a 2 man job,if the will is to not grow wheat diversify.

My regular pizza just gone up another
14%

Here’s a great money saving idea for smokers

Switch brand to OP’s

fascinated by those who see energy bills set to rise by about £2,000 in 18 months - almost entirely because of global gas price spike - and then call for scrapping relatively modest (£153) green levies designed to move UK away from dependence on volatile imported gas

All sorts of things can be done if food prices rise above a certain level. My family stopped farming in 2000 because imports were priced at less than our cost of production-even if we gave our labour for free! I well remember a lecture at Uni when I studied Agriculture in the 1960s which told us that if every garden and park was used for food production, farmers would all be redundant. 98% of the population have lost the skills needed to grow their own food and have spent their lives buying it from a supermarket-most of it imported. I still live in a small village and some of my neighbours still grow most of their own fruit and vegetables but they are all over 60yo and a very small and vanishing minority. As far as potatoes are concerned, growing your own is cheap but farmers have had to invest in very expensive buildings kept at 10 degrees C to meet EU and supermarket demands. As a pig farmer I would have lost my contract to supply J Sainsbury if a single wild bird or rodent was found in the buildings where we stored grain or animal food. The countries from which we import do not have these strict rules.
As far as energy saving is concerned perhaps we can do a survey of how many hours each of us has any heating on during the winter. For us (a retired couple) it is 7 hours per day. 6.30 to 9.30am and 5-9pm from November 1 to march 31. If we feel cold during the rest of the day we put on another layer and that has been our habit for 40 years.

Whilst holding your feet up above the water in that damp soggy place.
I speak as an ex (and very smug) resident of High Ham!!

I used to rent an allotment, Sageform, and you can grow a surprising amount of food although you would need a lot more space to grow the amount of wheat an average family would need. The main problem I found is that you can't use any effective pesticides as the EU banned them, which means that a large part of the harvest was spoiled, spuds full of slug holes, or destroyed by blight. Farmers have a more effective range of remedies than the amateur gardener.

Exactly Foinavon so the EU imports them from countries that still use the chemicals. Same with animal welfare regs that put me out of business in 2000. I was not opposed to the regulations but I was not keen on competing with the rest of the EU countries that ignored them. As far as Westhay is concerned moisok, we are surrounded by wet ground but the village is a vital 30 metres above it and the local drainage from the Brue and North and South drains is very effective. It is at least2 degrees warmer than High Ham

I don't suppose DEFRA will reverse those decisions now. Towards the end, I just grew those items that had few pests as yet, beans, squash, marrow, Swiss chard, garlic, mint, artichokes and rhubarb. Other staples like brassicas, salad crops, onions, peas, tomatoes and potatoes had to be abandoned as the pests multiplied year on year.

Some gardeners bought nematodes to try and tackle the slug problem but they only persist for a short time and are so expensive that it wasn't an economic proposition when you can buy a sack of spuds for a few quid, the only effort required being to put it in your car boot.

That is why, until sprays were produced, farmers practiced 3 or 4 year rotation so no crop was grown in the same soil 2 years running. You also have to replace nutrients to the soil of course, either animal manure, artificial fertilizer or compost. Green policies will be sorely tested if food is rationed as it was when I was a child. Who will vote against pesticides when they are hungry?

On a smallish scale, no-dig is the way to go: less work, less hastle, less pests without pesticides, healthier and better crops, more enjoyable. Charles Dowding is the guru.

I believe there are experiments going on to upscale the method.

I tried it charlie, and used it to the end with the winter squash. You have to have good weed-free soil to start with and it saves a lot of effort. It has no effect on pests as most slugs live in the ground and other pests such as leaf miners, leek moth, aphids, pigeons, butterflies, rust and blight are airborne. Squirrels did a lot of damage too. Some gardeners bought polytunnels at great expense and they were vandalised by two-legged rats who infest many urban areas as the police aren't interested. Formaldehyde slug pellets were rightly banned on our site as they poison the slugs' predators, birds and amphibians and we dug a pond for frogs on an empty plot. They didn't do much for the slug numbers though. As for compost, I made my own in four composter bins as well as a large quantity of leaf mould, This really helped soil quality and fed vast numbers of worms. For nitrogen and phosphorus, I used dried poultry droppings which is organic.

Hi Foinavon, hope you are well.

If starting off with no-dig the idea is that you don't care about weeds at all to start off, you cover the growing area with cardboard, weeds and all, and then cover with compost (having compost to start with is a problem).

