To be so cold - freezing inside and don’t know what to do.

[MullerCentre]

Like many of you - suffering with the frigid temperatures and just don’t know how to keep going!

Temperatures plummeting on the daily to -5 degrees. Frozen lakes, ponds and grass. House can’t possibly stay warm - heating has to be on for it to be hot and it goes without saying that we simply cannot afford that.

DC all having to wear outerwear, thermals in the house. This should be a place where they come to feel warm and safe but I just can’t provide that for them all year round anymore. The cold weather destroys my mood, leaving me miserable.

When will this end and why won’t there be further subsidies for families who can’t afford to heat their home?

Where are you? It's positively balmy in England right now

I agree that being cold is awful though

Also wondering where you are? I'm in London...it was absolutely freezing last week but temp is now in double figures and a lot more mild.

Do you have oodies or similar? I don't have an actual oodie but have the Primark version...keeps me so warm even in the cold. Sometimes I actually find it too warm with it on!

What is your living situation? Living in a terrace or a flat (non top floor) is far warmer than detached or even semi. And modern or modernised buildings are a hell of a lot warmer than non modernised period. If you are likely to struggle with heating bills every winter it may be worth looking at moving to a place that doesn’t need so much heating? Appreciate moving costs a lot though.

When I wfh I use an oil filled electric radiator (currently £37 in John Lewis) to heat just the room I’m in rather than the whole house, it’s really effective as long as you keep the door to the room closed. Could you use something like this in the main living space so that at least you can enjoy being warm in one room in the house?

I’m really sorry it’s such hard going op.

Can you live in one room for a while and eat in there too? And even sleep in there for a few nights if it’s really bad?

Going to bed early helps too.

I would use an electric blanket / throw for the children when they are watching tv etc. heats up so quickly and they will feel very toasty, very cheap to run. Also a little beanie toy thing that goes in the microwave can warm their bed too.

Nothing helps with the cold air when you can’t heat the house, but you can limit how bad it is with hot water bottles and getting under a duvet or electric throws. Have single duvets over the sofa instead of a thing throw etc. It isn’t nice, and you should have to keep wrapped up but if you can’t afford the heating then it just needs to become how you sit on the sofa etc.

Hot water bottle.

Staying with people who ‘don’t put the heating on’ I’ve only lately discovered that hot water bottles are not just for bed. Have been clutching one under my jumper all day long, refilling when it turns tepid. Absolute game changer.

Very sorry you’re struggling, @MullerCentre. Life can be awfully hard.

Can you keep one room heated to a liveable temperature? Use folded newspaper strips to seal up and draughty gaps around windows. Rolled up towels for draught excluders at doors. Use one of those chimney block things on any fireplaces that don’t be used. Fleece blankets to wrap in when sitting in sofa, etc.

If you have some money to spare then kudd.ly, similar to oodies are on sale for £29 each at the moment. They're the only things keeping us warm right now because we can't afford to have the heating on for more than a quick blast in the morning. I bought them for the kids at xmas and ordered myself one last week. I couldn't recommend them more. It's 13 degrees in here at the moment and I'm not cold.

I would be a bit careful about doing that and maybe instead try turning off the radiators in some rooms but continue to use the gas central heating to heat one or two rooms. Electricity is a LOT more expensive to use for heating than gas. I used an electric radiator recently to heat one room (boiler was not working) and was shocked (but not that surprised) at how much my electricity bill shot up.

Insulation also needs to be a priority - well fitting windows and doors with no gaps make such a difference.

Sorry, being cold is miserable. What is your situation OP. Would you qualify for extra help direct from your provider or BG? Today is lovely down South, no heating on and I'm in the conservatory. Where are you?

This is a good idea, although I’d prioritise the kids bedrooms as well as the living area.

We are saved by hot water bottles. It is amazing how long they last. I even take one to work and it stays warm from around 7:30 till 2 pm. Amazing

You're over-thinking this! It's usually me that's freezing but kids move round so much they don't notice the cold!

Just do activities that involve running round and moving, hot water bottles, lots of layers.

I'm WFH today and don't have the heating on despite it being freezing! I have a blanket round my shoulders and hot water bottle, and get up and move every 45 minutes.

Have you a working fireplace? If so can you get free untreated timber, logs, kindling from anywhere or are you in an urban environment. Heating one room with a log fire and using duvets to snuggle in on the sofa, plus hot water bottles should help. Make a sausage roll for draughts under the doors out of old material eg bed linen and fill with holey tights or scrap material.

Give children lots of hot drinks to warm from the inside, eg hot cordial, hot choc, mulled apple juice. It must be very hard to not have the heating on in the extreme cold so also do reach out for help from your supplier, local charities etc. Sorry I don’t know details of what is available. Keep going OP spring is on the way OP and better days will come.

Are you in Scotland OP? It always seems to be so much colder up there. Last week it was freezing but today it seems a bit warmer with no frost. I have an ele tric cushion. You plug it in and it's really warm. I put it behind my back to lean on then I wear fluffy socks and have a warm thick fleece blanket folded double over me when I am sitting down. Can you buy a huge fleece for DC to sit under watching TV? As others have suggested just warm one room rather than the whole house. Have you got valves on radiators so you can turn the temperature down in rooms no one is in. I turn the temperature down in the bedrooms during the daytime and then just switch the heat up in the bedroom an hour before DC goes to bed.

It's miserable, poor you op!

Do you mean school age children struggling at weekends and evenings, or pre school age? Look up the warm place scheme, places where you can go and keep warm. You can also go to museums, libraries etc to hang out in a warm place.

Indoors - lots of light layers. Dehumidifier helps - damp air feels much colder. A little one in the room you're in a lot takes the edge off. Hot water bottles or microwave hottie things. Warm meals like porridge and stew/soup (slow cookers can be energy efficient).

Blanket on the sofa but also try to stay active where possible. Get decent quality jumpers from charity shops - so many high street jumpers are really thin.

Decent curtains - you can buy another set cheap and tack them onto what you have for an easy upgrade.

Really sorry OP. Have you looked into whether you’re eligible for support with heating costs - or any other living costs? https://www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/low-income. Worth also checking the Citizens Advice website for advice, and Turn2Us - https://www.turn2us.org.uk/.

There will be plenty of helpful suggestions OP, but I just wanted to add I really empathise! Almost posted something similar myself a few days ago. It's just so horrible being cold. Now the weather has gone above freezing here I feel like a new person, rather than wanting to curl up in a pile of blankets and cry.

Sorry OP, it's horrendous. I assume you're further north - we're in SE and it's warmed up a lot this weekend (notwithstanding the wind!)

We find the DC's bedrooms are easier to heat and keep warm. We have the thermostat set pretty low and sitting downstairs, but the result is that the DC's rooms get a lot warmer and are more bearable.

I'd also consider a heated throw downstairs and lots of hot water bottles.

Literally was so fed up with being cold last week.

I WFH so stuck at my desk all day doesn't help. Started having my showers at lunch time and it really helped. Standing under warm water kinda felt like i was thawing out.

Sad bloody times but it has/will get warmer this week

Also hot water bottle on lap x

This should be a place where they come to feel warm and safe but I just can’t provide that for them all year round anymore.

You feel like this because it's what we've become used to.

I'm in my fifties and grew up without central heating (just a small gas fire in the living room), yet always felt warm and safe.

However, that's not where we all are now and I feel for you, it's definitely tough breaking habits/lifestyle.