How to delay switching the central heating on

cumbrianmum

My OH and I owe our gas supplier nearly £600 :eek: (we pay by monthly dd and switched to lowest provider but monthly payment wasn't set high enough!) So I'm seeking ideas that will delay putting the central heating on but still keep the family warm now we're in a cold snap. We do have a logburner in the lounge so in one room we're toasty - but the others are a bit chilly now.

My inital ideas are:
Eat plenty of stodgy food - dumplings, stews, pasta etc.
Wear vests, plenty of layers and socks
Hot water bottles

Does anyone have any better ideas please?

MORPH3US

Wooly hats, slippers and gloves, seriously.....

Its the extermities of the body that get coldest, my hands are freezing right now.

Wearing the above will keep these extremities warm and will make the rest of your body feel warm!!!!

M

Smashing

There's a whole thread dedicated to this in the OS forum here.

Imelda

Hi Cumbrian mum,

There are a couple of threads related to this in OS and utilities:

here's one: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=247646

Some great ideas in there, I haven't switched my heating on yet either, just been drinking plenty of hot drinks, wrapping up and staying at my OH's!

Imelda

snap!

Great minds smashing....

cumbrianmum

Brilliant - Thanks will go to the threads for other suggestions

whatatwit

Go to bed early.

bobbadog

We've just got our first gas bill, which is £58 for the quarter for our one bed flat. It's quite a low bill, but as my man and I have no money and we've yet to put the heating on, it's bedsocks and hot water bottles for now!

Incidentally - get the insulation tape for your windows, wipe up window condensation every day, draught excluders at bottom of gappy doors (and insulation stuff at top if badly hanged), keep the oven door open after cooking, etc.

cumbrianmum

Thanks whatatwit - first time I've laughed today!

whatatwit

What do you have that uses gas, apart from the heating?

I try and read my meters every week or so then I work out how much we have used/spent.

Have you a free supply of wood to burn, then at least you could open the lounge door and try and heat the rest of the house for free.

pudding06

I've taken to wearing a fleece jacket in the house, and big hiking socks.

I try to stop any drafts form doors but rolling up old towels.

I find that when I use the oven it heats some of the house as well but I fill the oven so we often have extra portions to freeze or a nice rice pudding to for afters, yum.

And keep active durting the day , and snuggle up with kids(if theyre young lol) on the sofa, with a blanket or sleeoping bag or even a duvet, to watch a dvd etc. My kids used to love that - and its a great way of getting cuddles, and bringing the kids closer together:D

just some thoughts

pudds