Pests thrive on weak plants, improving the soil produces healthier plants which reduces the bad guys. Netting may be necessary to reduce the likelihood of air borne pests - mesh size will depend on pests encountered. Beer traps work well for slugs as does just leaving something for them to lie under and then 'visiting' them in the morning. Spraying plants that have blackfly, aphid etc with water works well.

I do sometimes use ferrous phosphate pellets and they seem to be ok.

I'm talking back garden where two-legged pests are not a problem but four legged bird killers are.

Hi Charlie. We are just recovering from chest infections initiated by a respiratory virus (not covid) then becoming bacterial. Fortunately, antibiotics and corticosteroids are doing their job so we will survive another winter. Hope you are OK.
I agree your measures will improve things in a back garden where you can keep an eye on things. I've bought fleece mini-tunnels in the past to keep out onion fly but you come back a couple of days later and find it has partially blown over letting the pest in. Pigeons and blackbirds find their way through or under netting and I have come to my allotment and found pigeons trapped inside, not clever enough to get out again. Of course, I set them free without harm. An allotment site is a large expanse without effective windbreaks and the variety of crops helps the pests multiply. If you grow say cabbages in your backyard, the chances of 80 others living nearby doing the same are pretty slim these days. It used to be different just after the war with food rationing and little disposable income to feed a family. Everyone grew food in preference to lawns and flowers, or slabbing over as a play area although some flowers, usually pompom Dahlias brightened things up.

Start batch cooking

Sleepy joe giving all homes free solar, sky high petrol
And food shortages
Save healthcare eat less
it's gonna be real ..

If you work from home and boil the kettle a lot then think about getting an ADDIS Instant Pot

It boils water (5l) and then keeps it at a desired temp continually at a small energy cost of around 5w an hour

Considdering a keetle uses around 2-3000w each boil it saves considerable cost over the longterm and is very convienient instant source of boiling water.

PUT-IN to switch off gas to Europe
Bit late mate
Ive turned my system off
Getting a shower down the local gym

If solar panels are so good bring into law that all new builds must have them fitted by a certain date (not a government*-suggested type date of 2080)

* a government of any persuasion

On a similar tack bring into law that any new builds must have higher door standard height (the steady increase in the population's average height will surely mean that our children will very soon be flattening the houses we're building now because of lack of height space).

Plans to dispose of 15,000 pallets of unused PPE a month by burning it as fuel to generate electricity.

£8.7billion of wasted PPE.

Rishi Sunak is burning through taxpayer's money.

Apparently the slow Russian advance is due to no PALLETS to reload supplies
jUST AS WELL HE BURNED THOSE PALLETS
Russians should have used DPD
Cheapskates

Gravitas: Rishi Sunak grilled over alleged Russia link

Buy a thermos
Cheap easy to keep water hot

The problem with a dumb thermos device is that it only delays the inevitable; water that ultimately passes its usefulness

An instant Pot combines the thermos idea with a thermostat and an efficient boiling mechanism, so that it tops up the heat and keeps the mass of water always usefull so you dont lurch from boiling to cold back to boiling and wasting energy in the process

Mar 28, 2022 -- 7:53PM, ----you-have-to-laugh--- wrote:

Plans to dispose of 15,000 pallets of unused PPE a month by burning it as fuel to generate electricity.£8.7billion of wasted PPE.Rishi Sunak is burning through taxpayer's money.

my mate works in a distribution centre supplying those covid test kits was 180 there now 8 they are binning a £million a day due to out of date also lack of demand

On dear
Stone age stuff

9 L

Queens Of The Stone Age - No One Knows

Getting nippy this evening
Put yer socks on
In bed

Put sum tracksuit under yer trousers
Sorry LADIES

Forecasters expect gas  prices to be at these levels for
4 YEARS
Holly Moolie

I’m expecting the energy companies to go under. Everyone is cutting back. Fold we’re heating water for no reason but now they are realising how much hot water they really do need.

Folk

Martin Lewis is suggesting
1)gilets -electric
2)usb gloves-electric

Both costing pennies to recharge a week
The end of central heating is in sight
Those oil protestors will be well pleased

Next stop
Hoss and Cart

Dont pre heat your oven
Sounds nutty
That 1

Paris suspends 149 electric bus fleet after two fires
thick clouds of toxic black smoke


You have stolen my dreams
Armin van Buuren - Blah Blah Blah

Things Edwina Currie said during her time as Junior Health Minister:

”Good Christian people don’t get AIDS.

Old people who can’t afford their heating bills should “wear woolly hats”

Edwina usually knows what she's talking about.

Cancel all these ideas
Gonna get £700 squid

Bills going up 1800, 700 off government

Pick the best money saving ideas,

Save up for next increases...

This is the Windfall tax that 300 tory MPs voted against in the House last week.