At this moment I am freezing in Texas

Teacher Terry said:
I would cut every single discretionary expense before I would go without heat or have the heat super low. There’s nothing worse than being cold and I can’t sleep if I’m cold.
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I've been thinking the same thing with rate hikes in California. Though I certainly realize I'm not the only one.

Spend less on food, which I can certainly do. Less chips etc.. Though, we are not freezing here. My tabby who likes it warm acts like she is.
 

hollydolly said:
there's a huge difference between buying something for £50 or £60 once every couple of months and paying £300 per month every month just for heating.
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I decided to put that money into long lasting warm winter clothes for a fraction of the price.
So far it's been down to 52 in my house this winter and I'm fine. If and when it gets cold enough I have
plenty of wood and can light a fire in the wood stove fireplace insert, but haven't done that for a couple of years.
If I was sharing the house with a lovely young similarly aged woman however, I would get the fires going more often.
 
John cycling said:
I decided to put that money into long lasting warm winter clothes for a fraction of the price.
So far it's been down to 52 in my house this winter and I'm fine. If and when it gets cold enough I have
plenty of wood and can light a fire in the wood stove fireplace insert, but haven't done that for a couple of years.
If I was sharing the house with a lovely young similarly aged woman however, I would get the fires going more often.
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52 is cold, especially on the coast with the damp weather. I'm from the coast, so I know. But I grew up with it and I guess was used to it.
 
John cycling said:
I decided to put that money into long lasting warm winter clothes for a fraction of the price.
So far it's been down to 52 in my house this winter and I'm fine. If and when it gets cold enough I have
plenty of wood and can light a fire in the wood stove fireplace insert, but haven't done that for a couple of years.
If I was sharing the house with a lovely young similarly aged woman however, I would get the fires going more often.
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I also have warm clothing.. and I do wear layers... most of me isn't cold, just my hands really... .. it's currently 52 in my house.. and it's not greatly comfortable I;m not going to say it is.. but I'm not frozen. I did have the heating on for 45 minutes earlier this evening.. and an hour is the max I can have it... I make a thermos of tea every morning, and that stays hot for most of the day, so I warm myself with that.. I drink tea all day...

I've also got the sherpa /fleece blankets on the sofa.. and very warm comforters on my bed as well as my fleece covered hot water bottle..

I have a fireplace.. it currently has an electric fire insert in it, if I took the fire out..I could theoretically burn coal or logs.. however it hasn't been used for well over 30 years so I think the chimney would have to be thoroughly swept first.. :eek::D
 
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hollydolly said:
I also have warm clothing.. and I do wear layers... most of me isn't cold, just my hands really... .. it's currently 52 in my house.. and it's not greatly comfortable I;m not going to say it is.. but I'm not frozen. I did have the heating on for 45 minutes earlier this evening.. and an hour is the max I can have it... I make a thermos of tea every morning, and that stays hot for most of the day, so I warm myself with that.. I drink tea all day...

I've also got the sherpa /fleece blankets on the sofa.. and very warm comforters on my bed as well as my fleece covered hot water bottle..

I have a fireplace.. it currently had an electric fire insert in it, if I took the fire out..I could theoretically burn coal or logs.. however it hasn't been used for well over 30 years so I think the chimney would have to be thoroughly swept first.. :eek::D
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It depends on the cost of wood and delivery, stacking. Having a place to keep it covered and dry. I have a gas fireplace but only use it in emergencies. It also needs a good cleaning and may need some, I can't remember what it is called, tuck and point. The filling of cracks in the brick work. I would definitely look into it. It would be good to have the option if you stay there and if you sell you can show it is in working order.
 
John cycling said:
I decided to put that money into long lasting warm winter clothes for a fraction of the price.
So far it's been down to 52 in my house this winter and I'm fine. If and when it gets cold enough I have
plenty of wood and can light a fire in the wood stove fireplace insert, but haven't done that for a couple of years.
If I was sharing the house with a lovely young similarly aged woman however, I would get the fires going more often.
Click to expand...
You have your house temperature at 52 degrees?Thats cold. Brrrrr. I love the wood stove on. It definitely takes the chill out of the air. Our house temperature is at 65 at all times. We cut all our own wood, dry it and store it ; ready for burning and go through 4 chords yearly.
 
hollydolly said:
there's a huge difference between buying something for £50 or £60 once every couple of months and paying £300 per month every month just for heating..
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When we bought our 1400 sq ft house in 2012 I was shocked that the January power bill was 500. That was a ton of money in 2012. It had electric baseboard heat so the way I brought it down to a manageable level was at night when we went to bed I turned the heat down to 55 everywhere but our bedroom which had a separate thermostat. I kept the bedroom at 68. When we woke up it was miserable until the heat got up to 68. That got our bill down to 209/month.

It’s one of many reasons why after the divorce I didn’t keep the house because all the expenses are bigger. Now I only have 855 sq ft . Unfortunately the older I get the colder I am with no medical reason.

