If I was rich I'd have a warm home

[spanieleyes22]

I hate the cold! Currently wfh with about 5 layers on and a hot water bottle and a blanket. Have a little electric heater on in this room but rest of the house is v v cold. Going to put oven on in a minute with the door open so I can do the dishes. If I am ever rich I will have a warm home and not be worrying about the cost of heating it! Went to bed at 6 pm last night to save money: feels like being in prison with the long evenings and trying to keep warm!!!

Monthly with UW on the lowest tariff. We have a smart meter so we know it's correct. The gas and electric combined but gas is very minimal as only the shower and heating is gas.

I'm in the same boat, op. I'm freezing. Only plus for me is I. Night shift, so sleep all day. The heated blankets are lifesaver.

And to think the government where / are banning gas boilers eventually so everyone will end up on electric heating. Boggling.

I am absolutely freezing, also have four children in the house so I've just thought stuff it, I'll put the heating on.
I'm on a pay as you go meter for gas and it doesn't seem too expensive

Get a heated throw OP.
I've been in my oodie all day with a fleece blanket over my legs WFH, and that's with the heating on.

That’s insane. Is the house very large/inefficient? It’s not the summer bill if it’s monthly DD though - it’s adjusted so it’s the same all year. If you don’t pay DD then get it checked - how is it coming to that with no heating at all?

I used to live in a flat with massive single glazed windows and electric storage heaters. It was pretty grim in the winter but I did find ways of making it more manageable.

If you go round the windows and doors with a candle you can check for draughts. On most of the windows I used that weird plastic sheet double glazing that you set with a hair dryer. Then I pinned heat reflective fabric to the backs of the curtains but even cheap fleece would probably help. Sometimes expensive, heavy fabric curtains come up on FB marketplace. Door curtains and then draught excluders also help.

Only heating you main room is the cheapest option but it is depressing when you need a wee or to make a cup of tea. Anything you can do to make your main spaces feel cosy so for me that a heated throw, rugs, fairy lights and some candles.

Make sure you have some slippers and a thick dressing gown. Its still shit having to get up in the cold but they help. I also have one of those oodie things which could help. I've seen once which you can shove a hot water bottle in to a pocket on the front.

They are expensive to run but I used to have a little fan heater. I found getting dressed in front of it was cheaper than trying to heat the whole room if I was going out.

Baths, hot drinks and a good warm meal all help. Even though I'm in a house with central heating I still sometimes can't get warm if I've been out in the cold. Then only a bath or a hot shower will work

Living alone in a largish house, it seems wasteful to turn the ch on for long periods.
I have halogen heaters and they are very economical, plus a heated throw, which is a lifesaver.
Ch comes on when family or visitors stay or I get too cold.

I live in a 1 bed flat, very small and still can't afford to heat it. Living room is absolutely freezing, even the hamster refuses to get up unless he's thirsty. He's taken the whole contents of his food bowl into his bed. Think I might copy him.

@potatocakesinprogress You're right. I have no idea why I've been wasting money on other things when I could be putting it towards heating. Obviously I'll need to really cutback on non essentials. What do you think I should stop wasting my money on? Food or rent?

It's horrible, isn't it? I'm in a rented flat that only has electric heating. It's so expensive. I've been so cold today.

It's on Economy 10, so I find myself trying to plan my use of any appliances around the cheaper times. I have an oil filled radiator that I move around, but try not to use it much as watching the cost go up on the smart meter is really quite scary.

That might not be very good for your house though. When you say it ‘seems wasteful’ do you mean you could afford to but it seems unnecessary? I think it’s very necessary to preserve the fabric of the house.

I hear you. I am on £80k and can't afford to heat my house. I wfh with my Uggs and coat on. How mad is that? I am considered really well off in the UK... don't feel it. feel cold.

Not helpful, perhaps, but useful to maintain a perspective if nothing else.

It's only in the last 60-50 years that most of us in the UK now expect to be warm indoors in the winter. My childhood was spent wearing thermals and 2 layers of everything else then coat, hat and mittens when indoors. It was normal to see your breath in every room. In the mornings the curtains would be stiff with frost and there would be ice on the inside of the windows (single glazed drafts sash windows). This was a pretty normal experience and nobody commented about it. We kept warm underneath electric blankets and additional blankets while sitting on the sofa. Electric blankets are incredibly cheap to run, running on a medium level they cost less than 4p an hour. We might not have been able to heat the house but we could make a tent of warmth from our shoulders down to our feet.

Japan has colder winters than the UK, most houses don't have central heating but a kotatsu, a heated seat.

Except if you live in those owned by the Duchies managed by the Royal family. One in seven of their rented houses do not meet this standard.

@Copernicus321 Not true. People complained bitterly about being cold and chilblains were normal.

I have the Dunelm teddy fleece blanket, bigger, cheaper and I love it!

But our energy prices are sky-high compared to many other countries. We pay a lot in green subsidies here.

I would really reccomend an electric blanket if you don't have one already but I am sorry. It's rubbish to be cold x

You're right... what I should have written is perhaps we were resigned to the cold. I'd forgotten about chilblains. I never had them myself but then again I never took my hat and mittens off between November and end of February. I wore my hat in bed.

This is interesting and something that I could never understand. I grew up in one of the "poorer" European countries with long winters, where temperatures often fall below -10C. Like most of other families, we had a coal central heating in our semi. It was always very warm at home, around 22C. The only time it was "cold" (around 17C) was when I came home from school and parents were still at work. Only when an adult came back home they made "fire" in the basement's central heating system. They had to do this every day and buying tones of coal was something that everybody saved for the entire year, because you simply could not survive without it. Having moved to UK, I'm still surprised after more than a decade why heating is seen as a luxury here and not as something normal that you should budget for and think ahead for the comfort of your children and the whole family. I mean, why would you have Xbox/Playstation, holidays in Lanzarote, nights out every weekend, but not something as basic as heating in winter? My mother lives in a big house and still spends over 1200GBP per year to heat her house and we are talking about the country with half of UK average wages. At my house here the termostat is always at 18C, but it's warmer in the living room. We never thought it's a waste of money, we budget for it. Cultural difference, I guess...

Ahh yes good point re the prompt repurchase! Thank you.

No holidays in lanzarote here or nights out, it's currently 12.9 in my living room, but thermals and a fluffy onsie plus thermal socks are on and a hot cup of tea helps! But it would be great not to have to think about bills in that way.

Can you do everything possible to insulate? Thick blankets hung at windows etc. Get the whole family in one room - bodies generate heat. Do an exercise video before bed so you are nice and warm!
Then any time you run your oven etc make sure you leave the oven door open afterwards to allow the heat to warm the room.

I do put the ch on regularly, but not for really long periods.
I can afford it and I’m sure the house is getting properly warmed through, but you have a point and I may turn it on more often.