How to not have the heating on all day?

[Hello113]

It's freezing where I live. But I am worried about the cost of having the heating on all day when I'm at home. I've bought a heated throw and I wear lots of layers.

Who is at home? Any children, elderly or vunerable people? Can you heat your room? Wear a hat?

I do an hour heating in the morning
Hour and half at teatime.
Keep to one room and have been known to wear a coat.

Oil filled radiator, hot water bottle?

I was in your position a couple of years ago. You're doing the right things... Heat the person, not the room. I wore an Oodie, fleece trousers, woollen hat and fingerless gloves, and woollen slippers. I looked like an idiot during work video calls but at least I wasn't freezing!

Make sure your layers are made from the right fabrics. I notice a huge difference if I wear a thermal vest rather than a T-shirt type vest top

I also found huge benefit in eating/drinking warm stuff rather than cold... So microwave a jacket potato for lunch instead of a sandwich, have a cuppa rather than a glass of water. The knock-on benefits seemed to last for ages for me.

I mostly WFH. Today I am wearing thermal T shirt, jumper, oodie, thick socks and at some point will be turning on my heated throw.

Heat one room, use a heated throw/ L hot water bottle and drink plenty of warm drinks.

DH works from home 4 days and he has a plug-in oil radiator that he uses to just heat up his office room. Doesn’t take long for it to warm the room so it’s not on all day or anything.

I would turn the radiators off in unused rooms during the day, close the doors and just heat the room you're sitting in.

What everyone else has said. Wool layers, including fingerless gloves and shawls or blankets. Hot water bottle. Blanket or throw folded under my feet. Hot food and drinks, and if need be putting heating on for an hour before temperature inside drops so low that it would take much longer to heat back up. For our flat that's around the 14° mark.

Buy second-hand cashmere online. Doesn't matter what it looks like or if it has holes. It is the warmest most insulating stuff out there. Weirdly, second most effective ime is cheap fleece - like the blankets and onesies you can get in Primark.

Its cold at mine today ive got all windows open wide needs to air out.
Ive got my fleece pjs on im all good.

I go for having the heating on all day on low (17). The actual boiler never has to fire that much because the base temperature never gets too low.

It costs marginally more than having it on for a couple of individual hours, and I'm never really cold.

I’m WFH and don’t want the heating on all day.

I’m wearing:

cashmere socks x 2
Ugg boots
Thermal / fleece lined leggings
Thin jersey Harem pants
Thermal long sleeved t-shirt
Short sleeved T- shirt
Oodie.

I look bonkers but I’m warm!

If you have a heated throw why do you need the heating on ?

I would just stay in one room and use a cheap portable radiator in that room, or your gas fireplace. Much cheaper than heating the whole house.

Primark do fleece linked leggings and long sleeved tops which I use as base layers, thermal socks and Uggs, wool layers on top, hat when it's really cold, hot water bottle and Oodie.

It's shouldn't be THAT expensive to have the heating on all day, unless your house is huge and drafty.

I have a 3 bed in the north and mines on all day. Costs around £100 per month. If yours is significantly more then I'd be looking at getting the house insulated.

I only have the heating on in the home office when WFH.

I put the heating on downstairs when the kids get home from school but its capped at 18 degrees. Jumpers, blankets and socks before the heating goes up in our house.

Sounds crazy, but I go outside for 2mins and then come back in and it feels warmer to me again. Get a cheap fan heater for the one room you are in, so you can heat the air and keep it warm. Check the moisture level, a dehumidifier pumps out hot air and if the air is damp it is harder and costs more to heat. I understand the need for the room to feel warm on your face not just a heated throw etc

We spend time in the sunnier rooms as they are warmer even today. Can you squeeze in some brisk exercise like a walk or cycle ride to heat you up?

Wear loads of clothes, keep moving, have hot drinks, hang around in well heated shops! That's what I do. But as I get older I have to need the heating on more.

This thread from Mumsnet Classics is really good, lots of tips on there!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mumsnet_classics/1911061-NO-MORE-COLD-MUMSNETTERS

If you are using gas its almost 1/2 the cost for the same amount compared with 2022.

If it’s just you then hopefully heated throw (or 2!) and all the layers will be fine, including hat/hood!