Whats worked for you this winter in staying warm + keeping the bills down?

Try a sit/stand desk as I have got to the point where it feels weird to sit when using a computer at home or work. Currently 16c in my office and I have a gelay jacket on my normal clothes and don't feel cold at all.
 
I have a heated throw blanket on the sofa, its red hot under there, i combine with a dehumidifier set to auto, the heated throw is one of my best ever purchases
 
Wear at least three fleece layers during the day, lined walking trousers, socks etc. Heating on from 5.30 to 9pm if needed. Combined power costs between £3 and £7 per day. Well under £219 DD.
 
We did make initial attempts to reduce the cost, however after realising that the saving from having the thermostat at 16 v 19 is minimal, I just use the heating as normal. I also bought a heat pump dryer which is on daily.

The only way the cost will be reduced is when the energy companies charge less. The government will have to get involved as the energy companies are quite happy to keep charging more (see latest profits for citation) - but apparently there's some massive issues going on with asylum seekers and there's Matt who wants to be Martha to get our full throttle hatred, so we'll just have to wait.

Keep voting Tory, citizens of England - none of this is their fault!
 
I was given an oodie and it's magical however you need to get fast at removing it for when the door bell goes or someone calls me for work :)
 
Gas CH at 18°C day/14°C overnight with condensing boiler temp at 65°C. Heavy winter curtains fitted where possible. Living room, dinning room and kitchen don’t have doors separating them (17th Century French stone farmhouse), so we hung another heavy curtain at the top of the steps up from the kitchen to keep the heat from the log burner downstairs and eliminate droughts. Exterior shutters closed for unused rooms and rooms in path of prevailing winds.

Minimised electrical appliances in use and on standby. Every bulb inside and out is LED. Dishwasher and washing machine are only run during off peak hours

Got lucky last summer as a friend needed help clearing a large scrub oak of his that had blown down across a road and I got to keep half the wood. Log burner in living room goes on at 18:00 at which point the CH is redundant as the thermostat is in dining room only 5-6 metres from the log burner. Hot water for tea and hot water bottles comes from a kettle atop the log burner.
 
I'm warm.
I have pricey bills.
Bad windows
Ancient boiler.
Cheap fix.

Choices :
-Heat pumps etc are too expensive
-energy efficiency stuff (ie new windows) is too expensive
-new gas boiler.. Probably the best for me bang for buck.. Too much progress on heat pumps. I wouldn't want to shell out and suddenly a new alternative pops up that's miles better.
-I don't like being cold.


So yeah, with a cheap fix I haven't changed the heating schedule.
If didn't have a cheap fix I think I'd just wear more layers.
 
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At the start of Winter I replaced all the window seals as the originals (50 odd years old) were rock hard and the housing association refused to do anything about them. That fixed the draughts from the windows but I can't get any suitable seals for the front and back doors. I turned the flow temperature down as well as the trv's on the radiators although the wife keeps turning those back up. She seems to think that unless they are on full they are not going to heat the room up despite me showing her the radiator temps with a IR thermometer with both her settings and my own. Despite her "fiddling" we have made significant savings over last Winter while remaining warm, too warm sometimes!! Our energy bills, like everyone elses, remain disgustingly high even though we are using several hundred units of gas and 20-30 units of electricity a month less than last year.
 
We moved house in July '21 so fixed for two/three (?) years. We've had months this winter where with the energy support scheme thingy British Gas have actually been paying us in total :p

Not looking forward to next winter though!
 
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Heated throw on sofa, heated under-blanket on bed. Need to do something about the draughty catflap.
 
3 sausage dogs... the best Hot Water Bottles you could ever need! They love a cuddle on the sofa so pretty much anytime you sit down you'll end up with at least 1 on your lap.
 
the shadow said:
Turn on CH yesterday for 10 min Total for this year so far 20 min :p
Click to expand...

I do about an hour and a half but not every day, 10 mins won't cover my pre heat on the oil boiler that's maybe 15 mins then it will fire up for short periods if the return water is below stat temp (stat in boiler) the amount the burner is on is quite small really I've done over a year on 500 litres and still quite a bit left.and just received the £200 oil grant
 
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Moaned hard on OCUK about the cost of living, how I can't afford solar and how landlords are scum. That keeps me the warmest. :)


1: From about October onwards, I stopped working out of my cabin/office and refused to heat it using an electric oil heater. Will move back to working there when the snow stops and temps rise.

2: Really tried extra hard to minimise heating use but got to a point where I got sick of being cold.

3: Barely used the electric underfloor in the downstairs toilet. We have two other toilets if you want a warm number 2 frankly.

4: Stopped using my all in one dual purpose server/gaming machine as an actual server idling at 95 watts, and built a dedicated Intel server idling at 25 watts. Set it to come on only from 3pm till midnight each day for Plex duties.
 
1. Big fluffy dressing gown "oodie" thing. Honestly wish I had done this years ago. It's lovely and toasty.

2. Electric blanket to warm the bed. Then a hot water bottle through the night to keep it warm (often drape the dressing gown/oodie thing over the duvet as an extra layer).

3. Use my laptop for general browsing and work instead of my full on gaming desktop.

4. All lights off unless someone is in the room. Then lights dimmed a bit. I've walked into things more than once. Nearly knocked myself out.

5. Abandoned the oven in favour of an air fryer. Never use the oven now. Air fryers are fantastic.

6. Turned off all non essential stuff like an idle printer and USB chargers not in use (yes they do leak power even unused).

swillsy said:
I was given an oodie and it's magical however you need to get fast at removing it for when the door bell goes or someone calls me for work :)
Click to expand...
Been there. Just pretend to be a Jedi young Padawan.
 
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Solar+batteries+ moved to economy 7.
Burning wood from the garden in the log burner.
Air fryer instead of oven.
Coffee machine instead of kettle.
Turned down the heating.
Added extra insulation.
Using dehumidifiers overnight.
Swapped a vented to a heat pump tumble dryer
Shifting washing/drying/dish washer to overnight

During the day working from home I wear a heated vest. Keeps the chill off.
 
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