[renee]

Lots of very good advice here. I too live on a low budget and only keep my small bathroom at 20 degrees. It is nice to have a place to thaw out gloves and a warm loo !
The heating goes on in my kitchen when the temp. goes under 12 degrees and in an evening I keep warmer by lighting the wood stove. I find it is essential that I air out my rooms regularly to bring in dryer air.
  I have given up on vanity and ressemble the pictures one sees of Scrooge - fingerless mittens and a shawl . sometimes hat on my head. Remember, even though our heads do not feel cold, that is where the heat is leaving our bodies.
  I have a hot water bottle o warm my bed and am always cosy in bed. Last Year it dawned on me how cold my bedroom actually is. I had forgotten the water bottle on the floor and the water was frozen in side it

[Greenerlife]

Keeping your extremities warm is the key I have found!  Always wear thermal socks in the house - really toasty.

[happygolucky]

I actually like our cold bedroom but no good for lingering out of the covers    For a romantic present my  husband bought me some thermal leggings tonight, how sweet and I was growing my leg hairs!

[moony]

At night we sleep with a duvet under the sheet as well as being under a lovely thick one - the under duvet makes a massive difference. Failing that sleeping in a sleeping bag under a duvet keeps you toasty. We only heat the area of the house we use during the day in winter and keep the rest pretty much shut off. We live in an old farmhouse and find keeping the curtains shut most of the day really helps as our windows are a bit on the drafty side. Having said that we spent two years living in a caravan where you would have to melt the ice off the mirror if you wanted to look at yourself and leave the water running if you planned on using any the next day so anything is an improvement on that. Other than that its just a case of layering up. The only additional heaters I would suggest are oil filled ones although they are not that cheap to run. At least they maintain a little heat when turned off. Gas heaters are brilliant when they are on but cause condensation/damp which itself makes the room feel cold and go instantly cold when turned off. Convector/fan heaters cost a fortune to run and also don't hold any heat.

[happygolucky]

Thanks for all the advice its so interesting that I am not the only one that's cold in the house during the day, in fact I take stuff off to go out for a walk. I put quilts on the mattress as its much warmer than just the mattress and there are some cheap quilts around, I bought an electric blanket but have not used it on our bed as I like cold bits in the bed so prefer a hot water bottle if necessary. We bought some heaters a while ago but never sure of their efficiency or energy consumption, I could do with one of those things that inform you the amount of energy you are using!!
One thing I have noticed, how warm shops are, that's an option to warm up but they must be spending a fortune on heating....

[HesterF]

We'd lived abroad for nearly ten years before moving into this house last year. Both in Sweden and Switzerland, they used to laugh about how cold and draughty English houses are. We got used to living at 23 degrees (with lower heating costs) and would be in a t-shirt all day long except when leaving the house. I like being about to wear my big jumpers again! 14 degrees is my cut-off now - I don't really feel cold during the day unless it drops below that because I'm on the go all day long. It's when you sit down, you feel it more - so we have blankets on the chairs to pull over us (another Swedish trick - they have outdoor cafes that operate all year round but they provide blankets on the chairs in winter). I did have the woodburner going all day today because I put some ginger beer on to ferment last night and it was so cold this morning, it had done nothing so I lit the fire just to get it going (and now it's bubbling nicely). Mostly I've been lighting it just before I go and get the kids from school - and the heating comes on for a couple of hours then too.

One additional benefit - unless it's a co-incidence - we all seem a lot healthier than we were in a hotter house. The kids seem to have avoided all sorts of bugs going around at school even though I assumed they'd be hit by every bug going having never lived in this country before. In Switzerland they always seemed to have streaming noses and fevers.

H

[Ina]

The heating goes on in my kitchen when the temp. goes under 12 degrees and in an evening I keep warmer by lighting the wood stove. I find it is essential that I air out my rooms regularly to bring in dryer air.

Since the air outside is generally between 80 and 90 percent humidity, I need to keep the windows firmly shut if I want the house to dry out!  And as long as it's that damp, the house just won't get warm at all. At least I don't have mould on the walls since I got the dehumidifier...

[happygolucky]

Since the air outside is generally between 80 and 90 percent humidity

That's interesting, do you have a gauge to show the humidity?  I can tell if its started raining outside as it gets markedly colder inside, today is very very mild here thankfully!!

[jaykay]

The things that keep me warm are having warm ankles - wool socks, and a pair of those 'fake Ugg' furry boots as slippers (have outdoor soles too so I can nip out to shut up the chickenhouses in them too 

A wool blanket or shawl round my shoulders. Or an insulated gilet/sleeveless jacket.

And a woolly hat, indoors, and in bed, when it's really cold  plus a hotwater bottle and a warm pup 

[happygolucky]

I just have to have a nice thick scarf and a few layers on my top, then my fluffy pretend huggies.....trouble is I do go outside in them and they are like sponges and soak up the water!!

[Lesley Silvester]

I have always felt the cold - at least, since my thyroid gland stopped functioning properly -and now I am  less mobile, I feel it more. Our heating goes on in the morning and again in the evening but not during the day although I may give it a boost of an hour around lunchtime if I'm really cold.


We  have no heating in the kitchen and it's a single brick extension so does get cold so when I go out there to cook, I put all four burners on the cooker on and that soon warms it all up. When I'm sitting in my chair (most of the day) I have a snuggle wrap - one of those blankets with sleeves - which is very cosy but I find the sleeves slide down off my shoulders so now I just use it as a blanket. My OH says he always knows when it's winter because I start wearing socks.

[Penninehillbilly]

Like others I don't like the heat on during the day, then don't feel as bad at leaving some doors open now and then.
We bought some hand warmers a few years ago, they have a piece of metal in gel and when you bend the metal it makes the pack go solid and warm, just pop them in hot water when the rayburn's fired up in the evening and they are ready for next day.
I find I'm coldest when I've been sat (at the computer) and when you move the cold from your hands and feet is pumped round your body and lowers your core temperature (search and rescue pal told me that), so it's always a hot coffee after I come off this thing. If I keep busy on something I'm not too bad, except damp weather and east wind, which hits the full front of the house with most windows. I have a fleece body warmer I wear too much, spoils me a bit,
I suppose if I'm cold the best thing to do is go and clean some beastie or other out, usually end up taking my jacket off.
I have some furry boot type slippers as well, makes a BIG difference if your feet are warm.

[Ina]

Since the air outside is generally between 80 and 90 percent humidity

That's interesting, do you have a gauge to show the humidity?  I can tell if its started raining outside as it gets markedly colder inside, today is very very mild here thankfully!!

Yes, I do (you get them quite cheaply now). You can also just look at the weather forecast online, that'll give you an idea. They say below 60% the house will stay mould free; ideal is supposed to be 50%, but I'm happy at 60%. Has definitely improved my (and the cat's) health. Most people will reach that humidity just through heating... But my house rarely is warm enough for that. With the piddly electric heaters that the council supply us with, it's simply not affordable. Dehumidifying is cheaper and more effective (it blows out warm air at the top as well as taking the water out of the air!).

[MAK]

Thanks for the heads up re: hummidity levels. I had no idea what a sensible hummidity is and am pleased to report that it is currently 51% in here.
we have snow forecast from Wednesday so today I plan to keep warm by collecting yet more windfalls and digging up a couple of loads of carrots for the pigs. Thermal socks are on and I will look for a hat too. Brrrrr I'm off to brave the cold again.

[Ina]

Sun is shining - the washing is out - unfortunately I have to get off to do some work in a minute, but I think I'll leave the window open for the cat to enjoy what's probably the last of the fine days for now...  Wish I could spend the day in the garden - or walking - too...