I was thinking the same @InBloom... It's not a matter of hardy but more hard up! My husband has sickle cell and I'd love to keep the house at 18 as the government recommended but I get no assistance and we are just beneath the universal credit limit and on pre payment meters! It's not a lifestyle choice for us. Ā Keep as warm as you can folks x hopefully a hug will help š¤
It's counter-intuitive, but keeping the heating on constantly uses less energy than turning it on and off. You do need good controls though, so you can set a sensible temperature - whatever you can manage - and let it tick over. Ours is set low and we use small supplementary heat when we need it - an electric blanket, a hot water bottle, a heat pad.
I wear gloves all the time - fingerless ones so I can still type. I also have neck and ankle warmers, and polo neck jumpers and slippers that come up above my ankles. All keeping my pulse points warm. I think the best thing to do is to put them on as soon as you get up, while you're still warm from bed, so you don't get cold. Like the house, it's easier to stay warm than to get warm.
I don't stint on hot drinks - I get through quite a lot of herbal teas, especially cinnamon which is warming in itself. Eating nuts, oats and sweet root veg like carrots all help more than you might think. Channel Marie Antoinette, eat carrot cake and stay warmĀ
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
āIt's still magic even if you know how it's done.āĀ
Hot drinks is a must! Ginger tea nice and warming too, and big warm thick slippers, especially on stone and wood floors. Share your feelings @WonkyWomble, I have a medical condition where I cant regulate my body temperature properly and like you no assistance. I read the recommended 18C too but that's not realistic for me either. I also read that damp problems become likely below 15C, so a sensible minimum and while it's definitely not warm it's doable, with the right clothing. Winter's not started yet either! š¶Ā
'No such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes!' I keep telling myself that. Layer up & keep warm!Ā
Good thread, thanks for starting it. Pass the carrot cake over...
I'm realising how lucky I am. Like @BenCotto and @Lizzie27 I would find it very hard to live with the temperature under 20Ā°, especially now I'm not young. I love my wood burning oven although all the log stacking and bringing in the logs is quite a chore. I feel sympathy for @WonkyWomble and @InBloom. May this winter be mild and quick.
We daren't buy another electric blanket. The last one singed the sheets.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
I heard the continuous heating thing doesn't work out cheaper for many people, I presume it makes more sense if you're well insulated. No doubt that the house feels nicer if kept constantly warm though! I have my settings at 18c during the day and 16 at night.
If you're dying clothes indoors think about running a dehumidifier, which is still cheaper than a tumble dryer. But you want to avoid humidity and condensation. Especially if your walls are cold. Check your loft because condensation can happen on the inside of the roof structure and cause rot. Make sure the loft hatch is well sealed against drafts and humid air.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".Ā
This is one time of year I'm glad of the menopause @Busy-Lizzie.... Think they should hook me up to the national grid! Singed sheets would be just the start of a heat wave! I'm surprised the government hasn't wasted thousands of our money onĀ public information videos recommending middle aged women as a way to heat the home!
Enjoying reading all your posts folks. Very sad to think that heating to a comfortable, even necessary, level is now a bit of a luxury.Ā
We have had the heating on more than planned this last week because of a combination of being unwell and the drop in temperature. I think I said in the ākeeping cool in the heatā thread from the Summer (remember those lovely few weeks??), that it seems clear to me that humans can only really live comfortably in quite a small temperature range.Ā
Interesting that you say that @raisingirl, because all the current info I've seen says it definitely isn't cheaper to keep heating on, but to switch on and off as necessary. I certainly wouldn't have it on at a low temp as described earlier - mine would be constantly switching on, and that means you're using more leccy - gas boilers need that to switch on , and for most people it's the leccy that's dearer.Ā Airing cupboards are great - if you have that kind of boiler. We no longer have that type @Bee witched . It was also handy if the boiler was in a bedroom because you didn't need the rads on in that room - the boiler did the work. I'm not convinced we'll get that much use from the air fryer either, but I'll experiment. Perhaps for doing a roast, but we're not all in at the same time for dinner either, so it's often tricky to have meals to suit, and that can be reheated in a microwave. It's more about it costing less to run. I steam veg over rice when I do it, and I've done that for years. I'm still surprised when I hear that many people don't know about only heating the amount of water you need in kettles, which I've done for as long as I can remember. I used to work with someone like that. Drove me nuts!
