For those who can't afford to use central heating this year - How are you going to cope?

[mama2moo]

We have 2 dd's - 3yo and 20mo and already owe money to our suppliers. We are going to have to be careful with not using the heating too much but our house is feeling cold already!

We have bought thermal vests, fleece pjs, fleece tops and extra duvets.

What else can we do?

TBH Im dreading it. By the 3rd week of every month we are skint at the moment.

[glastochick]

on the question of whether it's cheaper to have the heating on all the time, or twice a day, we did a test last year by taking meter readings over several days with the boiler set to different times.

We thought it was only 1 or 2 units extra to have the heating on for the majority of the day.

Oh how wrong we were! We thought that the units on our meter translated to units on the bill. We didn't look at our bill and use their calculations to forecast our bill, so we were hit with a whopper. We're still paying it off and look to be doing so for a loooong time. We can't move to a cheaper supplier unless the new one would be willing to take on the debt we've wracked up with our existing one .

So this winter we're going to see if we can upgrade the timer on our boiler to have different settings, and currently the heating and hot water is set to come on for 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening. It goes off at the time DH leaves for work, and again when DS goes to bed. DS is with this GPs all day for 3 days of the week so gets the benefit of their heating while I'm at work. If I wasn't, I think we'd be spending a lot of time at the library

[mama2moo]

Still no heating on here! It was v.cold last night but we just added blankets.

Our gas provider has just sent a letter saying that our payments have up £20 a month. We now are paying £110 for gas and electric. Its only a 2 bedroom house!

[mama2moo]

Ps B and Q had loft insulation for about £3 for 3 rolls the other day. We are putting more in our loft and insulating the loft hatch.

[HavePatience]

Does the window insulating film work when windows are already double glazed? Are rolled towels as effective as proper draught excluders?

[FrankiDon182]

Please do not put any sort of portable heaters in your childrens bedroom. Last week i attended the funeral of my friends 3 year old daughter who received 90% burns to her body after her nightdress got caught on a heater that they was using to warm the house through. She survived a further 6 months after her accident but sadly could not fight any longer.
Please be careful, i know heating is expensive! We have invested in thick curtains, carpets and blankets. Not cheap now but in the long run will work out better.

[GotMyGoat]

I thought I'd bump this old thread as it's full of really good advice and it is so cold today! Has really made me think ahead to winter.

[TheUnsinkableTitanic]

bumping again. some great ideas

[farrowandbawl]

It's depressing that we are still looking for advice on a two year old thread for the same problem.

I hardly used my gas last winter and STILL ended up owing them over £100.

Usually, by this time of the year I'm in credit by about £2-300, this year I've only just made it to £100 and the heating has been OFF since April.

[jaycee7]

Hi

I had storage heaters years ago and I couldn't afford to use them plus they are hopeless. I purchased a portable heater on wheels. The one that a gas bottle goes in. It was amazing at the time in a small flat cost me £10.00 as month to heat. I was nice a toasty and moved it to whatever room I was in. It was cheap and also very warm :-). Just an idea that might help some

[Mrsmadevans]

Happy new year