Worried about keeping warm and paying your energy bills? Read on …….
The nights are well and truly drawing in now and it’s starting to feel really autumnal. Chez Mr and Mrs 50 Plus, the heating is on, albeit mornings and evenings only, and we’ve reluctantly brought out the winter woollens from under our Ottoman bed .
Fleecy PJs
The fleecy throws we reassigned to the upstairs spare room are now downstairs by the side of the sofa, waiting for us to snuggle under to watch something on catch-up TV. My soft, fluffy PJs, too warm for summer evenings, are at the top of my drawer. I’ve reluctantly put away my Birkenstocks and swapped them for my fleecy socks and slippers. And my microwaveable wheat bag is back out of the cupboard too!
Heat The Person Not The Room
Over the last few months, we’ve bandied about the cost-of-living crisis and casually talked about our energy bills rising. Now the time is here and it’s time to do something about it. Never has there been a time when ‘Heat the person, not the room’ is more apt. A hot drink will warm you up and put on a jumper too and you double the effect!
Turn the temperature down on the thermostatic radiator valves and wear another layer instead. If you’re feeling the cold of an evening, then curl up under your high Tog winter duvet and have a read. To be honest, our bedroom is my favourite room in our house. It’s toasty warm and my place of choice to settle down with my Kindle. (A Paperwhite obviously, with my appalling eye-sight.) It’s a sunny, bright room so psychologically feels warmer and cosier. It may sound like a bit of a cliche but if every man’s home is his castle, then my bedroom is my sanctuary.
Snuggle Up In Bed
One of our neighbours has one of those TV beds and from what I gather she barely moves from it on weekends binge-watching the latest unmissable Netflix series! We haven’t got a TV in our bedroom, but if you have, then it makes perfect sense. The fewer rooms you heat, then presumably the lower your energy bill. Or not?
Mr. C was always firmly of the belief that you should heat the whole house but even he has suggested heating fewer rooms this year. He’s turned the TRVs down in many of the rooms in our house but turns them up in the main rooms we use during the day and evening.
Insulate
We live in a Victorian three-storey house which is over a hundred years old. It has very thick walls but is also mid-terrace, like a townhouse I suppose. We have a modern gas boiler and we’re pretty well-insulated. We even have solar panels. Nonetheless it can get cold. Last winter, we came back from a week’s holiday up in Aberdeen staying at our daughter’s. Before we left, we foolishly forgot to set the central heating to come on for a few hours a day. Big mistake. Boy was it cold when we walked in and because it hadn’t been heated for a week, it took a few days to get back to temperature.
Energy Bills Help
Martin Lewis over on MoneySavingExpert has plenty of tips on keeping warm and using less gas and electricity. If you’re one of the millions worrying about energy bills, then head on over. He’s a big advocate of turning off devices that are on stand-by because yes, they do still use electricity when plugged-in. You may not save massive amounts of money but right now, every penny counts! Oh and keep doors closed in the house. Doors keep the heat in and stop the cold air from getting in. He also does a bit of Energy MythBusting . Tin foil behind the radiators anyone?
Budget For The Rich!
I can seem a little flippant sometimes, and I know some of my words above come across as too casual. This does not take away any of the seriousness in the current financial crisis though. All our bills will rise but the poorest amongst us will end up being the most affected. Kwasi and Liz, in their cock-eyed wisdom decided to give those earning over £150,000 the biggest tax break in their fake Budget! What on earth possessed them? It’s the ‘I’m alright Jack’ mentality isn’t it.
Not a thought for the pensioner struggling to keep warm on a very limited income. Not a thought for young parents needing to keep their house warm enough for a new baby. Not a thought for the most vulnerable in our society.
A token 1% off the basic rate of tax to pacify those on minimum wage. Nothing for the squeezed middle-earners. But 5% less tax for the fat cats. Makes my blood boil, it really does.
And breathe ……..Going for a read now anyway. Got my fleecy PJs and socks already and my snuggly duvet is beckoning.
