Money-saving tipps

[kiplette]

Yes, the helpful price per kilo makes that comparison so easy and some of the reduced labels show the new price per kilo after reduction, which is brilliant.

Some stuff is way cheaper in our Turkish shops, some stuff not so much.

We are strict about length of showering, we used to use watering cans to collect the cold water flowing until the warm came through, but have got a bit lazy about that.

My personal favourite story of recycling was from a TTer up in Schleswig Holstein (I think) - maybe HHSailor? whose coffee was tasting 'off' in the mornings and it turned out his son was recycling the water from his hot water bottle into the kettle

[Fraufruit]

we used to use watering cans to collect the cold water flowing until the warm came through

I'm sorry. I cannot even imagine going to such extremes. Then again, our hot water comes pretty quick.

How long did the hot water run while you removed the watering cans? Where did you put them? What did you use it for?

[LeonG]

How long did the hot water run while you removed the watering cans? Where did you put them? What did you use it for?

Once the hot water arrives at the tap, you can quickly shut it off for a short time without it going cold again. I'm assuming they used it to water flowers / garden. I saw a program at some point about a family where they had a bucket in the shower to catch overspray and used that to water the garden. If you have gutters, you can hook up a rain barrel. I don't water my garden. My weeds are doing just fine.

[Fraufruit]

I'm all for saving a few cents and being green but some of this stuff seems extremely anal to me.

[Franklan]

[..]we used to use watering cans to collect the cold water flowing until the warm came through, but have got a bit lazy about that.[..]

Ok, let's look at this from a technical standpoint:

Let's assume a guy takes a shower every morning before going to work, and he has to let the water run for 2 minutes before it gets warm.

Once the guy is done showering, he shuts off the tap (and there is hot water left in the tubes in the wall!). This hot water turns into cold water over the next few hours.

The next morning, he has to let the water run for 2 minutes again before warm water comes out of the tap...

Do you see the problem? Those "2 minutes" of cold water used to be warm water...

The "2 minutes" of cold water every morning, caught in a bucket to save water costs, is not the actual cost factor. The actual cost factor is the fact that those "2 minutes" of cold water used to be hot water 24h ago, heated with your money.

The pipe diameters towards showers were overengineered in the past (when the energy costs were not such a problem), but this kicks in the butt nowadays (considering today's energy prices).

[Fietsrad]

Where I used to live hot water came very quickly. Either the tap was near the heater, or the hot water pipe was narrower.

Enormous quantities of grey water used for bathing, showering, washing clothes, rinsing, could be easily diverted to a tank and used to flush the toilet, water the vegetables etc. Simple and cheap, but much less profitable than heat pumps
..
In Germany mixer taps are normal.

In the UK there were two taps: hot (too hot) and cold (too cold). Not been there for a while, does one encounter mixer taps there now?

[Robinson100]

[..]we used to use watering cans to collect the cold water flowing until the warm came through, but have got a bit lazy about that.[..]

Do you see the problem? Those "2 minutes" of cold water used to be warm water...

As I see it, there is nothing that can be done about the water that has gone cold in the pipes, but there is something you can do about the water that would normally run down the drain - it can be used to water plants, make tea or even to flush the toilet, and that is the part where the OP is cutting down on waste, and saving a few pence.

[Fraufruit]

it can be used to water plants, make tea or even to flush the toilet

All out of the same collection can. Yuck.

How much water does it take to wash the can so that you can use it for tea water?

[Robinson100]

it can be used to water plants, make tea or even to flush the toilet

How much water does it take to wash the can so that you can use it for tea water?

None! It´s called a kettle, and is used to boil water........

You let a couple of liters of water come through into your bucket, and then hold the kettle under the flow.

[LeonG]

I'm all for saving a few cents and being green but some of this stuff seems extremely anal to me.

Every way of saving money is anal to somebody. We all have things we are not willing to compromise on. For someone it might be their two daily showers, for someone else it may be having a warm house.

The watering can thing may be inconvenient when your shower is upstairs and you plan to use the water in the garden. Then I think back to my mom who had like 30 plants in the house and always kept a watering can or two in the bathroom anyway, it would be perfect.

[skadi]

In the UK there were two taps: hot (too hot) and cold (too cold). Not been there for a while, does one encounter mixer taps there now?

