Energy Saving

Opening the fridge/freezer lets the cold out, so I try and know exactly what I want for cooking and get everything out at once, and then stack stuff next to the fridge for putting away in one go. There is no standing gazing into the fridge whilst deciding what to cook, or leaving the door open while I put milk in my coffee!!
And I was appalled at how inefficient our old freezer was; I reckon we could have dined on fresh organic produce for the cost of running it. But it was old and poorly insulated, but also top of the range when we bought it last century. That's one reason why I only have a fridge-freezer now, the energy to run a freezer for me personally outways the benefits. But if I was still working full time, I'm sure I would want a big freezer. And it gets defrosted three-monthly, which only takes ten minutes, but helps it run better.

We replaced out vacuum cleaner last year to a cordless one which we charge only when the solar panels give enough juice, so free hoovering (it is a Hoover!!).

It's a dull grey day today, so the panels are only generating 100-120w, but with the house pulling just under 100w we are winning at the moment, just!