Energy Saving Tips

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If your home is not fully insulated, or if your boiler is old, you might qualify for an ECO energy efficiency grant. These have been newly launched this year (under the ECO scheme - previous branding was things like Warm Front etc).
As always the government do nothing to help the insulation and boiler installing companies promote this - they "leave it to the market" i.e. the companies, to advertise the scheme.
If you search on the website of any reputable installer or major energy company there will be information. For certain people the improvements are free - and not a "too good to be true" scam. This is one of the things that "green taxes" gets spent on - about half goes to helping to improve the energy efficiency of homes and reduce fuel poverty.

www.markgroup.co.uk/homeowners/funding/do-you-qualify-energy-efficiency-funding

www.britishgas.co.uk/blog/articles/how-much-will-you-save-with-the-british-gas-eco-tool

I have always found winters hard, just keeping my spirits up is sometimes difficult so I do "silly" things. I wear hats in the house, the sillier and bigger the better, hat with flowers, ribbons, tassels or feathers and the bonus is it keeps me warmer

I have a plethora of 'Granny blankets' lovingly crocheted by my dear ex-MiL, which are great for wrapping round the knees on a chilly evening.
I have only been in my lovely flat for a year, but learnt quite quickly that such things, along with woolly socks,a thick, fleecy dressing-gown, and flannelette bedding were going to be essential to my survival through the cold months.
Although delightful and roomy (it's the converted bottom of a house, so decent sized rooms) there is no gas in the village, so the council (Yep, I'm a 'social housing' bod) kindly put in some ancient, expensive to run night storage heaters. They don't do much and cost a fortune, so I manage with the blankets, warm clothing, and a little halogen heater that DS3 gave me instead.
I must say though, that, without the dry heat that central heating fills your home with, my asthma was very much better last winter, and I didn't even get a cold, so I'm happy to repeat the experience this year

Here in Malta we do not have central heating and the houses are designed to keep the heat out rather than in due to the very hot summers. However, winter is cold and damp so it is quite difficult to keep cosy and warm. I find a hot-water bottle on my back really helps, much to the amusement of the younger family members!

When we lived in London in a big draughty Edwardian house with huge undouble-glazed sash windows, I also found shutting all the curtains the minute dusk started setting in made a big difference. Now I still do it as even a double galzed window is like a "cold radiator". An extra jersey is also helpful - sad old dear - and hot drinks and cinnamon buns can help too!