To say turning heating “off” will make the house unbearably freezing?

[HairyKitty]

I can’t afford the fuel bills with the price rises. But we are at home full time in an old poorly insulated terrace.
But surely, whether the heatings is hard off (or set at a low temp so it doesn’t come on) after 2 or 3 days of this in winter the house would be very very cold for us to live in full time, most likely about 14/15 degrees?
How do people cope in winter who actually have the heating off in old houses and are home full time?

Honestly I think it's only possible if you have another fuel source eg a log burner or coal stove. You can wear as many layers as you like but the house will be freezing.

We have heating on for an hour in the morning and an hour in evening in winter but that's because we have the log burner going in the room we're in and an electric blanket waiting for us in bed. We managed with no heating at al after boiler broke one time but that's because we have a coal stove that heats the water and the radiators too (v old house)

It becomes too cold to stay still for any length of time. You hoover or do small jobs a lot as you can’t stay still that long. You get that glassy cold feeling to exposed hands even if you wrap up. Bathing becomes horrible. It’s not like being outdoors and wrapping up, because when you relax it gets too cold.

I Live in a single glazed Victorian house. I put the heating on low for about two hours morning and evening on the winter to keep the boiler ticking over.
i do have a log burner that I run pretty much constantly, and try to live in two rooms- the kitchen, which I find stays warm with appliances and the living room with the fire. I will move my desk in there for the winter.
i pull all blinds at night even on rooms we aren’t in to keep heat in, every sofa, arm chair and bed has a wool blanket over the arm and everyone is expected to wear a jumper.

14-15 would be ok with layers,(fingerless) gloves, and blankets.
But when it drops to single figures inside, it is really unpleasant.
What was the thermostat set at last year? Can you afford to have it at 16 or 17C?

You need to protect your pipes from freezing. Cover external pipes.

Yes no additional source of heating here. I’m thinking having the heating “off”, or even only on for an hour morning and evening might be impossible and hideously cold.

with heating off, the house is bone chillingly freezing and you feel like you will never be able to get warm again. I don’t know the solution but I do know that an unheated house is basically unliveable - which is why there are almost no homes in the UK without some form of heating.

Last year was 19.5 deg and came on for a max of 6 hours during coldest days, but it felt too cold I had cold hands and face and couldn’t concentrate. But admittedly not fully prepared eg no thermals just usual winter clothes

Once it drops below about 16c I think that having it on a couple of hours a day is essential in order to have any quality of life.

Fingerless gloves

I couldn't afford any heating when the kid's weren't here last winter and only an hour a day the half the week they were with me.

It's pretty shit tbh. By the second/third day the house was generally about 8 or 9 c (getting up to the giddy heights of 15 when it was on). I can recomend quilts. Always have a quilt on you if you're not moving and a few jumpers, thermals and a dressing gown for when out of the quilt.

I'm not thinking about this winter, other than praying for a mild one.

I lived in a single glazed victorian terrace with only two gas fires for years. It was freezing most of the winter.

I wouldn't call 15 degrees hideously cold although it is on the chilly side.

Can you do anything to help insulate the house before winter? Things like film on the windows, sealing cracks, making draught excluders, adding layers to curtains, hanging a thick curtain over a draughty door, could you find some cheap second hand rugs online or at charity shops if you have un-carpeted floors?

Even back in ye olde days of not central heating, people had fires and probably had the oven going all day, both of which would warm the house.

Do you have working fireplaces?

Yes it's miserable, but unless you're sick or elderly you shouldn't die of cold.

I coped by staying in bed if I was home alone

If you have central heating in your house ( gas ) it basically means you have pipework with water in it , including in the attic / loft. If you turn it off and don't use and the weather becomes freezing , you potentially , could freeze up your pipes. That will equate into burst pipes and a flooded house .

I think 15 degrees is quite high if you have no heating for any length of time.

A few years my boiler broke down in late October and took about 3/ weeks to fix and the temp in the house fell to around 10 degrees.

A few years before I was unemployed and didn't use my heating until mid January. In a cold spell it was below freezing outside and 4 degrees inside, and could see my breath condense. I wore 4 layers and survived but it was pretty miserable.

I had my heating set to 17 for most of the day/night last winter. 18 in the morning before school. It was cold but not too bad, still cost a fortune in gas mind!

Lol at "having the oven on all day". No, because its too expensive!

Ok so I’m right in thinking it will be very cold but I’m willing to try it. No additional heating only has central heating. Thinking of electric throw.

At 14/15 ° I'm sure you'd manage with extra clothes. But last winter our electricity was off for 4 days (Storm Arwen) so our central heating didn't work. Even with an open fire in our living room, our bedroom above dropped to 7°c whilst DS's bedroom in another part of the house was 6°c. Believe me it was no fun! We live in a fairly modern well insulated house.

If you feel really cold, jog on the spot for a while. Do some exercise - you get warm, fitter and slimmer.

OP, you have time to improve your insulation. Have you checked the loft? How much insulation is up there and how old? You can lay a new layer of loft insulation straight over the old. You should be aiming for a 20cm thick layer. It's easy and quick to do and will save you in a year, more than it costs.

You are insulated on both sides by being in a terrace, so main heat loss areas will be doors and windows. You can make curtains relatively simply, or add thermal linings to those you already have. Do you have a friend or relative who can lend you a sewing machine? Look in charity shops for curtains if necessary

Have you blocked drafts around your outside doors and around your letter box? Again ease to do.

is your income down a lot from last year?

if you had it on for say 4 hours (on average) last year, the cost of having it on for 2 hours this year should be about the same as that

obviously with other bills having gone up, you may not have that money to spend on heating anyway, but hopefully you can find some.

I really think think you need to put it on at sometime otherwise the house is just going to be cold & damp with no other heating source.

pkease don't try any of the alternatives doing the rounds (patio heaters, candles, chimea, etc etc they're FAR too unsafe).

are you claiming everything you're entitled to? Will the £400 not help bridge the gap a bit?

can you pay for what you use monthly instead of a high DD? A prepay meter might even be a good option, then no risk if debt.

I honestly think just not having it on at all isn't the best option!