My walls had water running down them this morning

[Cudz]

Can only afford to have the heating on for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. This morning in both mine and DS's bedrooms there was water running down the walls and all over the ceiling. I could see my breath when breathing. Me and my dp both work full time. How the hell have things got so bad that we can no longer to afford to have a home thats just a safe temperature (not even warm, just safe!). This is just so so depressing 😞

@EmmaAgain22 even with £49 pounds of heating in a week, you may not get to dry the walls. If it is only condendation, then heating and opening the windows to let the water out should be enough. If there is a leak or water sips through the walls somehow, then I think it will not be enough.
This will depend on the extent of her problem.
As yes, I meant to rent it only for a short while, to dry the walls and ceiling. There may be an structural issue that needs fixing too (like gutters)

Is £300pm the DD amount or your ACTUAL usage?. I only ask as we are 2 adults but WFH and have the heating set to 18 degrees all day and our DD is £167 but our actual usage for the last few months has only been £80-£120. Obviously December will be higher will but on the Octopus app based on last year useage they have forecasted a monthly spend of £288. Octopus also have set aside help for customers so you could give them a ring?.

It is 100% condensation, it happens when you heat the air in the room up (when OP puts her heating on for an hour) and the walls are cold (because they take a lot longer to heat up), the warm air hits the cold walls and ceiling and condensation forms (made worse by moisture in the air from breathing, poor ventilation, clothes drying, showers, cooking etc). It’s more common in houses with solid brick walls because they are not insulated and are thick so take a very long time to warm up.

I know this because we had this exact problem when we moved into our 1930’s house a few years ago so we did some research, turned the heating on low all day and night over winter and not had the problem since.

What has helped in my sons room is keeping the door open over night - it lasts the air circulate and the moisturizer leave the room.
As a dehumidifier is going to add to your costs I would suggest going to a diy store and buying a moisture absorber - like this www.robertdyas.co.uk/damp-kontrol-non-spill-dehumidifier-scent-free-blue
they don’t need electricity and usually last at least a month.

£60 goes no where £15 every other day am putting in an I only put the heating on for 5 hours.

I don't think £300 DD is your actual usage. I live in a very old, draughty house and we're struggling to get it above 12° right now. £300 is us running the heating like we do on the weekend everyday of the month. I think you need to figure out your actual use and double check that the damp isn't due to a leak of some sort.

You need to urgently cut the humidity. It will feel counter intuitive but you need to open the windows to ventilate the house. Maybe not now, but in the morning. You need to fry the walls ana the windows.

When you use anything that produces steam, contain it in that room with an open window until it is dry again.

I inspect empty houses and they are often colder inside than outside.

You need to get it as dry as you can and then it will be easier to heat and you won't have water streaming down anything.

Check there is no water ingress though.

Check out this video about helping to keep your home dry,

Agree with pp to check actual usage. I'm fastidious with monthly readings and have got mine down. Paying around £140 a month for a two bed so with the £66 I'm paying around £80 DD. As others have said I pay the same throughout the year so in credit. I know it may be too late for this year but try and keep payments the same in summer and hopefully you will have credit in the winter.

I keep the house at a constant 17 (15 at night as I get hot) with the occasional boost if I get cold. I keep the water off almost constantly as have an electric shower so only out it on if DD wants a bath. Heavy curtain by front door and draft excluders.

I also think it massively varies by property type. As I say, my DD is basically £80 month and I'm never cold.

Also don't underestimate bed sharing like the old days. I get DD 10 in to bed with me when it's cold, with her and the dog we're almost too hot!

My daughter moved into a house that had water running down the walls, mould on the ceilings and round the windows, her landlord told her to open windows. Didn’t cure the problem, he eventually sent someone to inspect the house, he found some breathing vents in the loft were blocked.

It’s the last thing anyone will want to do, but cracking a window open at night (just a bit) will sort the condensation. We had to do this last night - but made sure DS and DN were sleeping with us to ensure they kept warm.

If the OP is struggling to afford heating, how is she going to afford £49 per week to rent a dehumidifier?!