It's fair to say that it's pretty horrific that people in the UK, in the 3rd decade of the 21st century are freezing because they can't afford to have their homes at a reasonable temperature.Ā Ā
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
It's counter-intuitive, but keeping the heating on constantly uses less energy than turning it on and off. You do need good controls though, so you can set a sensible temperature - whatever you can manage - and let it tick over. Ours is set low and we use small supplementary heat when we need it - an electric blanket, a hot water bottle, a heat pad.
Can you qualify that? If I have a heating day that stretches from say 7am to 10pm, are you saying it's better to leave the heating set to 19 degrees between 7am and 10pm than to have the heating on at 19 degrees between 7am and 9am and then between 6pm and 10pm?
I've tried to do comparatives on this but it's been difficult given you need similar conditions to see the effect (ie outside weather and temp) - I'll try today as a one off as the temp seems similar (and the weather looks comparable - is the amount of sun and lack of rain).
Edited to add: Not today - the forecast now here is cloud - so the benefit of the sun will be lost. Tomorrow looks similar to yesterday, so given it's a weekend, I can try it then without feeling tooooooo guilty if it uses more leaving it on!)
Posts
It's not a lifestyle choice for us.
Ā Keep as warm as you can folks x hopefully a hug will help š¤
I wear gloves all the time - fingerless ones so I can still type. I also have neck and ankle warmers, and polo neck jumpers and slippers that come up above my ankles. All keeping my pulse points warm. I think the best thing to do is to put them on as soon as you get up, while you're still warm from bed, so you don't get cold. Like the house, it's easier to stay warm than to get warm.
I don't stint on hot drinks - I get through quite a lot of herbal teas, especially cinnamon which is warming in itself. Eating nuts, oats and sweet root veg like carrots all help more than you might think. Channel Marie Antoinette, eat carrot cake and stay warmĀ
āIt's still magic even if you know how it's done.āĀ
'No such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes!' I keep telling myself that. Layer up & keep warm!Ā
Good thread, thanks for starting it. Pass the carrot cake over...
We daren't buy another electric blanket. The last one singed the sheets.
If you're dying clothes indoors think about running a dehumidifier, which is still cheaper than a tumble dryer. But you want to avoid humidity and condensation. Especially if your walls are cold. Check your loft because condensation can happen on the inside of the roof structure and cause rot. Make sure the loft hatch is well sealed against drafts and humid air.
I certainly wouldn't have it on at a low temp as described earlier - mine would be constantly switching on, and that means you're using more leccy - gas boilers need that to switch on , and for most people it's the leccy that's dearer.Ā
Airing cupboards are great - if you have that kind of boiler. We no longer have that type @Bee witched . It was also handy if the boiler was in a bedroom because you didn't need the rads on in that room - the boiler did the work. I'm not convinced we'll get that much use from the air fryer either, but I'll experiment. Perhaps for doing a roast, but we're not all in at the same time for dinner either, so it's often tricky to have meals to suit, and that can be reheated in a microwave. It's more about it costing less to run. I steam veg over rice when I do it, and I've done that for years.
I'm still surprised when I hear that many people don't know about only heating the amount of water you need in kettles, which I've done for as long as I can remember. I used to work with someone like that. Drove me nuts!
It's fair to say that it's pretty horrific that people in the UK, in the 3rd decade of the 21st century are freezing because they can't afford to have their homes at a reasonable temperature.Ā Ā
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...