Selfsufficientish.com

In the next month me and my family will be moving to a new house.

It had an open fire which also heated the water but the council have removed this and installed a new central heating system along with a new boiler and radiators.

Im pretty annoyed they wouldent let me keep the open fire but i suppose as the central heating system is brand new it should be quite efficiant?

Any way my question is when i move in what can i check,adapt or change to make my house more eco freindly?

so far i have thought of the following.

energy saving lightbulbs in every room
extra insultaion in the loft and lag any pipes that are bare
check the boiler thermostat and adjust acordingly
adjust thermostatic valvers on the radiators
place corrugated cardboard wrapped in tin foil behind every radiator
fitting draught excluding foam tape to all door frames

In the garden i will be making a compost bin and also using a water butt and half the garden will be used for growing veg etc


we dont have much money due to me losing my job earlier this year due to ill health so cheap and easy suggestions would be great.

Get a 13.49 power meter from Maplins (on offer at the moment), and do a really good audit of all your appliances and wall-warts!

I'm not a great lover of the grants system, but I believe there are some really good grants available if you're on benefits! - worth a look!

Thanks for the info martin.
I will buy one of those power meters from maplin next week whilst im up town.

You mentioned grants for people on benefits.What are the grants available for is it for insulation etc?
Also where would i find out what grants are availble and to whom they are available?

try this one for a start - http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/gid/ - you can search for whatever grants are available - or try your local authority website - they can be mines of information!
Good luck!

If you have single glazing go for a cheap secondary glazing system.
You can also pop a plastic bottle filled with water into your loo cystern - that way you don't use as much water to flush.
We are also encouraging the last person in the bath to leave the water in so that we can pour a jug of it down the loo to flush in the night.
Martin is right about the grants - you can get up to £1000 to make sure your home is insulated properly and your heating system is working well - they even give you free eco friendly light bulbs into the bargain!
We've also found the joys of the Freestuff web sites - you can be sent samples of stuff and often really useful info - we've had things like room thermometers and a thing you put in the loo cystern (see above)
And then theres good old freecycle!! An absolute god send for those of us who love useful stuff and recycling!!
Good luck and have fun
Helen and Chris

thanks for your reply

the house we are moving into has double glazing which is a billy bonus.

the house im in at the moment which belongs to the ministry of defence(growing of veg in the garden or composting is not allowed ) i have fitted energy saving lightbulbs in every room also the toilet cistern has had a house brick put in it by the previous occupant.
so i will be doing the bottle of water trick in my new house.

And thanks to this site i dicoverd the modern miracle that is freecycle so ive signed up to thye yahoo freecycle group in bridgnorth shropshire where i will be moving to.
I did try the free sample websites last year but i wont be using them again as the amount of paper in the form of junk mail that arrived after was very upsetting.
My post lady even had words with me about the extra bag of junk mail she was delivering to my house every day.


I am very thankfull for all these suggestions and i very much enjoy reading them so please keep them coming.

if you have a freezer, fill empty space with plastic container or bottle with water to freeze down - freezers are more efficient when full.

get a blankie

we might nto have the heating on in the evening after my son has gone to bed, but snuggle under a blankie together to keep the chill off whilst watching tv

if its council run (i'm only assuming because you said it was them that put the central heating in) then you may have to ask them for permission to do any changes, and they might also offer grants.

Energy saving tip: When using the oven, shove as much as possible in there to cook. I've been known to cook lasagne on the middle, jacket potatoes on the bottom and jam tarts/biscuits/small cakes (depending on how long the oven's on for) on the top...