I never believed that people living in a first world country in the 21st Century would have to choose between heating and eating.
For many (probably the majority) of unemployed people this is the stark reality of winter in the UK.
In my house we never bother putting the water heater on, we have an electric shower and the only other thing we would need hot water for is washing dishes, which it's just as easy to boil the kettle for, so heating a whole tank of water is a waste of money.
During the summer our electricity cost roughly £8 per week, from the start of November this rocketed to over £20 per week when we had to put some heating on in the house to stop the walls going mouldy from the cold. At the minute we heat our bedroom for a about 90 minutes per day as this was the worst affected room. We only heat the living room when it gets that cold that we can't handle it any more. We usually use tea light candles to provide some warmth, wear lots of layers of clothing and hide under duvets to keep warm.
I have a Galileo's thermometer in the sitting room and it shows that the temperature of our living room is pretty much always under 17C, I don't know how far under because that is the lowest temperature is records.
Update: At the end of March I got a proper room thermometer, by then my house was much warmer than it had been between November and February, and the thermometer was only just reading 15C. I therefore estimate that for most of the winter my house was between 9C and 12C.
The information on the thermometer states that at 12C there is a risk of heart attack and stroke, and, at 9C, hypothermia. I didn't realise at the time how much I was putting our health at risk, it is very fortunate that both of us are young, healthy adults, or we may not have survived the winter. even knowing about the health risks, there was nothing I could afford to do to make our house warmer :(
I would love to be able to heat the house properly instead of freezing half to death while filling out job applications, but if we spend more on electricity, we have to cut back else where, and the only place that could be is on food.
I spend less than £50 per week on food for two people and cook 90% of stuff from scratch, no fast food or ready meals for us. It's a struggle to afford fresh vegetables and fruit especially now that the prices have gone up so much over the last few months. We mostly have stews and soups made from cheap cuts of meat and bulked out with lentils and stuff like that.
I could probably reduce the food bill if we cut down to just eating beans on toast and super noodles, but who wants to eat shit like that? So it's the heating that doesn't get put on.
The single most depressing aspect of unemployment is the constant cold, try it someday, turn your heating off for a couple of days during the winter, this is the reality of unemployment in the UK today.
I lived in a flat where the temperature never went very far above 18 degrees in winter, even with the heating on, and the heating bills were astronomical, and it was freezing, so I really do sympathise.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was unemployed, I had an allotment, which helped a bit with food, but it was hard work.
I want to get an allotment because I live in a flat so no garden. But I know that the waiting list is long and I don't have any where to store, or any way to transport the tools I would need. But it is something I will be putting my name down for in the next week or so.
DeleteI'm just glad that both me and the hubby are young, fit and healthy. I can't imagine what it's like to deal with an environment this cold and damp when you are ill as well.
Most allotment holders keep their tools in lockable storage chests or sheds on their plot. If there isn't a shed on the plot you get (if you manage to get one) then it might be worth looking around on Freecycle or chatting with other allotment holders to see if they'd let you share theirs?
DeleteAlso, if you aren't lucky enough to get an allotment (I know most waiting lists are very long), have a look on landshare.net (I don't know where you are so couldn't look for you). I think there's a similar scheme called Grow Your Neighbour's Own (or something like that). Might be worth looking into?
In my experience, only women get cold, and southerners... if anything I've been too hot all winter demanding the heating turned off.
ReplyDeleteAll I require is enough electricity to run my laptop, and the fridge (for the milk) and of course the internet...
I have this butch imagination that I'm never cold (being from oop north - now that is cold) BUT I do get cold, the worst is coming out of the shower, which gets quite cold. The second worst is the snow with no gloves on.
There are all sorts of tricks to cut your heating bill... one clever idea is putting kitchen foil behind your radiator. The thermostat (if you have one) should be around 18-20, doors and draughts need covering up, curtains in the winter, and also a higher tog duvet for the winter, and a thinner one for summer.
If you can, turn all the radiators off in rooms that don't need them. A bathroom is meant to be cold, and would take a lot more energy to heat up the ceramic tiles!
Theres all sorts of tips :)
You would be cold if your house was cold and damp like mine. I don't have a thermostat, even if I did,I couldn't afford to have it set that high. E don't heat any rooms other than the for about 90 min per day just to keep the mould in check. Also I'm not a southerner :-P e have 3 duvets on the bed just to make it warm enough. Please don't lecture me about how to keep a house warm.
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