I can't afford to heat my home

greenbee

It's worth checking out with your neighbours whether you can book your oil deliveries together - there has been some discussion about this on this forum, and I know it's done in my parents' village.

We grew up with no CH, although we had an aga in the kitchen that kept the rooms above it from getting too cold, and an open fire in the living room (again, the chimney warmed the rooms above. We also had oil filled radiators when it was very cold, and I still remember hanging my clothes on it before I went to bed (under duvet & blankets, in flannel PJs with hw bottle!), then switching it on when I woke up so my clothes would warm up and dressing under the covers! It meant it was only on for 15 minutes or so, but enough to mean it wasn't too cold to get out of bed. Oil filled radiators are probably safer than halogen heaters or calor gas if you have kids. Some of them also have timers on them, so you can set them to come on at getting up time, and if you need to, going to bed time (although a cold bedroom might encourage children to get into bed rather than rushing about!).

You do need to try to heat the house enough to keep it dry - if you can put off switching it on for a bit, maybe you can save enough to get the tank filled, and just try to make it last. It will be cheaper to buy with neighbours than to have a regular top-up, and if you're really watching your usage you may not need £50/month.

misscomickat

Thermals....I ride a scooter and it gets very cold. Thermal long sleeved vests are great.

Being cold is horrible. I grew up in a house without central heating and I hated winter.


Oh, and those heating up hand warmer things are quite good. I've also seen teddies that you warm up in the microwave, they look worth a try.

flufff

I have a feeling this could be your landlords responsibilility.I'm sure my ex fatherinlaw got rehoused by the council as his accomodation had damp and no central heating. May be an idea to approach citizens advice/council see what they say.

magneto

Hello Buckaroo

if you are on a low income, you can approach your local authority to cover the cost of insulation

surfsister

buckaroo wrote: »

I have recently moved to a 4 bed, rented house that has oil central heating.

I have come to the conclusion that I can't afford to use oil, I am a single parent and I would struggle severely to put 500 litres in the tank.

I am currently heating my hot water with the immersion heater on the occasions when we need a bath.

I've been looking at other ways of keeping the house warm and was thinking of buying some sort of electric heater. I am considering a halogen heater, as these seem fairly cheap to buy and give out a fairly instant heat. I am slightly worried about the safety implications though with 4 kids running around.

I'd appreciate any suggestions on keeping my house warm this winter. I've already purchased warm pyjamas, dressing gowns and slippers for the kids but any other tips would be great.

TIA.

I don't suppose you have chimneys as open fires can be quite cheap? I got lots of coal and wood from freecycle ( a yahoo group) and save a fortune. If not a log burner?

What about a storage heater for the one room? a calor gas heater would be good but does smell and make condensation.

Could you half fill the oil tank and just use the one radiator during the day?

Also keep doors shut in that one room and shut the curtains as soon as it gets dusk to keep the heat in. Double glazing that room would help even using cling film or cheap plastic secondary glazing you make yourself. (we did this and it works quite well and can be removed in summer) Thick carpets or rugs help too.

Good luck!! Take up knitting and knit jumpers/scarves/blankets

twiglet98

I'm paying £140/month direct debit for heating oil (cleared o/s amount with the August payment, leaving about £50 credit towards this winter. I usually get 1000 ltr in Oct, Jan, March and May (old rusty metal tank holds 600 gal) but didn't have the May delivery this year and am sure the sight gauge is wrong, reading 1/3 tank. Can't see how to dip it with a cane as there's a bend at the top of the filler pipe. My electricity is £95/month, elect cooking as no gas in the village. It's a concrete walled, tiled roof 3 bed/2 bath/2 living room semi.

I too grew up in a damp house with gas fires downstairs and initially an Aladdin paraffin heater on the landing, progressing to plug-in oil-filled radiators. Dressing in front of the fire, all of us using the same bathwater in succession, sleeping in socks etc, were all perfectly acceptable, the only real misery was when the house was damp. My 88 year old mother still lives there, still uses those radiators, swears by her electric blanket and never gets ill.

