It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Siebrie

Our thermostat is set to 16C in the morning at 6, when husband and dd1 have to get up, then to 16.5C or 17C when I and dd2 have to get up at 7. It stops heating at 8.15, when we have all left the house. It comes back on to 17C at 15.30, just before dd2 comes home from school. We may manually turn it up in 0.5C increments, but we try to keep busy, we layer up, we congregate in the kitchen, we have blankets on our sofas. If I'm feeling sleepy or just in need of warmth, I do turn the heating up to 21C, but usually, 30 minutes is enough.

Jellytotts

 Ours is only ever set to 18, it’s on a voice controlled system so we turn it on when we wake up and it stays on for an hour, time to warm the house and bathroom enough to shower and get dressed.  We normally have another half hour/hour in the late afternoon/evening if we’ve not got the stove lit.

We are not fans of central heating, I just find it so difficult to have every room heated to the same temperature. Growing up in a very cold Victorian terrace without heating/fireplaces or double glazing means I’m far more at home with a chilly room.  

Onebrokelady

Deleted_User said:

Hi guys and gals,

Firstly I just wanted to say how much of a lifeline this thread is, it’s just so comforting being amongst likeminded folk, thank you. I mentioned my concerns about rising energy costs to someone in RL the other day, they shrugged and said ‘the world will still turn, who cares’….

Todays task is to review our annual budget - set at the start of the year at £3,800 per annum. Since this, we have moved to an even more rural area so a car has become a necessity alas. But we have an even greater sense of community here than we did in the last village, land for all of our animals and space to grow food (the rabbits had the lions share this summer, rabbit proof greenhouse essential for next year!) 

For this with animals, how are you coping with rising feed costs? Our hen and pig feed is going through the roof, pig nuts seem to go up weekly. @mumtoomany how are you finding it?

I’m so grateful for two fires, one open fire and one stove. We easily have enough wood for this winter. Electric shower only here though so I was my hair in the sink. Phone charged in the car, lots of egg based meals etc. 

I have no savings either like many of us on here, but live within my tiny means in a very old fashioned way. 

I confess I treated myself last night to two books - for anyone who hasn’t heard of it, World of books is a great site that sells new and used books. Free delivery at all times, better for the planet than the big river company by far. I bought one of Mark Boyle’s books, I adore him, look him up if you haven’t heard of him.

Anyway I am rambling now, off to squeeze a rather large chicken into the slow cooker xx

They are going to be in for a shock come winter then, unless they are well off.I must just say I am in awe of how you manage on such a small budget. I hadn't heard of World Of Books but will be investigating so thanks for the info.

Where I live on the edge of a city there isn't much community spirit and I think that does help a lot in times like this.

Onebrokelady

linz said:

Re little things to do this winter to save the pennies (no doubt preaching to the converted here lol) but I was thinking of what I might do differently this winter and I think in the evenings i'll be keeping the lights off and probably either have 1 lamp on instead or some candles or the fairy light type things with batteries. I have rechargeable ones as I don't like using single-use ones. My 'big light' in the living room has 3 seperate bulbs so I guess having a lamp on instead will be a third of the cost?

I will also make sure to bleed all the radiators and probably turn them off in the rooms I hardly use e.g spare bedroom. I want a couple of draught excluders too. I wish I could make my own but i'm not that good at sewing yet.

Draught excluders can be made without sewing if you have some old tights,cut the legs off and stuff with anything you can find ( old towels, T-shirt's, undies,socks) then tie each end up with whatever you have,they might not look too attractive but they will do the job over winter 😊

luvchocolate

Mine's on constant and I set it as when needed. 
Last winter it was never on before 2.30 in the afternoon. 
Keep busy cleaning..shopping etc in the morning. 
I'm retired but don't like to be hot so around 17

Live in over 50s flat so have someone underneath and each side which helps 

linz

Onebrokelady said:

linz said:

Re little things to do this winter to save the pennies (no doubt preaching to the converted here lol) but I was thinking of what I might do differently this winter and I think in the evenings i'll be keeping the lights off and probably either have 1 lamp on instead or some candles or the fairy light type things with batteries. I have rechargeable ones as I don't like using single-use ones. My 'big light' in the living room has 3 seperate bulbs so I guess having a lamp on instead will be a third of the cost?

