How to keep warm in the heating season – on a low income

The living room temperature was 15ºC this morning so the heating kicked-in at 8am. I have set the system to be on 8 to 10am and 8 to 10pm, but only if the temperature drops below 16 degrees. Like so many people I must ration warmth – and therefore comfort – because I cannot afford it.

During spring and summer I have managed to live on about £2 of energy per day, or £2.50 if I have to put the washing machine on. Over the last year I’ve managed to build up a surplus of about £350 on my energy account, which should see me through the heating season.

As a retired energy professional I know that heating is by some margin the most costly chunk of our energy bills, and can vary from one year to another depending on how mild or cold the winter season is. I am acutely aware that heating bills need not be as high as they are, if only homes in Britain were built to a higher standard, but that is a thought for another day.

I spend far more on keeping warm than I need to, because my home is poorly insulated. A large proportion of my pensioner £’s are floating unseen through the walls and roof, where most heat-loss occurs in most houses. Gulls and pigeons love spending time squatting on my roof to keep warm! I am a private tenant so there is nothing I can do about that. The landlord’s choice is to provide minimal insulation, and I must pay for that choice. The same applies to the energy inefficient boiler: his capital cost is lower and consequently my running costs are higher. If I was a homeowner I would invest to save, as I have done with lighting, replacing all the landlord’s energy inefficient lamps with LED’s. And not just any-old LED’s but the more expensive-to-buy but cheaper-to-run LED’s that are cheaper in the long run.

Of my fixed income 57 per cent pays the rent and nearly 6 per cent pays for energy. If my rent was lower – and there is no reason other than greed why it should not be – I would be able to keep comfortably warm. This, incidentally, is why I think the means-testing of the Winter Fuel Payment this year is so unfair. Yes, it should indeed be means tested – why should tax-payers money be used to provide billionaires, millionaires, the wealthy and the well off with a tax-free lump sum every winter? But the criteria have been set in such a way that those who really need it – and I would suggest that most private tenants fall into this category – should continue to receive it.

Anyway, the season of wool jumpers, extra-thick overshirts and cold hands is with us. I can only hope that this coming winter is a mild one…

11th October 2024
Newton Abbot, Devon, 09:29, 8ºC, blue sky, moderate cloud, negligible to light breeze, dry.

#heating #WinterFuelPayment #insulation #energy #heatingbills #privatetenants #tenants