Other ways to keep warm?

socks_uk

Well we all know that energy bills are high right now, or, like me, will be when my fix ends in April.  I was looking at other ways to keep warm, including us going out for a long walk and the house feeling warm when we return.
We are able to adjust the thermostat so we keep the heating low but I was also looking at heated throws/blanket (we have non-electric ones) and wondering if they would be cheaper to run than the heating. 
We also have an open fire that we do light if we are day off work but usually when it's snowy/frosty outside.
I was born in the 60's and we didn't have central heating or carpets back then and the net curtains stuck to the windows with ice on the inside so I'm not scared of not having heating, I'm just wondering if anyone has any other ideas for keeping warm?

Mineral1

Hot water bottle

QrizB

OK but don't laugh

I've been working from home and get a little chilly when sitting at my laptop for hours on end. I didn't want to heat the whole house so I bought a heated car seat pad and put that on my chair. It needs 12v but I've got an adapter I use with my coolbox in the summer.

While I'm using it on an office-style chair it should work just as well on a sofa or armchair. More details in this post.

The pad uses about 20 watts. 20 watts is roughly 5p/day at current rates if you run it for 12 hours, eg. from 8am to 8pm.

wittynamegoeshere

Electric blankets are wonderful in a cold house.  I've counted down to bedtime a few times, it's hard to get out of bed once you have one!  It costs a tiny fraction of the amount it would cost to heat your room to heat just your bed, for the simple reason that a bed is a lot smaller than a room.  Even if you're using gas for your room heating it's still much cheaper to heat just a bed.

Just get a decent branded one with genuine safety marks, e.g. BS, CE, also I found the synthetic fleecy looking ones are horribly sweaty.  The flat blanket-like ones are much more breathable.  You need two sockets for a double bed.  Ensure it has a switch-off timer, with a decent one you should only be able to switch it on for a number of hours, not indefinitely.  The surprising thing is that modern ones are machine-washable, you just unplug the controls and bung it in the washer.

When we first moved into this chilly old house I put two pairs of ordinary socks on, then after a week or so I realised it was actually making my feet colder by constricting the bloodflow.  If you want to double up get the special fluffy oversized ones that are intended for this.

But... April is a long time away.  Last April I was working outside in a t-shirt, the prices may be going up but most people's consumption will have dropped by then.  Next October may be the time to worry, depending on what's going on with the mad world by then.

socks_uk

Thanks for the replies!  Thankfully we tend to get too warm in bed (and very hot some times!   )  and the heating goes off at night.

The heated throw I'm looking at is from Costco online with a 5 year guarantee so hopefully should be a good one.

[Deleted User]

I got a heated throw which arrived on Christmas Eve.  It has made living in the main lounge much more bearable in the evenings when we generally sit down, chill out and watch TV.  The difference in comfort level is way better than I thought it would be.  So in the evening I don't feel the need to set the thermostat above 18.5 compared to the start of last month when the thermostat (same room) was set to 20.5C.  So apart from the up-front cost (circa £45) I am feeling warmer and yet the gas consumption has dropped quite markedly since getting the throw.  My throw is rated at 110-120W so I guess this means I can have it on for 5 hours and it will cost me just over 0.5kWh of electricity.  To feel the same via the central heating would be much more in terms of £££.  Hard to judge exactly how much this might be but I'd guess I would need to have the boiler on for maybe 1.5- 2 extra hours to get the room temp up to say 20.5C (rather than 18.5C) using circa 20+kWh of gas (costing way more than 0.5kWh of electricity).  Of course these numbers are really a crude estimation plus CH heats up all parts of the house (unless you use TRVs).

Oh yes and also have an electric blanket for the bed as well which warms it up before we retire.

FreeBear

socks_uk said: We also have an open fire that we do light if we are day off work but usually when it's snowy/frosty outside.

If you can afford it, and have a large covered space to store the fuel, have a look at installing a stove - Much more efficient than an open fire and can improve the aesthetics of a room.

Used to have an open fire in my lounge, but installed a multifuel stove a few years back. The room is now warm & toasty (some days, a bit too warm) and helps to heat the rest of the house.

Astria

I know my parents always used to get up, get dressed, and then jump on the bus into town with their bus pass, then do some shopping, have a coffee, etc, they literally could spend 4 - 6 hours out of the house each day just visiting the town center! Probably cost them more than the heating would have cost!

Brie

Also another costly option....but I had 2 cats - one would sleep on my feet and the other would drape itself across the back of my neck.  Lovely!  With the heating off they counted on me as a heat source.  But the cost of food, vet bills, flea treatments....cheaper to pay for utilities.

I'm curious to know how a non electric blanket/throw is heated.  

littlemoney

A heated throw is excellent as is an electric blanket. I turn the heating off by 7.30 pm and the throw keeps me warm till I go to bed. If its cold and I have nothing to do I will have a lie in and use my electic blanket to keep warm.

Only heat the rooms you have to. I live mainly in one room and  I don't heat the bedroom. If I am going out soon after getting up, I don't put the heating one. A quick get dressed, breakfast and out the door. Wearing my coat indoors if necessary.

I wear multiple layers of clothes, thermal underwear, jumpers and fleeces, 2 pairs of warm trousers at the same time. I buy one pair in a larger size to go over the other. I also have a heated foot warmer/bootee, just to keep my feet warm.

Charity shops are an excellent place to pick some extra layers of clothing. Also walking shops  are a good source of warm outdoor clothing which can be worn indoors.

Swipe

I swear by my argos foot warmers. My feet get cold at even 20C so it's a godsend and have one in each sitting room and can happily sit @18C for hours with my fleece on and not be cold. I keep the bedroom between 14C and 17C and have an electric blanket I put on on full for 10 mins then turn off when I get in bed. 

My previous house had no bedroom heating and the temperature could easily get down to 5 or 6C on cold snaps and my electric blanket on the lowest setting with a couple of quilts would keep me toasty all night.