How to live without heating - save £000s

Ildhund

I can't remember seeing any reference to 'gorilla suits' in this thread. My two have proved absolutely invaluable for a year now, and one of them is almost worn out. OK, you look silly, but what's more important? I wear mine over nothing much to potter around in first thing, then as required during the day and evening. You really don't need much underneath for it to keep you snug, even when the indoor temperature dips below 10°. The only negative point is having to half-undress (and even put something else on on top meanwhile) to sit on the toilet. The double-fleece (fluffy inside and out) has various names, like borg, sherpa and teddybear as well as gorilla. I spent £40 of last year's WFP on these and another £50 on an electric underblanket for my enormous bed. These have been the best 'keep warm' investments I've ever made. 
  


I don't recommend bare feet, by the way.  

PS I'm also a great believer in 'polyester next the skin', so long as it's microfibre. I started with a pair of pants last century; they're still going strong, and I won't ever go back to using cotton underwear.

dealyboy

@wrf12345 said:

I have lost ten percent of my body weight due to Keto diet, basically took out all the stubborn fat on stomach, love handles and backside, so back to where I was when a teenager, fifty years ago... which means no insulating layer of fat on my body so will be interesting to see how I do in the cold this time round. Usually only run the CH for two hourly sessions a day during Dec-Feb (less last year as it was relatively mild) and have managed to insulate my house quite well but most of the time am under ten degrees and layered up. THe loss of the WFA means I am inclined to use even less gas than before but not sure how my "new" body will react. My second layer is going to be a tight fitting quilted jacket that I got off Aliexpress for £6 (over a long-sleeved tee-shirt) whilst I have some tight fitting tracksuit bottoms as my first layer on the lower half (some of my trousers are now a bit loose from the weight loss so they fit nicely over those), and then layer up with pullovers and perhaps a larger quilted jacket when in the house. All good fun, I guess.

Congratulations and look forwards to the updates 

dealyboy

Maybe you could model some of HertsLad's combinations too @Ildhund

HertsLad

Ildhund said:

I can't remember seeing any reference to 'gorilla suits' in this thread. My two have proved absolutely invaluable for a year now, and one of them is almost worn out. OK, you look silly, but what's more important? I wear mine over nothing much to potter around in first thing, then as required during the day and evening. You really don't need much underneath for it to keep you snug, even when the indoor temperature dips below 10°. The only negative point is having to half-undress (and even put something else on on top meanwhile) to sit on the toilet. The double-fleece (fluffy inside and out) has various names, like borg, sherpa and teddybear as well as gorilla. I spent £40 of last year's WFP on these and another £50 on an electric underblanket for my enormous bed. These have been the best 'keep warm' investments I've ever made. 
  
PS I'm also a great believer in 'polyester next the skin', so long as it's microfibre. I started with a pair of pants last century; they're still going strong, and I won't ever go back to using cotton underwear.

It's interesting if it keeps you warm down to 10C or colder. Is there anyone else here who lives at temperatures as low as that apart from me and Ildhund, by the sound of it. If that's the top layer, what are you wearing underneath, exactly?

bob2302

I put most, but not all, of  my heating into my living living room where the thermostat rises to 16.5C in the evenings, the rest of the house varies between 12C and 18C in winter, depending on the weather. My home isn't particularly well insulted, but actual gas contributes less than £12 a month to my average monthly bill of about £56. 

My feeling is that, if anything, I'm cutting this too fine. Most of us will only get very minor savings by pushing it further.

masonic

Last year I was comfortable down to about 14C dressed in fleece-lined joggers and a fleece top +sherpa lined hoodie, but 12-13C was a bit on the chilly side. I couldn't get on with polyester base layers although I might have another go this winter.

Ildhund

HertsLad said:

Ildhund said:

You really don't need much underneath for it to keep you snug, even when the indoor temperature dips below 10°. 

Is there anyone else here who lives at temperatures as low as that ...?
...If that's the top layer, what are you wearing underneath, exactly?

I wouldn't say I live at those temperatures. It's not unusual for it to be that cold when I get up, but unless it gets warmer by itself, I'll chicken out and light the fire. This was last January:
  

  
and 10 January:
  


Guess what time I lit the fire!

As to what I wear underneath - that may be TMI. It varied, but a normal arrangement would be a microfibre polyester long-sleeved base layer with a merino wool polo-necked jumper to keep my neck warm. 
I wouldn't dream of appearing in public in this garb, but delivery drivers don't bat an eyelid when I answer the door, so I'm probably not that much of a rarity. When I apologized for my dress to one of them, she replied "I've got one like that. Great, aren't they!"
 

Green_hopeful

I have a buffalo shirt/jacket. It was given to me in 1994 because its previous owner thought it was getting a bit old. When I worked from home I often wore it over my normal clothes. Once on a Teams call I hadn’t taken it off and a Director asked if it was a buffalo. I said yes and he said respect! I loved it but it’s very tired now and I only wear it for gardening. You are supposed to wear them next to the skin but I don’t. I would definitely recommend them for keeping warm even when not mountaineering. 

HertsLad

bob2302 said:

I put most, but not all, of  my heating into my living living room where the thermostat rises to 16.5C in the evenings, the rest of the house varies between 12C and 18C in winter, depending on the weather. My home isn't particularly well insulted, but actual gas contributes less than £12 a month to my average monthly bill of about £56. 

My feeling is that, if anything, I'm cutting this too fine. Most of us will only get very minor savings by pushing it further.

I push it further and save around 12 x £56 = £672. I regard that as a major outlay rather than 'minor savings'. If you are happy allocating £672 like that, then good luck.

HertsLad

 

HertsLad said: Is there anyone else here who lives at temperatures as low as that ...?
...If that's the top layer, what are you wearing underneath, exactly?

Ildhund said:

You really don't need much underneath for it to keep you snug, even when the indoor temperature dips below 10°. 

I wouldn't say I live at those temperatures. It's not unusual for it to be that cold when I get up, but unless it gets warmer by itself, I'll chicken out and light the fire. This was last January:
  
As to what I wear underneath - that may be TMI. It varied, but a normal arrangement would be a microfibre polyester long-sleeved base layer with a merino wool polo-necked jumper to keep my neck warm. 
I wouldn't dream of appearing in public in this garb, but delivery drivers don't bat an eyelid when I answer the door, so I'm probably not that much of a rarity. When I apologized for my dress to one of them, she replied "I've got one like that. Great, aren't they!"
 

It's one of the rare times on here where it sounds like you wear high quality gear which is known for good insulation. I refer to your long sleeved base layer and merino wool jumper. Have you tried adding base layer long pants? If not, I recommend it. Perhaps you could then delay lighting the fire! Better still, double up on everything, i.e. two base layer tops, 2 base layer bottoms and two merino wool jumpers. I am confident you could then 'go a lot lower' in terms of temperature, if it makes sense for other reasons, such as water pipes freezing up.