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Original poster

My house is 8 degrees. 8 degrees

455 replies

Bonecold · 01/04/2022 15:43

Heating oil ran out yesterday. I have £200 in the savings pot with boiler juice. For a minimum order I need 500 litres which is £468.

So I’ve left the heating off until either the price per litre drops, the weather gets better, or my savings pot reaches the amount needed to do an order (£65 DD a month).

In the meantime I have a fire place so I can heat one room (but no wood so have to outlay for that).

I can’t work out if I should:

a) remove the £200 from the savings account and spend it on wood/coal to get through to warmer weather. Pro - would be warm now, Con - even further away from filling the tank

b) heat one room with wood, live near a wood so could scavenge enough wood weekly to do this?

c) plug in electric radiator. Pro: heat, con: eats electricity

D) small loan for £300/400 and top up oil. Pro: heat, con: small loans have huge interest and would be another bill each month

I’m at work all day and kids at school usually so it’s not like we would be freezing all day and can boil water for cooking and have electric shower for washing. But it’s Easter holidays here so they’ll be home for the next two weeks now

What would you do?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Bluetowelsandflannels · 01/04/2022 16:18

Hm, it doesn't sound too cold to me, but I appreciate that's not helpful. Jumpers and hats

Oh fgs, it absolutely IS cold, hate all this ridiculous pretence that a temperature like that isn't flippin cold and that you should just wrap up Hmm

moonbedazzled · 01/04/2022 16:19

My boiler broke in January. I took the electric underblankets off the beds and put them on the settee. They cost pennies to run. They kept us really warm while watching telly.

I've had the heating off recently because it's been warm although this cold snap has caused it to go back on. I'm sure it'll be warm enough to turn the heating off soon so I wouldn't go into debt over it. So definitely not c or d. It doesn't cost that much to buy a bag of coal from the coal merchants.

MissyB1 · 01/04/2022 16:20

This reminds me of my childhood in the 1970s - and not in a good way. Why oh why have we gone back in time Sad

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Cost of living
MurmuratingStarling · 01/04/2022 16:23

@Bonecold

No I live in a very old house which the landlord refuses to insulate and which I pay £1200 a month for.

FGS, move! Shock

Deadringer · 01/04/2022 16:24

Would it be possible to buy an oil/water filled plug in radiator or two to heat the rooms? I think they are quite economical to run and they last forever ime, i have one over 30 years.

MurmuratingStarling · 01/04/2022 16:26

@Bonecold All that money you're pouring down the drain on that oversized igloo (£1200 a month) and on the heating oil, could get you a deposit and rent on a much better house.

WhereYouLeftIt · 01/04/2022 16:27

I'd go with spending that £200 on coal/wood now. It will see you through to the warmer weather, and your savings pot can recover before next winter. I'd avoid borrowing like the plague, for the reasons you stated.

LiesDoNotBecomeUs · 01/04/2022 16:28

Sorry you have to put up with this OP.
The fire option sounds good. Collecting wood is a holiday activity for all the family.

We used to put tents up indoors - and play inside them when our house wasn't heated (often) in winter. Camping in a house is fun :)

MossyBottom · 01/04/2022 16:28

If you live in a village there may be a group oil order. Check the FB page. Then you could order a smaller amount.
B and C.
Heat the one room with wood and use the electric heater sparingly.
Try not to get a loan.
Buy oil in July.
£1200 for a house like that is not good.
I second the heated blanket idea. They cost about £30 but are very cheap to run and feel cosy.

I am so sorry you are in this predicament.

Packit · 01/04/2022 16:31

Heat one room with wood fire and wear lots of woolies. Also have an electric blanket for bed time. Warm weather can’t be far away. I’d try and save the £200 towards oil. Definitely don’t do D.

JudgeRindersMinder · 01/04/2022 16:32

Is it worth speaking to the oil supplier? I know they’re saying 500l minimum, but they might find they have to change that or they won’t have customers!

Drinkingallthewine · 01/04/2022 16:33

We had a shitty rental that just drank oil and then went stone cold again.

Like you we had one fireplace so used turf/peat briquettes but coal will give off serious heat. Electric blanket on the beds, (turn them off before sleeping) and tried to do things like leave the oven door open so the heat could warm up the kitchen slightly. Whichever room is above the fireplace was also usually the warmest to sleep in as well.

I also did Duvet days where I'd get the inflatable mattress, pile on all the quilts in front of the fire and we would all pile in to snuggle up for a movie.

