How are you heating your home at the moment? I am using terracotta plant pots and tea candles at the moment, working alright so far. When I get my cost of living payment I will be buying insulation stuff, thermal blinds and blankets for the walls, fingers crossed I will be ok during the winter. I live in a small social housing bungalow by myself so I dont have to worry about anyone else luckily but unfortunately it is an older building with not very good insulation. The kitchen and bathroom are bloody cold but I can only afford the gas for having a shower, washing up etc. Stick the oven on when I cook so that warms up the kitchen within 30 mins and obviously it is nice and warm in the shower. I get the pots warm in the bedroom at night. Think I will be spending about £250 of my payment on the insulating measures which sucks but better than freezing during the winter. Hope you all stay safe and warm this winter.
I'm not. Haven't needed to switch it on yet in sunny meister manor. It sounds like your landlord needs to improve the insulation, I'd put a polite request in if I were you. If it's an older house, do you have a hot water tank? If so make sure it's properly lagged. I have 2 layers of insulation on mine and that makes a huge difference. £15 quid a pop and you can take it with you when you leave. Boiler only needs to heat the water for 15 mins in the morning every day. Also have a look in your loft. If the floor of that isn't insulated then again your heat will just be dissapearing through the roof. It's fairly straight forward to get some insulation down there.
I thought my better half was on the wind up when she suggested this, but having tried it for a few days I have to say it works. Heated clothes racks are good too - saves on running the tumble dryer all day and warms a room if you keep the doors closed.
Hanging clothes on dryer racks rather than using tumble dryer and wearing a fleece rather than turning on the heating. Will do that when it’s actually cold
Haven't dared to put the heating on and will try not to do it all winter. I use a blanket in the evenings and don't have any lights on. The best thing is an electric blanket for the bed. That is supposed to be quite economical and at least the bed is warm when you go. I don't have a washing machine or dryer so I go to the launderette. They have even put the prices up there. The washers were 5, 6 & 7 pounds but now 6, 7 and 8. The driers were £1 for 10 mins but now £1 for 7.5 mins. Probably still as economical as doing it at home though. Doing care work means I get to enjoy other people's heat and light most of the time when I'm out anyway...one advantage of that work.
Eon customers on the energy price cap, they've just launch a new 1 yr fixed term that tracks 3% lower than the energy cap. Worth looking at if you're planning on staying with them and on the cap currently. See money saving expert's YouTube for more info.
An eco tip I can share is as follows. When boiling the kettle for tea or coffee, use your mug or cup to measure into the kettle just the water you need, so you are heating the absolute minimum amount of water. A kettle is one of the most powerful electric appliances you are likely to own, so it makes sense to use it sparingly. Please note that this method relies on you having a kettle that is designed to work with only one cup/mug of water, which is the case for most modern kettles.
For those that use a hairdryer, save pounds by simply laying down with your wet hair next to an idling car's exhaust pipe
It’s really key in winter to use sunlight and curtains sensibly. Make sure curtains are open on the side of the house that the sun streams through the windows. Make sure they’re closed on the other side of the house. As the sun moves round the house, close and open curtains accordingly. On sunny days even in winter you can use the sun to provide a lot of heat for your house. On cloudy days just keep as many curtains closed as possible. If you need daylight into the room just open curtains partially. I work from home and on sunny days I barely need the heating on during daylight.
If you live in a block of rented flats, ask your landlord to re-orient it for maximum wintertime solar gain.
Yeah, you “work from home”. You’re not fooling anyone, you spend the entire day rushing from curtain to curtain.
If you’re a man, save money on heating bills by staying single or being homosexual. Women feel the cold more than men, FACT.
One thing I hate about Winter is all the wood burning, until many streets have an acrid tang in the air. Unless you live in a remote area with no other options, it’s highly anti-social, on a level with ******* in a swimming pool.
I like the smell of a fire. I live in a relatively remote village though, so hopefully meet your cut off.
As long as you mark your house clearly with the words ‘Fire B’stard’ so I can avoid moving in directly West of you.
No, amongst the middle classes who desperately follow the latest trend. None of these problems when I lived in London, where sensibly the Clean Air Act is in force.
Yes if you want to close your eyes and fill your lungs with beautiful, clean, fresh air, central London is the place to head for .
Yay Viz top tips. Save money on expensive binoculars by simply getting closer to the object you wish to view.
You can get a DEFRA compliant Wood Burning stove that is permitted in smokeless zones created by the clean air act. Defra Approval - Allows you to burn wood in a smoke controlled area. The appliance can either be a dedicated wood burning stove or a multi fuel stove (which can also burn coal and other approved fuels). DEFRA approved only applies to the burning of wood in a smoke control area, you can not burn normal coal on any DEFRA appliance however, you can burn smokeless coal/fuel. Under the Clean Air Act 1993 all the stoves in this section have to pass tests to confirm that they are capable of burning an authorised coal or other solid fuel, but can also cleanly burn unauthorised fuels such as wood. Mind you the way Sunak is going, he might chuck that particular but of looney Tory 1990s legislation on his bonfire of environmental red tape.
Applies in London, but in Herts you can burn what you like in whatever you like. Even those compliant wood burners produce far more toxic emissions than central heating, as detailed here. https://www.london.gov.uk/programme...-and-air-quality/guidance-wood-burning-london It has been found that wood burning in the UK produces more particle pollution than all the cars on the road. https://www.theguardian.com/environ...particle-pollution-than-traffic-uk-data-shows
