How to keep the house warm?

[OneOfTheTwo]

It’s absolutely freezing and we’re skint. How can we keep warm in this absolutely freezing weather with no heating?

Luckily we have an electric blanket so that’s on along side hot water bottles and warm socks. Our downstairs doesn’t have any doors, separate rooms but all open plan so we can’t block bottom of doors to keep heat in.

Any ideas? I can see my breath in the air as I’m typing.

If it’s that bad can you spend the evening in your bedroom? Close the door, heat one room not the whole downstairs? Also bed/blanket etc accessible.

Heated blankets wrapped around you. Wear lots of layers. Early night in bed and watch tv there. I wear my wooly hat too and that keeps me lovely and warm.

We also have a dog that loves laying on you and is always warm. Its like a furry hot water bottle.

I agree that heating your bedroom is going to be more sensible than a big open plan. If you own a tent and have children that could make an excellent play den. Duvet under your bottom sheet will make your bed warmer. Don’t let bath water out till it’s cold.

Put film over the windows and excluders along the sides.

Excluders against doors.

Heated throws.

Hats, slippers, socks.

Hot water bottles.

Hand warmers.

I got one of these for working from home. It is amazing, especially if paired with a pair of thermal leggings.
https://amzn.eu/d/hL2utW3

That reminds me, my Nana got me some rechargeable hand warmers last year! Will dig them out tomorrow.

Open plan downstairs here too, so I feel your pain. We've hung a set of curtains to divide the room into ' zones' and it's honestly made such a difference in keeping the warmth in. Do you have a suitable beam where you could install a curtain pole?

I swear by a heated/electric throw for when I'm downstairs. Lidl have them for £20 currently. Best money you'll ever spend.

Oodies are amazing.

Heat the person, not the room.

Heated blankets, hot water bottles, those microwave heat pads, etc. I find leg warmers surprisingly useful for keeping me warm.

Also there are appliances that will warm a room, your oven, tumble dryer, etc.

Unliqo do good thermals.

Can you hang big curtains over the doorways? Makes a big difference to keeping heat in a room. And if you aren't picky then csn often pick up 2nd hand in a charity shop. Big double blankets do the same job.
Still an energy cost and initial outlay but I love my condenser (important, not compressor version as they aren't as good in the cold) dehumidifier. It feels so much colder ahd is bad for you and your possessions if the house is damp, it does pump out some heat (and uses electricity to run) but it is mainly that it stops that horrible clammy damp feeling.

More immediately, good clothes! I am wearing a long sleeve t shirt and thick joggers as pjs, warm slippers and a full length dressing gown during the evening.
If you gave any exposed skin then you're doing it wrong 😆

Hot water bottles
Hot drinks, hot meals (soups etc, don't need to run the oven for hours)

Do you go out to work or from home?

I second this, they are so warm. I usually chuck on my oodie when cold, pair of thermal leggings (or my thick hiking ones) and a pair of thick thermal socks.

Might use a fleecy throw too, or occasionally an electric throw too. In bed I find if I can keep my feet warm, the rest of me isn’t too cold, so I wear a pair of fluffy socks too.

Woolly jumpers!! With actual wool! My wool blanket is so so so much warmer than the polyester one I got from The Range or something.

You can also get long hot bottle warmers.

I agree with staying in one room. Whichever tends to be the warmest

Wearing a warm dressing gown helps ,also a scarf is a tremendous help. My DH lived in Finland in the past and he told me they wear their dressing gowns over clothes and that keeps the people warm.

Sounds miserable, can you not have the heating on at all? I'd turn it all off downstairs and then turn the heat up in your bedroom.

I wish I could give you a hug to warm you up, I can’t imagine anything worse than being cold.
My only suggestion was an electric throw/ blanket, but you said you have one. Mine makes a massive difference, I am toasty underneath it even when it’s very cold inside.
I have cold feet all the time and even when my body is well wrapped, if my feet are cold I can’t warm up. I find that a hot foot soak really helps warm up my entire body and it stays warm for the rest of the evening

We’re open plan too, and the living area is tile floor, you can hardly walk on it in the winter! We have a basket of blankets/throws in the living room. Everyone gets thick socks in their Christmas stocking each year. Dressing gown over clothes. Twinkle lights and candles soft glow gives the idea of warmth. Hot water bottles in bed. We renewed the weather stripping around the doors because of draughts.

I symmpathise OP. I have lots of huge ceiling to floor windows on the ground floor of my house and it's difficult to heat, temperatures plummet when the heating is off.
Sunny days are great, even in winter, the room warms easily with a bit of sunlight.
I have a small fan heater in my bedroom that I use sparingly, just to get dresses in the morning. I also use a heated overblanket for sitting downstairs in the evening.
I would second layers, especially natural fibres. I'm not a fan of thick oodie type clothes, I find them cumbersome and I try to limit my consumption of plastics.

Make sure your feet are warm, that goes quite a way in keeping the rest of your body warm. I wear wool nordic socks every day in winter months, fleece leggings and slouchy leg warmers.

You can see your breath? You’ll need to put the heating on or you will be ill and cause damage to your home when it’s cold and damp sets in.

Do you have any large squishy things? I only ask because we put a bean bag next to our back door (which is brand new, installed in December and super energy efficient but STILL drafty!) and the temperature in that room remained about 2c warmer!

But be careful because our heating is off overnight and I’m feeling achy when I wake up from the cold. I’m covered in blankets and wearing thick pyjamas so I should be fine but it feels like I’m cold to the bone.

We have significantly reduced our gas bill by turning down the temperature on the boiler. And then switching off radiators in living areas. So two bedroom radiators only.

Curtains are great for keeping warmth in, even just a single duvet cover or bed sheet pinned up would help keep spaces warmer.

I recommend getting those springy extendable curtain poles and getting something sorted before next Winter sets in. That’s what we had to do last year 😭

If you have a Homebase near you that’s closing down - they’re selling off curtain poles at the moment. But then again, the outlay on that could be spent on something more useful but it’s just an idea.

Get an hoodie blanket from OHS (online home shop). The one I have is £8 in the same at the moment and I love it. It’s massive and so warm, well worth the investment.

www.onlinehomeshop.com/brentfords-extra-long-teddy-hoodie-blanket-charcoal

Also get some fleece sheets and duvet cover, wouldn’t be without them in winter now.

Hang some curtains against the front and back doors.

Also get the silicone seal window seal for around the edges of windows and I put it on my external doors too, makes a huge difference to the draft coming in (all my windows that open were letting a draft in).

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0833QVCS4?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title