Is your heating ON or OFF?

Doom_and_Gloom

The 'normal' ones we had are at the end of their hot life. I knew that and during the summer when it was hot. So I used our small ball ice maker to make little balls to go in the hot water bottle with cold water during the heatwave we had. Best sleep we had at that time was when we had them in the bed with us. 

The only hot water bottle we have at the moment is the long one my OH bought me. We are, erm, sharing it I suppose, lol. It was made the 1st week of June 21 and I didn't use it till the winter that year so this is its second year in use.
I remember them lasting a lot longer when I was younger which does upset me, I'm sure not all of it is due to health and safety but also that they are thinner. However knowing I can give them a new summer job makes me less annoyed and upset.

It is very cold here. I had the heating on earlier and was barely able to get the place up to 14.4C. Due to costs I had to turn it off. It is now 14C. I don't know how they expect people, on a fixed low wage, with all electric places to be able to afford heating to an acceptable level. I am fine with 16/17c personally when wearing appropriate clothing despite my disability but we honestly can't afford to get it up to that easily right now with this weather.

littlemoney

My bedroom was 10.5 degrees this morning and I had ice on the inside my double glazed window. Don't remember that happening with my windows before, only when I was a child with single glazed windows.

mjm3346

The hot water bottle I got a few weeks ago recommends replacing every 2 years (same length as the guarantee)

charybdis26

Having seen some of the recent reports about expiry dates for hot water bottles, plus the photographs of severe burns when splits have occured, a fiver every couple of years seems a small price to pay for that added reassurance.

I've 'got away' with using the same bottle for several years but would no longer want to take even that small risk of potentially severe injury. (An indefinite wait in agony, praying for an ambulance response is a further incentive to play safe.)

KxMx

I had one fail once, luckily it wasn't boiling hot but hot enough to give my foot a minor burn.
It required ice that night and the next night I had to have air on it so slept with it above my covers! 

I'm going to check my eBay history as think I got it from there maybe 2-3 years ago, in which case it's needing to be replaced either this winter or next. 

I'm another one that's had ice inside double glazed windows this week, twice. 

RobM99

Well!   After rattling up £7 in energy yesterday (gulp!) it's the gas CH that's the villain, so today I'll try ne pas le 'eating. I'll not put it on at all today, see what that does, OK it might be a bit Brrr! this eve but I can suffer that in the name of fiscal research!
I have an old bar-type heater that's just 300 watts under my table, plus the sun is doing its best so far!

I'll update this throughout the day;

0930hrs £0.49...on rising (a tad late!)
1130hrs £0.58... TV, fridge, freeezer, lap top, kettle seen action for tea!

shandyclover

A Swiss friend gave me a cherry stone bag many years ago and I love it. You warm it up in the microwave and there's no messing about with boiling water or worrying about the rubber perishing. I've looked them up, yes they are a bit more expensive but maybe it balances out heating in microwave rather than having to boil a kettle, as well as not having to worry about replacing every few years.

https://wheatybags.co.uk/products/cherry-stone-heat-pack-bottle-shaped?v=412694&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4oPN5fz9-wIVx57tCh1EeAZrEAQYBSABEgJ_1vD_BwE

Wednesday2000

Doom_and_Gloom said:

It is very cold here. I had the heating on earlier and was barely able to get the place up to 14.4C. Due to costs I had to turn it off. It is now 14C. I don't know how they expect people, on a fixed low wage, with all electric places to be able to afford heating to an acceptable level. I am fine with 16/17c personally when wearing appropriate clothing despite my disability but we honestly can't afford to get it up to that easily right now with this weather.

I can get ours up to 16 and a half with the heating on, but I haven't got it up to the recommended 18 either. 16/17 seems to be fine for me too. 

Cherryfudge

Thank you for the HWB advice @Primrose. I've had a quick look at our rather large HWB collection: it seems the children left some behind when they grew up and moved out but those are mini ones that never saw much action. With the following dates (05, 08  , 09, 16, 16, 16 and one with no apparent date) I think I will urge caution and a trial fill and empty before use.

The ice bottle idea is such a good one for hot weather - presumably also suitable for cooling overheated pets?

Primrose

Cherryfudge said:

Thank you for the HWB advice @Primrose. I've had a quick look at our rather large HWB collection: it seems the children left some behind when they grew up and moved out but those are mini ones that never saw much action. With the following dates (05, 08  , 09, 16, 16, 16 and one with no apparent date) I think I will urge caution and a trial fill and empty before use.

Must confess we were a bit shaken at the potential risks we've been taking without realising. Quite apart from the scalding risk, the thought of having to change wet bed linen and dry out a sodden mattress in the middle of winter due to a leak when the cost of heating is a big deterrent was enough to make us realise buying a replacement item was a much cheaper and more convenient option!