How to live without heating - save £000s

wild666

PennineAcute said:

If individuals are struggling and only heating one room, then I doubt they would have a spare £100 to kit themselves out.

Yes, kitting themselves out in thermals and whatver may work for them, but when single person's UC is around £80, to find £100 is going to be hard.  Pension credit is around £160, so over half of one week's Pension Credit has to be found.  If this works for the person, then okay.  If it does not, then they can now not afford to heat the only room that they can currently afford to heat.  This does not bear thinking about.

We are in times where people are going to suffer.  For a lot of people, money now needs to be spent wisely.  Is it wise spending money on something that may work?

I use thermal underwear under jogging pants and a thermal vest under a T-Shirt a set costs me £10 from Primark or £14 from Asda. I top it off with a fleece dressing gown. 

Tahlullah.H

colmel16 said:

HertsLad : 8k views and 134 replies by only giving an opinion and lifestyle choice.

Yesterday.: Charlesworth447  466 views and nine replies on a life or death cry for help.

It makes me sad and we should hang our heads in shame.

Not everyone sees every post on every thread, so I do not feel shame or guilt that those who did see the post, did not respond.  The level of guilt is for them to deal with and acknowledge.  I prefer not to come onto the forum to have someone attempt to shame me for something I had no control over or my interest in this thread.

EssexHebridean

colmel16 said:

HertsLad : 8k views and 134 replies by only giving an opinion and lifestyle choice.

Yesterday.: Charlesworth447  466 views and nine replies on a life or death cry for help.

It makes me sad and we should hang our heads in shame.

Yes - that thread was heartbreaking. All the worse because the cry for help is literally in the thread title. 

mumf

Tahlullah.H said:

colmel16 said:

HertsLad : 8k views and 134 replies by only giving an opinion and lifestyle choice.

Yesterday.: Charlesworth447  466 views and nine replies on a life or death cry for help.

It makes me sad and we should hang our heads in shame.

Not everyone sees every post on every thread, so I do not feel shame or guilt that those who did see the post, did not respond.  The level of guilt is for them to deal with and acknowledge.  I prefer not to come onto the forum to have someone attempt to shame me for something I had no control over or my interest in this thread.

Totally agree.

HertsLad

GingerTim said:

HertsLad said:

GingerTim said:

On a less flippant note, have you ever considered using the money saved on heating costs to properly insulate your home so you don't have to do this? Or at least not to the same extreme extent?

I don't think the insulation can be too bad as it is because, as I said, the interior temperature has never gone below 2C, as far as I know. It's always warmer indoors. Outdoors always feels colder. So any small gaps could be good for ventilation. What good would further insulation do? I am not creating any heat indoors, so there is nothing to retain. I keep blinds closed, so there's not even much of a warming 'greenhouse' effect from sunlight.

Just imagine, with proper insulation the indoor ambient temperature might stay above 10 degrees!

Your comment suggests you don't understand what insulation does and how it works. Put it this way - I'm fortunate to live in a very well insulated flat. I haven't had to put the heating on for any considerable time in the last two weeks, and it hasn't dropped below 20 degrees indoors since December. I'm not saying it would instantly raise your indoor temperature to that, but it would be a damn sight warmer than 2 degrees indoors (which is basically like living outdoors, anyway).

I don't claim to be an expert on property insulation but there's a world of difference between my detached house and your flat, given flats and apartments are often surrounded by other properties. Maybe some of their heat leeches through to your property.

Before I came to my senses, I was heating one room. I added extra insulation to that room and it probably helped keep the heat in.  I couldn't possibly do that to the entire house. I'm fairly sure there are no further generally accepted approaches to insulation left to do, such as cavity wall insulation or loft insulation. Anyway, it hasn't gone below 4C so far this year and that was in December. I am perfectly warm when its 4C so it would make little difference to me if I could somehow engineer a new minimum of, say, 10C.  My guess is that it would be almost impossible to achieve.

I consider myself very lucky it never seems to go below 2C. I read some predictions on the internet that an unheated house will gradually go down to the ambient temperature outside. But it hasn't. They are wrong, at least for my house.

I reckon the limit of me being able to succeed with my approach is probably 0C. I have camped in colder temperatures quite happily but that's different to living at home all day. So where homes anywhere in the UK go below freezing, perhaps in Scotland or the North of England, I guess it's a non starter (but only during cold spells), together with families with children and people with certain medical conditions, and anyone who lacks the guts to try it.

Chris_English

HertsLad said:

GingerTim said:

HertsLad said:

GingerTim said:

On a less flippant note, have you ever considered using the money saved on heating costs to properly insulate your home so you don't have to do this? Or at least not to the same extreme extent?

I don't think the insulation can be too bad as it is because, as I said, the interior temperature has never gone below 2C, as far as I know. It's always warmer indoors. Outdoors always feels colder. So any small gaps could be good for ventilation. What good would further insulation do? I am not creating any heat indoors, so there is nothing to retain. I keep blinds closed, so there's not even much of a warming 'greenhouse' effect from sunlight.

Just imagine, with proper insulation the indoor ambient temperature might stay above 10 degrees!

Your comment suggests you don't understand what insulation does and how it works. Put it this way - I'm fortunate to live in a very well insulated flat. I haven't had to put the heating on for any considerable time in the last two weeks, and it hasn't dropped below 20 degrees indoors since December. I'm not saying it would instantly raise your indoor temperature to that, but it would be a damn sight warmer than 2 degrees indoors (which is basically like living outdoors, anyway).

I don't claim to be an expert on property insulation but there's a world of difference between my detached house and your flat, given flats and apartments are often surrounded by other properties. Maybe some of their heat leeches through to your property.

