To have the heating on most of today

[salemsongbird]

I'm at home with a very poorly toddler on antibiotics, who is shivery and lethargic, and our house has been bloody freezing recently.
I've been trying really hard to only have the heating on a little in the morning and evening because our bills are worrying me having gone up to over 300, but today I just looked at my child with cold hands and face and thought fuck it, so put the heating on to 18/19 for the majority of the day. I also ran a fan heater in the living room when it was arctic this morning.

I'm now feeling really guilty and wondering what effect that will have on our bills, and whether I can afford to do it again tomorrow.

Would you have done the same? We have warm dressing gowns, blankets, socks etc and I put dc in thermals today too but the little miserable cold nose and fingers was just too much.

I have done the same.

I'd get into debt before seeing my poorly child made worse by being cold. I can't see anyone saying yabu.

I would absolutely have done the same

I did exactly the same when ds was off school this week.

It entirely depends on your personal circumstances really doesn't it. We have it 19C during the day and 16C overnight at the moment.

What they said.

We are having ours on, I can’t stand the cold, it’s going to cost a fortune I know. But it’s miserable to be cold.

We're doing the same, will have to cut back on Christmas and no outings over the next while to fund it but it's minus figures outside so needs must.

Mine appears to be on less by leaving it a constant 18 through the day 6:30 am until 7:45pm. My hive app shows it is using about 2 hours 30 mins each day. Whereas I had it set 6:30 until 7:45am then 3:30 until 7:45 and it was almost 4 hours per day. 4 bed detached, not open plan, all rads on. It’s not boiling but it’s okay with a jumper and slippers on. Make sure your ankles and wrists are warm, seems to make a big difference too. I’ve now put it on 14 over night as I’m worried the pipes will freeze.

You need to do a meter reading every day at the same time. Then compare.

Of course you dod the right thing. It’s only 3 degrees outside here today and we’re in the usually warmish south.

If someone is ill they need to keep warm otherwise they will take longer to get better.

Our health is more important. I have a toddler and I’m prioritising his comfort over my bank account.
the extra help payments are there so i’m taking advantage of them.

it is the first year I am worried about the bills because of how high they are.
checked usage last year was £50 per month, this year it’s over £100.

obviously you're not wrong, and health should come first, but it might stay this cold/get even colder for at least another 6 weeks now so if you are struggling for money, one day of going 'fuck it' is negligible, 2 months will be expensive.
Would it be cheaper to have just kept the fan heater on to just heat one room? I have one, it heats up a small room very quickly if you keep the door and window closed. It will get expensive if you're using 2 forms of heating simultaneously to make the living room warm enough to sit in while at the same time heating all the other empty rooms.

Obviously it's different in the evening when the whole family are around and going in and out of different rooms but if there's just the 2 of you, and particularly if toddler is ill so not running about as much anyway, I'd try to just keep one room a good temperature and stay in there 90% of the time rather than heat the whole house all day.

I've had it on this week kids have been ill too. Honestly don't care anymore I'm not looking to be in some Dickens novel type of a life.

Just had our November bill, £127 for gas. This time last year it was £40

But still, there’s no point suffering and being cold so ours as on, and will be all through this cold snap - I feel desperate for those that can’t afford it, and the government needs to do much more.

Absolutely, DD has been sick this week, so I’ve kept the house much warmer. We thankfully have a log burner downstairs and a lot of logs in the garage so I’ve been able to keep the living room nice and warm, but the radiators have been on a lot more than usual. I’m just going to suck it up for the next week when it’s freezing, I’m away at Christmas for 7 days so will have the heating on an hour or so a day then which will help adjust December’s bill

I can’t really work out how other people get to say YABU about your own heating use decision? At a push, it sounds like you had the heating on in multiple rooms - if so, I suppose YABU for not taking to your bedroom with your toddler and only turning on that radiator. And definitely no fan heater! I find there’s nothing warmer than staying under the duvet!

On the shivering… does your toddler have a temperature? I’m no medic but what I’ve read is that the body raises its core temperature to fight infection- for example, many bacteria don’t multiply with even a slightly elevated body temperature. As a result, you feel cold - and shiver. So the shivering might not mean their temperature is actually below normal.

Hope they’re better soon ❤️