How to live without heating - save £000s

VWPolecat

Another issue with zero heating is damp and condensation . I left the house for 3 weeks unheated. and wall paper peeled and the tv and a power supply went bang when switched on. No the roof or walls do not leak it was the usual dampness we get in NW England.

pearl123

There is an increased risk heart attacks and strokes if a house is cold. 

theoretica

HertsLad said:

SAC2334 said:

JGB1955 said:

Just thinking - I'm guessing the last time people lived without heating was in the Stone Age?  Or had they discovered fire already?

I ve been regaling younger generations for years about how we scraped the frost from the inside of bedroom windows and that was in the 50 s and 60 s when we had proper freezing winters.The house in a mining village had one small coal fire only and that was it .It never hurt me and we all got to school in the big freeze of 1963 battling through deep snow for weeks. Now someone post  some advice about how to beat the cold and someone says "report him to mods ". Times have changed..Snowflakes rule now I accept that 

Thank you very much for showing how misguided my critics were, earlier in this thread. I sort of apologized for offending anyone at one stage. After re-reading my original post, I simply cannot understand how anyone could be offended. All I suggested is that I myself found it less than intuitive to discover what I need to wear. My thinking is/was that maybe my findings of the clothes I wear, might help others who either can't pay or won't pay. I never said anyone was stupid but one member put words in my mouth. As a result, if the mods need to contact anyone for stirring up trouble, I suggest it is those people who need to be warned and not me.

Really?  I find a discussion of what clothes you find keep you warmest perfectly acceptable.  Victim blaming people who have died is not and you come across remarkably clueless in that aspect and arrogant in your own physical health and metabolism. As you said in one post you only know what works for you - stick to that and it isn't offensive and people can share or copy or not as they choose.  Or learn a lot more about the differences between wearing more clothes in a cold atmosphere and being in a warmer place.

I am probably biased, because to me your great discoveries about clothes are things I have known all my life. I wonder if there is a man thing going on, as I expect many women have twigged the difference wearing tights makes.

HertsLad said:

I am sorry to read Martin Lewis say he fears people will die because a lot of people cannot afford heating. I agree but regard it as sad. The Government, Councils, charities and other public bodies could do a lot more to advise people on what to wear so many of those people should be able to stay perfectly warm without any heating at all. For me, the choice between eating and heating is a no-brainer. The priority should be eating because it's essential to keep warm. But the main message from these bodies and organisations is to warm your home to 20C, as if everyone can afford it. 

HertsLad said:

With respect, I suggest that's fine, if you have the money to pay for the heating at a lower level. I do but I'd sooner spend the money on other things. I am troubled that the main message from other members is that it's better for old, frail or otherwise vulnerable people to die from the cold, rather than for anyone try following my advice. Do they think that if these people wear as many clothes as I do, then they will die even quicker.

HertsLad

pearl123 said:

There is an increased risk heart attacks and strokes if a house is cold. 

Ah, this is one of the key arguments which I simply can't understand. Government backed studies by university professors and experts in their fields mention the same thing but they don't seem to state any assumptions, notably how much clothing is being worn. As my body/core under layers of clothes is perfectly warm, how can I be at risk? If I remain at risk, could someone please explain how. I agree there's a residual factor of breathing in cold air almost 24/7 but I remain healthy, as far as I know.

HertsLad

EssexHebridean said:

even going to the extent of telling someone with a recognised medical condition which means they require a certain level of heating that they should try wearing more clothes. 

Yes, that's what I said and I will suggest it again. How can it do anyone any harm to start wearing far more clothes but keep the temperature the same? Then, if you start feeling too warm, turn the heating down a bit, if you feel brave.

QrizB

HertsLad said:

pearl123 said:

There is an increased risk heart attacks and strokes if a house is cold. 

Ah, this is one of the key arguments which I simply can't understand.

Speculation on my part, but cold houses often belong to poor people and being poor correlates with negative health outcomes.

GingerTim

HertsLad said:

pearl123 said:

There is an increased risk heart attacks and strokes if a house is cold. 

Ah, this is one of the key arguments which I simply can't understand. Government backed studies by university professors and experts in their fields mention the same thing but they don't seem to state any assumptions, notably how much clothing is being worn. As my body/core under layers of clothes is perfectly warm, how can I be at risk? If I remain at risk, could someone please explain how. I agree there's a residual factor of breathing in cold air almost 24/7 but I remain healthy, as far as I know.

The more layers of clothing you wear, the more heat is trapped against your body. The hotter your body becomes, the harder your heart has to work to regulate your body temperature to normal. If your heart is regularly working to keep your body temperature down, at a rate considerably higher than an average resting rate, then you are in an increased risk profile for problems.

You also have to take into account restrictions on blood flow from too many layers, and pressures put on your body from carrying a lot more weight from the extra clothing.

theoretica

HertsLad said:

pearl123 said:

There is an increased risk heart attacks and strokes if a house is cold. 

Ah, this is one of the key arguments which I simply can't understand. Government backed studies by university professors and experts in their fields mention the same thing but they don't seem to state any assumptions, notably how much clothing is being worn. As my body/core under layers of clothes is perfectly warm, how can I be at risk? If I remain at risk, could someone please explain how. I agree there's a residual factor of breathing in cold air almost 24/7 but I remain healthy, as far as I know.

An increased statistical risk on the population at large does not mean you personally are ill. The test of more clothing I found concluded "There was no clear statistical improvement in health in the thermal clothing group."

If someone's body is working harder to keep them warm - for instance getting warm blood to fingers out in cold air, producing more heat, coping with cold air to the lungs - they can still feel warm but that is a possible explanation of the observed increase in blood pressure in cold environments. I do not present this as a definite mechanism, but as a potential that occurred to me. High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart attacks and strokes.

theoretica

HertsLad said:

EssexHebridean said:

even going to the extent of telling someone with a recognised medical condition which means they require a certain level of heating that they should try wearing more clothes. 

Yes, that's what I said and I will suggest it again. How can it do anyone any harm to start wearing far more clothes but keep the temperature the same? Then, if you start feeling too warm, turn the heating down a bit, if you feel brave.

If in need of an intervention, the delay while you try something which doesn't work can be harmful compared to going right to a more effective change.

wild666

Coffeekup said:

wild666 said:

my normal daily usage is around 3 kWh per day but has being known to drop to as low as 1.7 kWh some days and as high as 11 kWh 

Impressive young jedi, I average 3.6... with a low of 2.4 and I high of 5 which is rare. 
Thta may increase in a couple of years as I do the kitchen and begrudgingly opt for a ceramic or induction hob (I like the control I have with gas and or was was obviously cheaper).

Induction hobs are cheaper than ceramic to use as the plate only heats up the surface that the pan comes into contact with and not the whole plate like ceramic hobs do. The price of the cooker might be slightly dearer but the electric used will be less than other hobs because you're only heating up the area that a pan is in contact with.