To ask how I’m supposed to pay this heating bill?

[ye10000]

This month I put the heating on set to 18. It automatically clicks off when it’s got to 18 and it goes off entirely at 10pm until the morning. I’ve looked at usage and it says the heating has been on an average of 7 hours a day. This had meant a bill of 502 pounds. We are in a three bed detached. That is almost a quarter of my income and I have one dc in nursery, single parent. I am so worried about the coming months, is 7 hours a day average a lot? I thought I was being careful.

@Daisies12 where is your thermostat? 16 is below what's recommended for your health and that of the house. If I was sitting working at that temp, even with a thermal
Base layer an Oodie and a blanket I'd be cold and miserable - and inefficient at work too.
If your thermostat is in a hall or similar then your rooms are probably quite a bit warmer.

Well that's just silly. 16 isn't warm enough.

I always used to say 'I refuse to be cold in my own house'. That's no longer the case.

I'm fucking freezing a lot of the time, and very unhappy about it. We have a lot of blankets and hot water bottles. We have one car, it's 10 years old. We holiday at my mum's. We don't go out to pubs. We very rarely get takeaways or eat out. We don't spend thousands on Christmas. We aren't servicing debts. But we can't afford the heating as much as we want or need. It's disgraceful.

I earn well. I'm not a higher rate tax bracket but I'm not poor. And yet I can't afford the amount of heating I want. It's absolutely disgusting that I - and everyone else in the same situation- can't just put the heating on. Even more so just so that shareholders can get ever-higher dividends.

And to counter a PP, I DO wear gloves in the office. And if I needed it I would have a blanket too. But even if I didn't there's no reason why what's reasonable in an office with lots of heating has to be transferred to a WFH situation. That's ridiculous.

Thanks @eardefender

Or we could focus on not having people in fuel poverty. People should be able to afford to have their homes at a safe temperature. Heating the person doesn't work for me - if the air around me is cold I'm miserable and shivery. I doubt I'm a unique freak of nature. Asthmatics need warm air too.

What I do (also single parent WFH):

Put it on for an hour first thing.
Then during the day when it’s just you; wrap up warm and sit with a heated blanket over your lap.
Then on again for an hour or two early evening.

I second this recommendation. I had one installed at the same time as I had a new, more powerful boiler and an extra radiator in my lounge. Previously my bungalow always felt cold, rarely reached the set temperature and I had black mould on some walls. Now I live in a warm house, fresh smelling and have reasonable heating bills ( currently around £1600 per year gas and electric)

Agree with some of the above.

-Loft insulation saves a fortune

-Check windows to see draughts

-Close doors and maybe cover under doors with rooms you're not using and don't heat them.

-Log burner?

-Maybe buy plugs on timers to save money elsewhere. We have about ten plugs behind the TV (Internet, dvd, alexa etc) and turn them off at 9pm. Same with laptop, printer etc.

-Bleed radiators..

It's the smell I am appreciating most. Or rather, the lack of one. It's something which used to bother me an awful lot - that damp musty smell. When I visited other people and unpacked my stuff I could smell my musty clothes. It's completely cured it.

PS @Ihateslugs I also hate slugs! Slimy little bastards 😁

BUBBLE WRAP!

My thermostat is in the hall and would stay on longer than it needs to be as it's colder out there.

I set a 20-minute timer on my phone and manually turn the thermostat up and down. Once there's heat in the radiators in the rooms we use I can turn it off. It goes back on as the room gets cooler again.

I also close the upstairs radiator valves when I come down in the morning. and have another timer on my phone to remind me to go upstairs and turn them up 1.5 hours before bed.

I'm warm in the morning so don't put the heating on until sunset when I can feel the house getting cold. I also close curtains and blinds before it gets dark and open them when it gets light.

This has cut the time my boiler runs for but not my bills due to the rising prices.

If you're WFH and don't want the heating on or the faff of electric throws everywhere, try wearing bubble wrap.

Yes, BUBBLE WRAP but not next to your skin or you'll sweat. I look like the Michelin Man with all my layers but have Raynaud's so my hands and feet are always cold (even in summer).

I first heard about using bubble wrap as a body warmer when I used to ride motorbikes. It kept me warm and kept the wind out.

My partner thinks my money-saving antics are a bit mental but it makes me feel better knowing I'm at least trying. Keeps my step count up, too.

I put ours on at 4pm today when I got home from work and it will go off at 11pm an hour before we go to bed so I don't think seven hours is excessive. DS had a day off work and was sat at home in dressing gown on top of clothing and fluffy slippers in the cold until I got in and put the heating on. I really feel for people who are home all day.

