It's bloody freezing

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How are people coping without heating?

I've seen loads of people on here and on Faceache saying they're not putting their central heating on. We've been putting ours on for an hour on a morning and if I'm on nights it goes on for 2-4 hours overnight because it gets unbearably cold.

SSE's prepayment site has broken and I stupidly didn't check the gas this morning after my nightshift because I thought SSE had family-friendly credit from 6pm Friday until 9am Monday so assumed if we had run out the family-friendly credit would kick in. It didn't. We have no gas.

I have an oodie and a hot water bottle and I'm still fucking freezing. Even the big dog is cold and he never gets cold. I built the chihuahua a nest with a fleece blanket because she was shivering even with her jumper on and the big dog stole it and crawled under it. He never, ever gets under blankets.

I've given up now and brought the garden heater in so it's getting warmer.

How the fuck are people living without using their heating?

No heating here and it’s mild here in Wales. Where are you?

My boiler broke some point Friday evening. Luckily we have a gas fire so the lounge is warm. The bedroom is about 15 degs, it is ok to jump under the duvet with a hot water bottle, but I would struggle to just sit.

This was an interesting piece on the BBC site

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63602501

Where are you situated? it's still quite mild here in North West England for this time of year. Be careful bringing an outdoor heater in for safety reasons hope you warm up safely.

I'm coastal NE. It's been freezing for a couple of weeks now.

It's very cold here in SE. Really dropped in the last 2 days

I don't gave my heating on. The temp is 19 in my house

Have had heating on for a couple of hours each day. We are in SE .

Is the garden heater safe to use indoors? What fuel does it use? I would worry about carbon monoxide from some outdoor heaters.

It's a tabletop, electric garden heater, not a big gas one so I think it's safe. We only use it on mild summer evenings to take the chill off. It would be useless outside in this weather.

Mind, if I had any kindling or firewood I would be tempted to bring the fire bucket inside also.

Our thermostat is old and doesn't show what temp it is indoors but outdoors is 6 degrees according to the met office. We always set the thermostat to 20 degrees when we turn the heating on and that is quite comfortable so it is definitely colder than 19.

It's this thing www.amazon.co.uk/Martello-Infrared-Hornfel-Oscillating-Storage/dp/B095Z1V5GD/ref=sxin_16_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.4939ea89-efd4-468c-a458-8735f4cbce34%3Aamzn1.sym.4939ea89-efd4-468c-a458-8735f4cbce34&crid=36EOWXB7757FI&cv_ct_cx=garden%2Bheater&keywords=garden%2Bheater&pd_rd_i=B095Z1V5GD&pd_rd_r=3b1977af-59f4-4da5-a152-17ac4332e9fc&pd_rd_w=wUaZ8&pd_rd_wg=ULm2X&pf_rd_p=4939ea89-efd4-468c-a458-8735f4cbce34&pf_rd_r=VC9VZ5F4MM2SHKSFASYZ&qid=1668904537&sprefix=garden%2Bheater%2Caps%2C80&sr=1-1-b75715df-0cbd-4312-a971-de5362256967-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&th=1

It looks safe enough to me.

Am in North West and its not mild its freezing heating been on all day today

Not to bad is Wiltshire. We've had the heating on for the odd day but it's still mild for November.

Some houses are colder than others too. Just because one house isn't cold doesn't mean others aren't.

Been pretty cold here in Scotland. We've had it on for a few weeks now, generally in half-hour bursts once or twice a day but only at around 17/18.

Our house is cold but I've been expecting it so I've put measures in place this year in advance. Bought the kids thermal pyjamas and fleecy socks. Dd is the colder of the 2 overnight so I got her a 15tog duvet and gave the 13.5 to the dog, also 2x pillows in the dog bed. Hot water bottles for the evenings and I close the curtains over the windows and have floor length blackout curtains over the front and back doors as soon as it gets a bit dark. I chuck all the drying into the tumbler and put it on once I shut the curtains and there is heat that comes off of it, same as the oven.
Thick socks and layers seem to have kept us ok so far really.

Our tumble dryer costs a fortune to run. I'd rather put the heating on. It's a fairly new condenser one. I've banned the kids from using it unless it is raining and an emergency eg they need uniform drying.

I live in the North East, about 20 miles from the coast and I've had my heating on most of the day for weeks now. It isn't always freezing but definitely too cold for me to go without heating on. We have an extra problem because DH and I have totally opposite personal thermostats 😁 when I have the heating where I really need it he had to go and put shorts on. When I try to make an effort to have the temperature at a level he likes I am absolutely freezing regardless of how many layers I wear. I really hate to be cold so he accommodates my y idea of reasonable warmth far more than I accommodate his. It😁 I dread to think what this winters heating bill will be 🤔

Our heating is coming on for a few hours across 24 hours, it would be anyway as it's got colder at night now, but the place was getting damp and mildewy to the point of causing damage and being bad to breathe in, and washing not drying, so we put the thermostat up.

Our weather station thermometer says 5C. It has warmed up from 3.3C earlier this evening.

It’s freezing in my house, I think some houses are just warmer than others. Mine has been on for a few months now

Our house doesn't hold heat very well, I have noticed that and the thermostat is shit. We have the heating on for an hour and it gets too warm so we turn it off and it's cold again within an hour.

Single-layer brick with new double glazing. I do have blackout curtains over the windows but not the doors. I might look into getting some and also a new thermostat.

I've been thinking about investing in a halogen heater too for when I'm on nights so I don't have to heat the entire house just to keep me warm downstairs. I'm sure I read somewhere they are cheaper to run than gas central heating. I seem to be adding a tenner to the gas every other day.

That is very true.
Modern houses ( last 10 yrs) are phenomenally warm.
Draughty old 19th century houses with single glazed windows can be freezing.
Terraces are “ Warmer” than semi detached ( to a point) but North facing Victorian walls can get really bitter, especially if the room has no loft above it, just a sloping ceiling.
Brrrrr.

Our house is comfortable without the central heating on. We are in the south.

My friends house close by is freezing and so is my sisters house. I'm guessing our insulation is good in comparison,

During the day we use layers to keep warm, hot water bottles and I light a wood stove in the evenings. I've not used the central heating once.

My son made a comment about our heating not being on yet and it being cold, he walks around in shorts and Tee shirt normally. I told him there was no central heating this year and to put more clothes on.

Can you afford a wood burner?
My house used to be freezing- til someone suggested a small stove - I had to replace the mica on the door.
I gather up free skipwood for kindling and it’s a dual fuel stove (19th C French) It’s small but very efficient , and makes a massive difference to the coziness of the room.
Homefire Ovals keep it going all night on bitter weather.
Don’t bother using open fires- They are so inefficient and all your heat goes up the chimney and makes a roaring draught.
Open fires are pretty, but not practical.
Being cold is horrible.
I have my heating at 18/19 degrees C

@oakleaffy you shouldn't be burning wood from skips even as kindling. Wood has to be seasoned.