This is reality, my nose is frozen

Topher · 8 January 2014 at 5:35PM

Our income is going to dry up, so up to and after Christmas we've been trying to live on little, with every prospect of living on less than that. Now I'm practising living with no heating during the day so we don't spend more on heating than if I was out at work. That still means the central heating timer is on from 6:00a.m. until 8:00a.m. and again from 04:00p.m. 'til 9:00p.m.

This seems to be about enough for a family (of three adults at the moment) who have different start times to their days. So I now find myself in three changes of clothes per day. 1) Housework clothes, old slippers that can be worn for stepping out of the house (to bins, garden access etc.) light socks, T-shirt, light jumper/cardigan & jeans. 2) Sitting in the cold clothes, thermal shirt, T-shirt, fleecy jumper, hand knitted wool socks, hand crocheted hat, buff/ neck cowl, and sheepskin slippers. 3) outdoor clothing, usually added on to 1) as appropriate for dog walking, shopping etc.

I have a thermometer with me this afternoon, and now the heating's been on for half an hour, the temperature has risen from 15 C to 17 C. I keep telling myself this was daily life for my grandmother, and I grew up in un-centrally heated houses, so I'm sure I can get used to it.

I'm writing on here to try & stay positive about it, and share the experience, rather than dwelling on it, and feeling opressed by the financial situation that has lead to this. At least we're sort of prepared, have a real fire for when it gets really cold, and fleeces to hang in the windows again when really cold.

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krlyr · 8 January 2014 at 5:37PM

I would look at whether it's actually the most economical way. We bought and installed a thermostat for our boiler this year and our gas usage has actually dropped from last year. Keeping it at a steady temperature seems to be better than using a timer intermittantly.

Topher · 8 January 2014 at 6:04PM

Thanks for that, I'm keeping a record of the gas units used, so I'll try a couple of days on my timed plan, and the same length of time on constant low, and see what the comparison is. Do you mean over 24 hours, or with heating off during the night? I must say it's very demotivating being cold in the house, and after regular morning housework chores, I'm not feeling like venturing away from the living area, which means I'm keeping food prep. time down, limiting my cooking time. e.g. Having frozen fingertips from slicing veg, discouraged me from making a batch of crumble mix. (I'm going to go & do it now, but really don't feel like it).

sonastin · 8 January 2014 at 6:24PM

Might be a stupid question but are you saving the housework for when the heating has gone off? Much better to be physically active to stay warm in the cold periods rather than getting the housework out of the way first thing (when you'd be a comfortable temperature anyway) and then sitting around getting steadily chillier as the temp drops.

We have a whizz-bang thermostat for our boiler which allows us to set different temps at different times. I think we're currently set at something like 19° first thing for getting up/showered/dressed etc when it isn't worth lighting the fire. 14° mornings and afternoons with a rise to 16° over lunch in case OH has been working at home in the garage (its cold in there so 16° feels like luxury!) and then 18° in the evenings when we light the fire in the living room to get it a bit warmer in there. Overnight is set at something like 12° so the heating will only come on if there is a real really cold snap. Weekends we set at 18° through the day but tend to turn it down for an hour or two if we're going out (using what they call "party mode" - that always tickles me!) Admittedly this is while I'm out at work and OH is off doing his thing or in the garage but we stuck to this pattern over the christmas break too. By playing tunes on the temperature like this, we never let the house get too cold so it doesn't seem to take a lot for the boiler to get the temp back up again. I think the thermostat was about £80 which is a bit of an investment but its probably paid for itself already in less than a year.

cheerfulness4 · 8 January 2014 at 6:26PM

Feel for you Topher. We don't have CH. I find a bit of a bake up keeps the kitchen warm though and I give it a head start with turning the gas rings on for a few minutes when I first go in. (little trick I remember my mum doing when I was little)

Getting wrapped in a rug in the lounge with thick socks on and layers helps lots. Try and keep cheerful. The good times will come again.

lostinrates · 8 January 2014 at 6:28PM

17 is not bad at all, and fifteen degrees, ok, its lower than recommended, but think of outside temps and whether you'd be in skiing clothes or a jacket.

I haven't had any central heating option for a few years now. (We have a wood burner in one room which I use sometimes) and a couple of electric heaters. Tis year I decided to run the electric heater, very non Mse, on a low heat in the kitchen all the time for various reasons.

But its been an 'easy' year for temperatures. While the flooding and winds have been vile, the temperatures this season have remianed somewhat favourable so far.

The best things I can say besides the obvious about keeping well dressed are to keep active where you can. Ironing becomes a wonderful chore in this weather, as it really warms one up.

. Chores at double time, and if you have nothing to do? Dance for a bit....fast! I have a duvet on the sofa for times I cannot be active or don't want to be. As I type now I'm under a folded duvet with a dog tucked in next to be for a heat boost.

Get really, really good socks. Or wear two pairs if need be. Choose slippers that co
Me up the ankle, like boots. Which thick soles, like uggs. Freezing feet are no fun at all.

Keep your dog warm.

. Mine have heating, one is old, one is skinny and the other is just a wuss. They have no choice about our circumstances so I think they should be the last to suffer,

.

Watch the fabric of the house. Our foremothers didn't have central heating, but they were better at airing the house than many of us are, and did have things heating the house...fires, ranges etc often. They might not have had a fully warm house at all, but they didn't all live in ice either.

They were physically hard working people too, with few of the labour saing devices, and so generated a lot of warmth doing tasks we do more easily some times.

Think wise.....make those outside trips count....open the door to take the dog out? That's when you take the rubbish out too, the number of times you open the door and for how long really do impact on the warmth of your home. Good curtains, good bedding etc, all make so much difference.

