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Living without heating

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13

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  • topsales
    topsales Posts: 351 Forumite
    I too like my central heating but as an over sixty can remember living in a prefab in the 50's - very poorly insulated. Ice on the inside of the windows and only a coal fire in the living room which my poor Dad had to get up early to light! I wouldn't even attempt to live like that now.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 10 December 2014 at 7:53PM
    OP stick to your plan and don t listen to some on here. I ve even heard people quoting stuff like the cold weather will give you are heart attack . Well I ve been out all day in the cold and rain all week breathing in cold damp air and feel as fit as a fiddle and still no stroke/heart attack.. and I m def no spring chicken. Other ideas to try is a nice quality top 4 season Goose down sleeping bag. These are ideal for sub zero, they fluff out and keep you really warm. Not cheap tho. Also a cold air mask, used by joggers in winter if you buy the data on deaths due to breathing the cold air in winter as I expect the mask will warm the air up a bit, and as Mrs BooBoo says, try an electric blanket, they costs pennies to run and work well
  • I agree that low temperatures are not necessarily dangerous. I really hate central heating with sealed windows: it makes me feel ill. I will be visiting people soon and am not looking forward to it.

    I would never let myself feel cold and miserable, I just try to keep myself warm without using too much electricity. I admit that I live in a big city where the temperatures are always higher than in many other places.
    Who having known the diamond will concern himself with glass?

    Rudyard Kipling


  • C_Mababejive
    C_Mababejive Posts: 11,668 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    The best investment for winter is thermal longjons and a thermal vest with long sleeves,,totally fab..
    Feudal Britain needs land reform. 70% of the land is "owned" by 1 % of the population and at least 50% is unregistered (inherited by landed gentry). Thats why your slave box costs so much..
  • DavidP24
    DavidP24 Posts: 957 Forumite
    I live in a 2 bed flat with Economy 7, I had to make the choice to heat or eat about 2 years ago.

    I measured the the energy cost of everything and turned off the things by biggest cost first. I have no heating on, I wear thermal underwear, a vest and a skiing jumper, two pairs of socks, the first pair are thermal.

    I work from home and the computer heats one room or rather takes the edge off it.

    Next went the hot water, it is a big tank and I do not need it, I have an electric shower and I do the washing up with one kettle of water which also makes enough for my coffee.

    In the evening I have a duvet in the living room and after an hour of TV the room gets a little heat from that and is bearable.

    When I am working I have a dressing gown over my legs then it gets very cold.

    I heat the oven in the evening only for 20 minutes and open the door when done to get the heat.

    My total energy cost is around £40 to £50 a month, currently my computer is the biggest cost, eco settings cut that by 50% I am upgrading the motherboard memory and CPU to cut that by a further 50% and a LED screen will be purchased after that as my aging LCD uses more even after I turned down the brightness to the lowest setting.

    It is not what I would call a comfortable life and in winter is is much harder but it is all I can afford, the cold also makes me less productive in my work.

    I also unplug almost everything at night except what needs cheap rate to charge overnight.

    It is easier for me because I live alone and will adapt.
    Thanks, don't you just hate people with sigs !
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,060 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Rampant Recycler
    DavidP24 wrote: »
    I live in a 2 bed flat with Economy 7, I had to make the choice to heat or eat about 2 years ago.

    I measured the the energy cost of everything and turned off the things by biggest cost first. I have no heating on,


    Next went the hot water, it is a big tank and I do not need it, .


    Why are you remaining on Economy 7 when you have no heating or Hot water using the off peak rates.


    Do you appreciate that when on an Economy 7 tariff you pay a premium on the electricity used in the other 17 hours?
  • I agree that low temperatures are not necessarily dangerous. I really hate central heating with sealed windows: it makes me feel ill. I will be visiting people soon and am not looking forward to it.
    This is true. Air quality inside our homes has decreased over the past twenty to thirty years.

    The trouble is that people have air tightened without ventilating correctly. Ventilating correctly means controlled ventilation (doesn't vary according to pressure differentials around the house caused by e.g. wind) and heat exchangers to heat the incoming air using the outgoing air. It does not mean extractor fans (holes in the wall) or trickle vents.

    If you visited an "airtight" house with proper ventilation I think you'll find it a pleasant experience.
  • bryanb
    bryanb Posts: 5,030 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    When I was a kid our house had no provision for heating of any kind, nor my school. But we did live in Singapore.
    This is an open forum, anyone can post and I just did !
  • RMS2
    RMS2 Posts: 335 Forumite
    That reminds me, I must just go and put the heating on for an hour, so it is nice and warm, just in time for my steaming hot daily bath.
  • C_Mababejive
    C_Mababejive Posts: 11,668 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I was considering lifting a floorboard on the landing close to the party wall and fitting a low powered fan and duct to suck heat out of next doors !
    Feudal Britain needs land reform. 70% of the land is "owned" by 1 % of the population and at least 50% is unregistered (inherited by landed gentry). Thats why your slave box costs so much..
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