Best idea to keep warm without central heating.

My daughter gave me a small square heated pad. It came from Costco and is amazing.

I don’t understand why people don’t have/use central heating. I lived without it until the nineties and the misery of breathing in cold air, never feeling properly warm, bathing or showering in a freezing bathroom, getting dressed under the bed covers. Not wanting to do housework because the rest of the house is so cold. I vowed never to live without it again.

HobbyCat

I don’t understand why people don’t have/use central heating. I lived without it until the nineties and the misery of breathing in cold air, never feeling properly warm, bathing or showering in a freezing bathroom, getting dressed under the bed covers. Not wanting to do housework because the rest of the house is so cold. I vowed never to live without it again.

HobbyCat. A lot of people can't afford to keep their heating on all the time. Especially if they live alone.

Another example is ... I live alone, one wage. My neighbour next door 3 adults live there. 3 wages, as they all work, yet my heating bill would be the same as their's. Same size 2 bedroom house.

My husband recently showed me a heated dressing gown with foot pockets to close it us when you sat down.

I've got excellent central heating but I take a ridiculous pride in not putting the radiators on. It's ludicrous that I take this stand against excessive pricing but it's my tiny opposition to fuel prices. I sometimes treat myself in December or January if the north wind doth blow in the snow, but for the last few years I've not had the heating on for more than a few days. I wear layers, socks, have sheepskin slippers and lap throws. I truly do not feel the cold. One of my sons regularly complains to me that I am being silly, he's right, but I force my hand into his so he can feel that I am toasty warm! When I get into my eighties, on the horizon now, I may alter my viewpoint, but for 2026/7 I'm going to keep the heating off (and my bedroom window open).

I got an electric "throw" but returned it as I found it too large. It really was a 'trip hazard' as too big to neatly put aside.

Please can we see a photo of your new puppy?

I have central heating which uses oil so I am not switching it on this year! We have solar for heating water and I will wear extra clothes, use log burners and heated blankets.

Casdon

Keep moving would be my advice. If you’re doing something active you’re never as cold as you are when you’re just sitting. I agree with M0nica on the socks, too. If your feet are warm you feel warmer everywhere. I’ve got some sheepskin slippers too, which help.

Yes, all this talk of wrapping up and sitting down is quite dis concerting. Is that what I have got to do now I am old?

I cannot sit down for more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time and during the day. I am bouncing up and own like a yo-yo. Doing something in the house or out, then 15 minutes sitting at my desk, then on my feet again. I have always been like this.

HobbyCat

I don’t understand why people don’t have/use central heating. I lived without it until the nineties and the misery of breathing in cold air, never feeling properly warm, bathing or showering in a freezing bathroom, getting dressed under the bed covers. Not wanting to do housework because the rest of the house is so cold. I vowed never to live without it again.

Lucky you HobbyCat
It would cost me thousands to have central heating put in such a big house I can’t possibly afford it perhaps you have a lot more disposable cash that I do
And why would I ? I hop out of a warm bed I sleep with hot water bottle in a sleeping bag under a warm duvet snug as a bug in a rug I get straight into a hot shower when I get up and
I m sill warm while I get into my daily clothes, I have a lovely cosy gas fire in my main room. I live on my own and have plenty of thick furry throws and hot water bottles for sitting around in the evenings
My daughter has central heating but now the children have grown and flown its really too expensive for one person so she doesn’t have it up very high I think I m cosier

No Monica I don’t sit around ! I just wear warm layers and
I m not always in the house I volunteer three days a week go to the allotment, walk and generally do stuff

My house is always cold, its single brick, detached, Edwardian with big rooms, windows and high ceilings. Put like that sounds a bit grand, but isn’t.
Anyway I don’t know if it’s been mentioned already but I find wearing a scarf always helps. I also have blankets draped over sofas to use as necessary, am electric under blanket and thick socks and slippers. Best of all our wood burner is marvellous. I open the living room door and it drifts round the house, and it’s only a small 5 kg , well it was 5 something.