Enjoy it. We've had the most beautiful experiences. Iced windows in the sunrise are a sight worth seeing. I'd do it again and again for that, and in the milder weather this year I've missed it a lot

. I haven't missed the frozen up loos we had a few years ago, but even that was an adventure

.

Topher · 8 January 2014 at 7:07PM

Thanks very much for those responses, I find they're very encouraging. I do the housework in the morning after the heat's gone off, this is also when I have the most energy. I walk the dogs after that, getting the best of the middayish sun! It's been finding myself waiting for the heating to come on that I've found the worst aspect. I do try to do things to distract myself and keep moving (yes ironing actually does become a warming task in winter), although it's more of a struggle (motivation wise) as I get colder, hence the "sitting clothes" which take the edge off it.
I also take the point about airing the house. We've found blasting the steamy downstairs bathroom on the North corner of the house, with open window and door, after showers, far better than the miserable accumulation of damp which smells and feels much more cold and clammy than if aired. We also sleep with a bedroom window cracked open on all but the noisiest of nights. In better times, we bought a goose down quilt (a bit patchy in performance) and separate electric blankets, making bedtime an enjoyable prospect, although I may knit myself a nose cosy. I do old fashioned things like having winter curtains, summer & winter dressing gowns etc. some of which preparations are practical, and some psychological, like candles lit in the empty fireplace.
As I said, Thank you so much, I needed to avoid feeling low about it, I do know there are some people (pensioners particularly) in much worse circumstances than myself. I'll school my spoilt little self to 17 C is not bad 'cos I'm sure you're right.

Topher · 8 January 2014 at 7:16PM

Frozen loos (strictly those of other people make me laugh), won't easily forget the giant poocicle that lay on my friend's lawn after the council plumbers emptied some of her iced up plumbing pipes out to re fit them.
And remember playing with ice on the inside of windows in far colder weather than we've had this year.

lostinrates · 8 January 2014 at 7:25PM

Topher wrote: »

Thanks very much for those responses, I find they're very encouraging. I do the housework in the morning after the heat's gone off, this is also when I have the most energy. I walk the dogs after that, getting the best of the middayish sun! It's been finding myself waiting for the heating to come on that I've found the worst aspect. I do try to do things to distract myself and keep moving (yes ironing actually does become a warming task in winter), although it's more of a struggle (motivation wise) as I get colder, hence the "sitting clothes" which take the edge off it.
I also take the point about airing the house. We've found blasting the steamy downstairs bathroom on the North corner of the house, with open window and door, after showers, far better than the miserable accumulation of damp which smells and feels much more cold and clammy than if aired. We also sleep with a bedroom window cracked open on all but the noisiest of nights. In better times, we bought a goose down quilt (a bit patchy in performance) and separate electric blankets, making bedtime an enjoyable prospect, although I may knit myself a nose cosy. I do old fashioned things like having winter curtains, summer & winter dressing gowns etc. some of which preparations are practical, and some psychological, like candles lit in the empty fireplace.
As I said, Thank you so much, I needed to avoid feeling low about it, I do know there are some people (pensioners particularly) in much worse circumstances than myself. I'll school my spoilt little self to 17 C is not bad 'cos I'm sure you're right.

I can tell you a funny story if you like?

I've told it here before.:D

A couple of years ago when it was VERY cold. I decided to leave a electric heaters on for the sake of the pipes. I put them on in our old kitchen. (Its since been renovated and is MUCH better even without heat working) and stoked up the wood burner before bed.

When I woke in the morning and came down the stairs I could FEEL how much warmer it was down stairs and quickly relit the wood burner, which wasn't warm, but wasn't freezing then rushed through the cold dining room to open what was then the kitchen door, and was hit by warm air.

We had a thermometre in there Nd io rushed over to see what balmy temperature our kitchen had reached ,...and it read.......3 degrees.

Yep. Three degrees. :rotfl: The gust of warmth was a three degree gust. I sat down and laughed, and laughed and laughed.

. I'm less hardy now, just a couple of years later, but I'm still glad i've done it.

There is a lot I'd struggle to give up, but I have gained a lot through this too.

. I pity every one who hasn't had sunrise and ice stained glass windows, or the appreciation of the worth of fuel. Or knowing that I will always be grateful for 16 or seventeen degrees in the future and the savings on the extra temps can go towards something useful and of I feel miffed I can think of the three degree blast of warm air.

lostinrates · 8 January 2014 at 7:28PM

Topher wrote: »

Frozen loos (strictly those of other people make me laugh), won't easily forget the giant poocicle that lay on my friend's lawn after the council plumbers emptied some of her iced up plumbing pipes out to re fit them.
And remember playing with ice on the inside of windows in far colder weather than we've had this year.

Exactly, haven't those of us who've been spared floods and excessive wind damage been blessed so far this season?

. It will get cold, doubtless, but it cannot be for that long now, because spring will break though eventually. When its cold in November you think 'it could be like this for five or six months' but of it gets cold now it can only really be for weeks at most, say ten weeks at the dry longest, and in likely hood, less.:)

krlyr · 8 January 2014 at 7:54PM

Topher wrote: »

Thanks for that, I'm keeping a record of the gas units used, so I'll try a couple of days on my timed plan, and the same length of time on constant low, and see what the comparison is. Do you mean over 24 hours, or with heating off during the night? I must say it's very demotivating being cold in the house, and after regular morning housework chores, I'm not feeling like venturing away from the living area, which means I'm keeping food prep. time down, limiting my cooking time. e.g. Having frozen fingertips from slicing veg, discouraged me from making a batch of crumble mix. (I'm going to go & do it now, but really don't feel like it).

OH set it up (he's an engineer so fitted it too, saving us that cost) but it's set up like sonastin's I think - different temps for different times.

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This is reality, my nose is frozen

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