No Fuss, Energy Saving Tips

With the cost of energy going through the roof and the effect energy production and use has on the environment, I’ve been thinking about the ways I can reduce my usage.

In years gone by, at this time of year, when  my winter wardrobe and the fleece throws come out of storage, I usually throw them straight in the washing machine. Even though I wash them before packing them up, they never smell fresh when I take them out. But this week I tried something new. I just pegged them straight out on the washing line for a good airing, along with the rest of my washing.

The sky looked dark and full of rain clouds. In the past I would have wacked the heating on and dried the washing indoors, but I decided to put my faith in John Bowe @WatfordWeather who tweeted saying it would be staying dry - John was right.

When I went out to collect everything off of the line, at 4pm, it all felt cold and a little damp, but not wet. I bought it in and popped it all on the airer, in the kitchen. I’d just turned the oven on ready for dinner, and thought I’d make the most of the extra heat.

By bed time, the washing was all dry and the bits, from storage, no longer smelt musty - I shudder to think how much unnecessary washing I’ve done over the years when an airing was all that was actually needed!

To be fair, the oven was on for 90 mins. I wanted jacket potato for dinner, I know you can cook them in the microwave, quicker and cheaper, but I prefer the taste of oven baked. So I decided to make the most of having the oven on, and get ahead of the weeks food prep.

I cooked double the amount of potatoes, half for that nights dinner and the rest to do stuffed potato skins later in the week (I’ll upload the recipe soon). On the other half of that shelf I had a tray of sausages, to go with the jackets, and a Sponge Bake, for dessert (made very much the same way as the Breadbake but with left over sponge cake, sliced apples and strawberry jam, it was delicious)

Then on the second shelf I had a tray full of Squash (an undefined, weird cross pollinated one I grew in the garden) tomatoes and a head of garlic - all to use in recipes in the week (I’ll up load these later.)

All in all there were 4 days dinner and 2 days dessert all cooking at once. It will only take a small about to finish and reheat the meals as we go through the week.

Here’s ways I’ve used, I’d love to hear your  tips and tricks in the comments.

Laundry

• Does it really need washing? - here’s a quick guide on how often to wash items (based on info from Whirlpools website)

- Shirts and blouses: after 1-2 wearings

- Trousers or slacks: after 2-3 wearings

- Jeans: after 4-5 wearings

- Jumpers: up to 6 wearings, if worn with an undershirt; 1-2 wearings if worn without an undershirt

- Suits/blazers/casual jackets: after 5-6 wearings (depends on the wearer, I think this could be less frequent - my work blazers never got washed that frequently.)

- Workout clothes: after 1 wearing

- Underwear and socks: after 1 wearing

- Sleepwear: after 2-3 wearings

• Make sure the load is full each time you use the washing machine.

• Wash at 30 degrees or lower

• Pre-soak heavily soiled clothes to loosen stain, avoiding need for a second wash

• Air dry rather than using a tumble drier - Even on cold days laundry still dries outside. It may just need airing inside to warm up before putting away.

• Taking clothes out of the machine, giving them a good shake, and placing on a coat hanger to dry, can reduce the need for ironing.

• Ironing clothes, straight from the line, saves time and energy

Cooking

• Think ahead. Taking the evening meal out of the freeezer, in the morning, to defrost naturally before cooking - reduces time needed to cook

• Putting lids on saucepans reduces amount of energy required to bring them up to temperature and keeps the heat in.

• Batch cook, freeze individual portions, defrosted naturally, and reheating in the microwave saves heating oven every day.

• If you have them, slow cookers or air fryers, use much less energy then using the oven or microwave

• Use the water you’ve just cooked your veg in to make gravy. Saves water, heating cost and gives you additional nutrition from the veg.

• When boiling the kettle, only put in the amount you need - saves energy and water

General

• If it’s not in use, turn it off at the plug - standby mode still uses electricity

• Closing curtains at night stops the cold from the windows penetrating into the room.

• Use draft excluders at the bottoms of doors - it makes a surprising difference

Please share your tips and ideas 🍂