I can't sustain these horrendous bills and have to reduce our huge fuel consumption. After 10 years as a single parent working part-time round the school run, I am spending massively more than is coming in. The problem is that my kids are older - 16, 20 and 22, and the eldest's partner (27) lives here too. Youngest just started 6th form, next is 'between jobs', currently on JSA and having to stay at his father's until he has a job and can contribute to the cost of living here. My eldest and her partner pay £150/month each in rent, do 99% of the cooking and the 'luxury' shopping (nice cheese etc, the Sunday roasts and maybe a bottle of wine), they are both extravagant and they absolutely refuse to make any concessions in terms of saving fuel.

Despite my daily grumbles (and occasional meltdown), they leave lights on all over the house, leave windows open, light the open fire most nights to burn a whole bag of logs, put the tumble dryer on, before I wake, for one shirt or pair of trousers that they'd put in the washing machine at their early bedtime and I hadn't taken out to hang up, wander around in short sleeves and bare feet but turn the oil heating on to 25C... I can't get the concept of economy through to any of them - any ideas welcome!

Miroslav

I can't offer any real advice, but 2 winters ago, my boiler broke down and my landlord would not fix it, so I had no hot water all throughout winter, so had to keep boiling kettles etc.

This winter, I cannot afford to run my gas fire or electrical heaters - 1. Because I am poor and alot of my money goes on debts and 2. because what heating I could afford is now void as my flatmate heats her room more than is needed.

I am unemployed through sickness and apparently there is no help for me as I am too young at 32 and not on the right benefits.

It really is a case of warm clothes and duvets on the sofa. This is what I do and although not perfect, better than freezing your nuts off!

ZoeGirl_3

Magentasue wrote: »

I would seriously consider moving as many kids as possible into the bedrooms rather than spreading out into all four.

Freecycle or charity shops for old heavy curtains for any windows that don't have them. Close them early to keep the cold out - almost as good as double glazing. And, as Barney'smum says, sitting under quilts in the evening works. If you bring down a couple of the kids' duvets they'll warm up in the room.

I agree with moving some of the children into the same room and other comments above. In a similar situation myself last year, I heated only two rooms with convection heaters, the lounge and the one bedroom that both me and my son slept in. After he went to bed heater in the lounge went off.

To try and keep the heat in, since house was badly insulated, I hung thick blankets behind the curtains in a plain tan colour I bought from a garage sale for hardly anything. To hang I just made to small holes and screwed in two half circle hooks behind curtains, you couldn't see them inside, no one really noticed them at night, and during the day I took them down.

Hot water bottles are a godsend, we have better heating this year (different house) and still have the 4 from last year, on a REALLY cold night, we had two each.

I think some tips like if you use your oven after you have finished open the door and let the heat disipate into the kitchen are good too.

The worst thing is the damp, as people have mentioned. The house just never seemed to dry out properly.

tinbucket

buckaroo wrote: »

Magentasue - we only moved in just over a month ago. I have been desperate to move for ages, I was living on a large, very rough council estate and really wanted to get out. This house is perfect for us, it is near the kids school, near their friends and near my family, unfortunately I just didn't consider the cost of heating the place when I came to see it.

We already share the bath water as much as possible, so that isn't a problem.

I've been looking on ebay for woolly jumpers and will also check charity shops.

I have considered a calor gas heater, but was worried about condensation. I had one years ago and it seemed to make the room quite damp, maybe they've improved since then?

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. I think it is going to be quite a shock for the kids this winter, our old house was a mid terrace and was naturally quite warm, they aren't used to dressing up in socks and slippers but hopefully they'll see it as a novelty!

Be mindful of the Calor gas fire. And most importantly that of CO gas poisoning. If you seal up the doors and windows to prevent drafts, you'll also be preventing the flame of the burner from feeding on air for it's oxygen. You and your 4 kids all need oxygen as does the fire. As you all compete for the same air, the flame will begin to improperly burn causing fumes. BE CAREFUL.

I'd recommend if you're getting a Calor gas fire, especially if it's second hand, to buy a CO gas detector and stick it in the same room as the fire. PLEASE don't underestimate these things.

Jumpers - Can you knit? Learn. will save you a packet. hats, gloves, jumpers, socks... clickerty click... jumpers for christmas.

Good luck

foreign_correspondent

Agreed with the carbon monoxide detector - one from Wilkos which was about £18 saved my life last year.