Spend so much on getting house ready for winter, it cancels out any savings?

[Rainallnight]

I’ve been mulling over what to do to be able to lower thermostat/have heating on less this winter and have come up with

• curtains on our draughty back and front doors
• large rug for our draughty floorboards in living room
• fleeces for everyone
• heated airer (no tumble drier and am quite reliant on radiators for drying in the winter)

But then I thought, hang on, that’ll all cost more than my extra heating bill?!

Is anyone else thinking the same?

It's worth thinking through what would make most difference and how to do it in a cost effective way (adding thermal curtains linings or using film on windows is a lit cheaper than new curtains for example) but don't forget your investments this year will help in future years too.

But it will give you savings longer term which spending on fuel this year won't.

I very much doubt that energy prices will ever drop by much. I think it’s worth jt

Sorting out draughty doors and floors is something you should do anyway, so you aren't wasting heating and saves you money long term. We'll be having more than one winter, you know 😉

The other two are a matter of preference. But I'm surprised you don't do them already.

I’m looking as replacing my electric oven with a gas one, already have a gas hob but on doing the maths it costs about 50p -£1 per meal for the electric oven - so £400 ish on a gas oven plus the 15p cost of cooking for an hour is a false economy - at the moment.

I saw a lovely little table top gas bbq for £100 a few weeks ago and I’m kicking myself for not buying it.

Of course if electric does go up to £1kwh ( I can’t see how it possibly can but with our inept ‘Government’ anything is possible). Then any energy hungry device will become prohibitively expensive. I’ll have to get used to microwaved, soggy skinned jacket potatoes.
My slow cooker will be dug out of the under stairs cupboard but I don’t know how economical it will be at the rates mentioned.

You don’t have to spend loads. I got some thick thermal curtains for free off f b marketplace. They’re not what I’d have chosen colourwise but they’ll do

Yes, you might save less this year, but next year, you'll have all these things. I've bought a heated throw, thermals and an oodie, thermals ... I reckon I've spent about £150 which is about 1000kwh of gas. We use 20,000kwh of gas a year (I think average is 12,000), so if I can get that down to less than 19,000kwh (and I must), I'll have broken even.

Try and think of it as future proofing your house. None of it has to be expensive, I got a thermal door curtain from Dunelm which is great. Makes a massive difference. Had it a few years now. I also put thermal linings in my curtains that cover my French windows. Again, makes a massive difference and they were about £20 from Dunelm.

We need new rugs too OP. We plan on going to a carpet shop, choosing a cheap offcut as asking them to bind the edging. It works out much cheaper than buying rugs big enough.

Aside from the airer you could all the other stuff for free on fb Market Place or free cycle
Even charity shops tbh
I love my heated airer ;)

Thermal curtains are about £20. Fleeces aren't very expensive either - you don't have to get the fancy branded "oodie" giant hoodies. I got a wearable blanket from Dunelm which I think was £15. Wilko have this big waffle blanket for only £6.40 www.wilko.com/wilko-dark-teal-waffle-throw-200-x-240cm
They will save you a lot more than £100 in heating over the course of the winter. There is always an upfront cost but the payback time will be short for most things now that the fuel is so high.

We spent £16k on solar 10 years or more ago, and were one of the very last on the highest rate of FIT. Next spring, our FIT payments will have paid our £16k investment back - however we've also saved on using cheap energy by day, I'd say we're perhaps using up to half the energy we should be using without solar, given we effectively get all out hot water free all summer, and only use the washing machine, electric cooker and dishwasher in daylight hours.

Would I invest that money again? Of course, it's been one of the best investments I've ever made.

Yes, of course we can do it as cheaply as possible. And very good point about no sign of gas prices going down after this winter.

Basic fleeces from Decathlon arriving for the kids today.

That’s a very good idea about the rug @thefatpotato. We’re not sure how long we’re staying in this house, and while underfloor insulation would solve the floor draft problem more effectively, ideally I want to spend on things we can take with us.

@DisplayPurposesOnly You don’t know me, or anything about my circumstances, so I’m surprised that you’re surprised.

I’ve done a stocktake of what we have already. My airing cupboard has loads of blankets, fleece and other. We have hot water bottles and a heated back support which I can use for keeping warm. Going to dress in layers. We have a thermos pump flask we use for tea and coffee. Boil the kettle once and fill it for about 5-6 cups in the day.

You’ve spent a few hundred pounds but your gas bill is going up by thousands. I doubt you’ve spent more than you’ll save.

Going to dress in layers. We have a thermos pump flask we use for tea and coffee. Boil the kettle once and fill it for about 5-6 cups in the day.

Surely to god everyone dresses in layers in the winter anyhow??

Kettle thing is bonkers, you're fretting about the wrong things. A kettle boiling for a minute or two really is not your problem.

I've bought a dehumidifier and heated blanket. They were currently reduced and I know I'd want them come winter months

I’ve just been to Lidl ( and spent loads 🙄) I bought a pack of 4 chicken legs for £1.99, so cheaper than a whole chicken and I’ve just dug out my slow cooker, which has a pan you can use on the hob, I’ve crisped the skin on the hob then set my slow cooker to medium to see what they turn out like. It’s 100w on med so 6.5 hours will cost me 34p, (5.7p an hour) on high it’s 140w so would be around 55p.
I pay £0.57p for electric per kwh as I fixed at a bit higher than October’s price cap.
An hour in the 2kw oven is £1.14
so it’s a big saving.

I’m also going to experiment with doing roast potatoes on the hob in an enamel roaster with lid.
Thankfully DH is done with shift work so we won’t need to eat at different times either and we won’t need the heating on at 5am any more!

August was the first month on my new fix and it’s £61.75 whereas July was £37 for slightly less kwh. I’m averaging 180kwh/month although May was 200kwh , perhaps it was a wet month so I did some tumble drying, can’t think of anything else.

Heated blankets are the best. We bought one for my mum when she was dying and very cold from being so thin. We held on to it and it’s incredibly lovely

A full 3000kwh kettle uses around 150w to boil if it takes 3 minutes, if you boil it 5x daily, it’s 5.25kwh a week, which is £2.73 = £150 a YEAR. A half full kettle will obviously use less.
Unless you boil the kettle 10x a day then it’s a non issue.
People are panicking about the WRONG things because they don’t understand how things consume energy.

@BorgQueen what would you suggest then?

Some things are cheap and will really make a difference. On another thread a mumsnetter posted links to cheap curtains. I bought a pair and although they wouldn’t be my first choice, they’re pretty good. Floor to ceiling, neutral colour, fully lined, £20 delivered! www.wayfair.co.uk/home-decor/pdp/fairmont-park-myron-eyelet-room-darkening-thermal-curtains-u003764408.html?prkit=false&clearance=true

…. the 228cm drop isn’t available anymore, but there are plenty of other options. They’ll come down in the spring as I’m not a fan of curtains

I have already factored in the cost of my heated airer and it won't take long to recoup the cost of the initial outlay. I bought a £100 version from John Lewis not the fancy Lakeland one.

I'm currently wondering about a slow cooker. I've never used one before but we eat a lot of casseroles & mince, but I've heard it doesn't taste the same?

But all those things you lost won’t just last for this year will they?

and I’m surprised you don’t already have fleeces!