How to keep warm? Can't afford heating

[MandiY]

Other than wearing ridiculous numbers of layers. I cannot afford to put my heating on. It's just so expensive and I am already struggling to pay council tax. This never used to be an issue but the cost of living is killing me financially. What are some ways I can warm up? Any heaters that are cheaper than central heating? It's 7 degrees outside and 14 degrees in my house. I have a 3 year old so can't just suffer the cold like I would of it were just me. Thanks

If you're with Octopus, they're giving away 10,000 free electric blankets:

octopus.typeform.com/to/TuwzbHC2?typeform-source=www.itv.com

Thanks for that!

Not quite giving away to everyone….

You're getting £67 a month towards your bills (we all are), so can you have the heating on a bit, even if it's only for an hour every few days? As a pp said, damp is a major problem if you don't heat your home at all.

Do you qualify for any other help - you mentioned council tax, what band are you in? There was extra help for those in bands A to D.

Call L.E.A.P energy, they're an organisation helping low income people with energy costs, they can even give you knew lower energy consuming kitchen white goods like fridges. Worth a phone call!

I can't speak highly enough of heated throws! If you can afford the initial cost (around £50-£60), they keep you really toasty! I really feel the cold and normally have the heating on mid-September but so far, no need to as I'm really warm under this blanket.

Haven’t RTFT so apologies if I’m repeating. With curtains, if they are light weight and you can’t afford to buy heavier ones you could stitch/safety pin fleece blankets behind the curtains.

It is awful but as Madame Zelensky said, we have to put up with it

"when you start counting pennies, we are doing the same and count our casualties"

President Zelensky said rising bills are "painful" but if we don't "stand up to Putin and are willing to lose something, there will be even graver risks"

On his last visit to Ukraine as PM, Boris said,
"We're paying in our energy bills but the people of Ukraine are paying in blood"

We knew, when the war started and we supported Ukraine that the energy bills would go through the roof as we could hardly expect Russia to supply gas to a Europe that is sending weapons to Ukraine.

Nothing has changed except that winter is now here, it's cold and those prices are starting to bite.

I do what other posters have suggested, OP, and also remember what the Zelenskys have said. I'm sure they're cold too and have other worries.

Better to be cold than not support Ukraine.

Convecter heaters. Cheaper to run than central heating. We have a combi boiler which is ridiculously expensive to run. Usually its gas is cheaper than electric to heat your house but not for us. We were £140 a week last year to heat one room a day. My combi boiler cost over 150 a week 13 years ago so as you can imagine gas just isn't an option. We got a camping shower which is the cost of one kettle which is way cheaper . Wear lots of layers and hats indoors. Get an electric blanket too. Surprised you need heating on at 14°c though. But im way north and guess we're more hardy . Heat doesn't go on until it drops to 7°c . Thermal wool socks and boot slippers also are a must. Also look at hiking and camping clothes that are designed to keep body heat in. But also open all your windows wide for over half an hour in winter to ventilate and keep mould/damp at bay. Use cleaning products with antimould agents in for cleaning in winter. Also dont get cavity wall insulation as this soaks up damp and keeps the property wet within the walls. Its a con. Hope you fair better this year.

I know from experience they will cut you off , child or no child. Respiratory diseases or not , elderly or not. They say they don't but they most definitely do which is a sin. If this happens seek legal action. They should let you make extra payments during the summer to cover what extra you couldnt pay in winter. Citizens advice are good at making phonecalls for you and getting things done generally. Also seek a welfare benefits officer as they will be able to tell you what extra money you can apply for.

Oh dear! Covid took my job, and for the first time ever, I had to resort to benefits. I barely had enough cash to grab a decent meal and decided to give up heating for the entire winter because I have a stupid Ecodan system that's bonkers to figure out and I ended up finding easier to switch the thing off entirely. After much trial and error, I discovered two valuable lessons (which cost a pretty penny, but worth every penny!). Firstly, get yourself an exercise bike from The Range and pay using Klarna. Secondly, an electric blanket is not only a precious investment to keep you warm, but it's also cheaper than boiling the kettle repeatedly for hot water bottles.