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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want to restrict how much we have the heating on

901 replies

reallyagain · 01/11/2021 22:26

After a winter working from home last year we were hit with a horrendous heating bill (several thousand on top of already paying quite a high amount per month). So this year with gas prices being so high I’m really conscious of being careful. DH wants it on much more than I do and it’s causing endless rows. He’s turned it on 4 separate times today and is sulking when I comment. We share heating bills - I suggested he pays more to have it on more but he refuses.

How much do you have the heating on if you work from home?

OP posts:
Original poster
reallyagain · 02/11/2021 12:57

Often while that may be interesting for you it's not really helping with the current situation 10 years later Hmm

OP posts:
Oftenithinkaboutit · 02/11/2021 12:59

@reallyagain

Be kind by doing what gcgirl? Going without food/defaulting on the mortgage?
Is it that close to the wire? In that case, he must be…. How do I put this kindly, not the cheapest tool in the box if he can’t grasp the implications of not making a change
Oftenithinkaboutit · 02/11/2021 12:59

Sharpest tool

Oftenithinkaboutit · 02/11/2021 13:00

@reallyagain

Often while that may be interesting for you it's not really helping with the current situation 10 years later Hmm
Ah ten years ago Sorry you didn’t clarify so I assumed recent given you said you had a young son and had been a single mum
Original poster
reallyagain · 02/11/2021 13:00

Do you have hundreds to spare each month - lucky you!

OP posts:
Original poster
reallyagain · 02/11/2021 13:01

I didnt say young son

OP posts:
Oftenithinkaboutit · 02/11/2021 13:01

Has this been going on for 10 years?!
I know wfh recent but he presumably was at home every morning, evening, weekends, annual leave

Oftenithinkaboutit · 02/11/2021 13:02

@reallyagain

I didnt say young son
Ah sorry I think I just saw partner in thirties and you saying you’d been a single parent and put 2 and 2 together and made 5
userxx · 02/11/2021 13:10

@DontWantTheRivalry

I love a warm house!!!

It drives my husband mad Grin

Most mornings, if it’s a day I’m at home, I turn it on the minute he leaves the house Grin

I have the thermostat set at 24 degrees and it’s perfect!!

Righto.

Do you know there's a shortage ?

Travelledtheworld · 02/11/2021 13:10

@reallyagain we have a brick built Edwardian 4 bed detached house on a rural hillside. It's freezing cold. I paid approx £300 a month for gas and electricity last winter but there were 5 adults in the house and at home all day. Fortunately this year no one is working from home but I am dreading the winter bills.

I just have an electric heater in the small back bedroom we use as an office.

Stellaris22 · 02/11/2021 13:18

I do hope all the people who need a warm house for medical reasons have alternatives in place if gas rationing happens this winter. Ditto for those who are used to a warm house without thinking about supply.

There’s a reason energy bills have gone up and suppliers are going bust. The supply is incredibly fragile and it’s only going to get worse when it actually starts to get cold.

TempleofZoom · 02/11/2021 13:19

@reallyagain

He's not selfish he's actually very kind
Erm spending £660 a month of family money on himself isnt " kind"
sillysmiles · 02/11/2021 13:21

Really it's irrelevant whether you prefer a tropical vs temperate indoor temperature, the OP has been clear that they can't afford to heat their house the way her husband wants it.

Surely everything else is irrelevant - there is no money to pay a second year of crazy high bills.

Also, why are so many people suggesting that the OP has to go buy him a heater, sort him out with rugs and a hot water bottle.
He's an adult, he needs to be sorting this out for himself.

justasking111 · 02/11/2021 13:21

If you're working from home saving on transport, wear and tear on a car, Starbucks lunches, do you realize that your employer used to keep you warm during the day. You're still quids in

vickyp0llard · 02/11/2021 13:24

Sorry but that is bonkers - I'm a very cold person so like having the heating on all day at temperatures well into the 20s, and I don't think I've ever paid more than £1000 a year for gas and electricity combined.

BoredZelda · 02/11/2021 13:33

£660pm

Assuming you don’t live in a mansion, the average gas boiler uses 24 - 34kw per hour. (A 24 kw boiler serves about 10 radiators) At the current average price of 2.8p per kw hour, your heating would have had to be on, full pelt for 24 hours to be getting a bill of 660 per month.

There is something wrong in your system.

You’re not wrong to want to try to keep costs low, and remember there should be some offset with what is saved by not travelling to the office, lunches etc, but there is something wrong with your system if your bills are that high.

It happened to my mum when her bills were exceptionally high and it turned out her meter was buggered and she got a rebate back.

NewModelArmyMayhem18 · 02/11/2021 13:35

Last year with #wfh, we were paying £150 a month across gas and electricity (and remained toasty throughout the winter months). We're currently in credit (over £300), after the summer months with very low gas consumption. Sure that credit will soon be wiped out though! We only started putting the heating on last week (early morning and mid-evening) and have the thermostat set at 19C.

That's an enormous amount you're spending every month OP. You'd need to be having the heating on 24/7 at a fairly high temperature (25C or higher!) to be paying that.

As previously stated, it's possible there's something up with your meter. Do get it checked.

justasking111 · 02/11/2021 13:36

A friend found her neighbour had tapped into her supply and was using her energy, you can buy gadgets find folks who will do this fiddle for you

Original poster
reallyagain · 02/11/2021 13:38

Often like I've said it was driven by last winter wfh , then no issue insummer but emerged as we enter winter

OP posts:
Original poster
reallyagain · 02/11/2021 13:39

Justasking you haven't read my posts on this

OP posts:
Original poster
reallyagain · 02/11/2021 13:39

Any wfh v office related savings I mean

OP posts:
Obecalp · 02/11/2021 13:49

i'll tell you what's proven to work - put the heating on and the too hot people can take off a layer.

They can. Until they have no more layers left and are still too warm.

BoredZelda · 02/11/2021 13:51

Often like I've said it was driven by last winter wfh , then no issue insummer but emerged as we enter winter

Yes but to be paying that much your heating would literally have needed to be on 24/7. I assume that wasn’t the case. We both WFH last winter, had the heating on constantly, weren’t paying attention to meter readings and a low DD for bills and ran up an excess of 750 total over 18 months. There is something wrong with your system if that was the bill you got.

Obecalp · 02/11/2021 13:53

I feel the cold and in that scenario… I really would feel uncomfortable

What do you wear in 18C outside then? Usually that's not "wearing thermals under a jumper" weather.

Obecalp · 02/11/2021 13:57

It’s October
Start of winter

Winter doesn't start until December and ends at the end of February. It's Autumn.