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!

@BosaNova that would be true if the October increase weren't so crippling. The reality is that only a very small portion can be 'diverted' since the increase (which the £66 is for covering).

I'm in a private rental and the landlord refuses to allow the prepayment meter to be removed, so I have no choice but to pay the higher prices.

It had been pretty reasonable until the price increase in Oct

I'm genuinely pleased for anyone who can. Everyone should be able to, particularly if they're vulnerable.

I think a dehumidifier running will a) warm the place up quite a lot and b) help you combat mould, which you are welcoming with open arms the way you're going right now.

My 7 year old dehumidifier was about £180 on Amazon - you might do even better now with Black Friday - and costs 10p per hour to run.

It heats my downstairs (small open plan Victorian) to 15 - 16 degrees which is grand. It's actively helping my "house health" and making the room a lot more comfortable to work from.

I think you are pointlessly martyring yourself.

For many people, it's not a choice of "heat the house now or pay for it later" - it's "I literally have no money to heat the house now OR pay to repair the damage later".

@blanketseverywhere can you ask your friends / family / Facebook if anyone has a dehumidifier you can borrow for about 3 days?

It sucks out the cold wet air and also warms up the room at the same time.

It would be a great starting point. Ours isn't very expensive to run!

Hope it all works out :)

There's a lot of boot-sticking on this thread, isn't there. Calling people martyrs, disbelief that people simply cannot afford to have the heating on for two hours a day, 'competitive misery'... The cost of living crisis isn't just about heating. Everything is more expensive than it was this time last year, meaning there's less to spend on something that's even more expensive again than it was last year.

Some of us literally can't afford to put the heating on whatsoever. At the moment it's 11C and that's liveable if you keep moving and wrap up well.

Exactly. And if you pay for your energy upfront (and therefore paying more for it anyway) you have to find the money to pay for each day's fuel before you use it, which isn't always possible.

If the temp outside drops below freezing you do risk frozen pipes of inside temp is too low, and the risk happens at a higher temp than you think. We live in a very well built, modern house and it was -7 outside last winter, inside would not have dropped below 15 and we got a burst pipe. I believe generally letting your house go below 10 puts this at risk but obviously depends where the pipes are in the walls and how insulated they are.

but also, it’s just stupid to sit in the cold unless you are in serious financial difficulty. If it costs you 4£ a day x30 days, £120/month. Is that too much?

Then I would suggest you consider installing hive , it’s not mega expensive and can really save you money . We use ours with Alexa and will just tune the heating or water when when needed or when it falls bellow a certain temperature. It will save you money in the long run

My heating is on 24/7. I feel the cold when I'm asleep as I'm not moving.

If it costs you 4£ a day x30 days, £120/month. Is that too much?

Of course £120pm just for heating (so not including hot water and electricity) is too much. How are people on low incomes supposed to afford even half that?

That's interesting. Our house never gets that warm - thermostat says it's 14 degrees now (I've had the heating on for a couple of hours and will prob turn it off soon).

If it costs you 4£ a day x30 days, £120/month. Is that too much?

That would be just for heating. Electricity would be on top (which in our house would mean showers, all cooking etc), so probably double that. Plus increased standing charges.

So more like £250-280 per month. Quite a lot for many of us!

And the £66 a month??? You have conveniently not mentioned that.

But it won't BE that with the £66 a month towards it.

According to a feature on the BBC website this week, any temp below 18C means the body starts to take blood from the extremities and use it to keep core vital organs functioning.

That sounded very 'high' to me, but having spent some time in a house recently where it was 18C, I did start to feel very cold, not moving around much, and would not have been able to do without a coat or extra layers.

blanketseverywhere
You are acting like a martyr. I’m assuming you had energy bills in previous winters. Now the government are giving every household at least £400 towards their bills ( and no, I don’t support this government) between October -March 2023. Why are you not spending that £400 on heating = ie, your being a martyr.

The way you are describing your current life, it will honestly improve your quality of life if you camp out in a shed and use a campfire to keep warm. It's the same temperature OUTSIDE.

Honestly, I only mean this nicely: this sounds actually crazy. Do you think even the poorest cold countries in the world live without some sort of heating? Of course not. We have thousand of years of engineering advancement to utilise. Before central heating, people didn't just accept freezing to death

@blanketseverywhere Your estimate sounds very high

Have you thought of changing providers?

Is your house insulated well with double glazing?

I have a 4-bed house, ( rads turned off in 2 bedrooms) 2 reception rooms, and cook from scratch most days (gas.) CH is gas.

So far, my heating bill has been around £200 pm.
That includes the heating on for 2 hours in the morning, then most of the day from around 4.30-10pm.

Thermostat set at 21C.

Do you have a fireplace? Get some wood from garden/park/etc and burn that.

blanketseverywhere
I see you’ve just said our house
So your not alone in paying the utilities. Do the other people in the house accept living like you.

I bought an infra red heating panel off ebay for £50, it's under my desk. If you were to run it for 8 hours a day it would cost less than £1, though I tend to put it on, get hot and then turn it off so it's only on about 15 mins in every hour (but it's not super cold yet) Because it's infra red it heats you rather than the air (though the air does warm up too, my office is noticeably warmer than the landing)

It has made all the difference, to have our heating on all day would cost a fortune in comparison. DH and I both have one now. I would get this for under your desk/table, and you can also use it to point at clothes to help them dry.

Dehumidifier also a good idea I think

It needs to be warmer than nine degrees. A recent online article showed a laboratory test with a healthy male. Cold temps restrict blood flow to the brain and thicken blood. I think they said 18degrees was a good temperature

As I've said, we're saving that for when the winter really bites.

£60pm just for heating is still unmanageable for many, when you add in the cost of electricity and hot water too.