I will also make sure to bleed all the radiators and probably turn them off in the rooms I hardly use e.g spare bedroom. I want a couple of draught excluders too. I wish I could make my own but i'm not that good at sewing yet.

Draught excluders can be made without sewing if you have some old tights,cut the legs off and stuff with anything you can find ( old towels, T-shirt's, undies,socks) then tie each end up with whatever you have,they might not look too attractive but they will do the job over winter 😊

Thankyou !

Jellytotts

Draft excluders can be what ever you need them to be.  A single duvet cover stuffed with old towels at one end and then rolled into a sausage and secured with ribbon/elastic bands/string. But do check charity shops too ours always seem to have them in (the tapestry style ones with animals on) for a few pounds.

We've had 5 of the big fast paced house spiders week, I'm happy to let spiders do their thing but not these big beasties, they run too fast and make me jump lurking on the sofa and running across the kitchen floor pretending to be cats.  Always a sign that the season is on the change.

Floss

My front door is wide so too wide for a standard draught excluder. The solution was to find a fleece blanket that co-ords with my hallway, roll it up into a sausage to fit the door width and tie with 2 pieces of ribbon. When in not in use it lies under the small hall radiator like a fleecy caterpillar 😁

Nonnadiluca

I've been having a think about how to save a bit more, times being tough 'n' all. There's nothing major I can think of to cut down on so I'm moving on to the Aggregation of Marginal Gains. I currently have 5 cups of tea a day and, if I cut down to 3 a day I'll save 60 tea bags a month, 720 in a year. My preferred tea isn't cheap, (although I've never paid full price, only buy when on offer), so that's a saving. Also will save about an hour of kettle boiling a month, 12 hours a year. All things considered, worth the effort and it's not going to make my life drastically worse.
Any more ideas?

sammy_kaye18

linz said:

 i'll be keeping the lights off and probably either have 1 lamp on instead or some candles o

I will also make sure to bleed all the radiators and probably turn them off in the rooms I hardly use e.g spare bedroom. I want a couple of draught excluders too. I wish I could make my own but i'm not that good at sewing yet.

I was thinking the same this year, although I have two vivariums in my living room which have UV lights and basking spot bulbs and it surprising how much light and heat they give off - not a lot but enough to help keep a chill off in the day. Our TV is also the oppostie wall to the vivs so light wise we rarely need an actual light on in the living room but I have brought a small light from amazon that I use on my craft desk which charges up and then can be unplugged and moved to where its needed and lasts for a good while, plus it has 3 settings for brightness. Think it cost me £5 on offer - I will see if I can find a link as someone might find it useful. Its also touch enabled so once the back switch is on it can be easily turned on and off. 

As for radiators - we do the same. Our kitchen radiator is behind a shelving unit so doesnt actually let any heat out so that one is turned off as well as the main one in our living room as our big sofa is in front of it and we cant reorganise the room to free it up. 
Bathroom one is set to 2 basically to keep the chill out. The hallway one cant be adjusted or switched off as it is the one that triggers our thermostat so this year I plan to make sure there is a curtain in front of the door so that the hallway doesnt get too cold and trigger it. Bedrooms are generally low as kids prefer cold rooms and so do I. Husband feels the cold but hes not here for most of the day etc and at night likes to be comfortable in pyjamas. 

My thermostat is generally set to about 18. It is only me and the dogs at home in the day so I will cuddle under a blanket and the two dogs pile on me, or I light a few candles and have a hot drink. Again its surprising how much heat little tealights can give off. 

My only issue is we have an electric fire in the living room and my husband will turn it on any time hes cold but will happily sit in his underpants all evening or a towel after a bath! So Im going to make sure every evening that there is fresh pyjamas and a hoody/tshirt in the bathroom or with a towel on top of the drier and hopefully he will get the hint!