What did you do last winter?

[hoonoo]

Now the nights are drawing in, I am wondering what new activities you did last winter in fuel cost crisis that you intend to carry on doing this winter?

My example: before the crisis I would keep the heating on until I showered in the late evening, so it was warm enough for me to waft around the house in a towel until bed time. Last year the heating was off and I'd take my nightclothes into the bathroom and dry and dress in the bathroom while it was still hot. I will be doing that from now on.

Also, I made much more food in the slow cooker as it also heated up the kitchen-dining area.

What do you intend to continue?

Work in a small room with my husband. The laptops heated the room up no problem.

We started shutting all internal doors all the time, and properly shutting the porch door into the house was noticably hotter, it’s embarrassing how much energy we’ve wasted over the years.

M&S thermals, heated blanket and one of those oodie things kept me warm without cranking up the heating. I had some fingerless gloves on the super chilly days too… I’m cold by nature!

We’ve always -

Shut the porch door
Solar lights by the front door - it’s dark out there
kids have blankets slippers and Oddies and dressing gowns/ thick socks.
Light runners in the kitchen under the cupboards so light enough to see late at night.
movement sensor lights that switch off in the landing and bathroom
Lots of logs and kindling from the local woods

Air fryer
Slow cooker
if I cook a chicken in the over I also bake a cake - and leave the door open for the heat after

We have the central heating on 1 hour in the morning and one at night - rest is either cooker from dinner or the log fire.

I agree shower and dress makes a difference.

Bought the children teddy fleece bedlinen

I was ok last year but have concerns this year as my electric tariff has suddenly shot up. Looking for tips.

I wfh but just wrapped an electric blanket around me rather than turning the heating on, and had a fan heater on for ten minutes every few hours on the days that were really cold. It seemed stupid to heat the whole house when I was only using one room. I only put the main heating on for an hour or two in the evening rather than all day.

Also showered in the gym wherever possible - double win of getting out of cold house for a few hours somewhere warm and saving money on electric (shower), water, and heating. My gym only costs£16 per month so definitely saved more than that going 3 times a week!

also leaving the oven door open once you've finished - it's so obvious but I didn't even think of it until reading it as a tip on here!

also bought some of those really thick fleece lined leggings from primark - warmer than joggers and cheap, plus can wear them with dresses, etc and look vaguely smart (obviously not smart smart, but ok to wear out somewhere/better than normal 'wrap up warm' clothes like baggy joggers and hoody).

Same here. I reckon it saved us about £700/800 in heating bills last winter.

We now have a cat flap in the living room door because the main reason we kept the living room door open was so the cats could come and go, but also it meant that all the heat went out into the hallway, past the drafty front door and upstairs and into the kitchen. Also made the bedrooms too hot, while the living room barely got up to temperature, despite the boiler nearly always being on.

I'm must get some more of the primark leggings. They are great. Thanks for reminding me!

Internal doors all shut.

Flat sheet under the duvet (which we increased to 15 tog)

Heating on low (16 all day) and 18 for 2 hours in the evening around kids shower time and 2 hours in the morning when we were getting up and ready for school and work.

Husband has a USB powered heat fan which he puts on his laptop when working so doesn't cost extra energy to use

All wear socks / slippers in the house as if your feet are cold you will be cold

Oven door left open when finished cooking to send the heat into the kitchen

Hot water bottles in bed to warm it up

I'm sure there were more but I can't remember now

Doesn't using the USB fan heater draw power from the battery that then has to be charged again sooner?

@Ducksinthebath he always has it plugged in at the wall switched on. The actual increase in energy usage doesn't go up on the days he does use it vs doesn't use it

Thanks. That's good to know because I totally freeze all winter.

I got into bed at 7 with the electric blanket on, and knitted or read there instead of in front of the TV.

I bought some good thick lined curtains, and I close them before it gets properly dark. I live in a top floor flat and I'm not overlooked, so prior to last winter I just had bare windows in the living room (which I much prefer, but I can't really justify losing all that heat).

I don't heat my bedroom, and now ds is away at uni I won't heat his either.

I WFH and have just invested in a heated blanket.

We bought a thermal door curtain for the front door, it made a huge difference to the air both in the hallway but also up the stairs!

I'll be showering at the gym everyday after the school run! Either a gym class, swim/steam room session, then a nice long hot shower, also using their hairdryers and working in the lounge until pick up. Free tea/coffee and nice and warm area. My gym membership is really paying off 😆