Last week my daughter had a nasty bout of chicken pox. This meant a lot of telly and later, when she was feeling better, a lot of fighting with her sister and a big dose of cabin fever for all of us. Apart from an expert knowledge of Nick Jr shows I have little to show for my week off. Except that one sunny day I gave her an old camera and asked her to take photos of anything green and this is the result:

I’d love to be able to use it for something in Trying to be green. I can’t think what yet though.

Took my electricity reading on Saturday and it was 41634, meaning we’d only used 100 units this week.  Giving me a daily average of 14.3kWh.  Only a few weeks ago this was at 23.9kWh.  So it was the kitchen heating and our dodgy old washing machine.  I wonder how much lower I can get it?

My boots have been fixed and they are almost as good as new.  It cost £12 - a lot cheaper than a new pair.  And I get to keep my lovely boots for another year or two.

So reading on Saturday was 41534.  Giving me a daily average of 18.3kWH per day.  Slightly worse than last week but still a lot better than the average before.  Leads me to think it is definitely the underfloor heating that is the problem.  I turned it back up last week to test but weather has been beautifully warm so don’t think it was needed much.  I have turned it back down now so I hope to have best ever reading next week.

I’m still worried that our reading is miles higher than anyone else’s though.  The electricity company have just put our direct debit up hugely.  My goal is to try and get them to move it down again soon.

This is the sign on the door of the local shoe repairers where I took my favourite boots to be repaired this week.

All winter I’ve been a little bit sad that these lovely lovely boots are finally on their way out and that next year I will have to find some new boots -but they won’t be as nice or as comfy.

And then suddenly it struck me - I should repair not replace.  I’ve never done that before.  The only problem is that because I left it so late they may be beyond repair.  If I’d thought of it only a month ago I’m sure they would have been fine.  Oh well they’ve sent them off to a specialist to see if he can fix it.  I am still hopeful.

It is a beautiful day today and cycling was a joy rather than a chore.  I had only a small backpack and wasn’t laden down.  I experienced no scary cars trying to run me over and I’m better at not falling off at junctions.  It felt good

My latest reading is 41407. Which gives me an average daily reading of 16.9 kWH per day. A staggering 5 kWH down per day.

Now I thought at first that this was just the washing machine and I’m sure this has had some effect BUT I changed something else and I think this is far more important (sadly). I turned the electric underfloor heating in the kitchen down 3′ and I think this is what eats all our electricity. In fact I’m sure of it.

Our bills have been getting a lot higher since Christmas. And I remember having a conversation with my mother-in-law that involved her declaring our kitchen floor too cold and recommending we get carpets. And then I turned the thermostat up loads - just to show her!

So I think its our underfloor heating thats the problem. I haven’t noticed it being any colder now that I’ve turned it down but then its warmer now and I’m not sure I’d have welcomed it in the dead of winter. I have turned it back up now for the next week so that I can check its the cause.

Oh my god! I have been washing my clothes in cold water for so long that I had forgotten what clean clothes look and smell like. They are so clean. Stains have disappeared. They smell lovely! I can’t believe how long I managed to ignore the problem and think that there was nothing wrong with my washing machine. Oh how i love my new one.

The instruction booklet comes with stats for your washes - I have chosen the eco 40′c. It takes 1.13kWh of power for a wash - that seems like very little to me. If I do 5 washes a week on average then I am using approx 5.5kWh of power per week. So I won’t be able to blame my washing machine for my high power consumption any more!

So I’ve been keeping track of my electricity meter readings for the last month or so in preparation for the launch of www.tryingtobegreen.com.

They’re not great at the moment and have not been improving.  Will be interesting to see if I can start to make a difference some time soon.  I will log all my readings here until the site is launched.

For info: we are a family of 4 living in a 4-bed semi with cavity wall insulation!

I am trying to find out what is the average and its incredibly hard to find out.  I just get the feeling mine is rather high.  The value in kWH is our average daily use in that period

Readings:

28/3  40651
5/4    40805  22 kWH
12/4  40959  22 kWH
19/4  41126  23.9 kWH
26/4  41288  23.1 kWH

I cycled to work for the first time ever this week. The cycling itself was quite easy but the logistics have been anything but.

About a month ago I decided it would be a good idea. So then I spent £55 getting it serviced and getting mudguards fitted. I didn’t want to wear a helmet - no-one else I know wears one - but in the end I bought a cheap one in halfords together with some lovely fluorescent cycle clips and a lock. You definitely can’t be a safe AND cool cyclist.

Then I was all set to go I thought. But when I went to leave on my first morning I packed my bag - laptop, lunch and handbag and I realised it was just to heavy and I would topple off (I’m already a bit wobbly with nothing to carry). My laptop is a big beast - but I can’t work without it so I almost gave up there and then.

After feeling totally defeated for a week I finally perservered and came up with a new plan. I could take an old computer to work and not lug the laptop around at all. This was actually quite a good idea - I don’t really need it to be portable when I’m in the office. So after a day of setting it up I was all set at work.

Finally I did a couple of test runs on a quiet Sunday afternoon - I haven’t cycled for 4 years - I was ready to go.

I enjoyed the cycle itself and didn’t seem to be too much of a chore (when its not raining) but whether it was worth the expense (£75 so far, and I already owned quite a good bike) and effort (have had to completely re-organise the children’s computer so that I can steal bits for work), I will let you know.