Is your heating ON or OFF?

SuzeQStan

I’ve had both same arm / same day too. No I’ll effects other than slightly sore arm

Auntycaz

Thank you for your good wishes @SuzeQStan and @ET22.  I have a flu jab every year and have never had any ill effects from them but after my covid jab this year I had a sore heavy arm for about 5 days and was a bit headachy. I've not had this before from previous covid vaccines. 

HouseMartin567

A lot milder this weekend (if a bit wet) which meant I didn’t have to put the heating on. Didn’t drop below 15 in my living room. Looks like temperatures are going to cool a bit in the coming days so sure it won’t be too long until I hit that switch again!

catz4m8z

Just got my electric bill for the last 2 mths and its not as bad as I thought it would be. Am celebrating by setting the timers on the electric heaters for an extra 3 hrs a day!
They are my only heating so I now have them on for 3 hr intervals morning, afternoon and evening, depending on what room Im going to be in.
I will check again the end of Dec but TBH Im fed up being cold and thinking I cant possibly spend money on heating just because its expensive....Its stupid to be miserable and cold when you dont have to be (I panic so much about heating for winter that I overpay all year anyways and am in crazy credit currently! ).

Rosa_Damascena

catz4m8z said:

Just got my electric bill for the last 2 mths and its not as bad as I thought it would be. Am celebrating by setting the timers on the electric heaters for an extra 3 hrs a day!
They are my only heating so I now have them on for 3 hr intervals morning, afternoon and evening, depending on what room Im going to be in.
I will check again the end of Dec but TBH Im fed up being cold and thinking I cant possibly spend money on heating just because its expensive....Its stupid to be miserable and cold when you dont have to be (I panic so much about heating for winter that I overpay all year anyways and am in crazy credit currently! ).

Whilst this is true, so many are in genuine fuel poverty. I can afford to heat my home but find the costs galling. I am a healthy £300 in credit atm but that surplus will be easily chewed up within less than a month if I do heat my home properly. So for now, it is staying off.

How on earth are those with no or a low income supposed to manage? People are going to end up sicker and reach out to a NHS that cannot help them. This is a systematic destruction of the most vulnerable people in society.

Thankfully today is very mild for mid-December - 14degC - but that doesn't bode well for the rest of the planet.

Nelliegrace

Our gas and electricity bill from Utility Warehouse for November was about the same as the fixed rate BG wanted us to pay every month. I have my old thermal leggings under my joggers now, a thin, inexpensive extra layer, which makes a lot of difference. Aldi has adults hoodie blankets at £9.99 this week. 

I have been reading Grandma Donna’s blog from the USA. The cost of health insurance and other essentials have gone up so much that they have had to cut back their spending. She tries to be more self reliant, as her family were in the past. They have closed off parts of their small house for winter. They have made space for another relative if it becomes necessary, in the same way that people used to have a lodger to help with expenses. 

https://gdonna.com/living-like-the-past/the-hidden-journey/

Matty246

I've heard talk of the standing charge being done away with. I hope so. It's so unfair, especially on people struggling and using as little as possible. You don't get to the checkout at the supermarket and get charged for your groceries and another one on top for the upkeep of the building. 

Rosa_Damascena

Matty246 said:

I've heard talk of the standing charge being done away with. I hope so. It's so unfair, especially on people struggling and using as little as possible. You don't get to the checkout at the supermarket and get charged for your groceries and another one on top for the upkeep of the building. 

I do get the need for standing charges, although I am not fond of paying them.

MSE Martin's dual tariff suggestion is the best we are going to get, but we won't see it for 18 months at least. Hence I picked an 18 month fix recently, with a plan to change to minimise costs once more in June 2026. My usage wasn't low, its what I would categorise as ultra-low, but is still costing nearly £1,400 pa.

So for now, my heating is staying switched off.

MikeJXE

Rosa_Damascena said:

Matty246 said:

I've heard talk of the standing charge being done away with. I hope so. It's so unfair, especially on people struggling and using as little as possible. You don't get to the checkout at the supermarket and get charged for your groceries and another one on top for the upkeep of the building. 

I do get the need for standing charges, although I am not fond of paying them.

MSE Martin's dual tariff suggestion is the best we are going to get, but we won't see it for 18 months at least. Hence I picked an 18 month fix recently, with a plan to change to minimise costs once more in June 2026. My usage wasn't low, its what I would categorise as ultra-low, but is still costing nearly £1,400 pa.

So for now, my heating is staying switched off.

What world do you live in ? 

My heating is what I call low costing me £600 a year and in credit, my ultra low would be less than that if I wanted to be cold but I don’t. 

My heating is minimum 18 degrees 24 hours a day, I’m out today from 9am till 6pm but it’s still on 

SuzeQStan

MikeJXE said:

Rosa_Damascena said:

What world do you live in ? 

My heating is what I call low costing me £600 a year and in credit, my ultra low would be less than that if I wanted to be cold but I don’t. 

My heating is minimum 18 degrees 24 hours a day, I’m out today from 9am till 6pm but it’s still on 

Comparisons like this aren’t the most helpful as everyone’s circumstances are different - residences are bigger/smaller some have fillable cavity walls some are older properties with solid walls, some lucky ones have all the insulation options going etc.  

if we set our heating at 18 degrees 24 hours a day we would have gas charges in excess of the ones that @Rosa_Damascena mentions.