Not going to put the heating on this winter. How to keep warm

[ClementineKelandra]

I will have the heating on for one hour a day in the evening so the kids can shower but then after that the heating and hit water will be completely off.

I just need to get some ideas for keeping the house warmer once the weather turns.

This is a really interesting thread OP and I wish you all the best getting through winter toasty warm! It's definitely made me realise that we're far too complacent with our heating to be honest. Best thing I did last year was shop around for energy and we saved £30pm moving to a new company, but I know that's not possible for everyone.
We also made a big difference by investing in some cheap off-cut carpet to carpet lounge & bedroom. They were laminate before which is cold on the feet, and the rooms feel sooo much cosier carpeted now. It's an expense initially, but large rugs or blankets from charity shops would do the same job I'm sure, and a room that's warm from the floor up seems much easier to keep cosy! Totally going to go on an anti-draught rampage in my house this weekend

'so they get stuck feeding £40+ into the meters every month.'

More like £80+. We are on metres after getting hammered with huge bills.

A friend rents a cafe which has huge single pane windows and her heating bills were very high. She bought lots of thermal curtain liner from Dunelm, cut it to size, stapled it on to the window frame and rolls it up using strips of rags. It looks brilliant and has saved her a fortune plus no sewing.

My grandad put strips of folded up newspaper in the frames of opening windows (does that make sense?) which apparently helped drafts. All I remember is the strips of newspaper blowing all over the garden in the summer when the windows were opened.

Sorry you have to do this op.

damn government

I cant afford all these fleece blankets and extra layers, lined curtains being mentioned
and tbh I cant bear the cold either.

I second the slanket/fleece blanket thing.
I suffer dreadfully with cold, due to illnesses and in teh house I wear thermals, then my clothes, and often a hat and bodywarmer. We are lucky to be in a position where we can run our heating but even then it is only for 2 hours morning and 1.5 hours evening.

Hot water bottles are good and quite cheap. I got 4 last year in either Home Bargains or B&M for about £2.00 each. I thought they wouldn't last long but they are small ones and thicker than the average bottle and are still going strong with no signs of wear.

Oh and I also do the strips of newspaper in the cracks- we live in amarried quarter with inadequate windows which have a 2 cm gap and crappy door and no insulation

waiki, could you check ebay/freecycle? Or sew your own?

my point is op and others are not heating house for financial reasons yet the answers are to buy this and that, I spose ultimately the costs may well be cheaper.
freecycle might be the answer though thanks

Do convector heaters cost less to run? I do have one but am frightened to use it in case it costs a fortune.

And another thing, I work from home sitting at a computer desk all day typing, I usually wrap blankets around my legs, but I discovered sitting with a hot water bottle on my lap last year really kept me quite comfortable. Not easy, I know if you're moving around, but for people like me who have to sit for up to 10 hours in an unheated house without moving, it was a godsend.

Not got time to read whole thread but if not already mentioned, insulate the loft hatch door as well, heat gets up out of there.

On a positive, as long as your house isn't too old, it might not be so bad. I don't use my central heating much - usually 1 hr in the morning, then woodburner in the afternoon/evening, which heats up the house so much more than a radiator. I find I need the heating on first thing to take the chill off & more importantly, to dry out the condensation/damp from overnight. Black mould is not your friend! Good luck & I hope it's bearable for you.

Layers, blankets on the sofa & early to bed.

Waiki, I line my own curtains using left over material, or I have once sandwiched two thinish curtains together to make lined curtains.

I live in an area where there are lots of material shops and sometimes the owners will sell last bits of material quite cheaply.

I have hot water bottles from the pound shop, haven't needed to buy new ones in years.

We have walls and loft insulated thro our utility company for free.

I have old blankets which I use to snuggle under on the sofa andfleece PJ's which I bought quite cheaply in Primarni a few years back.

Also wear socks and thermal vests in the house (I saw thermal vests in the pound shop last year).

Waiki - fleece blankets are v v cheap in Ikea if you or someone you know can get to one. About 3 quid each, which is def cheaper than having the heating on..

We put £25-30 a week on our meter and can still only afgord to heat one room, its so depressing. We have those big storage heaters that just eat all our money.
I know you can get rid of the meter but southern electric charge £52 to do this and we just dont have that kind of money spare.

We stick the kids in primark fleece onesies with hot water bottles at night. Agree with the thick socks thing, i feel much warmer all over if my feet are cosy

There are a few people blogging about living in cold houses -see this one for example. If you can get an exercise bike from freecycle, that's actually really effective in getting warm - bike for a bit, then stick layers on quickly and you stay warm for ages. Much as it's horrible that OP has to do this, I think this thread is great for just general tips to use less energy.

Alicia-if it is thermostatically controlled and you get the room warm then turn it down so it's ticking over. Ones that just blast out the heat eat money. You can work out how much they use by doing clever maths that I can't do so don't ask me but in involves kw x wattage or something

That is what this thread needs next. The clever maths part to help everyone work out how much the heaters or electic blankets or whatever cost.

Waiki, spending £50 on blankets and thermal lining will pay off for years.

eBay your old stuff maybe. I would try freecycle or family & friends, people have stuff tucked away gathering dust.

Sometimes you need to spend a bit to save a lot.

Has anyone said spicy food? That heats you up:-)

Although I wouldn't want to do this now, when we were children these were the circumstances we were brought up in.

I remember the beautiful ice patterns inside my bedroom windows and I remember the coal fire in the living room and my dad warming visitor's coats in front of it before they left.

We had hot water bottles ( I still do - much prefer them to an electric blanket ) and knitted jumpers. Nowadays we'd have fleeces instead.

It's fine - the OP is young. It's the old people I worry about.

Yes back in the 70's early 80's the front room was heated, gas fire usually and you went to bed with thick pajamas and a hot water bottle. Fine for youngsters, the older ones will suffer horribly though.

Can I just mention the Warm Home Discount Scheme of £130 discount of your Winter Electricity bill.

You can either check with your supplier or go to www.direct.gov.uk/warmhome to see if you are eligible (depending on income).

If you are eligible the money is deducted from your Winter bill and then you just pay the balance.

I know that if the cost of energy was less in the first place then people wouldn't need to use these schemes, but it is worth checking it out.

Curtains covering any external doors - can be picked up very cheap at charity shops

I was also a child of a cold 80s household. I remember going 'round to an American friend's house and being absolutely amazed that they a) had central heating b) on full and c) in every room. My friend was walking around in shorts and a vest. It was great going 'round to her house.

I don't think anybody has mentioned the Cheap Energy club on Moneysavingexpert - it monitors how much you're paying and lets you know if there's a cheaper tariff for you. I use it and it's saved me money - Here

People may have had only heated one room in the 70's/80's but that was 30-40 years ago. What happened to progress? And I don't see it as 'sticking it to the big energy companies', what do they care? Their shareholders won't give a toss, massive profits and undoubtedly warm homes for them.