Er, since the 1970s....if not before

[Fraufruit]

Please allow me to be clear - I tip my hat to everyone who goes the extra mile to conserve our natural resources. I truly admire all of you. I do my best with saving water and electricity. A few times each day, I stand in amazement and gratitude that I can open a tap and have clean water when so many don't even have access to it.

I don't have a garden or plants that need water. My tiny toilet room has no room for a bucket of water to flush the toilet. There isn't even a sink in there. I don't drink tea.

I took a little flack when I announced that I had started collecting and disposing of compost last summer. "Why only now?", they said. I am still doing it and it has become part of my routine and isn't as messy and smelly as I thought it would be.

So we all do our bit the best we can. I think that our generation has done much better than previous ones and it is passed down to our kids and grandkids. Hopefully, things will change for the better in regards to how we treat our planet.

[kiplette]

How long did the hot water run while you removed the watering cans? Where did you put them? What did you use it for?

Quite a long time - it's a big house, and the water is travelling a long way. We would get at least one 20l watering can - used by me for flushing the loo in the room next door (so not far to go) and by some for watering plants, although I feel that they deserve rainwater.

Maybe also for the kettle, thinking about it? Given that water then gets boiled.

Edit to respond to your post just above - absolutely, better late than never is not a throw away comment when it comes to these things. I think it's awesome that you have enacted a change for the better and it has become routine.

Franklan » Thu May 09, 2024 8:10 pm
The actual cost factor is the fact that those "2 minutes" of cold water used to be hot water 24h ago, heated with your money.

Oh definitely. As rob says, though, I'm not really in control of that.

In our particular case, I do wonder if we would be better off with an electric shower which heats what you need at the point of needing it rather than drawing gas heated water up from the cellar, but I don't know.

[Robinson100]

I'm all for saving a few cents and being green but some of this stuff seems extremely anal to me.

What for one person may seem "anal" is for another person quite useful!

Okay, so you live in a flat in the city, so maybe for you, it would be a good idea to either install a low-flush toilet, or to put a brick/large stone/whatever in the water cistern to displace water and thus flush with less........

[Krieg]

I'm all for saving a few cents and being green but some of this stuff seems extremely anal to me.

What for one person may seem "anal" is for another person quite useful!

Okay, so you live in a flat in the city, so maybe for you, it would be a good idea to either install a low-flush toilet, or to put a brick/large stone/whatever in the water cistern to displace water and thus flush with less........

In our workplace we have low-flush toilets and like 75% of the time we have to flush twice, sometimes three or four times. Probably only good for peeing. I have no idea if those particular ones are the ones that are bad, but in my (small) experience I want to stay away from them, really hate them because after the failed initial flush you have to wait until it fills up to try again ... and again.

And from what I've seen, the normal toilets here are already "low flush" compared to the American ones.

[Fraufruit]

Our toilet flushes according to how long you hold down the flush bar thingy. Since I don't use toilet paper, a quick push does the job. My bidet seat uses less than a liter of water.

[Robinson100]

Just to revive this thread - I have been thinking for some time about a garden shower for in summer.
Looking around, there are quite a lot of camping shower sets available on Amazon, etc, but I was thinking of a not-so-portable one, where I fix a hosepipe to a tap on the first floor, and fill it with water in the morning - with a closed off shower head/garden spray on the other end.
I would then leave it in the sun on a nice, south-facing roof of the wood shed during the day, and in the evening I would have enough warm water to take a shower in the garden.
It seems to me that having a shower without and use of electricity, etc is a good idea, but I am sure there are pros and cons to it.
Any thoughts?

[Alberto]

After boiling food, like pasta, do you throw the hot water in the drain?

I rather fish out the food, drain it, and leave the hot water in the pot (closed lid, so steam stays in), so its heat is not thrown out into the drain but rather slowly leaks into the room/kitchen. This allows you to run the house heating slitgthly less. Call it energy recycling. I doubt many people do it, and it puzzles me.

Only hours later, once the water finally reached room temperature, I wash the pot.

Having this much energy and simply throw it away, because its original purpose of cooking is over, I just find it wrong.

When I explained this to my wife she said "you're speaking like a physicist"

[Krieg]

I think an important one is convincing the wife and daughter they do not need to boil one liter of water in the kettle to make a cup of tea. So far I've have failed.

[john_b]

If it's any consolation, I have been just as unsuccessful as you in this regard