Hypothermia

You want to save money by not heating your home? Your money will be of no use if you get ill, or worse.

Please put your heating on- it is what it's for! If you are worried about the boiler being old and inefficient and therefore expensive to run then please get advice from the council about how you can keep yourself warm.

The temperature in your home should not fall below 18C. Have you had a benefits check and if you have reduced mobility have you applied for Attendance Allowance, getting help and advice from Age UK before completing the form?

All the energy companies run special schemes for people considered vulnerable, and you would fall in that group.

I can get hypothermia very easily. It started in my early 20s. DH is good at noticing the symptoms. You drift into it so easily, without being aware of it or even feeling cold.

I have had it over a long enough period of time to have learnt how to always over dress for the weather, when it comes to wrapping up.

I got caught out about 5 years ago and ended up standing outside for 30 minutes in the pouring rain in a wool coat. It was December, and then having to drive home. DD was home when I got home and immediately ran me a warm(not hot) bath and brought me a warm drink. I lay in the bath, gradually letting it get hotter for about 30 minutes and then got dressed into layers of fleeces to keep the heat in.

The weather is exceptionally cold this week, you should have mentally allocatted part of your Winter Fuel Allowance to cover these cold periods.

OP
Can you not set your boiler so it switches on automatically when the temperature falls below a selected figure?
As it's so cold at the moment I think you would be wise to go by temperature rather than a timer setting.
As you say the effects of cold can be quite gradual and you are vulnerable living alone.
And wrap up well.
All the best.

Please do put on the heating and worry about the bills later. I believe these days energy companies will accept staggered payment of bills if the full amount is too much.
You can economise on other things that don’t directly affect your health but don’t do this with the heating or a healthy diet.
Take care
🌹🙏🏾

We have the opposite problem in Summer. What some older people do is to spend most of the day in a shopping centre where the temps are regulated and they don’t have to pay the bills. I think it is really disgusting the way governments do not support older people with their need for money for heating and cooling.

Thank you for your replies. I am just over the threshold to claim benefits and although I have a disability I do not meet the criteria for claiming attendance allowance. Money is tight but the reason I posted was because of the way hypothermia can silently affect you .
I was surprised how quickly you can become disorientated in the cold and then just want to sleep which may be fatal.
Yes Monica have taken into account the heating allowance and know on my budget how it will help but still will have some restrictions to when the house can be fully heated. Will take better care of myself .

i had hypothermia years ago. it was odd i was on in my 30s but lived in a very old damp home with no heating bar a small fire in the lounge. it was a gas fire and ran on a 10p meter. it was so cold one afternoon i lay down by the fire warming myself but the meter ran out as i was sleeping. it was so hard to wake up as i must have stayed asleep when the fire went out. i was lucky my friend came in and called an ambulance where i stayed in overnight.
you have to be so careful. i dont want to hijack the thread but i once rented a flat from a landlord. i kept feeling so poorly and one day i had a blood test for my medication i happened to say about how ill i felt and it was found i had carbon monoxide poisoning so that was awful but lucky found in time before it got to bad. i moved after that

People do need indeed to keep an eye out for carbon monoxide - certainly if they have gas in the place. Things to measure it don't cost much and some of them are sophisticated enough to show just what the concentration of carbon monoxide is if applicable.

Depending on what that concentration is = one may only have 30 minutes or so to realise and deal with - as a high concentration of it can send one to sleep very quickly. 6,400ppm for instance = less than 15 minutes before one is asleep for good.

That's why every so often one reads of accidents from something like bringing portable barbecues into a tent one is sleeping in without having ensured it was fully/completely out first.

Anyone over 75 should be in a steady temperature of not less than 18C (65F) and ideally 21C (70F) so you were way off.
If money is a factor to keeping warm, as it is for many, could you buy yourself an electric fleece? I have one and it is worth it's weight in gold. I keep warm without having to heat an entire house.

A heated blanket is great when you’re sitting, very economical to run.

