I won't be able to heat my home..

[Ihateboris]

Due to the war in Iran, I simply cannot afford to heat my home.

I'm on heating oil, and since day 1 of the war, oil prices have risen sharply. I've just done a quick calculation, and to fill my tank today it will cost £550, the day before it all kicked off it would have cost £260. I'm just hoping and praying we have a mild winter. 🙏 Just venting.

🤣🤣..I'm a tenant, have zero savings and a 14 year old mini. Not sure i need to worry about beneficiaries. Holy shit.

thanks for addressing my post. I’m sorry that you are in the position you are in, but I still hope for you that family could and would step in with a few pounds or even an offer of warmer accommodation…

So I can’t understand why you haven’t spent any time calculating cost per hour and then worked out how much you can afford

Not everyone has family
not everyone has family willing to help
not everyone has family able to help

a bizarre assumption

The issue is, with heating oil, there's a minimum spend which is far greater than last year. Not everyone has a spare ££££ lying around once rent, council tax, electricity, water, insurance, fuel, food etc is taken into account. I cannot and will not increase my hourly rate as my clients will just go somewhere else.

I’ve been pondering on this thread. It’s all well and good sharing tips for keeping warm in freezing homes, grant schemes, etc. But the impact of this war on those who have no other choice is unfair on all users, whether they can afford the extra or not. The pain is felt more at a human level by those struggling to buy oil and keep warm. But for others that’s perhaps money they would otherwise have spent in local shops, restaurants, days out, holidays, decorating the house, whatever the point is that trumps war has cost us all. I’m of course not diminishing what those who can’t afford it full stop go through with this comment.

And the price of oil goes up and down so randomly too. You can't predict what the cost will be when you need another tank top up.

Exactly. I checked with my supplier and they are also still minimum 500 litres order.

Exactly. Unless you have to rely on heating oil yourself, people don't realize just how unfairly we're treated. Unless you are lucky enough to be able to set up a monthly payment plan (which I can't due to my credit rating), it's so difficult.

Another vote for a heated blanket, we also bought some stick on thermal blinds at blinds2go for our French doors and it made a massive difference, we pull those down close the curtains that helps.

The cost of oil is crazy. I ordered on Monday and got 500 litres for £438. Just checked today (2 days) later and it has gone up to £485 for 500 litres! Nearly £50 in 2 days

Plus when the news reports that the likes of Shell and BP are enjoying record profits on the back of all the increases, it just makes you so mad.

Every single time The Orange One opens his disgusting little mouth, it affects the market. Someone is getting very rich from this war.

Don't even get me started.

In case anyone is interested the Government Fuel poverty statistics https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a733816201b38b4dc3c2854/2026-fuel-poverty-statistics-report.pdf

I’m similar to you - cost around £475 for 500 litres. It’s pot luck the day you order.

Op. You say if you put your prices up your customers will go elsewhere but a) do you know that and b) are there other customers who are prepared to pay more?. Independent cleaners should be charging at least £20-£25 per hour depending on where you are in the country and reliable ones are very hard to find.

I charge the maximum for my area. My clients are also suffering with the COL crisis and many have already reduced my hours

I like being cold because I was raised in a fridge. My father used to play The farewell to the arc royal" at full volume to get us out of bed the only slighty warm place we used to wear so much to bed we looked like the Dunlop man. Once we wrapped an iron in a towel plugged it in and put it by our feet. Sounds so dangerous now. To add insult to injury they sent me to a boarding school that insisted we keep our windows open in winter and made us do cross country runs in vest and navy blue knickers. Electric blankets are a great invitation a freezing bed is horrible feels damp even when its not.

I’m in the same boat, OP. My 2kw electric convector heater is excellent and economical.It’s portable, so take it from room to whichever room you’re in. A low setting is always enough to keep me cosy, I’d never need it set any higher.. They cost about £20 and are widely available.

Solar panel will be expensive to buy and will not generate a lot of electricity on cloudy winter days. Nice idea, but…

What’s the min spend?

500L

How much do they cost to run? Thanks 😊

How much would you expect to use over the course of a winter? Sorry no experience