Heating while working from home during Covid-19

Aranyani

MoneySeeker1 said:

paddyandstumpy said:

MoneySeeker1 said:

Absolutely so!

Prior to retirement my heating wasnt on "all day every day" and I walked to work.

So it would indeed be a legitimate concern as to just who was going to pay for the extra heating costs:
- myself (fair enough - if I was the one that had decided to wfh)
OR
- my employer (down to them if they'd ordered me to WFH).

So in the current pandemic, will you expect the Govt to pay, as they are ordering people to WFH where possible...?! 

Obviously - whoever did the "ordering" (be it Government or employer) would be due to pay my extra costs of heating - if I'd turned round (as I would have) and said "I'll still be coming into work as normal" - but one or both of them had forbidden me doing so. Not my choice = not my cost.

My employer 'orders' me to come on site every day, can I bill them for my petrol?

Aranyani

Thrugelmir said:

Besides heating the space you are using sensibly. Invest in some sensible clothing. Makes the world of difference. 

And good quality blankets and scarves

Aranyani

ToxicWomble said:

 Very few bother for £1.20 a week since we are intelligent enough to realise that we are actually “winning” in the equation of WFH and probably also feel as though it would be morally wrong to claim it as well.

I think its more that its not worth the effort for £1.20 a week than any kind of moral decision.  If it was £120 a week I bet the number of people declining on moral grounds would reduce quite a lot! 

Jeremy535897

Aranyani said:

ToxicWomble said:

 Very few bother for £1.20 a week since we are intelligent enough to realise that we are actually “winning” in the equation of WFH and probably also feel as though it would be morally wrong to claim it as well.

I think its more that its not worth the effort for £1.20 a week than any kind of moral decision.  If it was £120 a week I bet the number of people declining on moral grounds would reduce quite a lot!  

Despite the fact that actually the moral argument for not claiming it would be real in that case...

sweetgirl2015

Actually the op has a point. If you have an oil or gas boiler which provides your central heating for example, you have to run the boiler wether its to heat the radiator in one roon or if its the whole house or whatever the property is.
So working from home could work out to be very costly indeed as you would need the property warm 24 hours, instead of maybe a few hours in the evening and at night.
Your heating bill could be double. I bet the government didn't think of that because they spend their life behind closed doors anyway. 

68ComebackSpecial

sweetgirl2015 said:

Actually the op has a point. If you have an oil or gas boiler which provides your central heating for example, you have to run the boiler wether its to heat the radiator in one roon or if its the whole house or whatever the property is.
So working from home could work out to be very costly indeed as you would need the property warm 24 hours, instead of maybe a few hours in the evening and at night.
Your heating bill could be double. I bet the government didn't think of that because they spend their life behind closed doors anyway. 

As was pointed out on page 1 you don't have to heat the whole house - you can use an electric heater in the room you're working in.

unholyangel

sweetgirl2015 said:

Actually the op has a point. If you have an oil or gas boiler which provides your central heating for example, you have to run the boiler wether its to heat the radiator in one roon or if its the whole house or whatever the property is.
So working from home could work out to be very costly indeed as you would need the property warm 24 hours, instead of maybe a few hours in the evening and at night.
Your heating bill could be double. I bet the government didn't think of that because they spend their life behind closed doors anyway. 

I have a gas boiler, if I only want to heat one room I just turn the radiators off. But tbh, the heating being on for an hour or two only is enough to heat the house during winter working hours. There's also portable heaters as an option if your central heating is so inefficient. 

Two points about the heating being double though. Firstly, full time workers spend 25% of their week working and most work 9-5 (the warmest period of the day). It's highly unlikely to double anyones bill. Secondly, clearly the government don't care what the actual costs are/whether you're out of pocket or claims via the taxpayer wouldn't be limited to tax relief. 

sweetgirl2015

68ComebackSpecial said:

sweetgirl2015 said:

Actually the op has a point. If you have an oil or gas boiler which provides your central heating for example, you have to run the boiler wether its to heat the radiator in one roon or if its the whole house or whatever the property is.
So working from home could work out to be very costly indeed as you would need the property warm 24 hours, instead of maybe a few hours in the evening and at night.
Your heating bill could be double. I bet the government didn't think of that because they spend their life behind closed doors anyway. 

As was pointed out on page 1 you don't have to heat the whole house - you can use an electric heater in the room you're working in.

True, but very costly left on all day, but then the rest of the house is cold. If you got central heating thats what would be used Im certain of that. For most people anyway. 

mattyprice4004

sweetgirl2015 said:

68ComebackSpecial said:

sweetgirl2015 said:

Actually the op has a point. If you have an oil or gas boiler which provides your central heating for example, you have to run the boiler wether its to heat the radiator in one roon or if its the whole house or whatever the property is.
So working from home could work out to be very costly indeed as you would need the property warm 24 hours, instead of maybe a few hours in the evening and at night.
Your heating bill could be double. I bet the government didn't think of that because they spend their life behind closed doors anyway. 

As was pointed out on page 1 you don't have to heat the whole house - you can use an electric heater in the room you're working in.

True, but very costly left on all day, but then the rest of the house is cold. If you got central heating thats what would be used Im certain of that. For most people anyway. 

It works out cheaper to run a 1Kw fan heater in one room all day than it does for me to have my 30Kw boiler running to heat the house - even taking into account the boiler won't be running all day.

The rest of the house being cold by evening is the big issue, though - and my partner works nights so seems a little mean to leave them in the cold while asleep all day...

sweetsand

Jonesy1977 said:

The Approved Code of Practice suggests the minimum temperature in a workplace should normally be at least 16 degrees Celsius.  Why not work out the cost of ensuring that the two necessary rooms in your house would cost to get to the minimum level, than ask if you may be able to expense the cost?  I think a reasonable employer would consider the request and potentially reimburse. 

I thought it was higher than that.