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?

Same, but not curious enough to find out 😬. Just had a look as they haven't sent me an email and bill has been sitting there since 27th December. As usual it makes no fucking sense and the basic sums don't even add up. Eon really is terrible 🙄

@LBF2020

🙁. it's a lot upfront. How long would it last you? Is it more expensive per litre if you get 1/2 or 1/4 tank?

We are retired, so heating comes on to heat to 20 and hold it there for twelve hours.

Very efficient living flame gas fire in the garden room for watching TV, costs about 30 pence an hour to run.

18 overnight.

Both layered up, and I have an electric blanket with zoned heating, a duvet and on top of the duvet a really heavy fleece blanket from Costco, we call it Shep the Sherpa.

We can afford to be warmer just refuse to do it.

Thank you for all the tips on this thread. I've just checked usage last year and put it against this years costs. The direct debits I pay now should be bang on within literally a few pounds, if we use exactly the same.
We were always a 21 degree household and now I try and stay at 19 max during the day. Colder overnight. So potentially using less gas. However I'm now running a dehumidifier more often as we have had such mould, damp and condensation issues. So more electricity.

But honestly I think I just have to get on with it and try and cut from elsewhere. Our commuting costs are much lower thanks to wfh so I can rationalise it that way. It's miserable to work in the cold. But I also concede I can be comfortable in lower temps and was probably wasteful in the past.

So I'm somewhere in the middle. I'm putting on the heat etc, but trying to be careful and not accrue significant debt on the accounts that I couldn't make up in the summer.

We can afford to be warmer just refuse to do it.

Why would you keep it cold? That doesn’t make sense.

@DadANDPK the minimum order is 500 litres which is half a tank for us. I do believe you pay more per litre for a smaller order.
My quote for 1000 litres is currently £848.

During covid (April 2020) I ordered 1000 litres for £238. It's madness.
We've drastically cut down on the heating and also the length of time the hot water is on. So hopefully the 1000 litres may stretch to 9-12 months. Although in the past we've used 500 litres in 3 months! We also invested in a new boiler last year so I hope that will offer some savings.

Course it makes sense I am in same position, I choose to spend my money on nice things rather than G+E! I actually think I was really wasteful before the price hikes and I personally enjoy the being tasked with saving as much as possible whilst maintaining comfort by being adaptive

No, keep an eye on it.

Even had it off for a few days while the weather has been so mild recently.

I think turning it off completely during stuff like the cold snap is false economy, because you may well end up with burst pipes.

But when its averaging 10C outside its easy to click it off, save the money and store up cash for when you really do need it.

I am hoping with improved insulation I will be able to have it completely off in March.

Me. I went into this thinking I just wouldn’t put my heating on. Then the house got damp and mould and we all got awful chest infections and I remembered life is too short.

@Nugg

... you don't think there's a middle ground between £300 and 'OFF'??

Luckily oil still isn't at the giddy heights of 2012-2014 - and we should also be due a rebate of £200 from the government via the electricity providers.

Oil will be high for the next few weeks of cold snap, but if the winter remains warm then I can only see it going lower than summer 2022 by Easter - we try to only order oil in hot weather.

I’ve built up credit over the summer and I am damned if I’m going to sit in a cold house. I’m older, have heart problems and once I get cold I struggle to warm up again.
Luckily I put a wood burner in earlier last year, I can get seasoned wood locally and it warms up the downstairs nicely.
I’m not complacent, I know for many this isn’t an option and I am fortunate to be able to do this.

Not quite sure why people think burying their heads in the sand is a good idea.

If you use the gas, you can't un-use it. You're going to have to pay the bill sooner or later. If you don't pay it you'll end up on prepayment and have to pay it anyway. And pay more because you are on prepayment.

Better to manage it and use the minimum you think you can get away with than splurge out cash on something you have no choice but to pay at a later stage.

That’s far warmer than we have ours set to (18 in the day and 14 at night) and don’t need to layer up, it’s plenty warm enough! I felt like I was being extravagant having it on at that 😂

@DadANDPK NO way! 🤔😆Of course I do, however having heating on timed for 2x2 hours a day compared to flick it on for 30 mins here and there - not even every day, seems to take £100-£130 off my bill. I have an oil filled rad in the room I work in all day, seems more efficient than heating my entire house while I am using one room.
Its not a cold house really, it has brand new windows and doors which must help as it is quite an old house.
I shaved 6000KwH in the last 12 months by stopping daily baths. Amazing - shame I have no friends left 😂

@LBF2020 That has gone up sharply hasn't it!! I think I'd try to get 500ltr for now (as long as it's not stupidly more than half of the 1000 price). You really don't want to have an empty tank if you can help it!

@Nugg do they do dry soap like they do dry shampoo??🤣🤣

Everyone says how expensive oil filled radiators are to run? I used to have one before I put the GCH in and my bills weren't mad, but electricity was relatively cheap in 2009.

Depends how many rads you have, but I wonder if it's worth doing a test to see how many wH a day it uses to just have your office rad on for the day instead of the oil filled running in electric?

@DadANDPK as an experiment, I shall switch the oil rad on now and check the smart meter.... I only ever have it on for 30 mins as then it stays warm and heats the room, which on a sunny day like today stays quite warm thankfully!

I don't have a central thermostat just individual radiator ones, but definitely something to test - apart from my bedroom one has come off and I can't get the thing back on!

Dry soap - isn't that talc 😆

@Ariela I've just looked at the alternative fuel payment on gov website. I had no idea about this support so thank you for mentioning that!
Do you know how this works? Will it be money sent direct to our bank account seeing as our electricity account is completely separate and any money credited there won't directly help with the oil fuel cost?

They are saying it will be credited by your electricity supplier but, as you say, how electricity suppliers know who has another fuel source is unknown. Maybe they just guess, based on usage and use profile?

It's probably worth emailing your electricity supplier to ask how it's going to be credited to you. And let them know you use another fuel type.

Gave up worrying about it as had £600 in credit paying £100 pm and with gov £66 it's ridiculous!
Kids all off sick on the freeze of -8 everyday.. put the heating on.

December bill £250 🤣😱😱

Thankfully it's been warmer since and I dare not look at the eon app

Eon are hopeless, they wanted me to pay £400pm and I was paying £360 and they wouldn't let me reduce it, I use under £200pm (then take off the £66pm), I had over £1.3k credit.

I asked them to look at it, sent them spreadsheets, tables, years of use stats, etc. They rebated £1k, and put my payment down to £250pm, but their calculator wants me to pay £317. I now have over £700 credit again, and the rebate was only November!

I'm seriously considering going to variable direct debit now that we're halfway through the winter as at least I'll keep hold of my own money and be able to get some interest on it.

This is why I do not pay them by direct debit - absolute swindlers

@WaddleAway

you can't compare 18° in one house to 18°!in another house. It depends on where your thermostat is situated. If it's by the front door setting it to 18° will make the house hit, if you put it next to a radiator the house won't get hot.

I think ours is fairly accurate as we have thermometers in the lounge and bedrooms which are usually showing 17-18.