Is your heating ON or OFF?

Kimitatsu

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Have just asked OH to have a look in the oil tank. He reckons we have used half of the oil we got delivered in December. This means about 375 litres x 62p = £232.50 over 5 weeks. That amount of oil would normally last us at least 8 weeks but with it being so cold and everyone at home over Christmas its not surprising.

We are also using about £12 worth of coal a week so that makes a total of just under £60 a week, without electric.

Dont know how that compares to anyone else. We need to get our cavity walls insulated, but not sure how much difference it will make.

We are about the same for oil YL to be honest!We pay by DD but will have to clear the bill and up the DD for next year if its going to continue in this vein our coal bill is a bit higher, costs us about £25 a week but its cheaper than the oil!

Getting the walls insulated would help - we cant do that as ours are 18 inches thick and filled with rubble so once they are warm they stay warm, just cant afford to let them get cold.

YORKSHIRELASS

I am trying to ration the coal but its really hard! We buy it from the local garden centre which is £6.50 for a 25kg bag and is really decent coal. We used to buy it in bulk but didnt really save that much. I buy 2 bags a week which fills our coal scuttle up 6 times. A scuttle full of coal will last a day so thats actually about £15 a week.

OH is a landscape gardner so can occasionally get bits of wood which go in the stove, always good to have a bit of free heat! We have given up buying logs because I dont think they are as efficient as coal.

Have just put the heating on for an hour but will switch it off again at 5pm. Going to put the oven on for tea in a bit so that will warm the kitchen up. Hate having to think about the cost of the heating all the time but its nice to know I am not on my own!

bluebag

mrsr wrote: »

Thats a good idea bluebag but sadly my Ds has returned ti his wife i know saying sadley sounds awfull butsits a long story and its not good ,i'm really upset about it.The electric bill will go down without all his stuff not on standby and the heating will not be on much now as the children were here alot.I would have rather had the higher bills.

Sorry the news isn't good for you, I am sadly old enough to understand these things. ( long time in the school of hard knocks).

All you can do is hang on , let as much as you can go over your hear and keep a soft place for them to return to if the going gets rough.

Hope it all works out for you.

shegar

mrs-stressed wrote: »

Oh god I am so worried about you all. Your posts are just so tragic and I wish I could something to help (like paying your bills). We are all in this together and I dont honestly think anyone cares - lets start with the government then lets go onto the energy suppliers. There has been not a pip from either about how they are going to help. The elderley even have to half freeze to death and then have to prove that the weather was below freezing for a certain amount of days. What happens if it creeps up one degree - does that mean they dont get the £ help they need. Disgraceful. It must be a lovely warm, glowing feeling sitting in your heated car (with heated seats) driving from one heated place to another, and then sitting in one heated palatial place after another and then going home to the heating full on (for the kiddies). And cooking copious amounts of warm food for everyone. After eating in the works dining room (its a canteen where I come from) a nice hot tasty, nutritious meal without a care in the world. These people have no concept whatsoever of bust pipes, freezing houses, ice on the inside of windows (rotten at that), and then have to pay through the nose for the privilege.

Sorry everyone, I think that was a rant! But I do despair when I read your posts and I do sincerely hope that help is being offered beyond community or family for you all and lets hope the next bout of sh**tty weather isnt quite as bad as we fear...

love and admiration to you all mrs s

Well im with you on this one,ive never known our fuel to be so expensive , the goverment wont help out, and now having VAT going up tomorow it definately wont get any better.....
I do believe you have to do as much as you can for yourselves, such as ,insulation, windows, DG, etc, etc......because no one else will help you.......we are all in the same boat, I also do believe that we will notice everything will be dearer this year.............

I just hope we dont go back to the really severe weather we have had, when we can get to spring , then the best we can all do is to start preparing ourselves for next winter.........putting by a bag of coal here and there, same with wood, so you have a good supply next Oct/Nov to start with......I always make sure I pay my elec and gas DDs all through the year so im prepared for the winter........it takes a big worry off your shoulders ....................keep warm all...

~moneysavingnovice~

Well I just got my 01Oct-31Dec bill:

£156 gas
£95 electricity

Could be worse I suppose. Will have to try to build my utilities piggybank again so I have enough to cover the Jan-Mar one, as well as the water bill which is due around then.

modern_millie_2

Hello all,
I'm new to this thread but have been reading with interest and sympathy. Our household is another with oil heating - we have gone from the position of afew years ago when we could have the central heating on and an oil fired Rayburn for cooking, to this year not having the Rayburn on at all - just too expensive - and heating, unless extremely cold, just mornings and evenings. Cooking is now an electric hob and combination microwave, was always meant as a back up.
We were lucky enough to get our oil in October at about 46p pl, but are trying really hard to conserve supplies so we don't have to buy more. So sorry for you in Scotland and the North with such extreme temps -Yorkshire Lass, our oil usage is a bit lower than yours but I'm sure would have been the same or more in your circs. Agree govt seems to be doing absolutely nothing about the situation, elderly couple featured on local news here(Wales) who ran out of oil just before Christmas and could not afford more - hope they are OK.
Road fuel prices going up and up, to add insult to injury, and not likely to be any help for rural motorists by the look of things.
Sorry to go on, just felt like having a good old rant. All I can think to do is to make sure oil tank is filled by late Summer/early Autumn this year, I think we've taken all insulation measures we can except maybe curtains in the utility room. Will re read this thread and Prep for Winter one when I have time. Let's hope we've had the worst of the snow.

saveabobortwo

but will shortly be reducing the temperature and times but switching over to an open fire to use up collected wood , cones and coal puchased through last summer , had heating on alot this winter but not sorry as we ve all had colds etc etc and last year a bad chest infection which was nt pleasant so tried to keep as warm as possible but do get cross with gas company etc as they know you need fuel but this year looking into solar panels and generating a bit of my own electricity as dont like having to rely on other people and their inflated prices.

Justamum

Well I'm relieved. We had our oil tank filled the other day - 959 litres - and I was dreading the invoice as I'd heard that oil prices were through the roof. It's the same price it was in July 51.9p a litre. I don't know what other people pay, but there's not much choice here for us (just like there's NO choice for electricity or telephone providers)

YORKSHIRELASS

Shhh, dont tell anyone - but I have got the heating on! And the stove lit!! Its sleeting outside and I am struggling to get over a bad cold which developed into sinusitis so have felt really poorly all week. Have also got DS at home not feeling too well.

Oh the house is lovely and toasty, but I feel a bit guilty, will have to switch it off soon.

Well maybe another half hour wont hurt. Just dont tell my OH when he comes in from work. He wont mind me having the heating on but I am always telling him to switch it off!!!

Linda32

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Shhh, dont tell anyone - but I have got the heating on! And the stove lit!! Its sleeting outside and I am struggling to get over a bad cold which developed into sinusitis so have felt really poorly all week. Have also got DS at home not feeling too well.

Oh the house is lovely and toasty, but I feel a bit guilty, will have to switch it off soon.

Well maybe another half hour wont hurt. Just dont tell my OH when he comes in from work. He wont mind me having the heating on but I am always telling him to switch it off!!!

Hi just wanted to say, I'm the same. Unemployed at the moment so I naturally resent it being on during the day. But its just not worth getting cold either.

I'm just getting over a dreadful lurgy as well