Trying to keep energy costs down but DH doesn’t co- operate.

Oh dear.

FarNorth

Oldnproud If it's just that he forgets, why not try putting a small plastic bag over the hot tap as a reminder, possibly with a helpful comment attached to it?

I've tried all sorts, but come to the conclusion that nothing short of electrifying the hot tap, so it would give an electric shock if touched, would work ?

My problem is that, my daughters and guests always turn the swivel handle to hot when washing their hands even though by the time the hot water arrives they have already finished. I don’t want to seem mean but it does annoy me that they don’t leave it on ‘cold’ as the water in the pipes has warmed up.

Oldnproud If it's just that he forgets, why not try putting a small plastic bag over the hot tap as a reminder, possibly with a helpful comment attached to it?

Oldnproud

The single biggest waste of energy in our house comes from OH using the hot tap unnecessarily.

When I say 'unecessarily', I mean that due to how long it takes for hot water to reach the tap (nearly a bucketful of cold water comes through first), he is actually washing his hands in cold water, but that same amount of hot water is leaving the cylinder and going into the pipes, so is having to be reheated!

There is a lot of hand-washing every day, so that's a heck of a lot of water being heated for no useful purpose whatsoever.
It isn't just hand-washing, of course - there are many other jobs where he uses cold water from the hot tap instead of just using the cold tap, where the water initially coming out is the same temperature.

OH is aware of this, but is totally unable now to change the habit of a lifetime.

I’ve had this discussion as well. Eventually he listened to me and now uses the cold tap. If he wants to hand wash it’s the bathroom as it’s so much nearer the gas boiler.

A couple of evenings ago he said how cold he was (sitting in his shirt sleeves) so I told him to put a jumper on. This year I bought him some merino mix long sleeved vests that are very warm. I’ll treat myself next Autumn for small size for me.

Yes, I’m certainly concerned about the rising price of fuel and food. We may very well have to use DHs Attendance Allowance just to keep a bit warmer. It’s not a very good place to be at all.

Whiff
Just because there are worse problems than yours doesn’t diminish yours. ?

It's okay to get upset and harms no-one.

Thank you Shinamae and mokryna . Went into the garden for a bit to clear my head. And realised why I was upset. Yesterday would have been our 41st wedding anniversary. I was fine all day just thought about all the things that went wrong on the day which made me laugh. But it turned out a brilliant wedding and marriage.

I realised if my husband was here he would tell me not to worry and make some lurid suggestions how we could keep warm in the winter.

I feel ashamed over getting upset as they are people much worse off than me. At least I own the roof over my head and have food on my plate. And have freedom to do what I want . To many people in this country and all over the world don't have that. ?? to you both.

Hope you can get some help Whiff

Regarding those who like long showers or baths and take them because they have the money, the world is going through a water shortage. Europe has not got enough water to grow crops, famines are on the horizon in Africa. Your saving will help the local farmers.

Whiff

Had a shock today and to be honest was in tears . My monthly energy direct debit has gone up by just over £60 a month. I have spoken to my energy company and on the lowest tariff. I was told it would be going up again in October. I know things have gone up but where will it end. I don't smoke,drink or drive haven't had a holiday since 2005. Will I have to decide between food or heat in the winter? I am careful with money as I wasn't brought up with it. Don't get my state pension for 2 years. Due to illness haven't been able to work but until this year didn't know what my illness was and only because of genetic blood tests. I was born with it. Finally I have a name. Can finally apply to see if I can get some PIP. As never been able to apply for benefits as without a name I don't exist as far as the system is concerned.

Sorry I am not normally a moaner or get up set over money but it just hit me hard today.

?????

Had a shock today and to be honest was in tears . My monthly energy direct debit has gone up by just over £60 a month. I have spoken to my energy company and on the lowest tariff. I was told it would be going up again in October. I know things have gone up but where will it end. I don't smoke,drink or drive haven't had a holiday since 2005. Will I have to decide between food or heat in the winter? I am careful with money as I wasn't brought up with it. Don't get my state pension for 2 years. Due to illness haven't been able to work but until this year didn't know what my illness was and only because of genetic blood tests. I was born with it. Finally I have a name. Can finally apply to see if I can get some PIP. As never been able to apply for benefits as without a name I don't exist as far as the system is concerned.

Sorry I am not normally a moaner or get up set over money but it just hit me hard today.

Biglouis would you be happy to take on all the new customers, if you had to accept a £10,000 debt with each customer and had no guarantee they would be with you for more than a month or two?

For what standing charges include see www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/energy/standing-charges/

She who does the cooking decides how it will be done. No asking the consumer for permssion first

It's a constructive suggestion I must suggest to by nagged at husband (not).
Escalating bills and wastage of our resources is a concern. The impact on the environment is worth nagging about in my opinion.

I do nearly all my cooking in the microwave.

Re the above post, Chardy already suggested this, I so wish there was an edit function.

Redhead56

My husband asks me to oven bake a potato on high for over an hour. I won't do it now unless something else is in the oven I think it's a ridiculous waste.

If you put it in the microwave for four or five minutes depending on size it will only need about 20 minutes in the oven or air fryer.

Don't suggest - just do it.

I will suggest that Chardy .

That's what I do.

Redhead56

My husband asks me to oven bake a potato on high for over an hour. I won't do it now unless something else is in the oven I think it's a ridiculous waste.

Have you tried cooking in the microwave, and just crisping it up in the oven?

The standing charge is a scam and needs to be looked into. Someone said it is to compensate the energy companies for the fact that some of them went bankrupt and their customers had to be transferred to the bigger ones.

Errrrm! Doesnt that mean that we are then paying out for these big companies to aquire a whole bunch of new customers??? I run a business and if someone handed me a whole tranche of new customers on a plate I would be a happy woman. So why are we paying out for these companies who went broke? They obviously had a crappy business model.

As someone self employed who works at home I will be loading as much of the fuel and utility increases as business allowances against my tax bill. Im arthritic so I wont be cutting down on heating anytime soon. However I only heat the room I am currently using plus the bathroom.

Modern light bulbs use so little electricity. A standard LED bulb uses 3 - 5 watts compared with 100w, 20 years ago, so a few lights left on will not increase your bill significantly.

Why not do a deal with your DH's you will not make a fuss about lights, if they will have a bath rather than a long shower, if they spend 30 minutes in the shower, a bath will use less water and need less energy to heat, or have shorter showers.

For some years we had a device on the kitchen wall that told us how much electricity we were using at any given moment.Buy one of those and put it somewhere very visible.

Just for information, our dual fuel direct debit was previously £120 last year. We were in deficit at the end of January so I cleared the balance to zero. The company then put it up to £159, just before the general increase. We then compared tariffs in the light of all the dire predictions, and opted for a fixed tariff, with a DD of £309, dearer than the standard tariff, but hoping to be cheaper than the next price hikes. Possibly the wrong decision, so we reviewed it. Any new tariffs have much dearer standing charges, but slightly lower unit rates, so there is an incentive to reduce our usage.

And for information, I do not constantly nag about lights. The subject came up as we reviewed the situation. We disagree on this particular topic.
I do resent the implication that only he has worked hard all his life and deserves to relax in his own home, Welbeck.

I agree.
I couldn't care less about lights on around the house. I wouldn't even notice. I would notice if I get too hot. We're forever switching heat on and off.
It's no big deal. We wouldn't argue over it.
More important things to worry about. Leave poor hubby alone.