These are fantastic. A friend has one that I first saw in the summer when it was helping keep the house cool.

Now it's cold I really see the worth of it. It's changed a cold, damp and mouldy house, unpleasant to live in into a warm, pleasant home. At very little cost.

A large house-builder has recently completed a new estate a few miles down the road. A PP mentioned modern housing being poorly insulated and hard to heat.

WTAF aren't these companies building houses to the highest insulation and climate-friendly spec? NONE of the new houses have a heat pump installed, radiators are cheap and small, windows are also cheap and will 'leak' cold air.

Most have already been sold and I can see two have had solar panels retro-fitted.

There is no reason other than pure greed to not supply housing that is well-insulated and climate-friendly. And that's without the greed shown in building houses on tiny plots and too close together.

7hrs a day is not a lot, but the cost for the OP is high. I have mine on for at least 9hrs a day, more over the weekend and I have averaged around £12 a day (inc electric) for the past few days.

The key is energy efficiency, at the moment OP you are heating the outside.

There are some tips here, but it is really worth considering where the energy is being lost.

https://octopus.energy/blog/energy-saving-tips/

Have you a smart meter? If not do you send regular meter readings?

Are you renting or is it your own house?

I just googled PIV Unit and it came back with costs of £2-3K and it sounded like a big job to install. Is this what you are referring to @WestwardHo1 or is there a cheap, portable unit available?

Is log burner once a week the new feeding a family of 6 for a full week on a single chicken?

We bought one for three hundred quid and installed it ourselves. Well, the boyf did. He's quite handy, but no genius. The biggest thing was sawing a hole in the ceiling and a bit of electrics. Depends how confident you are.

You could just buy one like that and hire an electrician to put it in. It would no way be £2-3000 I don't think.

Completely agree. DSis and I were ranting about the new builds going up in our home town the other day. Hundreds of them crammed into a small space, hardly any with garages/drives, not a solar panel or heat pump to be seen. Awful.

Extra points if you roast the magic chicken on top of the log burner?

No, it's a fact.
If you're more fortunate than this, be glad.

I'm getting a bit sick of the several posts that are ridiculing my lack of heating. I'm not being smartarse or suggesting that I am in any way into competitive "not using the heating".

I am saying that this is how it is for me, and for others too. Give up something to use all that spare money for heating? Can't be done when you're on the bones of your arse already. And if you want to know how I got here, I had to give up work a few years ago to care for my DH and claimed my personal pension of £6k a year.

So stick your "ooh is that like a chicken for 6 people" malarkey, and be grateful life has handed you a better deal.

It absolutely is when, by her own admission the op is alone at home and her child is at nursery and she can't afford the heating bill.

It means she is heating an entire house unnecessarily which is excessive. It is wasteful when she states she cannot afford it. Therefore the obvious answer is a small electric heater to just heat the room she works in.

It's not rocket science, it's called cutting your cloth.

@QuestionableMouse actually I found @FuzzyPufflings reply really helpful.
We didnt put ours on at all until the end of November and in total now have had it on for one hour about 6 times. With a plug in radiator in one room that has been on more often. So on average our house this last week has been 7-12c.
Its not fun obviously but we are coping.
So Im loving that we arent the only ones Fuzzy - how are you managing. Any tips? Actually we are just about alright if its about 14+ but 7-12 is grim. Its 13 where Im currently sitting. Two pairs of socks, leggings, vest, long sleeved shirt, jumper dress, gilet and I feel pretty cosy tbh. Our heating bill is currently about £65 a month.

This is excessive OP. We have two electric cars that are charged daily. We live in a 3bed, 1930s draughty semi: we keep the heating at 18 degrees. Our bill is between £300 and £350 a month so £500 is a lot!

Just seen your most recent comment @FuzzyPuffling. Im sorry people are being annoying. In our house we've lived like this every winter for years 20ish? As people did before central heating was standard and people seemed to forget that winter is winter and its therefore going to be cold.
Our cloth is cut. We do alright. We long for Spring!

Cheers @BananaPyjamaLlama
I'm a great believer in the heated throw (i'm always talking about them). They really make a difference, especially for those sofa evenings. Also have a (matalan version) furry hoodie thing. I may look like a yeti but I'm cosy in it. And sheepskin boots in stead of slippers.
The house isn't mouldy at all as it is thoroughly ventilated daily.
And I never dry washing indoors - watch the weather forecast and hang it outside every time. Same with bathroom towels - outside to dry whenever I can, to reduce the damp air in the house.
Our bills are about the same as yours.