Is your heating ON or OFF?

Novice_investor101

Since spending £225 in December & £205 in Jan, the heating in my house is off in the daytimes. The timer comes on for an hour early morning & 3 hours in the evenings. My spreadsheet tells me I’ve used up all the credit I had built up. I’m wearing an insulated puffy jacket indoors & thermals under my trousers. It’s not actually getting that cold indoors, drops to 16c in the day & the heating is set to 18.5c. I use my hot water bottle all day when I’m working from home. 

I’m putting the £67 gov money back into it & increased my DD to £100 a month, intending to start early with building up the credit for next winter. Realistically, that £400 from the Gov is what made this winter bearable & I won’t have that next year so need to cut back elsewhere now to save up. 

Seems a world away when my £50pm DD actually covered my annual gas & electricity bills! 

Auntycaz

I came off a one year fix in October and couldn't believe how much the cost had gone up.  I've doubled up my curtains on both the windows and the doors and also made draught excluders for the doors which has made quite a bit of difference.  Hope everyone else is finding ways to keep the bills down. 

Rosa_Damascena

Auntycaz said:

I came off a one year fix in October and couldn't believe how much the cost had gone up.  I've doubled up my curtains on both the windows and the doors and also made draught excluders for the doors which has made quite a bit of difference.  Hope everyone else is finding ways to keep the bills down. 

I was surprised how much of a difference layering up has made, esp tights under trousers.

charybdis26

It's been a beautiful, sunny day here in balmy Berkshire, with the week ahead forecast to be much the same. GCH has been off since last Sunday and today I didn't even bother with my hot water bottle as the living room peaked at 16C with the strengthening sun.

I'm hopeful that the sun alone will provide warmth enough for the week ahead at least. Although the nights are predicted to hover either side of freezing, the strength and duration of the sun are likely to maintain a 14C minimum in my living room - more than comfortable enough for me with layered clothing and a hot water bottle as fallback.

Despite the recent cold snap, my energy audit for January '23 was ~100 kWh Gas, 33 kWh electricity (£43 at standard variable prices.)

wort

I’m another that only has central heating, I have set it for 18 for an hour at tea time, but on days I’m at home if my hands and face are so cold that I can’t get warm even under my many layers and fur throws, I have put it on 16 degrees around 3pm.
The average in the warmest room has been 13 degrees most days the months since the heating has been on.
i am going to reset the heating so it’s on at 16 instead of 18 at teatime. I have it below 10 the rest of the time, but tend to click the boiler to just water at bedtime until the following teatime anyway.

Auntycaz

I woke up to thick freezing fog this morning which has only just cleared. Our forecast for today is between -5 and +5 degrees and it always feels colder when it's damp outside so heating is definitely still set at 15/16 degrees all day and 11/12 degrees overnight on the thermostat as I'm home all day most days but I only heat my living room, hall and bathroom 
I find it more comfortable to keep a low temperature constantly rather than letting it get really cold and then having to heat it up from scratch and have had to cut costs elsewhere rather than on my heating. 

KxMx

I'm expecting my winter bill any day now, accounting for the 48 hour data delay on smart meter it should be approximately £350 for the quarter. I am £201 in credit thanks to the EBBS. 
Gas central heating, electric cooker and shower. 

I have significantly more saved up in the energy pot, so after leaving in a bit in there to build on I can use the money for other things.

It's my first winter here (ground floor one bed flat), I've have had a gas leak repaired, significant air leaks filled in bedroom (which is the cold room anyway) and recently a new front door which has much better draught proofing.
So I've probably had to over use at times to compensate for various issues.

I'm still having it come on twice a day, I have just reduced it by 30 mins each time so now it's on for 2 hours in morning and 3 in evening. 

I have the temperature set at 22 for the heating times, which sounds insane, but the thermostat is in a small hall which is also the warmest place in the whole flat. So it has to be that high there to get the large living room and large bedroom up to a comfortable temperature. 

Novice_investor101

KxMx said:

I'm expecting my winter bill any day now, accounting for the 48 hour data delay on smart meter it should be approximately £350 for the quarter. I am £201 in credit thanks to the EBBS. 
Gas central heating, electric cooker and shower. 

I have significantly more saved up in the energy pot, so after leaving in a bit in there to build on I can use the money for other things.

It's my first winter here (ground floor one bed flat), I've have had a gas leak repaired, significant air leaks filled in bedroom (which is the cold room anyway) and recently a new front door which has much better draught proofing.
So I've probably had to over use at times to compensate for various issues.

I'm still having it come on twice a day, I have just reduced it by 30 mins each time so now it's on for 2 hours in morning and 3 in evening. 

I have the temperature set at 22 for the heating times, which sounds insane, but the thermostat is in a small hall which is also the warmest place in the whole flat. So it has to be that high there to get the large living room and large bedroom up to a comfortable temperature. 

My thermostat is actually set to 16c because it’s at the bottom of the stairs & close to the dehumidifier blowing out dry air. 16c on the stat is 18.5c in both downstairs rooms (kitchen & lounge). 

KxMx

I did experiment with different temperatures in the hall and what did/didn't feel comfortable in the big rooms.
I've been tempted to get one of those portable gadgets that measure the individual room temperature, but I got rather obsessed with one of those in my last home, not sure I'd trust myself with one again 😂

Rosa_Damascena

I am desperate for spring now, have really had enough of this chilly weather! 4.30am and the heating is on.