Even an ordinary fleece keeps you cosy. My DS bought me a huge one two years ago - I spread it on the sofa, sit on it and wrap it round my legs and body - toasty..! 🙂 (Just be careful when getting up - move all folds out of the way before you stand - and yes, this is the voice of bitter experience talking .!! 🙄)

I am glad you have written this thread.

There's also using a duvet - they ain't just for beds imo.

So a cheap single duvet and a pair of warm type socks and that will help noticeably.

For about £30 you can buy a heated "throw" to snuggle under on your chair/sofa. The electricity costs between 3 and 5 p per hour , far cheaper to run than your boiler CH. Pick a quality made-in -UK brand which has thermostatic safety cut outs.

Jaffacake2
Did you seek help filling in the Attendance Allowance forms?
There is a knack to it which many are caught out by.
MOnica can attest to this.
She used to help people with these kind of forms.
If you have a disability it is likely that you would qualify for it.
Contact Age UK or a local support group for help.
All the best.

I agree with Sarnia and Cossy. When in my sitting room, I have a small electric pad which sits on my tum or chest, and I have a light blanket over it. I don't like cold rooms, so I keep an even slightly cooler T throughout, and for me, it works fine.

My £300 seems to go a long way when it is as cold as it is now.

Teddy fur lined footless tights/leggings are silky smooth on the skin. Sainsbury’s and Primark sell them.
Ok under trousers when out or indoors with a longline fleece plus snuggly socks.
Even cheap fleeces spread over sofas and chairs look and feel cosy in jewel colours.
When your nose is cold indoors you know it is too cold. So those cowl neck tops are good too.

Extreme hypothermia can make people so confused that they actually feel hot to the point of removing clothing which a dangerous.
Please GNetters, do keep warm and make a point of moving around too, not sitting in one place all the time.

I recommend a heated throw when you're sitting for long periods.

Knittypamela

I recommend a heated throw when you're sitting for long periods.

Do not sit for long periods. TV adverts are for dancing. Circulation warms you up.

butterandjam

For about £30 you can buy a heated "throw" to snuggle under on your chair/sofa. The electricity costs between 3 and 5 p per hour , far cheaper to run than your boiler CH. Pick a quality made-in -UK brand which has thermostatic safety cut outs.

I think this is good advice. I don't know how many realise that some people, I am one, find that ageing brings ever lower low blood pressure, a slow pulse (in the 40 bpm range), and a core temperature which falls to 35C and even 34C sometimes!

Although the NHS advice is to call 111, no one actually cares and it is not as difficult as some are saying to just put a fleece on. I can be sitting with a fleece on, fleece boots, a hat and gloves and STILL have a cold nose and cold feet! I woke up last night cold, despite a good quality duvet and heavy blanket on top, my temperature was 35C in bed (14C in the room)! I had to go and make myself another hot water bottle.
My thyroid has been tested etc and the GP doesn't want to know 'we've done all the tests, you're fine). Our house is cold and the temperature often hovers at 16 or 17C without heating.

I feel the cold, I’ve always felt the cold and like many am on a fixed income so have to balance what savings we’ve got for heating house maintenance etc against how long will we live, to that end I have an electric blanket on my sofa, several layers of clothes, including thermal underwear, a battery heated gilet, fingerless gloves

I appreciate that you were warning us about the dangers of hypothermia and I, for one, am grateful you took the trouble.

May I share a hint on how I find it possible to afford the heat I need?

I live alone, and since my husband died, I have kept strictly to a rule of one light on at a time. If I go out of the sitting room for more than just a trip to the toilet, I turn off the light there, and only have the light on, where I actually am.

No electronic devices on stand-by, all washing done on the shortest cycle.

What really surprised me is that my electricity bills have dropped dramatically, and it is quite plainly the lighting that was running the bills up.

It took a while to get back into my childhood's habit of turning off lights, but it really has paid off.

Have you though about a heated gilet? You can buy them on Amazon and they range in price from about £20 to over £100. I have had one for several years and have a spare battery. They are most useful outdoors but you can wear them in the evenings with a rug over your knees and some warm slippers you'll be sorted!