To be sick of not being able to afford the heating on

[KeepMeCalm13]

Thankfully no children involved.

We are yet to have any form of heating on this autumn/winter as we just cannot afford the bill. We only have central heating, no fire. I'm currently sat in a t-shirt, thick jumper, dressing gown, jeans, 2 pairs of socks, and slippers and I've got a hot water bottle and I'm frozen. The thought of another 4 months of this makes me want to cry.

[McFox]

It might be worth asking/looking on your local freecycle group for a calor gas heater - I've seen a few given away in my area.

[wannakillem]

It there anything that you could cut back on such as Sky etc or anything that you could sell?

[elskovs]

Totally agree with married. My Granma had 6 children in 7 years in a house with no heating. They were poor for years. There were no council houses or income support then and every extra child had to be paid for by the father. Things are so much better for the so called "poor" now. Food banks are even asking for Christmas presents for kids.

[expatinscotland]

Yes, let's all race to the bottom, go back to freezing in the dark and semi-starvation. That'll teach 'em to doff those caps to Master Shareholder.

[tibbysmum]

Food banks asking for Christmas presents for kids elskovs? What a fucking disgrace eh.....

[specialsubject]

I lived in a rental with a storage heater and I assure you that it did work, although the midday boost was a big bonus once I got the right tariff.

It was an older style heater but did keep the heat all day, with the output turned down overnight and not turned up until late afternoon. They still exude a little heat which was fine, although this place did have thick walls.

there's nothing to go wrong with them, they are just bricks. Please please scream at your electricity supplier to get the right tariff.

[elskovs]

No not at all tibby, it just goes to show things are not as dire as they once were. IMO we are all very lucky.

[sleepdodger]

If you're rented get radiators bled and boiler serviced- it improves efficiency hugely
If you cAnt work more can you volunteer somewhere thus being somewhere warm and might give you opportunity for more hours
Dh and I have ds and still work 100 hrs week between us

[slickrick]

This thread makes me feel so sad and so angry at the same time. It is disgusting that people cant afford to put the heating on in this country. I wish I had the money to pay your bill for you.
Could you try to invest in a calor gas heater it might be cheaper than having the heating on and you can move it around dependent on what room you are in.

[jojane]

I fell the same slickrick, we are not well off in that we never have any money left by the end of the month, don't have expensive holidays, I can't remember the last time i bought myself clothes that cost more than£2 etc but reading this thread has made me realise how well off I actually am, we don't put the heating on unnessacarily but if I wanted to put it on all day (ie on a snow day) I wouldn't think twice.

Our combined fuel bill has gone down by £35 a month. In the past year the landlord has replaced the ancient boiler, we had to have a new shower fitted and we also had to replace the washing machine. Having new more energy efficient versions of these 3 things have made a huge difference.

I have thick furry boot like slippers which I put on when I am chilly and it soon makes me so warm I end up taking them off! They make a real differnece and you can find them most places.
Cups of the/soup also help warm you up.

[notagiraffe]

married and elskovs surely you both understand that this is not about whether or not people can endure the cold, but whether it is morally and socially acceptable for a few people to squeeze the many very hard, so that they can reap excess profits. Not profits. Excess profits.

It's about whether it's OK to have hard working families, the elderly, the young and the infirm suffering because prices have been spiked so artificially high through absolutely cold-hearted greed. We live in a chilly climate.

Fuel is not expensive to create and maintain. Greed is.

[notagiraffe]

I woke up this morning with an idea.

FB everyone you know in the UK, and tell them if they know Sid, tweet him because every single person in the UK who thinks this is wrong will stand up to the greed by defaulting on a single payment, all in the same time period. We set up an account and have everyone pay the money into that account. If the majority of people in Britain did this, we would have a start up fund we could use to create a not-for-profit utilities company.

And if every single one of us refused to pay, perhaps they'd think twice about cutting us all off and chasing us all legally, because it wouldn't be financially viable. Especially if we all registered as having difficulties in making payments, because, you know, legally they can't cut you off immediately.

Is that wrong? Is that greedy? Is that behaving as though we have some misplaced sense of entitlement? Do we think we can run the show ourselves, exactly as we please? I wonder where we are picking up such behavioural tips from.

