To worry about keeping warm this winter

[flamingox]

We live in a 1930s terraced house. The front is double glazed- the back isn't ( privately rented house)

I feel like no matter what we do the house doesn't stay warm. We have central heating and an electric fire in the living room. We are on prepayment meters and can't afford to keep topping up so feel like i can't put the heating on all the time and the fire uses so much electric :(

I make sure all doors are closed, have put bubble wrap on windows as it's meant to be good insulation.

Tonight our house is soooo cold. I'm in bed in a jumper, leggings and dressing gown. I have our baby in bed with us, cuddling her to make sure she's warm.

I am on the verge of tears thinking of how we're going to get through the winter keeping the baby warm :( does any one have any tips?

Get rid of the meter- they charge a fortune

Well, that would be ask her LL if they can get rid of the meter, and they will probably have to pay the electric company for the pleasure. It can be prohibitive.
If you want, op, I have a half box of secondary glazing film from when we lived in a similar house with a young baby I’d be more than happy to post it.
When I took it off, I did find that it took a tiny bit of paint off the window frame / left a little glue, but condensation was already making that happen, so I wasn’t bothered, and nor was the LL. If you’ve been there a few years it may need a repaint anyway.

Tesco are currently doing a fleece like the one pp linked to upthread. I have a Tesco one (from the same house funnily enough) and it was great.

If you need to stuff a chimney, you can spend £30 on a balloon, or I filled a placky bag with newspaper balls and shoved that up. Seemed to work.

How are you drying washing? A dehumidifier will make it warmer and remove damp.

Electric blankets, electric over blankets and oil radiators are amazing. An outlay of £100 though.

If you have to dry washing on an airer or the radiators and you don't have a tumble dryer, get a spin dryer. They get quite a bit of extra water out of clothes that is then not evaporating into your house and making it damp and cold. It also means that clothes dry more quickly and that there's less residual detergent on them, which is better for then and your skin.

newspaper under the downstairs carpets, if you have them.

and thanks to wicked witch for linking to the thread I was thinking of

If you need to stuff a chimney, you can spend £30 on a balloon, or I filled a placky bag with newspaper balls and shoved that up. Seemed to work

Yes - I did that in an old property and it worked - no heat disappearing up unused chimney.

I would talk to the landlord and take some temperature readings in the rooms. The landlord might be sympathetic to doing some improvements. In the long term I'd look around for a newer property to rent if that is possible.

see if you can get the warm home payment £140 i got mine last friday

Wear wooly hats indoors and thick socks over thin ones. Concentrate your heating in one room where you are sitting for long periods (watching TV), not bedrooms where you will be cold getting into bed only, and will soon warm up under the duvet.

Its unpleasant being cold sometimes (like when going to bed and getting up), but it won't kill you.

Mines a 1940's house. No double glazing. As it is getting colder today I'm going round the house with builderschalk round the windows. And pricing up door curtains. Ive redecorated my living room and hung thicker curtains, got throws etc.

I've lived in Siberia. Hat in bed. Mittens not gloves. Hot water bottle.
Your landlord needs to get their shit together.

Wow thank you for all of your suggestions!!

I will look through the old thread.

I looked into changing the meter but it needs a £200 deposit for each meter, so would cost £400 to change both gas and electric. Landlord said it's easier to keep prepayment for him if tenants change etc it's easier. He is coming this week to pick some post up so I will be mentioning to him about how cold it is and the windows.

@Coldhandscoldheart that would be absolutely amazing, so kind of you. How can I get in touch with you? (New-ish to MN!)

I will look into the grants available but doubt we will be entitled - I'm on maternity leave atm and only getting maternity allowance so money is tight for now but my regular income is quite comfortable.

Our fridge has broken over the weekend too which has just added more stress but I'm sure we will get everything sorted.

There are two core issues;

a)Your on PP meters which will cost more and presumably your not in a position to which to credit meters,,or are you ?

b) The house is old and not very energy efficient. The chances of getting the LL to spend big money on it are probably slim to non. Landlords only look at return on investment. He might even serve notice if you make waves. Could you plan a move to a more modern energy efficient home in the near future??

So the core fix at the moment is to FEEL warm . This doesnt necessarily mean the house is warm. Heating the whole house is a lost cause.

The answer? nice warm thermal vest and long johns.

Adding additional electrical appliances is a big no no. Using electric to heat is horrendously expensive.

Who is your current energy supplier?

It is definitely worth mentioning how cold the house is to the landlord when he calls round OP. I would also remind him that you have a baby in the house.

If you have been a good tenant he won't want to lose you as it costs him every time there is a change of tenancy (we are landlords)

If you left and he had to re-let, there is every chance the new prospective tenants would notice that the house isn't fully double glazed, and that could put people off.

Honestly it is the 21st century. Why do some landlords think it's acceptable to expect people to pay to rent a non double glazed property ?

Thanks @SusannahL we've had a few issues with the house lately (leaks etc) and the contractor was told to fix them ASAP as the landlord didn't want to lose us as tenants so hopefully he can help but don't want to rock the boat too much!

@flamingox I will pm you. How old is your bab? If you can get hold of a sheepskin (ikea do them for around a tenner,) that is a very warm thing for a baby to sit on.

How old is baby? There's this company that do gorgeous sheepskin offcuts as pet mats but if not crawling then would work as a baby mat

Baby is 12 weeks :-) x

Ignore the fact they say pet mats, they are absolutely beautiful sheepskin and I wanted to keep it for myself
The small one fits a fat cat on

https://www.skyeskyns.co.uk/browse/c-SheepskinInteriors-2/c-Petmats-24/

@Ollivander84 thank you so much, they look lovely!

Also may i recommend an electric blanket for the bed. Takes the damp cold feel off it and feels very snuggly if you put it on a couple of hours before bed.. A double can be had for about £20

not everyone can get the warm home discount, im with utilita and there application was only open for one week in august and i had no idea! so missed it. whereas other companies have been open for months

Are the windows draughty? We tape ours up for the winter with white packing tape. Just leave the odd one untaped so that you can open it for fresh air.

I am so sorry for anyone suffering the cold indoors. You expect to be cold outside, but not in your home!

Anyway, I really believe an investment in an all night electric under or overblanket is the bees knees. I never have heat on in the bedroom even during the snow earlier in the year. There is nothing nicer than climbing into a lovely warm bed. Then you can lower the temp and keep the bed warm all night.

An electric throw is also brilliant, and depending on the size can fit a full sofa full of people if necessary!

I know they can cost a few £ initially, but they cost pennies to run after that. Worth every penny IMV.

on the warm clothing front, I bought a lovely fluffy / hairy jumper in Primark really cheap, it is actually ridiculously warm so much so that I melt unless its a really cold day and I have no heating on.

I'm blown away by all of the replies!

I am definitely going to invest in a heated blanket. Have been wrapped up tonight with a few layers and dressing gown and feel better! My OH moaning it's cold...whilst walking round in his boxers and a thin tshirt!! Men!!!