Not something I've ever kept @barry island - or at least not in a pond with a pump. They were in a large pond which was fed by a spring uphill from the property, with an outlet into the pond, so the water was constantly being filtered organically. Not sure what your best solution would be.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Bills have gone up and those with big mortgages will be feeling the squeeze, but I suspect that a lot of people will say that the last couple of xmas celebrations have been somewhat muted and will go all out this year. It has been mild so far and I have only had the greenhouse heater on two nights this year when frost threatened. It will be going on to save all my cuttings and plants that I cannot easily replace. I suspect all the older ones on here have been through high inflation and low pay rises before, in the 70's and 80's, and basically will just accept it and get on with life.
I guess that the thought of £3000/year bills will frighten some I know that we have taken to turning the electric kettle off when it starts to boil and not waiting for the steam to build up enough to turn it off automatically, I know that is only saving a tiny amount of money but just imagine if everyone did it how much energy the country would save. Iv'e been sitting here with the temperature set at 16.5C this morning but have now turned it up to 18C in previous years we would have had it on 19 or 20C.
I hardly notice the Christmas lights around here because when it gets dark all you see are people's television, some look bigger than their windows, illuminating the streets.
Don't mind a few lights, although I would never want them, but why do they have to be on all night. Even our street lights go off most of the night.
@barry island if your pond is deep enough (4ft or so is good) and lightly stocked it can be easier to switch the pump off. The fish will stay at the bottom in winter and if your pond pump is to low in the water column, you can actually make the water colder by mixing it up. We have a deep pond and the pumps were always off every winter for over 20 years without any problems but you do have to keep the surface open (a simple poly box lid with a couple of small holes works surprisingly well). The only consideration is if it runs a filter and then you need to start it up earlier to mature it for when you begin feeding again (although in a lightly stocked, not heavily fed pond, this isn't so much of a worry).
@thevictorian my pond is in a raised bed its fiberglass about 45 to 50 cm deep holding 50 gals of water there are 4 goldfish 2 to 5 inches long two of which were born in the pond and a koi carp about 10 inches long given to me by my son. I may turn the pump off as the temperature gets into the single digits as I don't think that the filter bacteria live in those temperatures do they?
I used to work in a railway maintenance depot which consisted of a 200 year old building and numerous storage cabins made from various materials, wood, metal, brick very few of which had any insulation in, as some of the cabins had perishable materials inside the electric heating was on constantly, the main building was either freezing cold in the winter or baking hot in the summer meaning that for long periods of the year either the heating was on or air conditioners were in use, this one depot wasn't an isolated case and many hundreds of similarly poorly maintained and uninsulated examples were to be seen countrywide. Strangely the 200 year old building which has been unused for some time now burned down a few weeks ago apparently an electrical fault.
There's a house near us, across the back, about 4 houses down the road that runs at right-angles to ours, with a new-ish extension into their back garden with outside lights that are on from dusk to dawn all year round. On the plus side, they're bright enough that I don't need to put our bathroom light on when I get up in the night 😉
Lots of houses have already got huge amounts of festive lights outside as well. I think all my Christmas lights (indoor only, but some go inside the front windows) are low voltage LED, but when I've got them up I'll be checking the smart meter to see how much extra it costs, then I'll decide how long they're going on for. I'm not one for putting the decs up early - it'll be 10th/11th at the earliest this year.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Upthread I was mulling the cost of lights vs domestic appliances which some people use willy nilly. I have checked it out
100 LED bulbs on for 6 hours a day for 30 days = 1 washing machine cycle = 1 six minute shower.
My snipe at washing machine usage comes from reading posts about hygiene. A substantial slice of the population thinks that towels have to be washed after every use. Altogether different, I once read of someone who decided against a trip on the Orient Express as there are no onboard showers. That degree of concern about hygiene with its accompanying use of energy makes concern about Christmas light energy usage seem like an irrelevance
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Not sure what your best solution would be.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Don't mind a few lights, although I would never want them, but why do they have to be on all night. Even our street lights go off most of the night.
@barry island if your pond is deep enough (4ft or so is good) and lightly stocked it can be easier to switch the pump off. The fish will stay at the bottom in winter and if your pond pump is to low in the water column, you can actually make the water colder by mixing it up. We have a deep pond and the pumps were always off every winter for over 20 years without any problems but you do have to keep the surface open (a simple poly box lid with a couple of small holes works surprisingly well). The only consideration is if it runs a filter and then you need to start it up earlier to mature it for when you begin feeding again (although in a lightly stocked, not heavily fed pond, this isn't so much of a worry).
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
100 LED bulbs on for 6 hours a day for 30 days = 1 washing machine cycle = 1 six minute shower.
My snipe at washing machine usage comes from reading posts about hygiene. A substantial slice of the population thinks that towels have to be washed after every use. Altogether different, I once read of someone who decided against a trip on the Orient Express as there are no onboard showers. That degree of concern about hygiene with its accompanying use of energy makes concern about Christmas light energy usage seem like an irrelevance