9 degrees inside - is it now a false economy to not put heating on?

[blanketseverywhere]

I'm trying to get by without putting heating on. According to the smart meter, it's currently 9 degrees in the sitting room (north-facing). The house feels very cold, but if I sit in the kitchen (south-facing) in many layers, with scarf and fingerless gloves on etc, it's not unbearable for WFH. In the evening I can use blankets / hot water bottles etc while watching tv and have two duvets on the bed at night.

However, at what point will temperatures of this level start to damage the house - or me? I feel achey all the time which I think is from being 'tense' in the cold, if that makes sense. I also have a constantly red and running nose / scratchy throat although I don't really feel ill.

I'm not using the tumble dryer so drying washing inside most of the time, although do try and keep windows open for air circulation... but then that makes it colder! I don't think we have any damp but I'm worried about the house constantly being cold - is this an issue in itself?

Is it going to get to a point where it's a false economy not to put the heating on because it will possibly be doing damage to the house, or should I carry on trying to hold out if possible and just carry on layering up? I realise this probably sounds a bit daft but I really don't want to store up even bigger problems!

Temperature bellow 15 specially while you sleep can cause issues in the lungs qnd the vem hypothermia . 9 c is low , you will end up damaging your house too . You lease unless you really have no money please do not live this way . You will end up long term ill

TheEponymousGrub We had a GP some years back who assure us that 15c was fine .However like a good 20/21 to feel comfortable

seems like people are competing with each other for ‘who can survive to lowest room temperature’. If you can afford to put it on then put it on. So agree it’s quite mad,
and I’m starting to think either some people live in really good insulated homes or are just making things up about not putting the heating on.
the damage in the long run is far more costly than putting on the heat for a few hours a day,

Please put the heating on if you can OP. A few options for you to save money:

1. lower the temp of the water in the system. It will take a bit longer to heat the room but use less energy. Ours is set to 55 degrees.
2. close doors and use valves to warm some rooms more than others.
3. you dont need to heat up to 20 odd degrees. Mine is set to 18 degrees when I'm home, 13 overnight and when I'm at work. I have a plug in electric blanket for when I'm on the sofa.
4. dehumidifier, more water = feels colder and cools down room quicker and increased condensation and damage to property.
5. if you have thick curtains and close them when you've had the heating on to further insulate the room.

Octopus did a winter energy event last year with loads of tips. See if you can find them.

I'm not trying to be competitive. I'm asking questions and getting advice.

There's no thermostat, so the heating has to be manually switched on or off at the boiler when it's needed. It's probably part of the reason I let the house get so cold as there's no automatic switch-on, iyswim. Plus some of the radiators are stuck in 'on' mode even when the rooms are unused. Another thing to sort in this fucking money pit of a house!

I have put the heating on now. Thanks to all who have offered advice.

Dpctors rprescribe heating: www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63707689

BBC News - Staying warm: What does an unheated room do to your body?
www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63602501

Put your heating on.

I use the dryer because that also heats the downstairs up a bit!

One note on this, please don't lower the temp of the water in the system to below 55. Apparently anything between about 30 and 50 is the perfect temperature for legionnaires disease to grow. I only read about this a couple of weeks ago after having my on around 40 all year. Oops!

My bedroom has been 12 the past couple of nights and the kitchen is 13 at the moment. Humidity is ok at the moment and the living room has the fire lit (we get free wood) and is 21 at the moment.

to everyone saying “oh just put the heating on”. It’s not affordable for everyone. I don’t know how long it would take for my house to get up to temp everywhere but my heating is more than £2.30
an hour to run. Just one hour a day would be pointless and add £70 to my bill. That’s not doable on top of all the other increasing costs.

heated throws for the sofa and also heated blankets for the bed are the cheapest option for me to stay warm.

I’d do at least an hour heating a day for damp.

for you, get an electric heated blanket for when you are starionary (like if you’re sat WFH or watching TV). They are absolutely brilliant. Me and my kids all have one and the heating is almost redundant in our house now!!!!

Do people really have their heating on for 8 hours a day?!

Half of what we used last year would equate to half an hour in the morning and the same again in the evening on the very coldest days.
About 15 min in the morning on moderately cold ones.

You aren’t being daft. I have the same problem. I was being stoical until a week ago and then realised my living room was smelling damp. Put the heating on low for 4 hours a day - it is not really making a difference, except to my purse , that’s 6 radiators on the ground floor = £7 a day more. I’m guessing I need to double this to 8 hours. How can I pay £14 a day for heating on top of the £150 for Leccy and £40 to heat the water?

i think you should not be working in 9 degrees. I would go and work in a library or something if you cant put the heating on during the day.
We are also trying to not use the heating, but 9 degrees is unhealthy. In years gone by people had coal fires and would not have been sitting at home working at a computer. They would have been active, or would have a fire on.

