How to live without heating - save £000s

RavingMad

Down the road when you're no longer going on holidays, will you start heating your home or are you too set in you ways?

I'm having to remind both sets of parents to spend on themselves rather than being thrifty as their generation tend to be

HertsLad

silverwhistle said:

I only burn wood and quite appreciate the exercise I get with prepping it: I regard it as green gym and a useful adjunct to my other sports! Ash really isn't a problem, I go weeks without emptying and the garden appreciates it when I do. Lot less work than sourcing, storing, putting on and taking off and washing and drying lots of clothing layers!;-)

When I first read your comment about the effort needed to wash so many clothes, I almost thought you might have a point, But when I thought some more, I decided it's no more than a weak excuse for something you just don't want to do. Here's the reason. I wear two base layers for probably the coldest six months of the year. These 4 garments are very easy to wash by hand, as I do, and even easier if you use a washing machine. Drying is easier still and takes no time at all. My snood (neck warmer) and hat, too. Nothing else requires any more washing than any normal person would wear in a heated home. That might be underwear, trousers, shirt and a jumper or similar. The only items I wear extra are between one and three insulated jackets with a fleece over the top and down filled trousers when the temperature drops below about 8C. Plus ski trousers as well (as in my photos) at the very lowest temperatures, just above freezing. I don't normally wash any of these layers until the end of the cold season. 

HertsLad

RavingMad said:

Down the road when you're no longer going on holidays, will you start heating your home or are you too set in you ways?

I'm having to remind both sets of parents to spend on themselves rather than being thrifty as their generation tend to be

Good points! Spending on myself is almost 100% of what I do. Nobody could accuse me of being thrifty overall even if I give priority to things like luxury holidays over other things, notably not spending money to heat all the air in my house.

Yes, we all age so it seems 100% certain that if we live too long (perhaps much over 80), we can no longer hardly walk. I read that the actor George Lazenby has now cut all interviews and media appearances. I think he is 84 and using a wheeled walking aid. I am 68 so that's only 16 years away, if I live that long and reach 84 before needing a walking aid. I would expect to have to stop skiing well before 80 but I really don't know. I am already 3 years over the age where the advice is that it's officially unwise to live in cold temperatures, even more than for younger people. I dispute that for the most part but concede I am breathing cold air, I have no idea if it could become an issue as I get older. Almost for a laugh, I would like to reach the age where people like a doctor or social services need to visit the house to help me in some way. If it's in winter, they would be shocked in the extreme and say I can't possibly continue living like that. I don't know if they could force me to change. Overall, though, if I have nothing much to spend my money on, such as holidays, I may relent. 

wrf12345

Done it many times, just heat one room with gas fire (ten hours on lowest setting, radiant type), sleep in a cold room but with a couple of duvets, halogen wall heater in the bathroom when needed, unheated kitchen - the cost is roughly the same as running modern CH all over the house for a couple of hours a day but you are warmer in the one room (somewhat layered up). I don't have a gas fire now but wish I did.

HertsLad

wrf12345 said:

Done it many times, just heat one room with gas fire (ten hours on lowest setting, radiant type), sleep in a cold room but with a couple of duvets, halogen wall heater in the bathroom when needed, unheated kitchen - the cost is roughly the same as running modern CH all over the house for a couple of hours a day but you are warmer in the one room (somewhat layered up). I don't have a gas fire now but wish I did.

So, how long did you spend in colder rooms during the day, such as the kitchen? Or perhaps the kitchen is/was integrated with the space you heated. If you no longer have a gas fire, what do you do now?

silverwhistle

HertsLad said:

When I first read your comment about the effort needed to wash so many clothes, I almost thought you might have a point, But when I thought some more, I decided it's no more than a weak excuse for something you just don't want to do.

What a very odd conclusion to come to, which I think reveals more about you than it does me. The whole point is that I have very high standards of personal hygiene and although I'm not too worried about slightly grubby gardening trousers the rest I do. Which means I do spend a bit of time on the effort to wash clothes. You say you don't wash some of yours until the end of the cold season, which suggests you aren't doing much skiing in slushy spring snow..

As for your age, I'm a year older and still play 11 a side football although when some of the younger lasses are 50+ years my junior I have to use guile and strength, not speed.. I also ski and do sea gig rowing, so plenty of kit to wash too. But one thing I've learnt doing all these things is that going back to very cold accommodation is not good for me.I use the gas CH very little and find a blazing fire gets in to my bones, and I use fleeces etc. indoors, but I just think your approach is pointlessly extreme.

Actually, I would add that as a terrace my house never gets that cold, and the only time I put the CH on permanently is when I go away on a winter holiday, open the loft hatch to avoid frozen pipes and put the thermostat on very low. I use very little gas in these circumstances, which suggests the savings you are making with no heating are not as much as you might think.

