Does anyone here not have central heating and what do you use/how do you cope?

Dunroamin

We have oil fired central heating which is expensive to run so we don't use it a great deal. Mainly we use reversible air conditioning units which are very cheap to run (and have the bonus of keeping you cool in the summer).

motherofstudents

Oh you are a hardy lot. We have a woodburner which is on every night and the central heating is on all the time but only on around 18C. I read that it is more economical to turn it off and have it on maybe 20C just for however many hours you want it so might do that. I feel cold just thinking about having no heating and using blankets........

When we were growing up we had no heating other than a coal fire and I can remember getting out of bed to go to school and there would be ice on the windows.

Turtle

I really feel the cold and quite honestly can only imagine I'd be very miserable living in a house without heating. It's not just wearing extra clothes to keep warm, it's the fact the rooms would still be cold and I'd hate that, I love a nice warm room. The idea of having to wear gloves in the house is not a happy one.

shegirl

I have gas central heating throughout (except for the kitchen,which is really annoying) and an electric fire in the living room.

Heating is set at 20 degrees which is fine,don't have it on all day,but most of the evening at the mo.I love the fire in the living room and sometimes use that instead for a while.It gives enough heat out for the living room and dining room during the day or early evening or if it isn't too cold.

Only been here a few weeks though and my bedroom radiator is currently laid on the floor as it just had to be on the party wall that I've just had soundproofed:rotfl: So,the plaster is taking an age to dry,it's cold and I'm sleeping downstairs for the time being lol

Should be nice when the radiator is back on the wall though,especially with the insulation the soundproofing will also give.

Hopefully the soundproofing that's being done downstairs next week will keep things warmer too,along with good laminate underlay.

I've lived in properties with no decent heating before,many years ago.
My parents used to have a gas fire and a calor gas fire in the living room while the rest of the house froze

My first flat had a storage heater in the living room and that was it.

The second had dodgy central heating that I refused to use so bought loads of convection heaters instead.Me and ds still had to wear loads of layers,snuggle under quilts etc It was horrible.

My first house was bliss

I wouldn't live without central heating now tbh.Nothing worse than having to wear lots of clothes/gloves (done that before!) and snuggle under things to try and keep warm.

mademoiselle_2

I will never, never, understand the British. This is a cold, wet, damp, clammy, wind-blown island. Night time temperatures can be below freezing at any point for six months of the year. It rains, and it rains, and it rains. And yet there seems to be a competition going on about who can least adequately heat their homes!!

Being cold and damp injures health. It causes bronchitis, worsens asthma, promotes allergies, weakens the immune system... I could go on and on.

Being cold is a miserable thing. It's the epitome of poverty. I can't imagine how people can be proud of 'lasting' without heating!

And before anyone jumps on me about it being the cost of heating that stops them... an awful lot of people in this country will spend £40 - £70 pounds a month - the same as it would cost to properly heat their homes - on paying for Sky TV, or running a mobile phone contract. They never moan about the cost of that... but will turn radiators down (or not turn them on at all) to save money. Incomprehensible!

For me, it's a no-brainer. Keeping warm is top of the list.

I just don't understand it. I never will.

Mrs_Ryan

Our boiler broke early this year and we simply cant afford to have it replaced so we have no central heating. Until the back end of last month we managed with no heating at all and just wore layers of clothes but when it got to the stage where I once had to wear four hoodies (thick ones) a dressing gown, a pair of jeans, a pair of joggers, 2 pairs of socks, Uggs and had a blanket over me and was still shivering I begged OH to do something.
He bought 2 convector heaters from Argos for 35 each and they are amazing. I have one in my computer room and he has one downstairs and they warm the entire room lovely. The bedroom is cold but we have a thick blanket over the quilt and its fine. We have a tumble dryer in the garage which seems to be constantly running and an electric shower but otherwise no hot water.
When our boiler went bang BG agreed to disconnect the supply and given the fact we're now both disabled (OH has been disabled for years but my disability is recent) they allowed us a special payment plan to pay off the large bill from when the boiler did work. Upshot is the leccy bill is massive (63 a month :eek:) but its better than being cold...

shegirl

mademoiselle wrote: »

I will never, never, understand the British. This is a cold, wet, damp, clammy, wind-blown island. Night time temperatures can be below freezing at any point for six months of the year. It rains, and it rains, and it rains. And yet there seems to be a competition going on about who can least adequately heat their homes!!

Being cold and damp injures health. It causes bronchitis, worsens asthma, promotes allergies, weakens the immune system... I could go on and on.

Being cold is a miserable thing. It's the epitome of poverty. I can't imagine how people can be proud of 'lasting' without heating!

And before anyone jumps on me about it being the cost of heating that stops them... an awful lot of people in this country will spend £40 - £70 pounds a month - the same as it would cost to properly heat their homes - on paying for Sky TV. They never moan about the cost of that... but will turn radiators down (or not turn them on at all) to save money. Incomprehensible!

For me, it's a no-brainer. Keeping warm is top of the list.

I just don't understand it. I never will.

Same here.Two things I will never scrimp on are heating and food

suzeesu2000

It's not about scrimping to save money; it's about not having the funds to pay for the heating. For a lot of us, there is a choice: eat or heat. At the beginning of 2011, we owed over £1000 to our energy supplier and I was in constant fear of them disconnecting the electricity. Yes, we are cold but having paid the bills off over the past 18 months, we cant have that level of dread hanging over us again.

My lovely hubby is recovering from cancer and, since four big operations last year, he feels the cold dreadfully so he wraps up in layers and a lovely noisy feather duvet which keeps him all toasty. If it gets unbearably cold, we have an emergency electric heater but it has to be rationed.

I time my laundry to coincide with warmer days or do the very smallest amount and use an airer in the kitchen after the stove has been used, works fine and nothing gets smelly!

I don't feel hard done by though, as kids it was normal not to have CH, everyone only had one coal fire and possibly a paraffin stove on the landing. We're not in Siberia!

Wyre

Our boiler broke about 3 years ago and we can't afford a new one either so no heating or hot water for us. We manage most of the time without anything but we do have an oiled filled rad for when we can't stand it any more and an open fire in the lounge when we have the coal or wood to burn.

Hubby works in a refridgerated lorry most of the time and doesn't seem to feel the cold but the kids and I have duvets and sleeping bags on chairs and the sofa for snuggling in of an evening.

Alibat

I grew up in a house where the only heating was a gas fire in the living room. It's thirty years since I left home but I have never forgotten the total misery of being mind numbingly cold for months on end each winter.

Keeping our home warm is the one thing we don't skimp on. We do everything to keep the gas bill as low as we can with insulation and finding the cheapest supplier but I'd much rather go without something else than be cold.