Anyone else put their heating on?

You can get help with insulation and, I think, heating equipment, even if you are in a rented flat.

Here is a link to an Age UK Factsheet that has a section on funding for heating improvements www.ageuk.org.uk/globalassets/age-uk/documents/factsheets/fs67_home_improvements_and_repairs_fcs.pdf .

It might be worth talking to your local branch as they will know whether any extra help is avaiable locally. I assume you are on the modern equivalent of the Economy 7 that charges a lower rate for charging storage heaters overnight.

petra Yes I am receiving the winter fuel allowance, but I thought the Warm Home Discount was applied automatically. Do I have to apply?
My only heating is old style storage heaters (I'm in a rented flat) which seem to use a lot of electricity.

Wishiwasyounger
If you are on such a low income that you can't afford to put your heating on there is help out there.
Are you getting your £200 winter fuel allowance?
Plus, there is £140 from Warm Home Discount for electricity.
Thats £340 over the winter period. Not to be sniffed at.
Make sure you get it.

Lucky. I so agree with M0nica! ?
I’ve got the thermostat on 16. Not kicked in this evening. I had a bath earlier and then felt too warm.? I still have the summer dooner on the bed. I debated changing it for the winter one today but decided to wait until the temperature dips. It’s still quite warm during the day.

Luckygirl Your capacity to see a silver lining to such a recent sad but necessary decision is awe inspiring.

The electric blanket's back on the bed. It's so lovely and relaxing getting into a warm bed in a fairly cool room!

Had heating on for 2 hrs in the evening to test it last week but have not needed it for warmth yet. In fact I'm sitting here with only a T-shirt on my top half. If I was chilly I'd put a cardie on.

I have decided that the best thing thing winter will be to spend as much time as possible at the NH with my OH. It is really toasty there and it will save on my heating bills!

WishIwasyounger Buy an electric blanket they are not expensive.

If you vou cannot afford to have heating on during the day. It can only be for one of two reasons. You cannot afford it because your income is so low, in which case you should check with Age UK whether you are getting all the benefits you are entitled to, or that your house is badly insulated, in which case, go round to Age UK and investigate all the help available to enable you to fully insulate your home for little or no cost.

Having said that. Our central heating comes on morning and evening and we do not have it on during the day because we feel no need for it, except in exceptionally cold conditions. We have a large old house but have insulated it as well as possible and it holds heat. We also prefer putting on another sweater to turning the heating up.

Just lit the woodturner, again.

I couldn't wear a hat indoors! Anyway, it's a fallacy that a lot of heat is lost through the head.

Get a convector heater. Sod it. They are great.

I use mine as and when though I don't use it too often at present as I won't feel the benefit if it's a bad winter.

who cares. Be cold

cragftyone - Wear a hat, seriously a lot of heat is lost through the scalp
I know the theory, but I'm not sure I want to go that far!

I just had my octopus bill and am very surprised to see that the total is £45 for the month. I haven`t skimped, in fact the heating engineer ran the hot water a long time when he was servicing the boiler. I know it isn`t cold winter yet but personally I am going into winter with a surplus as my direct debits are too high for me

I am sorry you are cold wishI, a bed that goes cold is horrible, so it needs insulating below as well as above. Newspapers/cardboard under the mattress and/or an old duvet under your sheet. Wear a hat, seriously a lot of heat is lost through the scalp

I have fleece bedding too, cozee home, I love it, such a pleasure to get into

Our heating has been on for a few weeks and I keep it at 19 deg unless it's really cold. I've had my fleece bedding on for 3 weeks too - it's wonderful especially getting up during the night as the heating goes off at 9pm.

I've left our other property today and turned it down to 14.5 while we're not there - the insurance specified it has to be on if the house is empty.

I can't afford to have heating on during the day, so wearing lots of fleeces, thick socks, and woolly slippers.
One of the things that hit me when I got divorced was how cold I was in bed with no one next to me. The bed feels cold now, and thinking of buying a hottie to go with my thick pjs. Not sure how I'll cope when it really gets cold.

I think that the worst pollution comes from people burning any old wood in their stoves in centres of mass population. My stove is new, stovax multi fuel and burns very cleanly but I do take care to use a stove thermometer and to use the correct fuel. I only get a small amount of smoke out of the flue, when it initially starts up

I had to send my monthly reading into octopus today, electricity is exactly the same but gas is now up 4 x from the reading last month. To be expected

this is ours

Cambia the newer cleanburn wood burners, when properly run, are excellent. That is why they are allowed in Smoke Free zones.

Well seasoned wood is essential. You don't need kiln dried. You can get a moisture reader which you stick in a log to test moisture content. It should be below, I think, 23%.

This from The Guardian last year:

“The fuel:
Experts say the burning of wet or unseasoned wood and smoky solid fuels is the main problem. Wet wood contains moisture that creates smoke and harmful particulates when burned. Properly seasoned wood should have a moisture content of 20% or less.

One politically easy measure would be to ban the sale of wood that does not have the “ready to burn” logo. This would outlaw poor-quality logs bought from garage forecourts and DIY outlets. It would also force small log providers to become “Woodsure approved”, at a cost of £300-£400.

It’s a brave person who spends thousands on a wood-burning stove in London. That said, if you still want one, make sure your model is on the Defra-approved list.“

Fir trees are very bad for wood burners. Tars the chimney up.

And on an open fire they pop and spit. And tar the chimney up.

Still no heating on at ours yet! Rain today but not cold.

Am I wrong about climate change in that in isn’t the logs you burn per se (or where you get them from) but the smoke (emissions) that should be of concern?

Confused dot com!

Gabriella54. How else do we heat our house? We have no gas in our village. We use solar for most of our electric needs, cut old and damaged trees down in our garden for logs. We are replacing an open fire which burns coal for another new and efficient log burner in an effort to stop burning fossil fuels. Logs are renewable energy ad surely better than coal?

To answer the op, yes ch is on and minimum downstairs is 22, upstairs still needs fiddling but not kicked on up there yet, I like it cooler for sleeping at 18-19. I might adjust the timings for it to get warmer at 7am so I can get a shower in a nice warm room. Multi fuel stove is set with kindling, logs and briquettes, to be cosy on a dull day