As I said up thread, I could say almost as much as my SO for energy by drinking fewer bottles of cheaper wine..:-)

HertsLad

silverwhistle said:

HertsLad said:

When I first read your comment about the effort needed to wash so many clothes, I almost thought you might have a point, But when I thought some more, I decided it's no more than a weak excuse for something you just don't want to do.

What a very odd conclusion to come to, which I think reveals more about you than it does me. The whole point is that I have very high standards of personal hygiene and although I'm not too worried about slightly grubby gardening trousers the rest I do. Which means I do spend a bit of time on the effort to wash clothes. You say you don't wash some of yours until the end of the cold season, which suggests you aren't doing much skiing in slushy spring snow..

As for your age, I'm a year older and still play 11 a side football although when some of the younger lasses are 50+ years my junior I have to use guile and strength, not speed.. I also ski and do sea gig rowing, so plenty of kit to wash too. But one thing I've learnt doing all these things is that going back to very cold accommodation is not good for me.I use the gas CH very little and find a blazing fire gets in to my bones, and I use fleeces etc. indoors, but I just think your approach is pointlessly extreme.

Actually, I would add that as a terrace my house never gets that cold, and the only time I put the CH on permanently is when I go away on a winter holiday, open the loft hatch to avoid frozen pipes and put the thermostat on very low. I use very little gas in these circumstances, which suggests the savings you are making with no heating are not as much as you might think.

As I said up thread, I could say almost as much as my SO for energy by drinking fewer bottles of cheaper wine..:-)

I have reasonable standards of hygiene and keeping clean. also. But I don't like wasting energy or to risk harming the environment with excessive laundry washing. So I wash everything I wear every day or so, apart from my insulated jackets. These are 4 layers away from my skin and at least one layer away from getting dirty on the outside. What has slushy skiing got to do with living in an unheated house? 

My approach is not pointless from my point of view. I almost certainly save more than you could because my house is detached and I can't benefit from the warmth of other properties.

If it's not good for you returning to a very cold house, perhaps you have issues which I am lucky not to suffer from. I expressly exclude anyone with medical concerns from any of my suggestions and findings in this thread.

MarzipanCrumble

I agree with HertsLad about washing clothes.  Yes, those next to your skin especially if you are being energetic so sweating, and underwear, need washing.  I am female, use Trust as a deodorant and can wear a thin thermal longsleeved undergarment next to my skin for a couple of days without armpit sweat odour.  However my physical activity is walking at about 7 am and it does not often induce a sweat.  Underpants get changed daily.

Outside clothes - why would you wash them unless you spill something on them or they get dirty because of an activity which may soil them?   Quite understand why HertsLad may not wash down filled outer clothes not worn everyday but only when really cold, until end of season.  If something dirty gets on them - sponge off, simplz.

How often do you wash a coat you wear outside?

HertsLad

MarzipanCrumble said:

I agree with HertsLad about washing clothes.  Yes, those next to your skin especially if you are being energetic so sweating, and underwear, need washing.  I am female, use Trust as a deodorant and can wear a thin thermal longsleeved undergarment next to my skin for a couple of days without armpit sweat odour.  However my physical activity is walking at about 7 am and it does not often induce a sweat.  Underpants get changed daily.

Outside clothes - why would you wash them unless you spill something on them or they get dirty because of an activity which may soil them?   Quite understand why HertsLad may not wash down filled outer clothes not worn everyday but only when really cold, until end of season.  If something dirty gets on them - sponge off, simplz.

How often do you wash a coat you wear outside?

Exactly! I wear an over-sized polyester fleece over whatever else I am wearing on top, throughout the coldest months of the year. Today, that is over a down filled jacket. A few days ago, it was over my wool sweater. I keep busy with DIY type tasks, work on my car, etc. The fleece as well as my trousers often get a bit dirty so I change before going as far as the shops and wash these outer layers when it's justified for wearing at home.

HertsLad

I returned home from a week in Egypt yesterday, where the temperature was high 20s Centigrade and felt perfect. What a shock to return to UK temperatures in southern England of below OC at night and only a bit above during the day. I returned home to my cold house at 2am, where the thermometer in my bedroom read 3.5C. I climbed into bed ( 2 x 13.5 tog down and feather duvets) wearing my denims and down jacket, as well as base layers. At around 11C when I departed, that would have caused me to overheat, but last night I was 'toasty warm' which is perfect. 

As mentioned before, I am moving away from Thinsulate as my preferred  insulation material and back towards down. At present (4C), I am wearing 2 x polyester long sleeve base on my top, 1 cotton shirt, 1 pure wool sweater, plus 2x down filled jackets. Below the waist, I am wearing 2x base bottoms, 2 x down filled trousers. I normally wear an oversize fleece on top and oversize denims below, to protect the insulating layers but, even without them, I remain perfectly warm.

How are you managing? Has anyone else managed to avoid turning the heating on?