One of the major newspapers recently ran a story about renting appliances. The bottom line is they came to the view that renting is a bad idea. We have done some quick numbers and have come to the same view – buying makes more financial sense than renting. Our quick, back of a soup-stained serviette […]
A cold water wash in the washing machine costs about 10% of the cost of a hot water wash. When buying a washing machine consider a suds saver. They wash many loads and reuse water and soap powder. Use washing water to kill aphids and garden bugs on roses and other outdoor plants.
Don’t use a washing machine or dryer unnecessarily. Wait until you have a full load to wash. Whenever possible, let Mother Nature do your drying. If you do use a dryer, don’t over fill it.
I have a heated towel rail, but never use it! In winter, I place my bath towels in the airing cupboard overnight, they’re still warm and bone dry when I use them the next morning. Luxury!
Plug all of your TV, DVD, Sky, Freeview etc devices into a plug gang behind. When you go to bed, turn the one switch off at the wall and all those annoying power hungry devices that would normally be on standby 24/7 will be off when you don’t want them. One flick of the switch […]
There are conflicting thoughts on if it is better to switch off appliances rather than leave them on standby. Of course it depends on the type of appliance, use the “on/off” function on the machine itself. A TV set that’s switched on for 3 hours a day (the average time Europeans spend watching TV) and […]
This is a very good website. http://www.energywise.govt.nz/ Has lots of content about: – Home heating – Solar energy – Appliances – Vehicle running costs – Hybrid vehicles – Insulation
Keep your fridge between 2 and 4 degrees celcius. It is most energy efficient at that level. Check that the fridge seals are tight. Fridges work best well full. Thaw frozen food in the fridge. It cools the fridge.
If your seal has started to go on your fridge simply change the direction the door opens. Most of them are able to be adjusted to the other side for left or right handed opening. Our fridge seal needed replaced at the cost of $120. I asked hubby to try this idea first and it […]