How are keeping warm?

I would guess Dizzyribs has already done that, pascal!
We certainly have (with similar bills for less heat). Our thermostat showed 13° before it came on in yesterday morning. It is set at 18° when on...

my actual octopus dual fuel charge is around £115 this month and I upped my standing charge to £101 pm a few months ago, now have credit of £140, which will be £251 in a couple of days. 4 bedroom detached house, modern new build

I believe that my body has adapted to cooler and I was able to lower some thermostat timing sessions by half a degree

Layers are best for warmth, particularly wool and thin silk vests. I love my electric blanket, it is always cosy in bed. I like the bedroom to be 17-18 degrees. So far so good this winter

I have a multi-fuel stove but don`t use it much, only when I want the cheeriness as well as heat. Twice so far this winter

Bea65

Have left E blanket on all night- it’s on the middle setting - just clicked it onto highest setting
My body is toasty warm and joints less achey
Know I can’t stay in bed all day but …what do you do?

No, can't stay in bed all day.

However, I'm still unsure why bedrooms need heating, if one uses warm winter sheets, duvet, and coverings. In bed it is warm.

karmalady - our bedroom is well below 17 or 18°.
Our house is a large leaky victorian property.
Some windows are still the original (beautiful) hand made glass - and we have some areas with original tiles (straight onto a bed of ash) too. Our old attic bedrooms (also original) are straight into the eaves so nothing to insulate there!

Every radiator has a valve on however and rooms we don't use every day are turned down to the "no frost" setting.

Not complaining! We choose to continue to live here, after all!

The fabric of the homes we live in has a lot of impact on our utility bills.

Our heating goes off overnight - but we have encouraged my 100 year old mother-in-law to leave hers on at 18°.

She did this for the first time when she woke up at 5am the other day and was cold! I think she will continue now she has tried it.
Hooray.

NotSpaghetti

karmalady - our bedroom is well below 17 or 18°.
Our house is a large leaky victorian property.
Some windows are still the original (beautiful) hand made glass - and we have some areas with original tiles (straight onto a bed of ash) too. Our old attic bedrooms (also original) are straight into the eaves so nothing to insulate there!

Every radiator has a valve on however and rooms we don't use every day are turned down to the "no frost" setting.

Not complaining! We choose to continue to live here, after all!

The fabric of the homes we live in has a lot of impact on our utility bills.

I bet it is a joy to live in during Spring and Summer though NotSpaghetti.. it sounds lovely..

Our heating always goes off at night, but as we have a well insulated house it doesn't dip much below 12 degrees even on the coldest nights. We put additional insulation in our loft last year and it looks as if it has been a wise investment. The spare bedrooms have their thermostats set to very low, so those doors are closed once the sun goes in, the doors are opened every morning as they are south facing and there is a lot of solar gain. It's all about working out what is best for you, using the restrictions of the house you live in.

Martin Lewis
10,000,000s of Brits are being ripped off by overpaying on energy, mobile, broadband, water bills and more.
Tonight on 8pm ITV it's BillBuster time

I'm not sure we can do much about water. We don't have any choice other than if we have a meter and I'm not sure about the rules about that. The rest I've followed his advice in the past and I did make savings so should be worth watching.

The water bills bit was quite interesting
If you have more bedrooms than people in your house, you will probably be better off on a water meter.
Nearly 6m homes are missing out on low income (under £21k) or benefit discounts

Chardy

The water bills bit was quite interesting
If you have more bedrooms than people in your house, you will probably be better off on a water meter.
Nearly 6m homes are missing out on low income (under £21k) or benefit discounts

CHARDY Can you please elaborate re the under £21K or benefit discounts you are referring to 🙏

theworriedwell

I'm not sure we can do much about water. We don't have any choice other than if we have a meter and I'm not sure about the rules about that. The rest I've followed his advice in the past and I did make savings so should be worth watching.

There are no rules. You simply ask the water company to install one.

It is many years since we did that, but it halved our water bills.

Many years ago, DD had a water meter installed in the flat she then lived in. When he had finished the job the waterboard engineer realised that he had fitted the meter to the hot water supply pipe and not the main cold water supply and decided that he couldn't be bothered to change it, so she was only ever charged for the hot water she used, and not the cold. As I said, she no longer lives there, she sold the flat nearly 20 years ago, but we do on occasion wonder whether this has been discovered yet and rectified.

My water bill is very reasonable with a meter, and I dont skimp at all.

It's the best thing I ever did.

I’m back in bed after a rubbish night of not much sleep and depression threatening. I’m toasty warm here but it’s not ideal in 2025! Really can’t afford the heating on all day. Fedup. When I get up then it’s back to layers and end up looking like the mitchelin woman! Fedup!

Me too.
Propped up with my book, hoping I don't nod off.

Bea65

Chardy

The water bills bit was quite interesting
If you have more bedrooms than people in your house, you will probably be better off on a water meter.
Nearly 6m homes are missing out on low income (under £21k) or benefit discounts

CHARDY Can you please elaborate re the under £21K or benefit discounts you are referring to 🙏

Sorry, I don't remember any detail. But you can find the Martin Lewis programme on ITVX

Just had my annual review water bill, I was expecting it to go up as GS living with me and he lives mainly in the shower and then bills are supposed to go up this year. I was very happy to see there is no change.

Octopus reduced our direct debit a couple of months ago so I'm pretty pleased with that as well.

I've a bathroom dweller here, too.
Whenever I need to go, I hear "I'm in here!"

Fortunately we have another loo downstairs. I don't think my bladder could cope if we didn't.

I've just the one,so I'm usually pacing around in a sweat, leaning over the worktop, pacing up and down the hall.

We keep our heating set at 19 degrees. We have a wood burner too. Last year, we had new double glazing and a new boiler. We’ve only lived here a couple of years. DH has worked out our monthly octopus bill is less than previously and our heating seems more efficient. I hate feeling cold. Nothing worse.

MissAdventure

I've just the one,so I'm usually pacing around in a sweat, leaning over the worktop, pacing up and down the hall.

I feel your pain and thank the Lord for my downstairs loo.

He's often in there "doing his skincare", apparently, so he gets hoiked out, pronto.

I take fluid tablets - that's my excuse!

I think mine stands admiring himself in the mirror. 17 year old boys are funny, unless you desperate need the loo of course. I often wonder how he came to be living with granny.

Mine is usually squeezing his spots, using all kinds of skin care products, shaping his eyebrows, whitening his teeth.

Its like boots the chemist in my bathroom.

My side has a sponge, some antibacterial soap and a flannel in.