People in the states are having issues also with high bills depending on the state they live in. Only really poor people qualify for energy assistance. Older homes in the states tend to have doors on other rooms besides bedrooms which helps people close off rooms.

Personally I think it really sucks that people have to decide between heat, medication and food here. At least in your country you don’t have to worry about the high cost of medical care. Honestly I don’t know how you can tolerate having your house so cold.
 
Teacher Terry said:
When we bought our 1400 sq ft house in 2012 I was shocked that the January power bill was 500. That was a ton of money in 2012. It had electric baseboard heat so the way I brought it down to a manageable level was at night when we went to bed I turned the heat down to 55 everywhere but our bedroom which had a separate thermostat. I kept the bedroom at 68. When we woke up it was miserable until the heat got up to 68. That got our bill down to 209/month.

It’s one of many reasons why after the divorce I didn’t keep the house because all the expenses are bigger. Now I only have 855 sq ft . Unfortunately the older I get the colder I am with no medical reason.

People in the states are having issues also with high bills depending on the state they live in. Only really poor people qualify for energy assistance. Older homes in the states tend to have doors on other rooms besides bedrooms which helps people close off rooms.

Personally I think it really sucks that people have to decide between heat, medication and food here. At least in your country you don’t have to worry about the high cost of medical care. Honestly I don’t know how you can tolerate having your house so cold.
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Almost all of our homes have rooms with doors, so as you say it keeps the heat in compared with open plan living.. ( as I have in my Spanish home)

WE don't have to take meds into consideration by and large.. although everyone between the age of 18 and 60 have to pay for each drug they're prescribed, which can be quite expensive, but we don't have to pay to see a Doctor, thank Goodness.. .. but we certainly do have to choose between heat and eat.. and it's been a real problem for several years.. constantly hearing about elderly people dying from hypothermia...
 
We got a light dusting of snow today in Dallas and even though we never rose above freezing the sun came out and the roads are already pretty clear. But tonight we are set to hit 10. I believe our local weatherman said the record set back in 1905 for this date was 11 degrees. :(

Most of the "experts" say to turn the thermostat down to 68 to conserve energy. We are set at 66 upstairs and 67 downstairs and our house isn't cold. We did have our windows replaced several years ago so that has made a huge difference during both winter and summer. I still dread to see what our gas bill will be this month.
 
hollydolly said:
I know, I've literally just been looking at that Portable heat buddy thing.. and someone said while it's a good source of heat , it literally eats Gas cannisters.. one only lasts a couple of hours... so that doesn't seem to be any use for me either.. sadly
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We have an oil-filled heater that looks like a radiator in the master bedroom. It is a Delonghi like in the pic and it heats the space like a champ. It is currently only set to 3 out of 9 and warms the room. We've had it for many years with no issues. Maybe try that?

Google Image Result for https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61V5KvnKFZL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg
 
seadoug said:
Sorry to go off topic, but we also have a gas fireplace and it stopped working. I hired a company that specializes in gas fireplaces to come repair it. They couldn't figure out why is wasn't getting gas and told me they weren't qualified to touch the gas line and that I would have to contact our gas provider. I haven't taken it any further.
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That is not something to delay. Call the gas company to report and they will no if there is a concern of immediate danger.

We had a inground gas hot tub placed in ou deck. I made the decision to remove it after my husband passed. He had not been able to use it for 5 years of his cancer treatment due to the chemo port in his chest. I knew I could not take care of the thing.

I had to have the plumber, the electrician and then Atmos come out to make sure everything had been closed off and there was no danger due to any problems with water, electric or gas. Of course, gas was the biggest worry. We know that a gas problem can turn into an explosion. I wanted the confirmation that it was all done correctly for my safety and for my homeowners insurance.
 
seadoug said:
We have an oil-filled heater that looks like a radiator in the master bedroom. It is a Delonghi like in the pic and it heats the space like a champ. It is currently only set to 3 out of 9 and warms the room. We've had it for many years with no issues. Maybe try that?

Google Image Result for https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61V5KvnKFZL._AC_UF894,1000_QL80_.jpg
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I have one almost identical to that altho' slightly bigger in the barn.. which I've not been able to use except last winter one day when the snow seeped through and soaked everything and I had to dry it all out .. because it needs electricity to run it...
 
I noticed when I was in the UK last that a lot of houses had solar panels, does that help when the hydro goes off? Can it still supply heat?
 
Welcome to the Forum(s) - fellow Texican

We do not like the cold either. Once the temp gets in the 60's - we are pretty well too cold...

We got a whole house genset after the last bad cold snap when we were without power for about 2 weeks.

Fortunately, we've not lost powers so far during this Norther.

We have #1 Daughter and our new Granddaughter here at our house with us just incase of a Power Failure at our Daughters place.

Currently the winds are blowing and it's cold...don't know how folks North of I-20, much less the Mason Dixon Line do it 🥶

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