Elderly OStylers please keep warm

Popperwell

Even if you keep doors and windows closed and you are in a smaller property if the price of heat and electric is too high people will still have to leave it off and depend on wearing more clothes, HWB and staying under the duvet.

And whilst no one would turn down the offer of money towards heating costs, if I was getting it all it would pay is the standing charges not the actual gas being used.

I agree with much of what Byatt and B&T say...

Molly41

Actually i feel it is a competition on said thread - who can hold out the longest.

suzybloo

This is also available to certain catergories - maybe check that those eligible receive it - and also if they are they are aware they will receive it - they may then feel in a better position for putting their heating on. My MIL received hers off her recent bill.
https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme/overview

Popperwell

Molly41 wrote: »

Actually i feel it is a competition on said thread - who can hold out the longest.

I know:p

Though many do admit to having had to put the heating on. I sometimes wish I had either gas or electric and not both. But when renting I'm not allowed to cancel one service and I assume turn it off/remove the meter to avoid standing charges...

WantToBeSE

I post pretty much daily on the "is your heating on or off" thread, and i dont feel like its a compeition at all.
I put my heating on as and when i feel its necessary. I make sure i wear an extra layer and not wondering around the house in shorts, t shirts and bear feet before i put the heating on, but i also ask the kids to tell me if they are cold enough to want the heating on.

Anyhow- OP i hope your FIL is home again soon, and heating is on!

Uniscots97

I bought my grandparents each a wheat bag it meant they could keep warm easily and I knew they weren't trying to fill a hot water bottle with boiling water. My Gran (my Grandpa passed away last year) now keeps a travel blanket on the back of her chair, she says it means when she's sitting it warmer around her neck.

Popperwell

WantToBeSE wrote: »

I post pretty much daily on the "is your heating on or off" thread, and I dont feel like its a compeition at all.
I put my heating on as and when i feel its necessary. I make sure i wear an extra layer and not wondering around the house in shorts, t shirts and bear feet before I put the heating on, but I also ask the kids to tell me if they are cold enough to want the heating on.

Anyhow- OP i hope your FIL is home again soon, and heating is on!

Gone are the days when I could walk aroubnd in shorts and T-shirts, don't see them ever returning.

suzybloo wrote: »

This is also available to certain catergories - maybe check that those eligible receive it - and also if they are they are aware they will receive it - they may then feel in a better position for putting their heating on. My MIL received hers off her recent bill.
https://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme/overview

I may try for it but we'll have to see with all the changes coming...

I noticed that the Winter Fuel allowance won't happen for somne time as I am to young:pby 7 years...and the cold weather payments don't start until November yet for many October has been pretty cold and I they end in March but I found April pretty cold too.

Now I'll have mixed feelings as about them because I'd prefer it to be a warmer Winter but equally it is nice to get an extra £25. On the other hand it would be awful if it is cold but perhaps just under the temperature that gets you the payment. Perhaps by one degree:mad:

butterfly72

Winter deaths are a massive problem in this country. Its not so much hypothermia, as in th OP case but cardiovascular and respiratory problems which cause the deaths. For example after bouts of cold weather admissions for heart attacks and stroke rise. I think this is because the cold somehow makes the blood more likely to clot. Also, the cold makes the lungs more suseptible to chest infections. The flu jab is a good idea for the elderly etc and their carers.

Winter deaths in scandinavia are relatively low compared to the uk, ireland and spain. This is because they are more prepared for cold weather with regards to home insulation, fuel and wrapping up warm.

Hope this resource helps someone. http://www.ageuk.org.uk/get-involved/spread-the-warmth/

lostinrates

WantToBeSE wrote: »

I post pretty much daily on the "is your heating on or off" thread, and i dont feel like its a compeition at all.
I put my heating on as and when i feel its necessary. I make sure i wear an extra layer and not wondering around the house in shorts, t shirts and bear feet before i put the heating on, but i also ask the kids to tell me if they are cold enough to want the heating on.

Anyhow- OP i hope your FIL is home again soon, and heating is on!

We did not have any central heating last year, and scant heating till the boiler finally died the very cold winter before that. We have a wood burner that is ok, but a very old, draughty wreck of a renovation project.

That thread kept me sane, and the ' assault' of people putting down those genuinely struggling (rater than competing) was truely, truely demoralising.

Next week ( I hope) our new boiler goes in and I will be grateful as my health took a down turn this summe and while I feel much better now the pills cause side effects which I am finding are worse in cold weather. I will always be grateful to the people whose companionship when we could not afford heating with other commitments we had made was so welcome.

Finding ways to keep warm and safe minimising heating use was invaluable, the good spirit of others even more so.

No one who can afford to should get ill in lieu of heating their homes, but when choice is restricted knowing how to most safely minimise use and keep warm without central heating in good spirit with company is more valuable.

Those chipping away at people on the no heating thread saw me leave it, and lose a source of good cheer.

WantToBeSE

Oh, sorry you had that experience lostinrates, its such a shame that others can make it into a competition and ruin it for others.
I have only quite recently joined that thread, so i have either not been around when that was going on, or it went right over my head (i am so unobservant, thats quite possible!!).