Is your heating ON or OFF?

SuzeQStan

@MikeJXE - good to hear you won’t let yourself go cold sounds like you have a decent reserve of balance.

@Rosa_Damascena - is there a smaller room you could WFH in - possibly cheaper to heat as a result?  My desk lives in a weird little dog leg space with a door on it in the winter - it’s probablu 6x8foot max and 2 minutes of GCH blast is enough to keep me for hours plus leccy blanket, fingerless gloves & layers.

sposed to get up to 14 degrees here on Saturday!  Get the bikini out LOL

MikeJXE

SuzeQStan said:

@MikeJXE - good to hear you won’t let yourself go cold sounds like you have a decent reserve of balance.

@Rosa_Damascena - is there a smaller room you could WFH in - possibly cheaper to heat as a result?  My desk lives in a weird little dog leg space with a door on it in the winter - it’s probablu 6x8foot max and 2 minutes of GCH blast is enough to keep me for hours plus leccy blanket, fingerless gloves & layers.

sposed to get up to 14 degrees here on Saturday!  Get the bikini out LOL

I live in a 1 bed ground floor flat no door is ever closed windows rarely opened 

You have no doubt heard of the phrase “cut the cloth according to the purse” Thats what I have done since my wife died and I retired 

I have learned over many years having lived in old/new 3/4 bed houses and bungalows what is important to me 

I am a pensioner living on £14,000 per year with a small amount of savings interest 

My usual practice of controlling my heating is turn it up when I’m not warm, 16 night 19/20 day

Since it has been very cold over the last few days it is now on 24 hours at 18 and according to my Hive,  the boiler is sometimes on less than before and I have not needed to turn it up

My dual fuel DD is £50 a month and at £230 credit so I am happy with my situation 

Auntycaz

It was -4 here this morning with a thick frost, but with the wind chill it felt much colder so I've still not ventured to the shop, but I will have to brave the weather tomorrow as I've nearly run out of milk. The heating's been on non stop since this cold spell started, and its not helped that my neighbours have been away since the weekend as the heat seems to be escaping through the adjoining wall.I'm well wrapped up,  but my feet are the hardest part to keep warm.even though I have thick socks and slippers on. Stay safe and warm everyone .

Florenceem

No wind here so didn't feel too bad when I went out today.

Wednesday2000

I have the heating on for an hour. I wore tights without any socks yesterday and really noticed the difference. I have got out my Norwegian thermal socks and am wearing them now. I always have to have my neck warm and my feet to feel okay. 

Rosa_Damascena

I had it on this 8-11am and switched it off when the SMETS2 hit the £5 mark. 

PrincessMellie

I have rejoined the thrifty crew and taken on some more of @Primrose 's advice.

I won the curtain battle. Thermal curtains for the bedroom, living room, and a draft excluder for the front door (now, if I could only figure out how to stop the keyhole from being like a wind tunnel). Ordered on the internet, with cashback, and I got £115 worth of vouchers from work for the FlatPack Palace so that's cut the costs very much. 

I've also made myself wear two pairs of socks everyday (a thin pair and a thicker 'wooly' pair) and I keep a hat on. And a jumper at all times, plus a pair of leggings because I cannot justify spending £80 on a thermal set. 

weenancyinAmerica

@PrincessMellie - maybe you could make a keyhole cover that hangs over the door handles - It can be part of your holiday decoration. Felt would be good, especially if double thickness, to hang better. 

PrincessMellie

I think I might have to do this, or at the very least, peg a towel or something over the door handle. I'll see if my mother wants to have a go with some felt from an old coat or something. 

We had the heating up at 26 degrees this week because of the cold (my mother who lives with me is disabled and cannot get cold) but the heating bill will be astonomical if we raise it beyond 20 degrees. I won't take it any lower or we'll get more damp in the house but we must not raise it any more than 20. I will not allow anymore. Seeing people in this thread not go over 18 degrees is showing me the error of my ways. 

HouseMartin567

@PrincessMellie My thermal set came from Amazon for about £20. Bought about 14 months ago and washes up well.

The last few days I’ve been WFH so have been putting the heating on when I get up at 7am and turning it off about 8pm.  I’ve kept it to 17 degrees for all of that time - granted it takes a few hours to reach that temp. The smart meter has been settling at around £6 per day, but this also includes standing charge and normal electricity usage. Outdoor temps seem to be 10+ degrees for the next week so hopefully the heating system won’t need to work as hard to maintain temp and the bill will reduce slightly.