Three in four pensioners are living in a cold home

For various reasons I spent several years in a house with draughty single glazed windows, a door that let draughts in, no working central heating, just a gas fire, I was over 60 but no pension, but only on a small income. I managed during the beast from the east. without being too cold. I obviously didn't have high heating bills, I put the money I would have otherwise spent on heating bills towards things to keep me warm, sheepskin slippers, warm clothing of all sorts, an electric blanket for the bed. And lovely warm duvets. Subsequently I've been able to get new windows and doors fitted and a combo boiler and as I have a small house which actually has cavity wall and loft insulation a little heating goes a long way. I still wear warm clothing and now have a heated throw, and a couple of those oversized velvet lined with fleece goodies, not the famous brand, much cheaper but just as good. I still wear wrist warmers or fingerless gloves when I need to and have a nest thermometer, so if I'm not going to be at home I can set the heat not to heat up, just keep the chill off the place, and I can set it to come on so I'm warm when I get home. I have it set for the minimum necessary, but if I am. Home and it's cold I'll override it, so I am not heating the house up unnecessarily if I'm not there.1
I don't feel deprived wearing warm clothes and warm slippers or snuggling under a blanket. I grew up. In a cold part of the UK and we used to keep warm by wrapping up warm as well as having a fire, yes we did have central heating but big old draughty house. I do pay my gas and electric monthly, so am paying more during the months when I have no heating on or not on much so that helps.
I do have a small extra pension. Locally there are warm spaces and I'd be more than happy to use them if I felt. It necessary, some like the library I go to anyway.
Also following a tip from someone who lives on top of a cold hill, a dehumidifier, if the humidity goes above a certain level I put it on and it makes the house feel much warmer even without heating on

I was at a social event the other evening (in someone's house), and I think everyone there would have been a pensioner - if not, within a year or so of pension age. I was the only one wearing a jumper.

I'm not sure what that proves, but as much as any anecdote, I suppose. I knit, so have a lot of warm, bulky jumpers, but many of my friends don't seem to own any. I am not cold at home, but the heating is set at a temperature that assumes people are wearing sensible clothing. I am having people here this evening, so will turn it up a bit, as I'm as sure as I can be that there will be more tops/blouses than woollies.

Shocking news - people are sometimes cold in the winter!

My home is very cold. My bills have quadrupled and unaffordable, so have got through the winter without heating, but I’ve managed it by going out to a warm space each day.

We have all these reports about people feeling cold and rocketing fuel bills, but no figures to put to them.

At sometime in the last few days I have specified the size and type of my house and my fuel bill hoping others would dothe same and between us we might actually have some information to help each other.

I will now try again. I live in a large 4 bedroomed 550 year old Listed building. Total area around 2,500 square feet. . Insulated loft, some double glazing, but plenty of single glazing, no wall insulation. Foil behind all radiators on outside walls. Thermoststat set at 18.5 degrees. Fuel bills on average £250 a month.

How does this compare with other people

We live in a large four bedroom house. Insulated loft, full double glazing and insulated walls. House built about 1970. Mains gas central heating. Our bill is £143 per month.

Reasonably large 3 bed double glazed gas central heating around £260 a month during the colder months. I don't skimp on heating if it's cold the heating is running

We live in a 3 bedroomed ex council house built in the 1930s.
Loft insulation, foil behind rads.
No cavity walls.
Gas and electricity was £85 month now going up to £120.
DH on blood thinners and feels the cold.
DD and DGC live with us half the time.

Single glazed (and single brick) 4 bed Edwardian. Gas CH.

Bill is about £180 a month (all year round), and the house is warm.

Right Monica - 2 bed bungalow approx 80 sq m 20 year old cavity insulation, recent DG, recent topped up loft insulation and oak flooring on top of insulation and floorboards. Blinds and curtains closed at dusk.

Gas CH, condensing boiler, gas hob, electric oven, gas power shower. Temperature rarely needs to be above 18 degrees, with an hour’s heating at rising/showering in the morning then Intermittently on during daytime and off an hour before bed.

DD to EDF £78 per month (gas and elec) and we’re in credit of £40 at the moment. Annual elec consumption approx 1100kw pa £460 Jan-Dec24. Gas 3500 kWh pa £377 same period.

I use the oven approx once a week, never for one item, always filling three shelves and most cooking is done on gas hob (and whistling kettle) because it’s cheapest way to cook. Batch cooking in Slow cooker, quick steaming in microwave and crispy cooking in air fryer as necessary.

Our usage hasn’t changed in the last 8 years since I retired but price of utilities has and standing charge in particular is the one I grudge!

Standing charges are unfair. Even if someone decides to switch off the heating altogether they are charged, so can never have a nil balance.

