Winter is here.. Heating bills go up... What do you do?

Turned my heating up as this year it won't cost much - Last year oil was £650 - this year same amount was £380 - then I have received my £200 heating allowance so heating will only cost £180 - Rich beyond my dreams this year.
 
plus don't forget it's only the area around the thermostat which has to be 23 degrees

Wink wink nudge nudge
 
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It's rare for us to have the gas heating on, in fact the main cost of our gas is the standing charge. It's only ever used for an hour or two when the house temp dips below 12oC.

As we both like it cool, we tend to like it about 17-18oc. Anything above 20oC feel too warm. Due to that we have a multifuel burner that runs from Oct-Apr, in the milder months it will be on of an evening, with colder months when ever anyone's home for the day.

Due to an open plan house, it heats the living areas nicely to 18oC and takes the chill off of the rest of the open plan.

If there's free wood it is of course free heating, but we usually spend around £200 on cordwood that I chop and store (around 9m2) and then maybe £50-100 depending on how cold it gets on smokeless coal a year.

We don't have any heating on over night all year, it's chilly getting up, but once in the shower we're only 20 minutes away from being out of the door for work.
 
Never put it on in the morning as the Mrs gets up and does some CV exercise and jumps in the shower so is fairly warmed up and I just go straight into the shower when I get up.

Then we both get changed and are out to work fairly quickly.

I do put it on when I get in from work though. Usually to around 19c for an hour or so. We go up to bed from 9ish so heating is never really on past 9:00pm as I don't like it on when in bed.

At the weekend we just put it on sporadically throughout the day if we are in. There have been a couple of cold days recently and our lounge loses heat quite quickly as our fireplace is opened up with space for where a log burner is to go but with it not being there i imagine a lot of heat just flys up the chimney breast haha.

I have some big warm slippers and a dressing gown that i wear of an evening so im not too fussed about it being cold, I only usually make sure the house is properly warm if we've got guests!
 
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I turn the heating on when it's too cold and turn it off again when it's too hot. Simple really!

Program it to come on in the morning before I get up when it's going to be a cold night, apart from that I don't bother.
 
Hot water on in the morning an hour at lunch and then most of the evening (it just keeps the tank at a nice temperature)

Heating throughout the day set to 17 - it NEVER comes on. In the evening I set it to 20 and it just does its thinig without me even thinking about it.

It's a newish build so the insulation is awesome.
 
Hive smart heating here. Schedule is roughly 6:15-7:15 each morning and 6-10 in the evening with a target temperature of 20.5 when it's on and 10 when it's off.

I modify the schedule from my phone as needed as the other half works shifts and sometimes its necessary to have it on longer in the mornings. If I make it home from work earlier than expected and it's cold I usually just advance it to kick the evening schedule in earlier.
 
I'm glad that winter is here, lecyc bill goes down form $150 to $40-50.
Heating is much cheaper than cooling!

Also my water bill goes form over $250 a quarter down to $30, irrigation is expensive!


Our AC and heating system runs 24-7, it si a modern insulated house so is cheaper to keep the house maintained at a comfortable temperature than let is freeze and heat up as needed.
 
Because of how mild this weather is atm, I have only turned the heating on once since last winter. My flat is very well insulated
 
I've just been leaving mine at 18*C 24/7 due to how warm it has been. When winter finally kicks in I'll reduce it to 15 when away/at night and increase to 19 in the evening.
 
Last night was about the first that I have actually had my window closed overnight because of cold. Heating was set to 21 degrees and put on for 30 minutes when I got up to have breakfast. It may be put on again when I get home. It depends.
 
So far this winter I only had heating on 2 or 3 times. Most days I only wear t-shirt as well. Got to love new build flats from this point of view.
 
I don't touch mine. Have time & temperature zones programmed year round. Cooler at night and in the day (16/17) and warmer for when I wake and am at home in the evening (18/19).

Inevitably heating bills will always cost more in the winter but sufficient draft proofing, keeping doors closed to rooms you don't use and wearing more clothes all help to keep costs down.

Leaving the oven open to cool (if what you've cooked doesn't pong) can help too :)
 
Heating on constant at 18 degrees, if it gets a bit chilly on an evening turn it up to 20.

Gas per month costs around £50 to heat a 4 bed detached. New houses FTW :D
 
This thread has served as an important reminder that any girl I end up living with will need to feel the cold the same as I do. Simply not having any of this 18 or 19 degree nonsense, that's bloody cold!
 
TheVoice said:
This thread has served as an important reminder that any girl I end up living with will need to feel the cold the same as I do. Simply not having any of this 18 or 19 degree nonsense, that's bloody cold!
Click to expand...

I found one :D

Thermostat isn't allowed over 16 degrees...It may go up if ice starts to form on the inside of the windows but that's it.
 
Have you ever heard of Hive by British Gas:

https://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/hive-active-heating.html

Havnt tried it myself as im private rented but would look at getting something like this installed or what Fuzz has. As someone who works shift work I think this system might save me some money as I would be able to turn the heating on when needed as opposed to set times which might be outside of when Im at home
 
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