How to live without heating - save £000s

Sea_Shell

HertsLad said:

Does this forum have a bug? When I go into a quoted section to trim it a bit, I can't get back to the section where I type my reply. On my desktop PC browser I can go into html mode as a workaround but my phone doesn't seem to offer this option. Any thoughts?

I don't know if it's a bug, but mine does that too.   I have to be careful to at least type "something" in the new text area, before tapping within quoted text to edit it, otherwise, like you say you end up stuck there.

It's a tad annoying isn't it.

HertsLad

From Mstty:

How other people live is an interesting story to me and others especially with this cold spell that I thought would be extremely challenging (only to find he was toasty in Tunisia lol)

I find if I type a bit of text here first, then I can get back to it after trimming the quote.

Before I went away it was about 9C in my house. I had doubts, as I get older, on whether I could still keep warm at 2C. But I have, and even lower to 1C or even 0C. It seemed easier than ever. I attribute a large part of my success to the down trousers I first bought about 3 years ago. They were £15 then and £25 now, but still good value for the warmth provided. Not any old down trousers but from the specific seller on eBay, as mentioned earlier in this thread.

Sea_Shell

What's the temperature in your house this morning?    

Round here it's 12c outside, so you might need to open a window and let some heat IN. 

mumf

HertsLad said:

[Deleted User] said:

If someone desperate decided, based on skim-reading this thread, that they could just put a layer or two on and then live without heating...

I assume nearly everyone has common sense. If anyone is still shivering then they need to change something like I do. I put on more layers, or superior layers, or go out for a walk, or hold my hands over a gas hob for a couple of minutes. They might use heating to some extent, or ride round on a bus all day, using a bus pass, to keep warm.

I have followed this for some time. No criticism from me,as I am a big believer in folks doing their own thing ,as frankly,it’s their business! 

In 10 days my life has crashed. This ( I now realise) can happen to anyone at any time. I am not a well man in a nutshell,and my job has finished. Therefore,income has too,and heating is a major ,major outgoing,as we all know. I won’t go into personal detail,time is too precious. However, my wife and I have kept warm very well,by watching our use ,and above all else , wearing proper layers of clothing,sitting with blankets ( she knits!) . We are not without heating,and the house is a cottage with small rooms,doors on each, door sausages and curtains ,in the old fashioned way. However, income,along with what is happening to World Ecology and economy,makes you realise that down the line , *our* lives of stuff,stuff, and more ,may well have to change. 

Take care.

HertsLad

Sea_Shell said:

What's the temperature in your house this morning?    

Round here it's 12c outside, so you might need to open a window and let some heat IN. 

Big change this morning. First thing I noticed was bedroom temperature up from 1C to 3C. But when I went outside it felt so much warmer so, as you said, I have opened windows and doors to both warm the house and ventilate. 5C to 9C is more common as a typical temperature range over winter in my house.

HertsLad

mumf said:

In 10 days my life has crashed. This ( I now realise) can happen to anyone at any time. I am not a well man in a nutshell,and my job has finished. Therefore,income has too,and heating is a major ,major outgoing...

I'm very sorry to hear your life has taken a down turn, and hope your situation improves before too long.

silvercar

HertsLad said:

Does this forum have a bug? When I go into a quoted section to trim it a bit, I can't get back to the section where I type my reply. On my desktop PC browser I can go into html mode as a workaround but my phone doesn't seem to offer this option. Any thoughts?

It does. The solution for me is to click on the end icon, the one that looks like "</>" That changes the reply box to code. You can then move your cursor to the last character and click on it again to turn the reply box back to how it should look.

HertsLad

dealyboy said:

BTW, I noted that you are interested in heating/insulation grants. I am also in Herts, North Herts. NHDC wrote to me recently about applying for a grant ... https://www.north-herts.gov.uk/are-you-eligible-free-home-improvements-make-your-home-warmer?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery, if not there may be useful information here for your district council.

I just heard back from my local authority. They DO offer a similar scheme so I am extremely grateful to you for flagging it here. I just completed an application form but have no idea if I will be successful. One question was what I use to heat the home. I could have ticked 'gas' but it would have been a lie so I ticked 'other'.

EssexHebridean

silvercar said:

HertsLad said:

Does this forum have a bug? When I go into a quoted section to trim it a bit, I can't get back to the section where I type my reply. On my desktop PC browser I can go into html mode as a workaround but my phone doesn't seem to offer this option. Any thoughts?

It does. The solution for me is to click on the end icon, the one that looks like "</>" That changes the reply box to code. You can then move your cursor to the last character and click on it again to turn the reply box back to how it should look.

This is great advice! Thank you!


In answer to those suggestiung that people have been attacking the OP here for his choice of lifestyle, I've not seen much of that at all. (And indeed I have reported at least one post ion the thread for the language used towards the OP!) I have seen a fair few people however taking issue with the way that the  approach has been "marketed" to others, as particularly early on (and creeping back in again more recently) there was a very gung-ho tendency to essentially infer "anyone can do this and you're a wuss if you don't try!" without any regard for the fact that no, not everyone CAN do it. Indeed, the inference that "everyone should just try it" without any form of qualification could have had potentially severe results to people with certain health conditions - those who know about the conditions probably wouldn't consider trying it, but what about those who don't? Effectively daring them to turn their heating off could be fatal.  This is a very public forum - it's not like the niche "prepper" type places where those heading there already have a leaning towards extreme lifestyles let's say. MSE caters for all levels of understanding and comprehension, and also is home to some who are simply here because they are truly, truly desperate. Desperation can lead to extreme measures being taken in panic, without as much thought being applied as might perhaps be advisable. Is it right and good that there is a balance on the thread from those saying "yes, but..." - I think it is.

I think it's fair to say that probably a good number of those who are regulars on this board have at least a degree of financial privilege - you only have to listen to discussions about solar arrays, battery storage and in some cases things like heat pumps which have been purchased rather than installed by a landlord/freeholder. Yes, those things might have been worked for - in the same way that my mortgage-freedom (right now, anyway!) has been worked for - but having enough money to pay your bills, and to purchase things that over time might save you money, but in the first instance cost a large amount, is still privilege. We have people coming to these boards right now who can't afford to turn their heating on, and also can't afford to spend out money on multiple sets of additional clothing to "layer up" as HertsLad does - if there is ANY risk that some of them skim the thread and think "oh that's OK because I'll just get use to it" then we need to be mindful of that, and there needs to be responsibility in the thread, IMO. 

HertsLad

Isn't the weather strange. The thermometer reading 1C yesterday is now showing 9C after I opened the window. But I guess even wetter air was brought in because humidity is so high. I note National Trust monitor humidity carefully to look after their properties. I don't think they use dehumidifiers so maybe they rely on heating.