Victorian open plan terraced, 2 bed well insulated.. £78 per month always nice and warm

It is a shame that no one with enormous bills and a small house who is struggling has not responded because so far all the examples given broadly show a relationship between home size, age, condition and monthly bill.

I have also looked up the definition of 'fuel poverty'. The definition is quite complex but can be summarised as being anyone whose fuel bills exceed 10% of their income www.nea.org.uk/what-is-fuel-poverty/

Now Pension credit is set at £218 a week, which means the basic fuel poverty level is around £22 a week, which is around £95 a month ( a month is longer than 4 weeks) and many of the fuel costs mentioned above are below that level.

I am not rudely curious about peoples means and bills, but it occurs to me that the cause and solution to fuel poverty, may be more specific than just reinstating WFA. For example., heating with calor gas or oil, is very expensive, so perhaps those not on the gas network should get a supplement, or possible people have to economise on fuel becausee they are paying a very high rent or hugely inflated maintenance charges, in which case that is what needs to be dealt with.

It is also possible in a few cases that people's money is just going elsewhere, any thing from some addiction, to a client I had with a very generous pension, who had guaranteed a large loan for a feckless son, inevitably he had fallen behind with his payments, and she was having to pay them from her pension, reducing a generous pension to a pittance. Then there are those paying money out, more than they can afford, for the childcare of grandchildren or similar.

I'm not surprised people don't want to post their exact circumstances on social media.

Noo one is asking for exact social circumstances, but you cannot suggest a solution to a problem if you do not know the causes and most of us are concerned that so many on GN and more wildely are living in conditions that are bad for their health and should be remedied.

With the best will in the world Monica, it really isn't a problem for you to fix, it's for the government to sort out.
I don't think many posters are happy sharing their unfortunate circumstances.

My 3 bed mid terrace house is about 70 years old, and has loft and cavity wall insulation. £80 gas and £40 electricity keeps me warm. My heating is on all day, but off at night, and I have turned the bedroom radiators off ( I like warm bed, cold room) I use a coal effect gas fire in the living room.

We live in a four bedroom detached house in the south.
Just the two of us at home now.

We pay £240 per month throughout the year for gas and electric.
We have gas central heating and I cook by electric.

This figure works out well as the surplus built up over the summer sees us over winter.

The central heating comes on before we get up in the mornings and goes off about 10pm.

The thermostat is set for about 20 deg but if we feel chilly in the evenings when we are sitting down, it gets turned up a bit, although I don’t like the house too hot.

I have a tumble dryer which I tend to mainly use in the winter as I like things to have a blow outside if the weather is suitable.

We are fairly typical I would think.

Allira

I'm not surprised people don't want to post their exact circumstances on social media.

If people don't wish to share the they don't Allira.. it's fine either way

pascal30

Allira

I'm not surprised people don't want to post their exact circumstances on social media.

If people don't wish to share the they don't Allira.. it's fine either way

Of course but this is not a proper survey so no conclusions can be drawn at all.

It was not my intention to invade anyone's privacy. My apologies.

No need to apologise Monica, we know you posted with a good heart.

M0nica

It was not my intention to invade anyone's privacy. My apologies.

You did not invade privacy. It was a question.

Easy - answer or not. I did not.

Our home is old, quite different, and we heat by wood.

You haven't, M0nica. Information has been given voluntarily or not at all. It's hardly personal anyway.

I didn’t add my experience as I don’t believe I am a typical energy user. Reading the experiences that have been shared have confirmed that. I did not think you were invading anybody’s privacy.

I think you are right though. This is a much more complex issue than the controversy over the WFP.

I did wonder if people had seen this:

Women and Equalities Commission The rights of older people

committees.parliament.uk/publications/46686/documents/239426/default/

At 68 pages, it’s a long read but key points are highlighted in pink.

36. There is clear evidence that ageist stereotyping, including portrayals of older people as frail, helpless or incompetent, or conversely as wealth-hoarding “boomers”, is highly prevalent across all media in the UK and that this is a significant contributory factor to the normalisation of ageist attitudes. Ageism causes harm both to older individuals, including when self-limiting stereotypes are internalised, and at societal level, pitting generations against each other and breeding unnecessary and unhelpful division.

We have seen some of that division in this discussion.

It may seem odd to say it but I find the Age UK report ... ageist. Just because a small sample of older people say their homes are sometimes colder than they would like does not mean that three out of four pensioners are living in a cold home. We don’t know how the questions were framed. The conclusions are hasty generalisations.

I am an outdoorsy person who doesn’t feel the cold very much and prefers to keep warm by wearing layered clothing rather than burning fossil fuels. I only put my heating on sometimes when I am at home. I never leave it on overnight and it’s off when I’m out. So I wake up to a cold house and come home to a cold house. It doesn’t mean I cannot afford to heat my home. It means I manage the heating (or not) of my home in a way that suits me.