How to live without heating - save £000s

dealyboy

@Gerry1 said:

Apologies, can't remember whether it's been answered in the previous 85 pages, but how do you avoid mould, damp walls, damp clothes and voiding your building insurance?

... yes it was  .

YoungBlueEyes

MultiFuelBurner said:

YoungBlueEyes said:

Maybe they should abandon the WFA and just give the people flights to warmer places for the winter. It'd save all the gas boilers churning away, so that'd help our carbon footprint. Fewer people buying stuff, that'd help inflation. And it'd give the nhs a breather so it might get back on it's feet.  

There might just be a place for you in the cabinet 😜

“I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member” - Groucho Marx

Scot_39

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

HertsLad said:

I received some good news yesterday. Please see the following letter. That's a further £500 for my holiday fund, given that I don't need to spend a single penny on heating.

Maybe you could donate it if you don’t need it? I appreciate that you don't need it but the vast majority do but the cost of trying to determine those that don’t need it is huge compared to the cost of just giving it to everyone. One of my friends donates hers every year to the Trussell Trust, maybe you should think about it?

Or make it taxable at high end - just like child benefit - starts being taxed if in 40% band (taper 50 to 60k iirc)

Edit : as let's face it someone on 50k shouldn't be struggling to pay their bills.

And you have to pay taxes on pension including state if over PA.

The WFP was introduced in part to stop poor pensioners dying of cold- charity estimates suggest 10,000 less cold related deaths.

masonic

Gerry1 said:

Apologies, can't remember whether it's been answered in the previous 85 pages, but how do you avoid mould, damp walls, damp clothes and voiding your building insurance?

I think it has been covered a few times, but essentially condensation occurs when air around a colder surface is cooled to the extent its new relative humidity exceeds 100%. This is effect is greatest when there is a large difference in temperature between the air inside and the fabric of the house. When there isn't a large difference in temperature between inside and outside, this won't be an issue. Where there is an intermediate temperature difference, ventilation will have a powerful dehumidifying effect and can be used to control RH within a sensible range.

I can't comment on any specific endorsements you may have on your insurance policy, but if you need to maintain a minimum temperature for cover then obviously you should do so.

HertsLad

I am prepared to carry the risk regarding insurance. Water pipes bursting must be the biggest threat but I removed all the water from the roof, so I don't think there are many other issues related to it being almost freezing inside my house at present.

The question about it being challenging was echoing in my mind this morning as I really struggled to warm up after my return from Egypt. I got home at about 4am and crawled into a bed which must have been 3C. I put on 2 base layers, top and bottom, first, plus socks. I find that if you minimise skin contact with the cold sheets, it's not too bad, and I rapidly warmed up under 26 tog from two down and feather duvets. My problems started when I got up at 8am. I wasn't sure where the various garments needed to keep warm below 5C are located. I have problems with moth damage, perhaps only with wool, but have put many items of clothing inside vacuum packs, then into 35L really useful boxes. With almost no labels. So, as I found various items, I was cooling rapidly and crawled back into bed to warm up again. It took about three hours until I reached a toasty warm type equilibrium with no cold hands or feet. For well over an hour, my hands and feet were cold. When will I learn to be better prepared?

snowqueen555

Do people heat their whole home or mainly the rooms they're in a lot? Kitchens are always cold and with open plan kitchen living rooms being the common choice in new builds I kinda expect them to be colder. I try to keep my bedroom warm as I am in there the most as I work from there for convenience.

I will at some point be moving into electric only so I'll probably follow the same routine to save £ 

HertsLad

Scot_39 said:

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

HertsLad said:

I received some good news yesterday. Please see the following letter. That's a further £500 for my holiday fund, given that I don't need to spend a single penny on heating.

Maybe you could donate it if you don’t need it? I appreciate that you don't need it but the vast majority do but the cost of trying to determine those that don’t need it is huge compared to the cost of just giving it to everyone. One of my friends donates hers every year to the Trussell Trust, maybe you should think about it?

Or make it taxable at high end - just like child benefit - starts being taxed if in 40% band (taper 50 to 60k iirc)

Edit : as let's face it someone on 50k shouldn't be struggling to pay their bills.

And you have to pay taxes on pension including state if over PA.

The WFP was introduced in part to stop poor pensioners dying of cold- charity estimates suggest 10,000 less cold related deaths.

I have cut right back on donations to charity after I realised far too much money goes to the people running the charity, rather than the cause itself, Besides, I do need the money - for holidays like to Egypt last week and Tunisia next week.

I am a pensioner. My income is nowhere near £50K per annum, I should probably have paid in more money when I was working.

MultiFuelBurner

HertsLad said:

Scot_39 said:

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

HertsLad said:

I received some good news yesterday. Please see the following letter. That's a further £500 for my holiday fund, given that I don't need to spend a single penny on heating.

Maybe you could donate it if you don’t need it? I appreciate that you don't need it but the vast majority do but the cost of trying to determine those that don’t need it is huge compared to the cost of just giving it to everyone. One of my friends donates hers every year to the Trussell Trust, maybe you should think about it?

Or make it taxable at high end - just like child benefit - starts being taxed if in 40% band (taper 50 to 60k iirc)

Edit : as let's face it someone on 50k shouldn't be struggling to pay their bills.

And you have to pay taxes on pension including state if over PA.

The WFP was introduced in part to stop poor pensioners dying of cold- charity estimates suggest 10,000 less cold related deaths.

I have cut right back on donations to charity after I realised far too much money goes to the people running the charity, rather than the cause itself, Besides, I do need the money - for holidays like to Egypt last week and Tunisia next week.

I am a pensioner. My income is nowhere near £50K per annum, I should probably have paid in more money when I was working.

Sound advice. Something parents drilled into me when starting my first proper just that came with the option of a final salary pension and for the 6% I put in they matched it. I was tempted with the 3% option or zero option at the time but Dad said tick the 6% lad. That first job lasted 15 years and that's a pretty pension on its own.

HertsLad

snowqueen555 said:

Do people heat their whole home or mainly the rooms they're in a lot? Kitchens are always cold and with open plan kitchen living rooms being the common choice in new builds I kinda expect them to be colder. I try to keep my bedroom warm as I am in there the most as I work from there for convenience.

I will at some point be moving into electric only so I'll probably follow the same routine to save £ 

Good question. Until about 15 years ago, before I decided to cut right back, I was heating my entire house, morning and evening, with a gas fueled warm air system. I liked it a lot and couldn't understand why some neighbors removed the warm air components, to introduce a radiator based system. . Then the price of gas went up a bit and my income took a hit, so I decided to heat only one room - a bedroom I still use as a study where my desktop computer is located. If I was working from home using the PC, I think I'd probably revert to this approach because I'm not sure I'd want to be sat at my desk for several hours each day wearing multiple layers of clothing. It's what I am doing right now and I am perfectly comfortable but routine office type work might feel different, or look odd if using Zoom or similar for video communication with others.

The biggest problem I found was when leaving the heated room to use the kitchen, primarily. As you said, kitchens can be cold. If the heated room is at a normal temperature such as 20C, I'd need to be wearing a single layer of light clothes. Any more clothing and I would overheat. But standing in the kitchen for more than a few minutes at yesterday's temperature of 3C or today's 4C I'd start to feel very cold quite quickly. That's why I don't now heat any room but dress for the much lower temperature throughout the house. It's a far better approach from my point of view and saves even more money.

Netexporter

and couldn't understand why some neighbors removed the warm air components, to introduce a radiator based system.

Because wet systems are far more efficient that warm air systems.