@Muddlingthroughthis is there any chance you could buy a cheapish oil-filled radiator? Maybe £30-40? When they get up to temperature, which modern ones do quickly, they stay warm for ages after you’ve switched them off. That means they can warm a room for longer than a fan or convector heater. And I’m sure you’re already well aware of the effects of indoor particulate pollution from burning coal/wood etc., so am guessing you want to minimise having to burn a fire. It’s a hard situation to be in with a young baby 💕 and I’m not here to judge or lecture, just to offer up ideas and maybe help! The current cold snap might be due to end soon, but we’ve all still got to get through Jan/Feb/early March yet.
Working single mum of a young toddler here, so totally feel your pain re balancing the general household finances/increasing costs versus being able to keep a decent level of warmth at home.
Where we live, we have district heating in the block for central heating and hot water, charged at what I think are pretty extortionate rates (and we can’t change providers!), so I try to keep my use of that system down as much as possible. I’ve been heating this flat with two small oil-filled rads on smart plugs, operated/scheduled through an app on my phone. If you do decide to get an oil-filled radiator, I have a couple of spare smart timer plugs and I don’t mind posting one of the spares to you, to use with the heater. I’ve set up my smart plugs so that when I put the radiator on, it only goes on for 10 mins at a time, and it auto-switches off after the 10 minutes are up. And that’s usually only one 10-min period per 1-2 hours when we’re indoors.
My rads are 1.5kw/hr (bought them a couple of years ago when the block heating wasn’t working) and I got a fixed electricity tariff last October for 29p per kw, so my amateur heating system has been quite cost effective.
With a young baby you kind of have to prioritise keeping the ambient temperature comfortable, as their little respiratory tracts and lungs aren’t as efficient as older children’s or adults’ at dealing with cold or damp air. Yes plenty of generations grew up in cold homes, and plenty still do, but there is a strong link between cold homes and respiratory conditions, especially for children or older people, so you’re doing the right thing trying to keep your home warm for your little one.
Overnight, the heater in my DD’s room is set to do 10-min intervals every 60-90 minutes on a schedule I created, meaning she can sleep comfortably on her own in a vest, footed babygro, and medium tog sleeping bag. The heater in my own bedroom stays off overnight (except from going on for 10 mins at 06:50-07:00 so I’m not totally miserable getting out of bed!). But at least I can relax and not worry about DD’s comfort or breathing during the night, as I know her room will be fine for her.
During the time we’ve been in this flat, I’ve also put in a door curtain at the front door, draught excluders on the bottom of each door (foam ones by Tesamoll), plus curtain liners and thick/sturdy roller blinds behind the window curtains. Those things make a lot of difference too, especially overnight. The wall thermometer here says the flat hasn’t dropped below 15 degrees even with snow outside this week! I appreciate you have a house instead, so it might be harder to insulate quite so effectively, but maybe some of those ideas could be useful?
Please do let me know if you want to take me up on the smart plug offer, happy to receive a DM if you do.