RANT. Five hundred fucking quid for one month energy and a husband who keeps putting the fucking heating on.

[IncompleteSenten]

£477 and some change. This month's gas and electric bill. It's normally up to fifty quid either side of 300 which is bad enough but this one fucking hurt! Yes this is each month, not quarter. Month. 31 days. For a little 3 bed semi.

My husband puts the heating on if you so much as blow in his fucking face. I've been begging him to put a fucking jumper on. I keep turning the heating off. He turns it back on.

I submitted the meter readings on the 1st as always and this month's bill is as above. Nearly 500 quid. I nearly cried. I finally got him to agree that we have to reduce our usage and to keep the heating off during the day after we got this bill. We've agreed it before after bills at the top end of 350 yet somehow it goes back to oh it was cold, oh the cat was cold, oh just for an hour... Then before I know it, the heating's back on to 30 all day and night .

I've bought everyone thermal long johns, furry slippers and those big blankets that are jumpers with hoods.

I turned the heating off this morning and he turned the fucker back on because - and I quote - "it's a bit cold".

Yes it's a bit cold, arseface. Put an extra layer on 🤬 and fucking deal with it!

I'll calm down of course but right now I'm so angry that my stomach feels like it's on fire. Yes I can pay it, we're very lucky in that respect I know. It's not that I can't find five hundred quid from anywhere, I can do some jiggery pokery and sort it, it's that I've got to pull five hundred quid out of my arse because mr neshbastard refuses to deal with a bit of a chill.

30 on the thermostatic control for the heating in general is the room temperature. In a typical British house, the radiators need to be much hotter than that on a cold day to achieve that sort of room temperature. (and lost of us would probably OP a window if forced to have it that hot)

Definitely look at your insulation and windows/doors. Get some foam tape from B&Q and line any draughty gaps!!! Get some decent curtains and see magnets to the edges and then fix magnet strip to the wall so when you draw the curtains it seals the edges. Also draught excluders under doors even interior doors. If you’re cold or not roasting roasting roasting hot with your thermostat set to 30 degrees C you have a problem with the insulation in your house!! We live in a v v old house and are roasting with thermostat at 22 or 23. That would be the max we would set and that would be maybe one or two days a year if we had somewhat thick snow!! Today we are set at 20 and fine. Find out why your house is not heating up or staying warm xx

Good grief, 30 degrees?! I'd be having 10 migraines one after the other in that heat, not to mention that the impact on the environment and your finances are nuts too!

Does your DH have a medical condition that means he feels colder? Is he incapable of putting on a few layers of fleecy clothing and fluffy socks or slippers?

As you clearly have no medical expertise, don't give medical advice.

There are plenty of conditions other than Raynauds that can make you feel cold. Many of them can be treated, and some can be very serious if not treated.

OP, with several people in the house having disabilities you might qualify for insulation grants. Ask the Enegy Saving Trust https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/ for advice.

I feel the cold terribly and put the heating on more than anyone else in my household. Your H is likely similar. DCs bought me a 'Slanket' at Christmas (electric dressing gown) its the best gift ever. I can now be indoors all day and evening and not have the heating on at all. It has a bit at the bottom you can slip your feet into as well when you're sitting down so, no cold feet. Although I wear leggings and socks with mine anyway. Its still lovely and warm even when I unplug it to get up and go into another room. Get one for your H he definitely won't be cold any more and your bills will plummet. & they cost pence to run as opposed to putting on the heating.

"Only for an hour" -wtf!? That's a massive amount of extra heating! Nothing 'only' about it.

Our heating is on for one hour and 15 minutes per day, in total. Usually sits somewhere between 17°C-18°C. We've got good insulation.

Put insulation in your ceiling. Get a professional to look at where else you are loosing heat.
30 degrees is sweltering. I'm glad you will try 25.

With additional clothing and insulation you will manage at 20.

There are blanket hoodies and coats with inbuilt battery packs to heat the coat itself. Tradesmen use them when they are working in a shed all Winter. Your husband might like to wear one of those.

Make sure DH wears a cotton and a woollen vest (two vest layers!) under his shirt and jumper and woollen socks, a woollen beanie and woollen gloves. Wool is SO much warmer than synthetic.

I’m not sure having the thermostat at 25 will make much difference as it is likely it never actually reached that temperature when it was set to 30.

Typically room temperatures of 25 or over are unbearably warm. Think summer heatwave, sleeping with a fan, cold showers to cool you down.
If this hasn’t been happening it is likely the house is sitting somewhere below 25 even with the heating on all the time.
Therefore a thermostat set at 25 with no switching off allowed is just going to equal the heating on 24 hours a day, which may cost you more.

You mention your DH is from a very warm country but has lived in the UK for a few decades. Despite that, I wonder if anyone has ever explained to him how to dress properly indoors during winter - eg layering up with a vest, thermal base layer, natural fibre top layer (preferably wool).

Things that seem natural when you are born somewhere may not occur to people not used to the climate - look at the amount of people here who cannot get their heads around closing windows and curtains in very hot weather.

I get your point. But it seems on MN, opinions truly go from the sublime to the ridiculous! Keeping the house at 14-16 is too low. Perfect for bedrooms, but not for living areas. Keep thermostat at 21 or 22C and keep it going, rather than on for 30C, switch off and go cold, and start again.

And no need to look like an eskimo- but yes, wearing layers makes total sense, whatever your metabolism is like.

Arseface is a majestic insult

OP

I think this is a case of heat the person not the room.

Heated throws, heated gilet, fingerless gloves, hot drinks can all help.

The cat can do what mine does and sleep on a radiator, the computer or the set top box - all warm enough for a cat.

I'm lucky, I'm someone who complains when my heating is above 16. My electricity bills go through the roof in Summer though because I have aircon and fans on.

I’m pretty sure my stepdad came out with this when my mother asked him why he’d programmed the heating to come on when they were both at work.
The cats now have heated blankets 🙄.

My radiators go up to 75, but that's not the room temperature which is what is being discussed here. My boiler is on eco mode so 68.5 degrees, but the room thermostat is 22 degrees.

What I would do is reduce to radiator water temperature on the boiler to 55 degrees or lower.

This would stop the radiators heating the rooms as much so it will not matter that the room thermostat at 30.

This should save you quite a bit of gas and you can always say look the room is at 30.

Heating at 30 degrees is ridiculous. I've had mine on 21.5. And had it on for two days. But switched off at night. And that's quite extravagant according to MN.

Zombie thread ....presume bill now paid!