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!

15 or 16 would probably be a good baseline for you if you can manage quite a cool house, but want to prevent damaging yourself or the house. I find my heating doesn’t actually need to fire up that much during the day to keep at that level unless it’s absolutely freezing outside. Switch it off entirely overnight but we always have, and it never drops below 13 that I’ve noticed.

We got ours from Amazon, paid for over five months. It's brilliant.

Everyone I read about on here runs it day and night, so I simply used that as an example. Ours is set to come on for a total of three hours a day, with the stat usually set at 18 degrees. But that was the same before the current prices!

My insurers say maintain temperature of an unoccupied house at 12C 24 hours a day

I did that and cost in gas was very low. Even in winter the outdoors temperature is not much lower, and on sunny days you get solar gain. On a warm day you use nothing.

The house was kept dry, which makes it feel more comfortable.

It is better than going from fully cold to warm, which encourages condensation.

Drying clothes indoors is a terrible cause of damp. If you feel obliged to do it, hang them in a room with an extractor fan, typically the bathroom, and run the fan continuously. Cost of electricity is negligible and it will remove the water vapour.

I have tweaked my heating and we are now using half the amount we were this time last year. The lowest our house has got to is 14 degrees (overnight and frosty outside). I have cut the amount to time the heating and water is on, dropped the temperature on our room thermostats and dropped the boiler temp a bit. I could cut it further and we would still manage to stay fairly warm. Please don't make yourself unwell by getting too cold, just make some sensible changes.

Do you pay by DD? Because if yes, you just use what you are paying...
There are lots of people who seem to panic and while they pay £100 on gas, they still refuse to use any because "they can't afford it". Just look at how much you can use within your DD.
If you are on top up just workout how much it costs per day and adjust.

There will be crapload of people with hundreds in credit but mould, crumbling plaster and health by next spring...

I broke last night. I’m sick of being cold, my clothes feeling cold and damp, wet towels, being able to see my breath when huddled under blankets and dogs. I’d been putting it on boost for the odd hour, but it’s now on comfort setting on the timer. Even last night I could tell the difference after a couple of hours.
this is no way to live.

It‘s a 6kw electric boiler for a wet system. Oil and gas not an option for the house - I will run it on Christmas Day in the morning maybe or if I really have some credit in January or February but the log burner is the lifesaver.

I’ve used my lower electric DD to overpay my council tax so that I won’t have any to pay after Christmas and THEN if the heating needs to go on, then there may be leeway in the budget.

i don’t want to be in debt. That would just make everything 10 times worse. I have thick jumpers, sheepskin slippers, heated blankets, one warm room because of the fire and no debt bar my mortgage so I don’t feel at all sorry for myself but i cannot afford to heat my house the way I could a year or so ago. That’s just life this year. “Put the heating on” is not a solution for me or lots of others!

@TheOrigRights.

Yes, me and my kids really wouldn’t be without ours. It doesn’t get so hot that you are sweating either, it’s a perfect, comforting heat. I really feel the cold and can’t focus when chilly and I’ve been working so much better when I have my blanket. The only issue is that now I wouldn’t be without it! I’d be lost if it broke.

Do you have central heating pipes which run through the loft ie. pipes for radiators? If so you need to be careful they don’t freeze and then burst as that will cost you a lot more money than you will have saved by not turning the heating on

Bear in mind standing charges have gone up too, which you're charged whether you use any gas or not. A lot of these are around 30p a day currently - £9 a month. You're going to pay them over £100 a year to sit in the cold. We have a 3 bed 1940s semi and our gas bill is approx £50 a month (£40 gas, £10 standing charge) to keep our house at 18 degrees when we're home, 13 degrees overnight and when we're out. Admittedly we do have one of the most efficient boilers on the market though. If you can afford it please use some heat. The £67 monthly payments from the government are there for a reason.

I now have mine on an hour and a half in the morning and same in the evening (I have a basic set up as boiler is old, so just have it on a times). Anything less is too miserable. I noticed my back and knees were really hurting when I was only putting it on for a hour or so a day. My DH is disabled and some of his symptoms were getting worse. I have a dehumidifier as well for when the heating is off, which at least keeps the house dry and is very low cost to run,

The thought of how much it is costing makes me want to cry a bit, but I don't want us to get ill or the house to get damp.

How are people who can't afford at all to put the heating on are going to cope?

I cracked yesterday. DC and I are ill with chesty coughs and a really vicious cold.

The relief as the house warmed up was insane.

My financial situation isn't good but I'd rather keep us well and work out a repayment plan later if I have to than get sick or be so miserably cold all the time.

I'm going to stick to using it a couple of hours on cold days and using my oil heater in one room when wfh.

Do you know what hypothermia feels like ( probably not)
I started to go into it some years ago. Fortunately I was with some one who recognised what was happing.
Did you know that muscles store toxins ( probably not) by being tense with the cold your not expelling these toxins.
what are you going to do if we have a freeze? Do you know how to repair a burst pipe ( probably not) but you carry on being some sort of martyr. Because you seem to be enjoying this way of life.

If your pipes freeze you will have a massive problem.

I haven't put my timer on, but I have been hitting the "One Hour Boost" button when I get up at 7am and and again at 6pm. So I'm heating mindfully, rather than automatically if you see what I mean.

I got worried about damp in the house and like you, have been struggling to keep up with laundry. My thermometer currently says 14°

I am also ventilating obsessively try and keep the air moving through the house a couple of times today and not let too much moisture build up.

Have a read of this article: www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63602501
I found it shocking to read how much the brain slows down at 10c. It's not realistic to keep the house at 18c though, as recommended. I just can't afford it.

I'm confused. Are people NOT getting their £66 a month towards energy bills? Are YOU not getting them @blanketseverywhere ?

There's absolutely no reason whatsoever to NOT have the heating on EVER.

Also, it's false economy as the house will take much longer to heat back up when you DO switch it on. Then you have the issue of frozen pipes/mould/damp/rot occurring.

From another thread - how many health problems are going to be caused if people's homes are getting mouldy, let alone damage to the actual fabric of the buildings?

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4682129-is-anyone-else-having-mould-problems-due-to-not-using-their-heating?page=2&reply=121699041

you carry on being some sort of martyr. Because you seem to be enjoying this way of life

I have literally no clue how you got that from my posts.

Still, hope you feel better now you've stuck the boot in for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

@PurpleButterflyWings the £66 is for electricity - if, like me and many others, you have at least one prepayment meter, the £66 goes solely towards electricity, not gas.

I can't possibly use electric heaters instead of the gas central heating though as ultimately that's going to work out far more expensive in the long term, although I do use an oil heater to heat one room if it's just me in the house working.

My last client had a damp house to renovate. Replastering, the mess, the time and stress it caused him was ridiculous. It was only empty for a year.

Please just put the heating on. Start with a toasty 2 hours a day for 2 or 3 days.

Then 30 mins morning and evening is fine.

I'm sure that household damage, replacement of mouldy items, rewashing mouldy clothes & curtains is more expensive than the heating on.

Also, think about your health. Inhalers and meds aren't free...

😊

Once again, thank you to those who've offered actual advice and answered my original questions. I appreciate it and will have a discussion with DH tonight about a more realistic attitude to heating etc.

Yeah but then you are topping up less on electricity so can divert the money towards gas

I live in the north with a disabled family member at home all day and while no means flush, I can afford to put the heating on, so damn right I'm going to have it on for 8 hours+ a day.

It's almost as though different people's circumstances are different...

We're saving ours for when the winter really hits. We live in a top floor flat on top of a hill in the far north of England and it gets absolutely brutally cold here from December to Feb/March.