How to live without heating - save £000s

drphila

deano2099 said:

Exercise!
I'm not being arch, but five minutes of vigorous activity every hour will help immensely.

That's a lot of exercise! Almost 8 times the NHS's vigorous exercise recommendations (assuming 16 waking hours per day)

John464

HertsLad said:

I explained how I stay perfectly warm at night, without using an electric blanket, other than for pre-warming. Most will probably lead a miserable existence, using sub-standard gear like acrylic blankets in an attempt to keep warm. Some will die of hypothermia. No, it isn't a lifestyle many would want to contemplate.

I also have a body warmer otherwise it gets to the stage where the layers of clothing restrict my arm movement.
I used to have layers of witney woolen blankets - the best in their day.
But being heavy they restricted my movement.  I once dreamt I was paralysed - like in that stage of being half awake where you try to move and can't move, then woke up and realised it was the weight of blankets restricting my movement.
So now I have lightweight acrylic blankets - which trap air just as well because I have just one dense heavy witney woolen blanket on top of them to trap the air. 

adindas

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.

I haven’t heated my house for more than 11 years. My approach is to keep myself warm, rather than heat the house - not even a single room. I estimate I have saved up to £1000 per year.  As prices are now rising more sharply than ever, I estimate the saving will soon increase to £1500 per year. My house typically goes down to 2C during any cold spells between December and February. Today, on 10 February in Hertfordshire, it is 11C. The normal range over winter is around 4C - 8C. I am perfectly comfortable and toasty warm because I am wearing enough clothes with good insulation properties. The more clothes you wear, the lower the temperature you can withstand. It should be obvious but is it?

The common suggestion to put on a jumper is nowhere near enough.I had to work out for myself what I need to wear. It didn't seem wholly intuitive. For example it's important to insulate legs as much as one's torso. I learned from hearing and reading what polar scientists and explorers wear to withstand temperatures down to -30C or colder. I figured 2C in my house is relatively warm, and so it proved to be. The colder it gets, the more layers I wear. None of the clothing is restrictive so I can move around almost as freely as when wearing shorts and a t-shirt in the summer.My favourite clothes are two polyester base layers (one over the top of the other, for both legs and top), a pure wool jumper, and a thinsulate jacket plus a thinsulate lined hat and down-insulated trousers. Everything needs to be long sleeve so I regard 'body warmer' gilets as a joke, together with anything made of acrylic. Nothing I wear is very expensive at all, especially when compared to the cost of heating. It would almost certainly be cheaper for the Government to hand out packs of clothing, rather than make cold weather payments.I never need to wear gloves indoors, even at 2C. Neither do I need an electrically heated foot warmer, all night electric blanket or anything like that.The inside of my house has never reached freezing point. I sometimes leave out small dishes with water, to check if they freeze over. It's never happened.Special measures may be needed to prevent burst water pipes in the loft.

I tried heating one room originally but discovered zero heating is far more convenient because whenever you leave a heated room, you start to get cold, e.g. to go to the kitchen.

I make only two exceptions: (1) I use an electric blanket to pre-warm the bedding for 20 minutes and (2) I use a fan heater in the bathroom but only for about 10 minutes at a time. I sleep under two 13.5 tog duvets, one on top of the other. 

Government backed studies suggest low temperatures can lead to increased blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks. My core temperature is perfectly normal so I hope I'm not at risk. Neither do I seem to have suffered any ill effects from breathing in cold air. I can't possibly say if my approach will be right for you. Probably not, if you have children or suffer from certain medical conditions, for example. Only you can decide.

Many people (if not all) could live without heating during the winter if they have to. All you need to do is to buy a thick sweater, Trousers, blankets, duvets, etc.

That is what people in war zone, the way our ancestors in the early days were living.

Mstty

I would like to think the 25% that say they won't heat their homes will instead learn how to use energy more efficiently and maybe dial down their base heat level rather than have to go full Herts Lad. But this is useful for if they have to go that far.

Time for some calculation based on our household (electric only household ASHP)

The money being handed out at least offers a base level of heat based on last winter costs and the minimum £400 this winter. As an example last winter we were on the price cap (Oct 2021) our DD was set to £120 for twelve months and it is quite realistic for us to dedicate 75% of our energy budget to October-April so £1080. Forget the amount but this winter at 51.8p is equivalent to 2085kwh plus the £400 free from the government buys an additional 772kwh. That's a total of 2857kWh of electricity for us to use should we want to keep to a £120 direct debit budget over this winter and if we were on the October 2022 price cap of 51.8p kWh.

To put it mildly some people are over egging this saying they will turn off their heating.

Note - gas may be a different story but still there will be a baseline amount you can use based on last winter plus the £400 paid over the winter so don't unnecessarily go completely heat free

Just realised I did not take account of standing charges (will recalculate when in later)

PennyForThem_2

Blankets!!!!! For bedding!!!!!  Really!!!!!!!!!!

Duvets are the way to go - personally I would choose an organic filling - down, feathers, wool.  Scandanavians and Europeans use duvets because they have proved the best.

Exercise:  NHS actually suggests good to move every hour.  My fitbit bleeps if not moved for an hour.  All you have to do is get up and walk around and/or do more vigorous exercise - at work we used to walk up 4 stories and back every hour.  (Yes, public authority with a health remit - so encouraged).

Sea_Shell

If people could afford £x last year for their heating and the cost has doubled, then even if they have to use 50% of that amount, it will still give some basic level of heat.

This talk of not putting it on at all (in the media) seems like ill thought out, knee jerk reactions TBH .

But that reaction seems more panic from a lack of understanding of kWh and cost rather then looking at ones personal usage and making an informed choice.

deano2099

drphila said:

deano2099 said:

Exercise!
I'm not being arch, but five minutes of vigorous activity every hour will help immensely.

That's a lot of exercise! Almost 8 times the NHS's vigorous exercise recommendations (assuming 16 waking hours per day)

1hr20 of exercise a day isn't *that* much but yeah I don't mean everyone needs to do a five minute sprint every hour, more move around for five minutes every hour and just incorporate a bit of more vigorous exercise into that (run on the spot, jump up and down.
Ironically, when it comes to keeping warm, the less fit you are the easier and quicker it is!

Mstty

Sea_Shell said:

If people could afford £x last year for their heating and the cost has doubled, then even if they have to use 50% of that amount, it will still give some basic level of heat.

This talk of not putting it on at all (in the media) seems like ill thought out, knee jerk reactions TBH .

But that reaction seems more panic from a lack of understanding of kWh and cost rather then looking at ones personal usage and making an informed choice.

Completely agree except I think the price cap last October was not 50% of the price now but much lower especially for gas but they do also get £400 of free heating

John464

PennyForThem_2 said:

Blankets!!!!! For bedding!!!!!  Really!!!!!!!!!!

Duvets are the way to go -

I find you can tuck blankets in at the side providing better insulation, and stay on better.  If you have more than one duvet on don't they slide off?

HertsLad

John464 said:

PennyForThem_2 said:

Blankets!!!!! For bedding!!!!!  Really!!!!!!!!!!

Duvets are the way to go -

I find you can tuck blankets in at the side providing better insulation, and stay on better.  If you have more than one duvet on don't they slide off?

Thank you for giving me the idea of using a blanket over the top of my two duvets (13.5 tog each) to help them stay in place.