We have the same problem. Seeing our breath at night, sopping wet windows and walls in the morning. I'm sick of having a cold and wet nose!

I have just bitten the bullet and bought a dehumidifier on klarna. Yes that money could go on heating, but frankly our (rented home) central heating is crap. No thermostat. Just 2 options - half power or full power. Half power is no good to warm up the house unless it's on for at least 12 hours before you feel the benefit. Full power just eats through the meter like no ones business and once its switched off, it wears off very quickly.

Dehumidifier seemed the best option...
I've had it on for 1.5hrs so far since I got home from work and it's gone into defrost mode twice already which means it's too cold to work.

Gaaaaah. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. I feel your pain.

All these wonderful ideas about blankets and layers of clothes... which work to warm your body, dont get me wrong, but it means nothing when it comes to issues like this.

@crimbocountdown you’re in for a nasty shock

We had awful damp at our old cottage and we had some of those damp catcher plastic things you can get. One in each bedroom, but roll on some warmer weather.

For all of those querying whether £300 os my actual usage then yes it is and thats a maximim of 2 hiurs heating a day, plus a bit of tv, charging of phone and just general items such as lights and fridge. We have a smart meter which shows our daily usage of gas and electricity. We do have an old boiler so that probably contributes to the higher cost as it isn't energy efficient but again we can't afford the upfront cost to get a new one. It's a catch 22. We only live in a 3 bed semi

My walls were visibly damp last week too. I have a load of windowsill dehumidifiers, the wardrobe ones on the curtain rails and I open the windows for half an hour a day (when I'm out of the rooms!). Nothing makes much difference.

@Whatthebarnacles I can literally relate to everything you're saying. It takes me 30mins every morning wiping the windows and walls upstairs. It's unbelievable the amount of water I wring out over and over again. It's just so depressing

Agree with opening your bedroom windows at night. Do it just before you get into bed. I only notice condensation on the windows on the nights I've forgotten to do it.

Meant to say it was only one day of the walls being wet so I don't think it was a damp problem. There is still water on the windows but the walls remain dry.

Yep same here. I’m with Octopus and my usage has dropped compared to last year. But I’m running at £12 day at the moment. Rarely put the washing machine on and no tumble dryer. That’s £372 month. I’m entitled to no help. Who can afford that considering I was paying £90 last year? I’m surprised we are not protesting outside parliament but ultimately no one cares.

Thanks muttsnutts will give them a go

Op I’m now with octopus and as others have mentioned they have help available. They have in all honesty been great with myself & my son.
we are both in different households with serious health issues and disability’s. He works, I don’t but accessing the help for both of us has been really easy and very supportive, you could try getting in touch it has got to be worth a shot.

but please do think about just putting it on and keeping yourselves warm, it is not worth your life. You will use less in summer and can pay a bit more of the debt accrued then maybe.

I say this to you all because my aunt who was recently knocked back in her universal credit sickness assessment (un-fairly I may add) begun to worry as do we all about cost and so she would turn the hearing off.

cutting a long story short, my parents arrived a few days ago to find her not looking so well and decided to take her the Dr who quickly sent her to hospital.
within an hour of being admitted her breathing was so laboured she’d given up, absolutely exhausted and in such a poorly state. She was then put on a ventilator with pneumonia and she is fighting for her life.
Every hour is a bonus but if she does recover then she’s likely to need care for the rest of her life and this is just because she was so cold she became poorly.

So please put it on your life’s more important, I don’t want to scare you or anybody but I wouldn’t wish this experience on anybody 😞 it just shouldn’t be like this in 2022 I genuinely despair how many people are going to suffer by the time it’s done
good-luck & god bless, you are an amazing mum doing your best for your family 💐

Exactly my thoughts re wankers

I'm not surprised MN land is often tone deaf. It's laughable that these suggestions are serious for OP!

Don't feel like a failure; everybody is cold at the moment. Perfect storm of the energy prices and crazily cold weather.

Don't sleep in separate beds. Get in with your DS, you will both be much warmer x