Anyone else decided to stop caring about heating bills?

[ClarissaParry]

I put the heating on during the cold snap in December, and now I'm £200 in debit.

I'm not happy about it, but my dc were warm.

I've decided to put my head in the sand and crack on with staying warm over winter. We're not talking 24C 24/7, but 17C or 18C morning and night, and during very cold days, for longer. Minimum temp is set to 13.5C at the moment, but on cold and damp days, I go for broke and up it to 14C!

I'm hoping spring is early this year and we have a long run of not needing the heating on so I can avoid getting too deep into debt with the energy company, but I'll still keep the house reasonably warm regardless. Am I the only one willfully ignoring their energy balance?

*debt

me

i refuse to be cold in my own home, if I’m cold, then the heating goes on, I’ll deal with the bills when they come in through the post!

i feel the same OP. That cold snap before Xmas was brutal.

Getting cold again next week unfortunately!

Me too.
I got fed up of being freezing cold and having soggy towels all the time.
I'm still careful with the heat, but it is on when I need it.

Same. I won't let my kids be cold. I've unplugged the smart meter so there isn't a constant reminder.

Same here OP. I’ll deal with the catching up later but I am not sitting freezing cold in a home I’m working my ass off for. I think we’ve had some recent mild springs and keeping everything crossed for that!

I paid an excessive direct debit for the last year so I could say to hell with the cost this winter. I'm still in credit, it was worth it.

Me. We turn the heating off when we go to bed, but otherwise keep it 19C throughout the day. Last two weeks it was fairly warm tho, but I heard another cold snap is coming next week

I feel the same. I sat shivering in my house for two days in that cold snap before I reasoned that being cold was worse, to me, than worrying about a big gas bill.

I'm not making an adjustments, people / pets cannot be cold and damp in the winter .

Nope we are using the log burner more but I refuse to A) pay a massive gas bill and B) more importantly contribute towards Russian income. I might be tempted to say sod it and pay more if a supplier could guarantee they didn't use any Russian oil or gas. Luckily with the days getting lighter the solar panels should start to take more of the demand in this house. Other wise it's oodies during the day and log burner at night

No. And I think it's irresponsible

Good luck with those bills though!

Agree - cut right back on other stuff and are making sacrifices as my family's wellbeing more important.
We don't smoke or have takeaways/fast food anyway (maybe one a month) and I've sacrificed my wine to 1 bottle a week.
Been a bit more savvy with food shop. All helps.

It so much depends on how well the house is insulated tho. One of our friends keep it at 23C day and night which feels incredibly hot for me and I feel fairly uncomfortable when visit them. We are good friends so I asked if they don’t mind sharing the meter readings for December. Surprisingly it was roughly the same we paid yet we don’t heat as much as they do…Their house is former council, built circa 1976 and ours 2005 new-ish build

I figure the increase in my bills are adapted for my normal use so I'm using everything how I normally would.
I was never overly extravagant with my heating anyway.

Which part is irresponsible?

Also quite curious about the PP who feels like 1 household would impact Russian fuel profits.

Well you are getting 66 pounds a month help.

Yes, it could be worse. Hence head in the sand feeling! Next winter is when I'll be really worried.

We're having building work done and have a 6m hole in the outer wall, so I'm taking the attitude that having the heating on to avoid freezing to death is part of the building costs.
When we're all sealed up again it'll be back to being more frugal.

No but I have a dehumidifier running constantly to keep the air dry and radiators on enough to stop the pipes freezing in the cold snap. I can’t afford the £8 a day to have the radiators on all of the time.
luckily my son is a hottie and still coming out from school in just a t shirt even now, I wrap up.

Here, I too have gone past the point of caring

I guess if you know you can afford the increased bills it's fine and understandable to think sod it. If you can't, you can't.

We are being very careful still as I just don't want huge bills. More layers etc. We have a log burner though so have a source of heat in the front room and take hot water bottles to bed. We are not cold in the house, we're just careful about how we stay warm.

People who can afford to stop worrying are lucky and shouldn't be cold just for the sake of it!

Yes, me. I now put the heating on when it's cold and leave it on. Currently I am well in credit on gas and I give a meter reading every 14 days so I can easily keep on eye on the usage and top up my credit balance if needed.

I hate being cold, it's miserable.

Yep. Just had to pay for a top up of oil after that cold snap!

There's no council tax payments taken in February and March, so I'm going to transfer that amount into my energy account. It'll cover some of the bill, so the heating will be on when it's needed, especially if temperatures are to dip again.