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 😞

Absolutely this. I'm so sorry. I am in a similar position and am absolutely disgusted at this country. And yet still people are so passive!

I found that not having my curtains closed at night really ( and I mean really really ) helped with the condensation. It is Now gone on most of the windows.

To have mine on 2 hrs am and pm. Is £10so the gov grant of £66pm. Gives us 6.days.

We used to pay £150 gas and electricity combined ita now £450 keeping house at just 16 degrees am and pm. Over night it drops to between 9 and 11.

Older house, draughts, crap windows. Rented so not like we can. Do much

Not sure how helpful this will be but we have just bought a dehumidifier as our conservatory kitchen is all open and constantly damp and walls wet. It’s amazing we should have got one sooner. Unfortunately I don’t think this will directly help with heating but it’s much nicer to have dry rooms. We got ours from toolstation.. they are literally sold out everywhere but I definitely recommend getting one!

@Cudz i know money is tight (so sorry for your shit circumstances, I’m in a similar boat)

try (I know easier said than done) get electric blankets for the kids beds, I got my ds one from Argos. I put it on number 3 for half an hour before he goes to bed then turn it down to 1 for the night, his bed is so toasty, he’s so warm, it costs pence for the night, I got Argos buy now pay later interest free as long as I pay off over 6 months, (got one for my bed too)

xx

These threads are so sad.

@Cudz you're not a failure, please resist that mindset, you're a decent person.

I agree with the person who said some of the posters are wankers.

I am sure that the old boiler is a huge problem.There are schemes to pay for a new eco boiler where you are able to spread the cost.I have lived with old gas boilers the new ones are so much more economical.Worth looking at not much help now I know but worth looking into for the future.

I was paying £100 per month this time last year and £300-400 a month now. I work from home, 4 bed house, heating on a lot so it sounds like your bill is expensive. Im
sorry to hear about the water down the walls…I know this sounds silly but is it a daily occurrence because I’ve had the same but only because I realised that we left a damp towel on the radiator and the moisture had nowhere to go.

Oh I really hope this is accurate.

I slept with my ds last night to keep warm but I opened the window for 10 mins before bed and then I kept all upstairs doors open and the wetness on the walls and windows was nowhere as bad today. Still freezing but that's to be expected when it's -8 outside!

Good for you. I also left a bedroom window open, just by a crack and it’s a lot less wet on the windows this morning.

Well done Cudz, you'll find you get better at managing it all. It's a learning curve.
Dh went round again this morning and soaked up a load of water from windows here.
I have put teddy bear sheet and pillowcase on Dd's bed for tonight and she'll stay toasty.

When did you last clean your gutters and look in your roof? I have been in the same situation as you but I have just got mould spots, wet windows and cold walls. Water running down sounds like you may have structural issues.

What a horrible situation to be in, really feel for you.

I too was worried to out the heating on but I'm not having my babies go cold. I'll deal with the problem after winter tbh. We don't have it on all day anyway but my current elec balance is £510 and we pay £150 DD a month, then have the govt t money to add to it.

I really think open communication with the suppliers is a good way forward. They do have help available so it's always worth asking.

I also heard that energy to heat the home in the 1st hour uses the most energy cos it's firing up the boiler so it might be worth doing 2hrs morn and eve in the long run.

I think there are also schemes to upgrade boilers so something worth looking in to.

Good luck x

We use heating oil as there is no mains gas in our village.

Prices are on their way down luckily but it’s still costing us around £400 for 500L which will last about 8 weeks in winter.

Electric is around £120 a month.

Have you look at every other area you can cut back so that you can afford the energy cost? Take the time to do a full financial audit at look at exactly where you are spending your money.

That’s £2 a day and my heating is about that an hour so maybe op is doing that

it’s not enough and as @Cudz said how did it come to this but both work and can’t afford a warm home

sorry my first reply was only showing first reply about £66

phone playing silly buggers

Ditto @Cudz

nov to dec was £354 I actually cried

don’t have a smart meter so put in monthly readings and I was omfg

and that was an hour am and maybe 2 in pm

you sound similar to us. 3 bed semi tho thankfully no water running down walls. Thst must be horrific 💐

Not sure if I missed it but are you airing the rooms properly in the morning or at any point?
I just remembered this thread because one of the rooms waa not aired for few days and had condensation on the walls. That room is heated like others. Totally forgot to air it.

You need to look at changing supplier. We are currently with Ovo and have a smart meter so track usage/ £££. Heating on 16 overnight 18 through the day and maybe upto 20 for a few hours each evening and currently using £10-12 a day.
That is a 4 bed semi 5 DC and 2 adults all bathing/showering daily.

It's still increased massively

Are you on an old fixed price contract or the new price cap? Would be very surprised if you are paying the new energy prices on that unless your house has amazing insulation.

Also @Cudz glad to hear the condensation is a little better now.

It should get better once we are out of this cold snap and the walls aren’t as cold. It’s not the same but we are currently getting water running down the outside walls in our bathroom when we shower, we’ve just painted the bathroom too :(

We're currently using about £16 per day and wood for a woodburner. The house isn't even that warm, despite being modern, triple glazed, insulated (although that could be better) and with solar hot water, which is obviously not saving us anything during winter but means pretty much free hot water in summer.

Luckily we built up a huge credit over the summer and autumn so hopefully that'll see us through the really cold months, and obviously not every day over winter will be -4. Hopefully.

But it is a bit shit.

I'm sorry for the responses you have gotten here OP. You haven't done anything wrong and I don't think could have done anything differently so don't beat yourself up. You are doing the best you can in frankly impossible circumstances.

I've got the heating on more than you but less than last year and have definitely noticed more condensation and damp. I don't think it means dire structural issues or the guttering needing work so don't panic about everyone saying it's that. I think this is just how poorly insulated houses in a damp climate look when they aren't being blasted with heat! I have been trying to crack open windows a bit and ventilate more but it's frustrating as it just makes it colder.

Really feel for you, please hang in there and let's hope for warmer weather soon.

We are on the new price cap,electric is between £3-4 on top depending on how many wash loads.