Cutting fuel costs....I'm freezing!!

Gemmzie

Freezing here too, heating doesn't come on until 5.30pm now (rest of the house think it's half 4, hehe). Our heating bills are £57 a month which isn't too bad as all our heating is gas, it makes the leccy bill look scary though!

themaccas

I don't know how much our heating bills will be as we have just moved house and I've just arranged a monthly dd to pay, we are going to be paying only £38 per month so I'll see how this works out. We have a detached 4 bed house so I don't think this will be enough really but we'll have to wait and see, it's what scottish hydro (cheapest utilities using comparrison site) have recommended we pay.

floss2

If you read your meter(s) at a certain time one day, then read them again at the same time 7 days later, you can calculate your approximate annual usage & therefore the cost....

belfastgirl23

Garnet it's really worth keeping an eye on your gas usage. My DH persuaded me that it was cheaper to use the fire in the sitting room rather than heat the whole house. Turns out it cost pretty much the same for the gas fire as it did to heat the whole rest of the house. We ended up with a gas bill for about £1100 for six months :eek: because of course the heating was also on in the rest of the house for some of the time. Still paying back the arrears on this tho hopefully will be cleared next summer.

We currently use an average of £100 a month on gas and I keep a very tight eye on it (try to do at least a fortnightly read). It is high I know but it's an old house which needs insulated. I think actually we need to pick up a small heater for DHs office since he works from home and probably a lot of times we are heating the whole house when we should just be heating either his office or the sitting room.

Boy was it cold last night tho ... brrr

floss2

We have a small oil-filled radiator with a thermostat in DF's office in the attic. Then we can have our heating off during the day while he's up there. Have to say, our house feels warmer already this winter because of the double glazing, which has cut out half the draughts....apart from the gaps in the floorboards, that is!

I always go to bed wearing socks in winter when DF's away (It's not a very sexy look!) because he's not there to warm my feet on

Cavity wall insulation is a big saver on heat AND money - it can pay for itself by savings on heating bills within 2 years and keeps your house toasty!

poppycracker

So it's not just the north east that's freezing! Last night I was sitting with the laptop on my lap, shoes, jeans, beanie hat, tshirt, fleece AND dressing gown over the top and my finger were still going numb. When we moved here two years ago, we were using the storage heaters but they turned out to be useless, all the heat came out of them and out through the windows when we were out at work! Last year we found a bar fire in a cupboard and used that in one room and just left the rest of the house to freeze but then we got quite bad damp in the kitchen and the bedroom which played havoc with my lungs so this year we've got a halogen heater that alternates between the spare room when I've got washing to try and dry, and the bedroom when it gets too cold in there.

We've got a dehumidifier that alternates between the kitchen and the bedroom to stop them getting too damp but I'm dreading getting my next electric bill :eek:

Lemon_Tree

I've got storage heaters which make the flat cosy for the cats whilst i'm at work but have run out of heat by the time i'm home. The bedroom one is absoulutely useless just keeps the room above freezing but doesn't help the damp.
I invested in a second hand dehumidifier my first winter here and it's saved me more than i paid for it. Now i run it through the night on the cheap leccy and it takes over a gallon of water out each week. Unfortuntately there's still a damp problem.
Next i'm planning to make some second curtains for the 9ft x 8ft patio doors out of fleece fabric cos that loses so much heat even though its double glazed.
we're considering asking for money so we can install oil central heating as wedding pressies as this will change our lives so much.

Jacks_xxx

themaccas wrote: »

Just trying to save some money on heating costs. I am at home quite a bit during the week and there is only myself here. The house is bloomin freezing but I can't justify putting heating on for just me so I sit and put on layers of clothing on, looking like a bag lady. This year seems so much colder than the last couple of years and we have only started December. How is everyone else coping. I have even thought about going to the supermarket this morning so I could share their heat but that's hardly MSE is it!:rolleyes:

Oh honey, I know just what you mean!

We don't have any heating in this house yet- except the gas fire in the living room - and we put that on in a hurry this morning because the house felt S0-0-0-0 cold all of a sudden!:eek:

I've been wearing my dressing gown indoors over layers and layers of clothes and I've always got a hat or hoodie on so I can definitely join the bag lady club as well!

If I'm on the computer I'll have a blanket over my knees and a hot water bottle stuffed in somewhere and I'm considering cutting the fingers off some fleecey gloves for when my typing fingers get cold!

I find I get everything done in double quick time and then retreat under the fleecey furry throw on the sofa with a hot cuppa in a keep warm mug (But that's easy for me I don't have any kids at home during the day.)

A brisk walk to the shops usually makes me appreciate my house cos at least it's not windy in here!

And don't even get me started on drying the washing! :rolleyes:

Love Jacks xxx

PS I had a morning batch cookingthings for the freezer today and it was fab having a stonking warm kitchen - definitely an activity to pencil in for freezing cold days!

bs0u0128

get a sleeping bag, £6 argos, does wonders

churchrat

halogen heaters are great. brought one for my mum and was so immpressed got one for us as well. costs very little to run, much less than a gas fire, we stand ours in front of the gas fire-- very stylish:rolleyes: but much cheaper. also can just heat the room you are in cos very easy to move (did i mention i have shares in halogen company!!!)