To think it's about time everyone was more frugal with energy.

[malificent7]

I am very concerned about the effect the energy crisis will have on the poorest and on the most vulnerable. I am hoping that schools and hospitals can stay warm.
However, i think it's good that everyone is turning stuff off and not putting the heating on because it's a bit chilly.

I know this will change if it gets really cold. If we are experiencing global warming we might not need so much heating. Clutching at straws here and trying to stay positive people!

I have to say I agree to some extent. It used to annoy me no end on here when posters would bleat about "the environment" at someone using disposable nappies or household cleaning wipes on one thread, yet on another thread snootily say, I've got the heating on 25, I refuse to fanny about with layers and jumpers in my own home, I can afford it so I don't care.

We've been very, very lucky though that for the majority of the country October has been mild so far.

I totally agree. My MiL wants the heating on in bloody August. She just won’t tolerate any chill in the air at all. Put a bloody sweater on, get your hot water bottles out. Anything but whacking the heating up to headache inducing temperatures 🙄

Do you believe this will help the environment? You’ve waffled too much, industries in emerging countries and overpopulation will not change by people using less.

I thought globally air con to cool was a bigger drain than people putting the heating on?

Turning stuff off in domestic settings is tinkering at the edges in terms of solving the climate crisis, particularly if the government doesn’t take the opportunity to invest in renewables or provide incentive for individuals to better insulate their houses.

If I don't put my heating on, how will that help schools and hospitals to keep warm? Are you talking about preventing shortages?

I can't really be any more frugal than I already am!!

All very well being frugal, I have never in the last 21 years ( since I left my ex husband) not worried about the cost of heating as I do now.
madness I live in 1 bed terraced house, and I hate the cold

If we are experiencing global warming we might not need so much heating. This is naive. Not sure how increased flooding, drought, hurricanes will help with anything, especially the expected famines and water shortages leading to war. The consequences of climate change are going to be massive and cost a fortune - both individually and for governments.

It is not 'global warming' it is climate change - so more volatility and extreme weather events.

I have disabilities that mean I can't cope at all with being cold. My heating is on when I need it to be.

I also sometimes use wipes - both for me and to clean - if I'm having a bad day.

People forget this, and just assume everyone is OK living in an icebox all winter!

What I do in my home isn't anyone's business. We have had the heating on for a few weeks now. I also can't bear to be miserable at home, layering up just doesn't cut it. You might be surprised that outside of MN not everyone is turning off lights and clock watching the meter.

My house would be covered in damp and mould if I didn’t have the heating on all winter.

Your not wrong OP, but some people can't cut down, some simply won't.

If l can afford it I’m using it.

My house is 80% humidity without heating. Why should l have to be ‘frugal’ in the 21st century in a rich country?

You be as frugal as you want. My house, my business.

I don’t understand why heating in hospitals and schools would be more acceptable than my elderly disabled and unwell parents or me with young children putting the heating on?

thought globally air con to cool was a bigger drain than people putting the heating on?
Its possible that air con is a bigger drain but that doesn't mean heating isnt an issue. It's not one or tbe other.

In principle I agree that people being mindful of their energy consumption if they can is a good thing. However, I think this is very different to people being afraid to heat their homes because of the potential of unaffordable bills especially when it will have health implications for many.

I agree OP and think it's obvious you weren't suggesting that everyone should only turn the hearing on for half an hour a day. Obviously some people will need to use more but a lot of people completely waste energy and if people start to only use what they personally need how is that not a good thing?

Some of the wording around it is really funny to me - posters suggesting that completely normal things like putting a jumper on, filling a hot water bottle or adjusting a thermostat are some sort of miserable, hugely inconvenient "faff" akin to being asked to wash all their clothes in the river and then put them through the mangle, rather than incredibly easy actions which take seconds!

Nobody is suggesting that a few people in Milton Keynes putting a jumper on is going to be what reverses climate change but surely every little helps? It's indicative of a wider change where people actually consider the cost (not just economic) of what they use whether that's natural resources, clothes, cheap labour, food etc.

It's supremely privileged to even have the option of being 'mindful' of energy/heating use. So many people don't have a choice, or are trapped by poverty or circumstances.

Besides, it's all so gnats and camels, isn't it? Connie at number 34 titting about with the thermostat, meanwhile huge organisations continue to belch out millions of tons of pollution and dump toxic waste in both land and sea — all the while scrambling to avoid tax in country after country. Feels like kicking out at the wrong thing.

I think we're arranging deckchairs on the deck of the Titanic re climate change tbh but totally agree everyone should be doing everything possible to cut down energy consumption. Who knows we might just be able to save ourselves ☹️

I think this is the part that quite a few people seem to miss - that the impact of global warming isn't going to just happen to low-lying regions. Water wars and the collapse of our ecosystem is going to impact everyone. Not least, what happens to nuclear facilities in countries whose infrastructure is fucked? It's our children who are going to experience this.

It's astounded me how much some people have been able to save by making changes - that just bring them in line with how we live normally, and comfortably.

Great if putting on a jumper and turning your heating down to 20C, and not havng 15min showers every day saves you more than the increases. But tougher if you are already in a jumper and under blankets on the sofa. There are limited cutbacks you can make if you are already using minimum energy already. (We are in the middle of those btw).

Well, we are currently experiencing warmer weather due to climate change in the UK. But, as the Arctic ice cap melts, it will reduce the salinity of the Atlantic, which could affect the Gulf Stream, potentially causing it to cease. Which would mean the UK could suddenly get very much colder.

Exactly. It's wrong to assume some people still aren't frugal with energy. Some barely have heating on through the year- what cutbacks are they supposed to make?