Bloody sick of being cold working from home

[bloodycoldagain]

I can't afford to have the heating on all day so its not set to come on till 3pm. I'm just sick of being cold working from home. I never chose to work from home and my (small) employer has chosen to never really return to the office. I'm freezing! (And no, I am not saving on commuting)

I hear you. My house is freezing. I hate the fact that I'm basically going to be cold now until about April.

This is what's helped me:

Uniqlo heat tech. I invested in the heaviest duty long-sleeve vests last year. This year I splashed out on the tracksuit bottoms.

Really warm jumpers. Cashmere is great, if you can afford it.

Bootie-type sheepskin slippers. Mine are from Sheepland. Each year I replace the liners (also from them) to re-up the toastiness.

And absolutely an oil-filled plug-in electric radiator. DH and I use those to just heat our offices, so we don't need to heat the whole of our poorly-insulated house during the day. Makes a massive difference. Also makes me take short lunch breaks because the kitchen is so arctic.

*"Cheaper by quite a bit I think to turn on the gas boiler (assuming that's how your main heating works) and turn off all the radiators except for the room you're in. Gas is one quarter the cost of lecky for the same amount of heat. And even allowing for the considerable inefficiency of running the boiler for one room it's probably still about half the running costs of an electric radiator to get your room to the same temperature.

(And you don't have to spend money buying an electric radiator grin)"*

Definitely not the case in our house. It costs a fortune to run our boiler and our ancient heating system means we can't isolate radiators. The electric oil-filled ones don't cost much to run, heat up quickly and then retain their heat really well.

How about a hot water bottle for feet?

Gosh that sounds utterly miserable. How would you feel if you son or daughter was working in these conditions?

If you haven't already, get a smart meter and figure out how much an hour's heating at lunchtime would cost you, or another half an hour in the mornings to get you up to a decent starting temp. I find when I get cold I end up doing less and less, like a reptile , and that's not only miserable but extremely inefficient work-wise.

It's not much at £6 per week, but you can either ask your employer to pay you this tax free, or make a claim against your own taxes - take a look here - www.gov.uk/tax-relief-for-employees/working-at-home

How well insulated is your home? Draught-proofing doors & windows is cheap & effective.There used to be grants for loft insulation.

My heated throw arrived today and it's a game changer.

In the longer term, could you look for a different job that means being in the office, since you said you missed it.

I refuse to put the heating on too!

Argos heated blanket is great
I also sit with a blanket or duvet over my legs and feet some days
I sometimes work in the living room with just the gas fire in or I use a heater in one room.
I've also been known to work from bed some days 😂
Thick socks and decent slippers are really worthwhile - int he same wya you would have good work shoes for going to work, put that emphasis on home slippers

Work from your bed with a hot water bottle and a hat. I get loads like that

DD had an oil filled radiator in her room and my electric ran out so quickly (I’m on pre pay meters so I noticed). It was honestly cheaper to have the heating on. So I would advise against that option. Heated throw is a better idea, I have one and can only bear about 10minutes under it before I’m sweltering!

I have this heated foot warmer - I find it really helps but always need it on the highest setting! I also put a dressing gown over my clothes and throw it off quick for calls/meetings/answering the door

https://lloydspharmacy.com/products/beurer-fw20-grey-foot-warmer?currency=GBP&variant=33087314427967&utmmedium=cpc&utmmsource=google&utmcampaign=Google%20Shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI042WnvXP9AIVQ-vtCh3ZbwQOEAQYASABEgIrBvDDBwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I snuggled my legs up in my heated throw last night to tackle marking mock papers. It made the task much more palatable ☺️☺️☺️