We found that after March it was bearable around the house so if you think you could manage with one room for a few weeks with just a fire then go for it. Just be careful that you've had your chimney swept recently. The constant use caused a chimney fire for us. Which was terrifically exciting for DS to see the firemen and the truck but a bit of a fright for his mummy.

Honeyroar · 01/04/2022 16:33

I sympathise. My house can reach those lowly temperatures too.

Our oil companies (we flit between two) won’t share loads between addresses, they said it’s illegal, has to be traceable bla bla.

Collect some wood from the wood, but put it somewhere to dry ideally. Wet wood burns, but can cause chimney fires. Try and get some dry wood for the meantime. We get off cuts from a local builder. A flat back truckload costs us £60 and lasts us a winter (probably gone up now!). See if you can source something like that?

See if you can find a place selling small tubs of emergency oil for emergencies. It might mean you can pop the heating on at night for half an hour to get the bedrooms warm.

Here’s hoping we get a spring heatwave in a month or so. It’s quite often like that.

PrincessFluffyPants · 01/04/2022 16:34

A similar thing happened to one of our local neighbours and he put a post on the Next Door app asking if anyone had any spare firewood they would be willing to share to help him out; he had a very generous response from quite a few neighbours. Might be worth doing this?

Eloise666 · 01/04/2022 16:36

B definitely

BlackeyedSusan · 01/04/2022 16:36

Why is your house cold? Is there anything you can do to fix it.

Original poster
Bonecold · 01/04/2022 16:36

[quote MurmuratingStarling]@Bonecold All that money you're pouring down the drain on that oversized igloo (£1200 a month) and on the heating oil, could get you a deposit and rent on a much better house.[/quote]
If nothing else I’m now warm from rolling on the floor laughing at this GrinWinkHmm

OP posts:
Twofurrycats · 01/04/2022 16:36

This will depend on if you have a vehicle.
If you live any where near a business that gets deliveries on pallets ask if you could have some. Burns really well.

Drinkingallthewine · 01/04/2022 16:37

Any chance you have an Aga?

We each had a rounded beach stone about the size of a side plate that would be put in each morning in the oven. Then at bedtime we would all get our stones which would be wrapped up in an old towel. Often they would still be warm in the morning. And when I was a teen they were brilliant for period pain - the weight and the heat did wonders!

If not, get everyone a hot water bottle as well.

BlackeyedSusan · 01/04/2022 16:38

Sorry posted too soon. Just wondering whether improving its ability to retain heat you will need to use less fuel.

As a comparison: no heating here. And the flat is warm enough for shorts and t shirt (very lucky) but mum's house is freezing without heating.

StCharlotte · 01/04/2022 16:39

@whoruntheworldgirls

Take a bit out of the savings and buy smokeless coal.
We buy the new "eco" coal for our fire and it burns really well, unlike a lot of other smokeless coal or coke. I also think it will be the only type available soon anyway.

And, as ridiculous as Patented's comment is about 8 degrees being not that cold (give over!), I will grant them that actually a hat does make a massive difference.

clarrylove · 01/04/2022 16:39

Can you stay with friends/family for the weekend during this cold snap? Failing that I would be going out tomorrow, walks, library, visiting friends.

Long term, I think you need to look for better quality housing though as this isn't going to get better. 8 degrees is a ridiculous inside temperature and will cost you so much to heat.

Gimlisaxe · 01/04/2022 16:39

[quote MurmuratingStarling]@Bonecold

No I live in a very old house which the landlord refuses to insulate and which I pay £1200 a month for.

FGS, move! Shock[/quote]
Depending on where the OP is, in my area, you need to be earning at least 3 times the yearly rental, you need to put down a deposit of anywhere between a month and two months, not to mention the costs of hiring a van as a bare minimum.

As she is having difficulty scraping together the money for her oil, do you think she has that amount in savings?

LadyShatterly · 01/04/2022 16:40

My house can get that cold too - get a bag of wood from a petrol station and order a heated blanket from Amazon to arrive tomorrow and you’ll be warm enough to not need much more wood. They’re amazing things.

5zeds · 01/04/2022 16:40

Phone the oil company, explain and ask them if there’s anywhere local to you that sells it by the Jerry can. They are more expensive per litre but get £100 worth and go slow on it. It’s usually supplied by the same people just a different place. If not they might take pity on you bc a deliver a splash or two.