Which is cheaper?

[blibblibs]

I'm wondering which way of heating the house is the cheapest.

We live in an old rented house with terrible window and no insulation

I was determind not to put the heating on until at least October but the children are complaining of being cold - which it is, so I'm wondering what to do for the best just now.

I can put the heating on, but we have no termosat - can only change temp on the indivdual radiators or I can plug in an electric fan heater that we have in the room that we spend most of the time in.

DH & I can't agree on which one is cheaper so hopefully MN can help us out.

Could you get some secondary glazing film llike this and stick it up? Get some draught excluders (or make them out of old clothes and tights) and line your curtains (you could use an old blanket inside the existing lining)

I had this problem in an old house and found that using a fan heater in the room we were using was more economical than using the central heating. Keep the door shut though

I would have thought it cheaper to put the heating on for an hour or so. You can turn the radiators right down in the rooms you're not using. Fan heaters cost a fortune to run.

Check the gas reading, put heating on for an hour, check the gas reading. Check electric reading, put fan on for an hour, check the electric reading. Then you will know for sure.

Also, do you have any open fires and access to wood? We use our log burner instead of putting heating on and it has saved us a fortune.

Finally, are you entitled to free loft insulation?

We got a wireless thermostat. Been excellent and our house is a much more constant temperature.

Are you well insulated? I have put up a curtain track and curtains at both doors...and currently in process of inter-lining downstairs curtains (sewing Polarvide fleeces from Ikea in between curtain and lining) half way there and it's a huge difference already