How to be warm this winter

[Moodwill]

I'm dreading the cold days. Because we're currently paying £280 a month in gas and electric, in the depths of winter last year our bills were £450 and we barely had the heating on. We're moving to a detached house so I'm even more worried now.

I'm going to get Hive fitted again (as we have it here and it's great to 'boost' heating/set schedules). We all have Oodies, I bought some of those long hot water bottles which I'll put in ours and the DCs beds before we go up. We have an electric blanket for the sofa but it doesn't smell nice anymore and isn't suitable to be washed (are any?) so I'm not sure I'll be able to use it anymore.

I think there's a way of being able to heat up certain rooms rather than the whole house, I've googled but can't find what I mean. OH needs the study warm 9-5, I want a warm living room in the evenings, and DCs room from around 6-9pm.

Any suggestions welcome.

I hate being cold 😔

Most heated throws can be washed. My two definitely can. We use ours to keep the bills down.

@ChristmasCrumpet Yes in January.

We don't WFH so are out weekdays. There's 4 of us living here though.

Ah, we are WFH all 5 days.

Insulation, plastic film/bubble wrap on windows/fleece blankets attached to curtains and on beds/sofa. Thick/fleece socks.

No, it's the payment. I have no debt or credit. I got moved to Octopus when Bulb went. It's a 3 bed house here but old and doesn't hold any heat. Obviously don't have heating on yet but my price is pretty much the same as local neighbours, it crippled me last year.

I'm in the south east, I'm a naturally cold person, but these tips are really helping- I've made a list! Thank you!

Right I'm going to do it! Nothing to lose

Op if you're with Octopus have you looked at the Tracker tariff?

My bills (usage) has dropped by loads since I started on it, I'm annoyed with myself I dithered so long!

Get teddy bear bedding - duvet covers, bed sheets, pillow case. An electric blanket on each bed too.

Ignore the usual Mumsnet obsession with 100% cotton, nothing beats teddy bear fleece on beds when it's cold!

The plug should just pop out and then wash blanket at 30 degrees...

Definitely agree with this - it's SO toasty.

£280 in summer?? We’re paying less than £80 a month for gas and electric combined for a large 3 bed semi at the moment (working from home full time). The max we got last winter was £190 a month. This is why I won’t have a direct debit and pay based on monthly meter readings.

We pay £140 a month for gas and electricity and are over £400 in credit. Four bedroom semi, but it's a new build, so very well insulated.

We're paying similar to you OP. Old house, poor insulation. We're planning more insulation as part of a renovation project but it's all budget dependent so bit by bit at the moment. We've a log burner with fans on which really helps circulate the warmth downstairs.

Definitely thick curtains. Try charity shops or curtain exchanges. or if you can't afford to upgrade your curtains, you can sew old wool blankets as additional linings into your existing curtains. Draft excluders are easy to make.

Add another layer of roof insulation. It is easy to fit and relatively inexpensive. Just lay it over any existing insulation.

Get your chimney swept if you have a log burner, and have fuel delivered early so it has time to dry more.

Use a slow cooker to make lots of warming curries and casseroles.

Check your water tank has a jacket around it and heat your water immediately before you shower/bath so it doesn't have time to cool.

Keeping all internal doors shut helps, as does lots of thin layers of clothes with something like fleece lined leggings, house coat or snoody. Keep your feet and hands warm too.

I know it sounds counter productive but keep the heating on low permenantly, around 16 degrees. Then when you need to boost it to 18 or 20 it doesn't take as long to warm up as your not warming a cold house.

It also shouldn't take much to keep it at 16 either.

I did this last winter and spent about £10 a day on gas and electric combined. Family of 4 in a 3 bed detached property. Others in our road with similar size properties were spending £20 plus a day clicking heating on and off when cold it takes AGES to heat the house

Heated blankets and hot water bottles. It's probably more cost-effective to heat a person than a room.

Heat the person first, and make sure when you do need to use heat/you've gained solar heat etc that you retain as much of that as possible.

Another reccomendation for teddy fleece bedding. Our cats happiest moment of each year is when we put ours on the bed for the first time.

Last year I put extending rods inside our windows and added doubled over, full length thermal blackout curtains which sit behind the other curtains (Edwardian bay windows so the curtain rail around the top let lots breezes in). That has made a huge difference to the warmth of the room for under £40.

Door curtains really do make a big difference for little cost.

I WFH and use a heated sleeved blanket instead of heating the whole room. Very cheap to run and doesn't inhibit using the computer because it has sleeves.

we used the same amount of gas keeping the house at a moderate temp than letting it get cold and then asking it to get the house warm

I find this, too - no Hive, but I've got a smart meter so data's always available. Keeping my heating on at 15° all the time, then just turning it up for a bit when I'm cold, didn't cost any more than on-and-off heating and was a damn sight more civilised.

I'm in all day. If you lead normal working lives, I guess you could let it get cold during the main part of the day, then get your fancy system to turn on a couple of hours before you get home.

Big curtains definitely help. Also - if you've got crap windows or it's a mega cold winter, sticking bubble wrap over them makes a small but genuine difference! (mist the glass with water to make the wrap stick)

£280 a month is loads! Why is it so high? I live in a 4 bed detached and it's £170 a month.

Woollen socks. I got some really toasty ones from tk maxx last year, 2 pairs for about a tenner. They make such a difference.

We put insulated foil behind the radiators in our cottage and it made me feel like it was warmer.

Make sure no furniture is covering the radiators.

Does your husband really need the heating on 9-5? I layered up in my home office. If he really needs it could he work in the lounge so you are only heating one room?

Each radiator should have a thermostat that you can turn up or down. Entrance porch is on 0 and the longe on 6.

OP:
are you renting or do you own?
What is your insulation situation in this property?

We're buying our new house. It's a new build (7 years old) so am really hoping it's better for gas and electric than this freezing one we're currently in.

So many great tips, thanks! I've never heard of teddy bear bedding but we've just been to Dunelm and bought some. SO SOFT! DC will love it. Have also ordered a plug in oil heater that OH can use in the office during the day.

Interesting about keeping the temp on all day rather than turning it on and off.

But the standing charges have increased and no government handouts this year.🙁