How to live without heating - save £000s

HertsLad

orbit500 said:

Sorry but to me this is little different from the loony who used to live in the woods when I was a kid. Now, back to reading ‘Frugal Sharkey’ in my 21c lounge.

I started this thread in the hope it could reach people like in the following article. Sadly, there's zero evidence it has reached anyone in a situation like that. I must be doing something right because I feel 'toasty warm' 99% of the time. I certainly don't need to visit a warm up type centre.

BBC: Cost of living: The 'lucky' caravan couple facing a freezing future.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-63974990

Sea_Shell

But regardless of what clothing you would wear, surely you'd still generate all the condensation if living in a caravan with no heating, just from breathing?

How well would your clothing work if it were all damp?

Once mattresses and other soft furnishings start getting damp, heat is surely the only answer.

Krakkkers

You can't take much from a car battery, they are not designed to be deep cycled.

HertsLad

Krakkkers said:

You take much from a car battery, they are not designed to be deep cycled.

In about 10 years time, I will let you know how they are doing.

HertsLad

Sea_Shell said:

But regardless of what clothing you would wear, surely you'd still generate all the condensation if living in a caravan with no heating, just from breathing?

How well would your clothing work if it were all damp?

Once mattresses and other soft furnishings start getting damp, heat is surely the only answer.

I agree dampness would be a real problem so isn't the starting point to stop any leaks and introduce some ventilation?

Krakkkers

You can take no more than 20% safely from a car battery which means 200wh at the most before recharging it.

Max68

Like anything I think it's all what you are used to.  From what I can gather Hearts Lad has been doing this for years so he is probably used to it, but its like the old stories of what it was like back in the 50s/60s winters with freezing outside toilets and ice on the windows, people didn't know any different until they eventually moved.  It's very difficult to "go back".  Many would struggle without a mobile phone now despite many of us remembering that once upon a time if you wanted a taxi you would have look up the number in a directory and put 2p in a phone box.  Would we all go back to eating food with bits of dirt in it or drink water that's brown in colour?  Would you expect the NHS to perform operations without anaesthetic?  Certainly by cutting back I appreciate that once you get used to 16c/17c you know you were probably overdoing it by basking in 22c heating and wearing shorts and a tee shirt but once you get down to 14 and lower it's too cold for me.  If the whole country did what Hearts Lad is happy to do then for me it's all going backwards.  It's 2022 not 1722 and people shouldn't be freezing in their homes.

Cirrus1

HertsLad - I hope the thermometer works out for you. I find it invaluable and am forever pointing it at various parts of my house to determine heat loss etc.

If you have a cooker hood I suggest you point it in the opening. If your hood is anything like mine, it’s astonishing to discover the heat loss going on there. Some of my kitchen was 20 degrees but when I checked the hood, it registered 10 degrees!! The walls either side of the hood were about 17 degrees. I cut a square of bubble wrap foil (the stuff that goes behind radiators) and stuck it to the underside of the hood with Velcro. At least overnight it will cutdown the cold air coming into the room! As you can see, armed with the thermometer, I am on a mission to find sources of heat loss and check on how the latest tweak is doing. Sad behaviour, but necessary due to gas pricing.

HertsLad

Max68 said:

Like anything I think it's all what you are used to.  From what I can gather Herts Lad has been doing this for years so he is probably used to it...

I don't feel I have got used to it at all! I.e. not in the sense of being able to tolerate the cold if wearing too little. I feel the cold as much as anyone.

Rather, what I am used to is knowing what to wear to make it possible. And everyone reading this thread also knows now because I explained exactly what I am wearing.

It's disappointing that nobody here has tried to replicate my approach even as an experiment. All the gear is readily available and nothing needs to cost very much. 

Some of the comments suggest people are more prepared to spend a fortune on heating than 'feel odd' wearing so many layers, even though it feels little different to me, to when I wear shorts and a t-shirt in summer. Your choice!

It's hard to explain. I feel cocooned in a bubble of warmth. It's only when I undress to go to bed, and get up in the morning that I realise how cold it really is. But as it's only for a few minutes, it's perfectly OK.

EssexHebridean

HertsLad said:

Max68 said:

Like anything I think it's all what you are used to.  From what I can gather Herts Lad has been doing this for years so he is probably used to it...

I don't feel I have got used to it at all! I.e. not in the sense of being able to tolerate the cold if wearing too little. I feel the cold as much as anyone.

Rather, what I am used to is knowing what to wear to make it possible. And everyone reading this thread also knows now because I explained exactly what I am wearing.

It's disappointing that nobody here has tried to replicate my approach even as an experiment. All the gear is readily available and nothing needs to cost very much. 

Some of the comments suggest people are more prepared to spend a fortune on heating than 'feel odd' wearing so many layers, even though it feels little different to me, to when I wear shorts and a t-shirt in summer. Your choice!

It's hard to explain. I feel cocooned in a bubble of warmth. It's only when I undress to go to bed, and get up in the morning that I realise how cold it really is. But as it's only for a few minutes, it's perfectly OK.

My heating is currently costing me £100 a month (DD level - which I’m confident will more than cover the use over a year, even allowing for the rate increase in January) - to keep my home at a comfortable level. We wear jumpers, long trousers, thick socks and I usually have slippers on indoors - so we’re not sitting around in shorts and t-shirts, but nor are we wearing more layers indoors than we would wear outdoors. We’re fortunate, our budget means we can afford that amount, we don’t feel it’s an extreme amount by any means, and far from “a fortune” certainly - but we refuse to play at being poor - that, to me, is an insult to those who genuinely are struggling with money right now. We’re also confident that we’re not damaging either our long term health or the health and so subsequent value of our home by allowing it to become too cold. As established too, we’ve ensured we have things like good quality windows in place, so heating is probably less of a problem anyway than in a poorly insulated property as it seems yours must be. 

With no heating on at this end of the property overnight, but also no curtains up in the bedroom due to decorating work, the temperature was just over 15°C in the bedroom this morning, down from just under 17°C last night after a day with heating running in the bedroom - again due to the decorating work. We do lose heat, but I really don’t think even if we were entirely unheated we would get to anywhere like the levels your home does - thank goodness! That still doesn’t mean that it would be long-term  good for either us or the property, though.