Due to a long, outrageous story featuring bad luck, an ageing system, poor workmanship and cowboy traders (which I won't go into), we lost our central heating entirely 3 years ago. Spent a whole year with no heating except for a couple of electric convector heaters and a mobile Calor gas fire. We gave in and installed independent electric heaters in every room (they look like slim, elegant storage heaters but don't rely on heat bricks inside). That was disruptive and colossally expensive (and also brought its own share of rogues out of the woodwork) but, now it's done and over with, we're glad we did it. Each heater is easily removable from the wall (unlike plumbed-in water- or oil-filled radiators) so we can take them with us if we move. Each one is separately programmable, so we can have however much heat we want where we want and when we want (different for each room). I can't say how much it affected us financially because energy costs went mad at the time we were changing over - the house is now all-electric (which has own drawbacks, but we're pretty well-prepared with emergency measures in place to cope with power cuts).
We both grew up in old houses with just a fireplace in each room (in my childhood home, the bedroom fireplaces were boarded up!) so we learned early on how to keep warm without mollycoddling!
1. Thermal underwear.
2. Lots of clothing layers (one thick jumper doesn't work anywhere near as well as three thinner ones).
3. Fleece beanies, gloves and socks.
4. Blankets (again, fleece ones are pretty good).
5. Hot drinks.
6. Common sense.
7. Using other buildings which were heated. Shove a trolley around a supermarket for an hour. Visit the library (heat, armchairs and something to read - how bad can that be?).
Use coffee shops that don't hassle you to leave after one cup (having a book, tablet and notepad makes a good image - they thought we were writers!).
During the fuel crisis, some people created a heat-sharing group, visiting each other's houses in turn for chat and dinner. Humans can be ingenious when the chips are down.

That's great if you can keep moving M0nica and Casdon. Not all of us can do that.

Layer up, keep feet and neck warm. Slippers that cover the ankles - like boots are wonderful.

Depending how big your house is. I find a wood burner brings out so much heat.
In the 1960s my father used to take us to a pub that belonged to a mother and daughter. They had no central heating just used oil lamps.

I'm afraid I believe in my central heating. I get really cold and quite confused without it. I had hypothermia once on a Ramblers walk in the Lake District and it feels like the beginnings of that if I let the house get too cold.
I have asked Octopus to let me know if I am in danger of being in trouble with them as I like a toasty warm bungalow. Even if it's only part of it.

One small tip open curtains when it is daylight especially if there’s any sun, but close them as soon as daylight fades. I read this but not sure how effective it is. If the ch is on surely you want to close curtains/blinds to stop heat getting out?

icanhandthemback

That's great if you can keep moving M0nica and Casdon. Not all of us can do that.

Appreciated, some people are chair or bed bound, so unable to move much. The thing is though, for most people, that when you’re cold the temptation is to stay still, under a blanket, or in bed, even when you are capable of moving around, but you actually generate more heat to keep warm when you’re doing something physical.

BlueBelle

Hands up 🙋‍♀️ I have no central heating it’s an old Victorian town house (1874) 5 bedrooms, three floors, and old original windows 🤣so I layer up and have lovely thick throws, hot water bottles and big old thick fur hoodies
I don’t often get colds and I m used to it so it’s fine by me

That sounds like a pretty large house, BlueBelle, to keep heated.
We’re fortunate enough to have CH and a log fire, but do try to be economical. Our home is a modest three bedroomed semi, but can get quite chilly at times. I like cosy boot type slippers, a scarf around my neck, which is so effective, and warm layers. A hot water bottle in bed is a must. Plus, we have our lovely dog, who sleeps with us! He’s thoroughly spoilt, but adorable.

I've no central heating. Don't want it.

I'm usually busy all morning, housework/shopping etc., always something to do/go out for. Bungalow still holds heat from the log burner used the evening before. I always wear wool jumpers and/or lined hoodie or fleece indoors, good socks.

Electric radiator used in the room I'm in in the afternoon, no problem. Then light the log burner 6pm-ish until 10. The heat it gives off means if I open the door to that room [kitchen/diner/living room] the heat circulates into the other rooms and takes the chill off. Means there's no condensation or mould anywhere either.

I like a cool bedroom at bedtime, and I like to hug a hot water bottle on a really cold night.

The place is very well insulated. When I moved here there was no gas to the property and so I thought I'd see how I got on - and haven't looked back. And my electricity bill isn't too bad either.

I have central heating and a log burner in a super insulated house - so rarely use the log burner and central heating never has to be on for long. I think the heated blanket is a great idea - bought one for a friend who was so impressed with it I bought one for myself. Super cosy and cheap to run. Perfect when sitting on the sofa watching tv if you don’t want all the heating on. Beyond that - fleeces are warm and easy to wash and quick to dry.

I like a wheaty bag, two minutes and 15 seconds in the microwave. That might be cheaper than heating enough water for a hot water bottle?

I wear what I call my tent but it's an enormous T shaped fleece that goes over my clothes and down to my knees. Actually I've got two and both came from Tu at Sainsbury's. I wear hiking or boot socks inside my slippers. I absolutely don't care what I look like in my own home. I'd rather be warm.

I have central heating but only put it on when it's really cold. I have my halogen heater on and it's like having a coal fire....cosy cosy. Cost £20.Only heats room you are in obviously but massive reduction in gas bill last winter.

Thermal underwear, a fine wool sweater plus a thicker cardigan. Socks, my feet are feeling chilly tonight and it's not October yet.

If the electricity goes off then gas central heating doesn't work anyway, although you can light a gas hob with a match or gas lighter. An old-fashioned kettle which goes on the gas hob is a good idea to keep handy to make hot drinks.