Course, as I had this mahvellous idea and such brains are worth their weight in gobshite, you'd all have to pay me a finders fee equivalent to one utilities payment, because I deserve it and I'm worth it and you are so clearly not, you straggly, greasy, slow-witted masses. Or alternatively, we could just erm, work together to live in a fairer, more comfortable world and let our grannies breaking ice on the baby bath while making thin broth by rubbing an icicle between their chilblains be a thing of the past.

[ElenorRigby]

What type of houses are people living in on this thread?

We had to move out of large victorian semi about 4 years ago because we got a combined gas/electric bill for £950 for one quarter. Even with the heating full on it was bloody freezing.

We now live in a small end of terrace and have little problem with fuel bills or keeping warm.

[halcyondays]

I've just bought a pair of heatholder socks and they are brilliant, much warmer than any other socks I've ever had. Thermal layers also really help yo keep you warm.

[valiumredhead]

Wrt the food bank/xmas presents comment, why do you think it's acceptable for some people to choose wether to heat their houses or buy xmas presents while the fat cats get even fatter?

[WallyBantersJunkBox]

If the energy companies have fears about the Labour government getting back into power and instigating a cap on household prices as they have been publicizing then I would imagine they will try to raise prices as much as they can in the meantime - it won't get better.

[Sillysarah49]

When I used to work in social housing, the tenancy agreements specifically stated no calor gas heaters were to be used in the properties, due to the amount of condensation they made. I don't know if you are in rented property, but thought it was worth mentioning.

[marriedinwhiteisback]

I worked for British Gas in 1978 for six weeks as a secretary. Interestingly during that six weeks I was there because the department always had two juniors. In six weeks I typed one letter, half a dozen memos, one set of dictated minutes, and one recruitment schedule. Nobody was much busier. I did about two days work in six weeks. Anyone who thinks those sorts of practices were sustainable and would have led to lower prices, in my humble opinion, needs their heads examined.

I hope no-one on this thread has comlained about the bedroom tax and is now complaining about the cost of heating more space than they actually need.

[expatinscotland]

Translation: because of an experience somone had 35-years-ago, anyone who cannot afford to heat their home is a feckless loser, probably in a council home, who deserves to freeze.

The current practice is unsustainable, too, because people are being fleeced.

This is not the past. The past is gone. This is now, and nothing, nothing in the world makes this okay.

[ThePinkOcelot]

Valium, you can get them from Amazon. I think Tesco have them. I might buy myself one!

[paxtecum]

Married: I'm your sort of age and yes, when I was a child houses were cold, bedrooms, bathrooms, were unheated, but most people had a fire in one room, so there was usually one warm room.

All the people I know, including myself, who live in a house larger than necessary and have unused bedrooms, turn off the radiators in the unused rooms and keep the doors closed.
Personally, I'm out at work all day and sit in the kitchen in the evening, which is warmer than the rest of the house because the cooker is on and the washing machine.

[marriedinwhiteisback]

I agree. Why can't most of the radiators be turned off or at least down. Rads do come with independent heating controls. Also why can't people buy a small electric fir for one room and keep one room warm. We have the heating very low in most of the house - if not off; except for principal rooms.

I have very sympathy for those who are exceptionally poor but common sense has to prevail too.

I don't know what our heating bills will be this winter because we have just moved to a smaller house. I know that for one quarter last winter our gas and electricity bill came to just under 1k. In a house where we were stingy with the heating. 10PCT on top of that is 100 and was expected. I am also aware that heating bills were very stable indeed for a great number of years from about 1990-2010? Rather like food which has just gone up exponentially. But I also remember when interest rates were 15PCT and regrettable we can't have it all, all of the time.

[LetZygonsbeZygons]

whats polythene to cover the window frames? someone explain?

Im thinking its clingfilm!

[Audeca]

marriedinwhiteisback

"Also why can't people buy a small electric fir for one room and keep one room warm...I have very sympathy for those who are exceptionally poor but common sense has to prevail too."

With gas costing about 4.64p p/kWh and electricity 15.32 p/kWh that's not particularly cost effective nor common sense (depending on boiler efficiency, heater locations etc).

[AngryFeet]

Get a few pairs of these babies. I wear them when camping at night as they make you so bloody warm.

www.heatholders.com/uk/