How are people who WFH managing their energy bills?

[confusedlots]

A few years ago most of us would be out at work all day, no heating on in our homes, no energy being used to heat up lunch etc, sitting in nice warm offices and using their electricity to make cups of tea etc. It seems like madness that in the cost of living crisis, that lots of people are expected to WFH, heating all those individual houses every day in this awfully cold weather, or else just freezing if you can't afford it.

Are people trying to get back into their offices to try to save money on heating their homes during the day? Or to stop them freezing if they can't afford to heat their homes?

Extra energy costs are cheaper than commuting for us, too. If we both worked in the office FT we'd be spending around £800 a month on travel, so you can get a lot of gas for that, even at current prices. Although we don't have the heating on all day, we just heat our offices and have the CH on morning and evening.

In any event with the rail strikes you can't really get into the office by train at the moment. And I imagine the weather is making the roads bad in some areas, so people won't necessarily want to drive, either.

We’ve just put the heating on now because it’s freezing.

Luckily there’s two of us, and our previous commuting costs would have been more than the new heating costs (although we did take slight pay cuts to guarantee the WFH status long term, which definitely reduced spare money).

It’s tough, but not much that we can do here.

I have the heating on for an hour or so in the working day, which keeps it bearable.

It's still a lot cheaper than transport costs to work and inevitably buying lunch/coffees. On top of the WFH allowance/ tax break you get, it's absolutely fine.

@chaddydays if you are a PA you would probably be a good project manager as there are a lot of transferable skills. Most of the project managers I know are WFH or hybrid at the very least

It may surprise you to know that for the last 10 years the government has been selling off civil estate and as such huge swathes of the public sector were already doing at least 3 days a week from home. WFH was nothing new for us (which is why we are able to pivot so smoothly and keep all those essential services, that you’ve probably never even thought about, functioning)

There is no need to be like that - I'm not talking about disabled people and as I'm not psychic I don't know that you specifically are disabled. I'm talking about people "obviously" who started working from home during covid and never went back.
Honestly, people are so keen to take offence over just about anything on mumsnet. I am disabled myself.

Not sure if it’s just me, but I get really cold hands, which is the main reason I put the heating on. I’m fine to layer up jumpers, and wear some thick tights under my trousers, but can’t wear woolly gloves while typing/writing.

Best hack I recently learnt from a friend is to wear some surgical-type gloves. They genuinely keep my hands snug and warm, but I’m also still able to type or write easily in them. Curious to know if it’s just me or if anyone else does this? It has probably saved me a small fortune from not turning the heating up.

I haven't tried this but may have to as I have the same problem! The rest of me is usually fine with the right clothes on but my hand are like ice. I have been wearing cashmere hand/wristwarmers, which help but my fingers are still cold!

@Sunshineandflipflops I probably look a bit sinister/crazy opening the door to the postman in black surgical gloves, but hey ho!

I’ve been layering up. Thin gloves covered by surgical gloves then cashmere wrist warmers is good at keeping me warm. Takes ages for the loo though.

The cost of my commute is significantly more than what I spend WFH and I also save not buying lunches or other random bits and bobs. I don't have the heating on during the day I layer up and have an electric throw if it's very cold so overall for me being at home is still cheaper

While we have been having a moan about the cost of heating the house here, every so often we do have remind ourselves that my husbands train costs are £35 a day when he goes into the office . So WFH is actually what’s funding having a warm house as he only goes in about once a month .

I've got oodies and electric blankets but the last week I've had it on a lot. Self employed so make sure I claim the allowable amount for heating / lighting per month (not a lot but worth claiming in expenses).

My electricity bill is between £9-21 daily, but my train fare to work is £40 return at best with an advanced fare, and usually £100. So no office fix for me unfortunately- I have thought about the odd Starbucks day though!

Yes I am still WFH but then I've worked from home in some capacity since 2005.

I also don't understand why the roads are so busy (I don't just mean now when everyone is rushing around for Christmas).

The PAs at my employer (a law firm) work from home part of the time. And a friend is a PA and she works for Serco and works from home at least sometimes.

I'm wfh with a couple of thermal layers. My boss is in the modern newly renovated / refurblished office in laers, coat, hat and gloves, and had to pay for the pleasure of commuting there!

Yes. My industry can be done entirely from home, although for some there are regular site visits and they need to be relatively local for those.

My office is in the box room and I have a small 700w oil radiator in there. I wrap my legs around it while I work and it does warm up the space as well.

LOL at this. It's not a saving if you have to pay for commuting. Unless you work within walking distance. I pay for petrol £250 quid a month (just for work, another £100 for private stuff). That's much more than my energy bill and we keep the heating on while being out. Being at home would save me exactly £250. Boiling a kettle to make cup of tea or having laptop on is not costing you millions.

DH has started to receive an extra allowance towards our energy bills which is a massive help.

The company he works for are brilliant for doing stuff like this.

@Janesmom oooh that sounds good. can you recommend a type - is latex better than other types for example?? Or just any old surgical glove??
Going to order later!!!
was also pondering a balaclava for nose, I know it sounds way out there. But my poor schnozz gets sooo cold!!

I cant WFH but I only work 5 minutes down the road. I stay in the office late every day to avoid going home and putting the heating on. I have the option to WFH but wont for this reason!

@ghjklo Crikey. No idea. The box I have (“liberated” from work) says “nitrile examination gloves” if that helps? Assume any that are tight but relatively thin would be warm and still allow you some dexterity.

I see a lot of PA jobs on a wfh model on charity job and escape the city. Basically finding the right type of employer and then the wfh follows.

Our local authority soon caught on how much money they could save if they weren't heating and lighting the massive buildings that used to house thousands of staff.....then add in furnishing, maintenance, rates, either rent, or factoring in what they could get if they sell buildings ........ plus, selling themselves as being a benevolent employer who kindly let all their employees wfh.

Thousands don't have building to work in any more.