Soaring heating costs, what's your plan.

Just felt obliged to add to the debate here as have hust read this:

Though only 8% of households in the UK (mostly wealthy ones) have a wood-burning stove, they release more small particulates (the most dangerous pollutants) than all the vehicles on the road. Even a modern, approved, “eco-friendly” wood burner produces 750 times as many fine particulates as a heavy goods vehicle.

I did SO love my woodburner years ago.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/27/wood-burning-stove-environment-home-toxins?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

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I think single people are worse off. As they only have ONE wage, or ONE pension or ONE benefit. They have to pay to heat a house the same as two or three people living together, so two or 3 wages coming in etc. Also I think the help that is given to people on certain benefits should be paid direct to their energy supplier as (& I'm not tarring everyone) SOME spend it on drugs, cigarettes, alcohol.

So sorry you finding it hard, do you have any warm hubs in your area that you can go to during the day. Sending you a warm hug

Thought I might revive this thread as it is now so cold. How are people managing? I am on a pre paid meter as I budget better with this and can just do without if I have no money. It cost £3 a day to have my heating on for 3 hours. 4-7pm then I go to bed with a hot water bottle and a book. Mornings I just wear a dressing gown over layers and keep a hot water bottle nearby. I resent it though as a pensioner with rh arthritis who just misses out on pension credit it is hard. Hope everyone else is ok

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Private Eye came up with this plan

speaking with people in my craft group this week. They live in and around this little town and do not have any gas infrastructure. Only electric to heat their homes. How scarey is that? some of them said that they will not be putting heating on at all and their smart meter readings are already going into the red zone on a daily living basis

I feel grateful than I have afforded to buy a heated throw. Everyone was deep down anxious as all on fixed rate income

Using my heating but not as long as previously and being more careful about switching lights off. Keeping an eye on my smart meter and so far I seem to be in credit. Hopefully it stays steady

I have bought a M and S gilet. Have scarcely taken it off since I got it.

My house has very good cavity wall insulations so it’s never particularly cold even in the winter. I’ve resisted the urge to put the CH on yet but did put the gas fire on in the lounge for an hour last evening just to take the chill off. It kicks out so much heat that if it’s on any longer than that, even on low, I would be removing layers, not adding them! After that I sat with a rug over my lower legs and thick socks on and was comfortable. I am about to have a new combi boiler fitted and hope it will be more efficient and cost effective than the current now elderly system. I live alone now and like everyone else, I’m hoping that I will be able to cover whatever eventualities come along this winter. I seems to have built up a ridiculous amount of credit with my energy company (they are reluctant to reduce my DD though!!) so that should help. I notice that camping gas stoves are flying off the shelves like hot cakes!

Since we now know that we are getting some help with the energy bills and extra pensioner Winter fuel money, I feel better about things.We are only a household of two in any case.
Extra precautions are not leaving lights on which we do not need, only boiling the kettle with the correct amount of water needed, turning down the thermostat by one degree, and turning down the radiators in rooms not much used.

BoB thank you very much!
I wondered too

What does tyvm mean

both my partner and myself have health issues and we rent a park home which is not very insulated so gets very cold we have LPG heating no mains gas in the area so we will be having the heating on do so at the moment for an hour in mornings to heat the place up but not yet at night i am retired on state pension and partner unable to work due to health and he is on benefits not yet 66 we hopefully can pay all bills this winter as long as the temperature doesn't get to low then we will reside alot under a thick duvet

Barmeyoldbat

Biker gran I have a heated blanket /poncho thing that I wear in the car after cycling. I plug it into the cigarette lither and warm my freezing hands.
One granddaughter works as a t/a in a school to a child is autistic and she finds it absolutely exhausting, she also works shifts when she can get them in Asda and is doing Open University for a degree. She is lucky she has no children and is single but still has to find a large amount for her rent each month. I am afraid GSM lives in a gilded cage and how ever much she tries to justify her struggle in life I am afraid it just doesn’t work due to the lack of compassion

This !
tyvm barmeyoldbat

Casdon

In a bid to prove I’m as organised as karmalady I’m starting a competition - who has the oldest candles in their emergency store?! These are mine, my mum gave me them when I got married in 1985, but they were at least 10 years old then, they are 1970s stock.

I'm impressed that they're still in the packet.

Do the Christmas candles I inherited from my Mum count? Two little snowmen, two little Father Christmases, they're like old friends and come out every year. They are probably 1960s.
But I'll never light them unless I'm really desperate!

And no, can't show a photo you because I'm not going to climb into the attic ?

I live in a terraced house and unfortunately both kitchen and sitting room doors are the only barrier against the outside. Last year I decided to buy door curtain poles and get thermal curtains for them. Just recently I thought why not do it to all the internal doors that were used. The cost of thermal curtains was way too much on my budget so I looked in the charity shops and found some heavyweight ones long enough to reach the floor. Draughts were also a problem so the curtains have lessened their effect.

Casdon - I was only a child in the 70s but I remember the blackouts and my family having those exact candles!

I live with family so it’s up to them when the heating goes on. Saying this my DD won’t expect me to freeze.
My problem is that I get too hot so I only wear thin clothes through the winter , my coldest spot seems to be my ankles so I have bought some ugly boot slippers from Cotton Traders which should do the trick . I’ve also bought a thin rain jacket for the school run cos I get far too hot in a big thick coat and I’m only waiting outside for a maximum of 5 minutes .

Impressed Casdon

In a bid to prove I’m as organised as karmalady I’m starting a competition - who has the oldest candles in their emergency store?! These are mine, my mum gave me them when I got married in 1985, but they were at least 10 years old then, they are 1970s stock.

If I turned my CH on to 18c, it wouldn’t even start to get warm.
I have a large through lounge so have to whack heating up full on and then turn it down when sufficiently heated up.

It does take some time though to heat through.

Ali08 I think that's my problem too Sitting here with the patio doors open and bare feet!

I would definitely put the heating on for anyone vulnerable.

I'm in perpetual menopause so have loads of hot flushes. I live in short sleeved t-shirts as anything long sleeved has to be able to be removed at a moments notice before I sweat to death!
I have blankets/throws (what is the actual difference?), a spare duvet &, of course, my beloved hot water bottles! (I keep these handy as they're used as pain relief, too). If my feet are warm, there's obviously something wrong with me. Lol.
We're lucky that our lounge/dining room/kitchen are open plan, and the house is small, so the oven gives us loads of heat when cooking meals. And we both seem to be hot blooded people, it's just DC or DGC we'd generally put the heating on for, especially DGD as she suffers in winter due to a health complaint.
I have candles, just in case of power cuts - I bet a lot of the younger generations won't think of candles!