Before I came to my senses, I was heating one room. I added extra insulation to that room and it probably helped keep the heat in.  I couldn't possib

That hasn't happened. I genuinely hope that it does.

drphila

HertsLad said:

. The thinsulate ski trousers were about £8. And the duck down trousers were £15.

Which do you find warmer? (I'm assuming you don't wear both at the same time!)

elsien

HertsLad said:

GingerTim said:

HertsLad said:

GingerTim said:

On a less flippant note, have you ever considered using the money saved on heating costs to properly insulate your home so you don't have to do this? Or at least not to the same extreme extent?

I don't think the insulation can be too bad as it is because, as I said, the interior temperature has never gone below 2C, as far as I know. It's always warmer indoors. Outdoors always feels colder. So any small gaps could be good for ventilation. What good would further insulation do? I am not creating any heat indoors, so there is nothing to retain. I keep blinds closed, so there's not even much of a warming 'greenhouse' effect from sunlight.

Just imagine, with proper insulation the indoor ambient temperature might stay above 10 degrees!

Your comment suggests you don't understand what insulation does and how it works. Put it this way - I'm fortunate to live in a very well insulated flat. I haven't had to put the heating on for any considerable time in the last two weeks, and it hasn't dropped below 20 degrees indoors since December. I'm not saying it would instantly raise your indoor temperature to that, but it would be a damn sight warmer than 2 degrees indoors (which is basically like living outdoors, anyway).

I don't claim to be an expert on property insulation but there's a world of difference between my detached house and your flat, given flats and apartments are often surrounded by other properties. Maybe some of their heat leeches through to your property.

Before I came to my senses, I was heating one room. I added extra insulation to that room and it probably helped keep the heat in.  I couldn't possibly do that to the entire house. I'm fairly sure there are no further generally accepted approaches to insulation left to do, such as cavity wall insulation or loft insulation. Anyway, it hasn't gone below 4C so far this year and that was in December. I am perfectly warm when its 4C so it would make little difference to me if I could somehow engineer a new minimum of, say, 10C.  My guess is that it would be almost impossible to achieve.

I consider myself very lucky it never seems to go below 2C. I read some predictions on the internet that an unheated house will gradually go down to the ambient temperature outside. But it hasn't. They are wrong, at least for my house.

I reckon the limit of me being able to succeed with my approach is probably 0C. I have camped in colder temperatures quite happily but that's different to living at home all day. So where homes anywhere in the UK go below freezing, perhaps in Scotland or the North of England, I guess it's a non starter (but only during cold spells), together with families with children and people with certain medical conditions, and anyone who lacks the guts to try it.

And then you have to go and spoil it again.
In my world it’s not about having the guts, it’s quite simply about having more sense. 

I don’t have the interest in testing the limits that you seem to have. I don’t need to live at those extremes. I most certainly wouldn’t enjoy it. So why would I even go there? 

HertsLad

drphila said:

HertsLad said:

. The thinsulate ski trousers were about £8. And the duck down trousers were £15.

Which do you find warmer? (I'm assuming you don't wear both at the same time!)

Probably the thinsulate is warmer, especially for the jackets I wear. I use a low cost, relatively thin, minimally packed, duck down jacket found in Home Bargains when going out, under a quite heavy thinsulate lined coat. I never get cold! But I started wearing this down jacket as part of my layers indoors and found it didn't keep me as warm as the deerhunter 'platinum' thinsulate jacket I was wearing last winter, and more recently this year. So you have to experiment. I think 'platinum' probably means the thinsulate is extra thick, so maybe that's why it's so warm. I bought it at a low 'clearance' price on eBay. Today you could pay a lot more.

Back to trousers. Yes, I am wearing both the duck down trousers and the thinsulate ski trousers over the top, right now and generally when it goes below 8C indoors. Much warmer and I would be too hot, so I replace the ski trousers with standard denims.

The duck down trousers came from a Chinese seller on Bay. I bought the first pair for £15 incl postage 1 or 2 years ago. Then VAT was introduced by the UK and prices increased. When I bought a further pair they were almost £25.. i needed the second pair because their sizes are crazy. For my 30" waist, the original L size I bought was too small, and they started splitting. So I ordered the second pair at XXL size and they are fine. The filling feels quite thick, so they are warm. A similar pair from amazon were much more expensive but contained far less down, so I sent them back. Poor value, as it happened.

My backup layer, if all else fails is a duck down jacket rated for 800 fill of down, so a lot. It's in a completely different class of down garment to the jacket from Home Bargains. I haven't needed to wear it for several years. I would never wear more on my legs but this XXL size down 800 fill anorak could be added over everything else if I became cold at around 2C. Like if I hadn't eaten enough or simply as a quirk of how one is each day. But as I have improved what else I wear, the anorak has not been needed.

So down and thinsulate are what's needed, not acrylic blankets, dressing gowns or tracksuit bottoms (unless under down trousers).

PennineAcute

wild666 said:

PennineAcute said:

If individuals are struggling and only heating one room, then I doubt they would have a spare £100 to kit themselves out.

Yes, kitting themselves out in thermals and whatver may work for them, but when single person's UC is around £80, to find £100 is going to be hard.  Pension credit is around £160, so over half of one week's Pension Credit has to be found.  If this works for the person, then okay.  If it does not, then they can now not afford to heat the only room that they can currently afford to heat.  This does not bear thinking about.

We are in times where people are going to suffer.  For a lot of people, money now needs to be spent wisely.  Is it wise spending money on something that may work?

I use thermal underwear under jogging pants and a thermal vest under a T-Shirt a set costs me £10 from Primark or £14 from Asda. I top it off with a fleece dressing gown. 

I do wear a thermal vest, long johns when it is cold, does help me keep the thermostat down - but these would not work for zero heating.  The £100 figure is what the OP has quoted.