Anyone else worried about their heating bill with everyone home all day?

[Hotcuppatea]

In winter, we normally have our heating on for an hour in the morning and then it clicks on again at 3pm in time for the children getting in from school.

I WFH mostly and normally just wear warm clothes/ have a blanket on my knee and I'm OK. However, now the children are home from school, I have to have the heating on for them, especially as they are sitting at their desks for such a big part of the day.

I'm stressing about how big the winter fuel bill is going to be, but can't think of any alternative to having the heating on. How's everyone else coping? Anyone got any good ways for keeping the costs down?

I think ours has been on double the time it normally would. I am not looking forward to the bill but I am grateful we can afford to have it on more. We are still layering and using blankets and hot water bottles. The biggest thing I have found is to get outside for a bit. After a walk the house feels so much warmer.

My bills have doubled recently (direct debit with Octopus) and it’s only me in the house and the heating is only on for a couple of hours when I get up and in the evening and I’m so bloody cold!

DH's company are paying us £25 a month to defray heating bills.

Shouldn't think it is touching the sides, but I have had cancer twice in five years (different primaries Thank God) as a result of the first one I now only weigh eight and half stone and really feel the cold, so I refuse to be cold.

@CremeEggThief

Only put it on every other hour. I did this on Friday, when I had to come back home after the snow made getting to work impossible and it went down to -6• by dark. By the time the house cools down, your heating will be coming on again.

But doesn't it use less energy to constantly maintain a warm temperature than to be frequently heating it from a colder one?

They were sat in freezing cold schools with the windows open until last week. Lots of snuggly clothes.

@CremeEggThief

Only put it on every other hour. I did this on Friday, when I had to come back home after the snow made getting to work impossible and it went down to -6• by dark. By the time the house cools down, your heating will be coming on again.

This is what we do, give or take, except on the coldest days when it's needed a bit extra to keep it at 18° minimum. We've always done this in winter anyway, as otherwise we fight a losing battle to get the house warm in the evening.

@BarbaraofSeville

Ours is £47 a month for gas and electricity (not on the cheapest tariff either) so I think £74 is high! That’s over £300 a year more than I pay, not to mention the carbon footprint

National average is around £90 pm. £47 pm is not going to adequately heat most houses along with run appliances, heat water for showering etc. For £47 pm, you must either have very low heating, solar panels, or a small/well insulated property.

2 bedroom terrace so I suppose smaller than average which I’m guessing would be a 3 bed semi, bigger than a flat obviously though. A friend of mine has lived in a new build flat for 2 years and not had to use the heating yet because of her neighbours and the sun on her large glass balcony doors! We don’t have solar panels as the house doesn’t face in the right direction and it’s badly insulated - currently the living room is 18 degrees and the bathroom is 14. As I said in my post above that, we have it set to no higher than 18 when we’re at home and 15 at night. If DP had gone into his office today I’d have it turned down further because I’m not even wearing a jumper or socks. I’m not surprised the national average is so high if it’s being skewed by people like posters on this thread who turn it up so high and leave their heating on 18 when they’re not even there!

But doesn't it use less energy to constantly maintain a warm temperature than to be frequently heating it from a colder one?

No. I tried that one winter and had the largest bill I've ever had.

This might not work for everyone, but I bought the family oodies last year (though there are less expensive substitutes) and with our solar panels we made use of our electric blankets at night. We rarely turned on the heating last winter at all.

Are you claiming the working from home tax relief? It’s not much but better than nothing.

@Aubergina that’s a myth

We've been very lucky. We have oil central heating and when the price dropped back in March, we got a second tank and put it in the back garden, and filled both tanks up for less than one the previous year.
I'm in Ireland so get a working from home tax free allowance of €3 per day...works out an extra €60 per month which more than covers any extra electricity.

Mines on all day from when I get up 8ish till 10pm ish . I put it on 19.5-20 till about 4 than it’s 21-22 for the evening. My fuel bill is going to be huge as pre Covid on for a hour then off til about 3-4pm as no one home . Now we are home every day but I refuse to be cold and like others have said I’ve saved on commuting dinner money / lunches / clubs etc .

[quote rbe78]@Hotcuppatea - do you WfH because you choose to, or do you have to (e.g. beaucse of COVID)? If the latter, you can get tax relief on up to £6 a week. It's not much, but does offset a bit of the extra heating costs at least.
www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home[/quote]
Thanks! I've just claimed 🙂

I'm more worried about my electric bill.
It went from £60 (ish) to £111 now there are 5 of at at home continually.
Will need to read the meters again in a few weeks.

Gas wise we were £200 in credit which usually sees us through the winter but this year I think we are scuppered.

Oh and the comments about the lunch clubs etc for the kids - are they not eating at home? Has your food bill gone up?

I think our shopping bill has increased for sure, but I think that's offset by not paying for school and office lunches so we're probably ahead in that regard.

We have oil heating and I’ve just had a delivery of 500 litres to keep us going. I wouldn’t usually have had to do that top up until early March. Cost was £185. It’s ok, we can afford it. Electricity wise, it’s gone bonkers. Usually £60 a month has gone up to £88. There has been someone at home pretty much constantly all the time since lockdown 1 last March. Worse now because all 3 of us are here. 2 bed semi so not a grand property.

I am in awe of people whose combined are less than my electric and for a bigger property.

I'm seeing energy bill of 100 a month currently. (No gas only electric) and it doesn't matter if I am in or out. Just a small 2 bed semi. It will fall rapidly in the spring/summer/autumn. For example if the temperature drops from 7 degrees to about 2 degrees my heat pump almost triples it's energy consumption over the day.

The loo roll bill is increasing.
I will be issuing so many squares a day per person soon.

I live in an old cold house.

Layers of clothes, you need a vest, a long sleeved top and a proper jumper. If it drops below 0°c outside I add a body warmer on top.

Slippers are a must. You can also get fleeced lined leggings which are wonderful.

If sat down for long periods keep warm with a blanket over legs and a hot water bottle.

Vigorous housework will make you feel warmer. In between 'classes' get them to do bit of vacuuming, duvet cover changing, speed tidying, batch cooking etc.

We have our heating on 7am to 6pm at 20C all day. Pay £108 a month for combined elec and gas for 4 bed detached house. I'd rather spend less on clothes/food than spend all day shivering miserably. In fact, I'd rather not go on holiday than spend the whole of winter freezing cold in my own home. Just depends on what you want to prioritise?

@NanuNanuM

The loo roll bill is increasing. I will be issuing so many squares a day per person soon.

Bloody hell yes

I have a colleague who refuses to have the heating on in the day despite her and her DH both being high earners. She pops up on work calls wearing a scarf, fingerless gloves and wooly hat. Miserable.

@Catsneezies

I have a colleague who refuses to have the heating on in the day despite her and her DH both being high earners. She pops up on work calls wearing a scarf, fingerless gloves and wooly hat. Miserable.

Maybe she is trying to be eco-friendly...