Do you have a thermostat. Could you set it so that it at least goes up to about 17 or 18 degrees. Thats what ive done on cold evenings. 19 used to be my happy winter heating temperature, but last year the bills had already gone up a lot, so i put it down to 18 and It was not too bad. I can do 17 if I wear a wooly hat and thermal boots.

yes that temperature is physically harmful to your body processes. Please read the bbc article up thread or Google for similar

There's no thermostat, so the heating has to be manually switched on or off at the boiler when it's needed.

We are the same position - it's on or it's off - but we are in a very well insulated house, so not having huge drops in temperature at night - we are also in south wales which has been very mild up till now.

Somewhere between 15 and 18 if at all possible to avoid damaging health and home

I would put it on! DD hasn’t put hers on and the condensation runs off the windows in the morning and she now has damp spots the paint work by the window. She’s on a fixed rate too for another year so she needs to put it on!

I would put the heating on. Try a lower temperature, and maybe go off earlier at night.
Drying the clothes indoors without a tumble dryer, will not get dry if the temperature inside is too cold, and the moisture (from your clothes) has to go somewhere; its in the air and could cause damp and mould.
Yes, we were managing without heating for a while, but i now have a cold, and not very well, so we are now doing the above.
I also grew up in a cold (large Victorian) house. My parents had an open fire in the Kitchen, so definitely tried. I had a bar heater in my bedroom, which was always cold and I hated it.

Put heat on. I’ve noticed black mould in the bathroom already as a result of my cost cutting.

to everyone saying “oh just put the heating on”. It’s not affordable for everyone

Exactly! It's not as if we want to sit in the cold.

That is very cold and there is no way you can sit and work from home at that temperature. It is already making you feel unwell.

Can you WFH somewhere else to save on heating costs during the day? a library or a cafe?

I assume your house is poorly insulated and/or in the north of the country, if the temperature is already dropping to 9 degrees indoors. Is there any help you can get with insulation costs? Anything you can do to draft proof windows, doors and chimneys?

I grew up in a cold house (all those stories about ice on the inside of the windows etc that people like to tell) and decades later my lungs are permanently damaged from repeated chest infections, and I had chilblains every winter as a child.

I prefer a cooler house to a stuffy one, and through the winter will always be wearing thermals and jumpers indoors. But even so, I have my thermostat set to come on if it goes below 17 degrees when I am home. (It's set to 14 degrees overnight or when we are out, but it has to be an extreme cold snap for it to drop that low).

Seems like people are competing with each other for ‘who can survive to lowest room temperature’

My MIL is like this. Her and FIL are VERY well off but both have taken the 24-hour rolling news coverage about household bills to heart, to the point that it's all we ever hear about.

There's lots of eye rolling and tutting about our thermostat whenever they come over, and we get endless monologues about how they manage with Oodies and thermal socks and heated blankets and a million other 'energy saving' products (all of which were purchased at great expense via Amazon Prime).

They both have joint issues and FIL is currently going through chemo so I think it's become a focal point for them; I really wish they'd just make themselves comfortable but MIL in particular is really fixated on cutting down on energy use to help the environment.

It's 100% commendable and we all need to do our bit, but I do resent being treated like Marie Antoinette for having the heating at 18c and cooking dinner in the oven instead of a slow cooker...

We had ice on the windows as bedrooms were unheated and single glazing only but we had blankets and eiderdowns so warm in bed or wrapped in blankets doing homework.
The hall was icey but our main room always toasty.
I still don't heat the bedroom but when it gets really cold do heat the bathroom for Half an hour in the morning.All unused room are radiators are set to minimum,they rarely come on but if it gets cold enough it protects the house fabric.
The thermostat down stairs is set for 16 until 6pm then 18 for 3 hours and I put well spun washing in there over night.
My good luck is the sitting room is south facing so warms if the sun is shining.
Also this is what I've always done but have added a heated throw this year as I get stiff as I get older.
Keeping the heat off totally is miserable and as others say and false economy and the government help should be used to keep warm.
If I was going to do one more thing it would be a decent dehumidifier.
Good luck OP and anybody out there struggling with cold or worry.

Just to add to my previous post that none of the above is aimed at people who are genuinely struggling to pay their bills, whom i have massive sympathy with.

It's almost like IL are 'playing' at struggling to afford things, which I find quite offensive when a lot of people really are finding times tough.

Hot water bottles are v helpful .They provide a heat source ,which layers don't .