.... putting the central heating on. Thanks to the el crapo terrible weather of the last week or so, it has become more and more tempting to flick the switch and turn on the central heating. So far we've held out by wearing a minimum of three layers and huddling round an electric radiator in the living room during the evenings. P has taken to wearing his knitted hat at all times (including in bed) when he's in the house, often with the hood of his hoodie pulled up over it. I'm going to crack open the winter pyjamas tonight as I've been somewhat chilly in bed recently. The summer was so bad this year that we never did change to a lighter duvet but maybe the time is rapidly approaching when we'll have to have the double layer of duvet again.
It's not too bad during the day when I keep moving but in the evening it is bl**dy freezing. And as for showering in an unheated bathroom - well, brass monkeys having nothing on it!! Of course, no central heating means no hot water in this house (apart from the electric shower - thank goodness for that!!) so I'm still having to boil several kettle loads of water every time I wash up or do any clothes washing by hand.
Why are we torturing ourselves like this you may ask? Well, a few years ago now we managed to have a gas bill for the summer quarter which was £0.00 - absolutely zero (still never figured out quite how that worked as the hob in the kitchen is gas but never mind.) Ever since then I've been longing to get another zero gas bill - though I think the sneaky gits at British Gas have changed the way the quarters run which makes it all the more difficult. Can we hold out long enough - hmm, not sure really, it all depends on just how nippy the weather gets. Tell you what, though, if we do manage another zero gas bill, I'll be framing the damned thing!!
Amazing. Well done you guys. It's colder here now but heating not properly on yet just in the little people's rooms.
Posted by: cornishtwinmum | 09/27/2012 at 02:15 PM
We are having an amazingly warm autumn in the Pacific Northwest--complete with forest fires and attendant smoke. Some cool nights, however, so we've had a couple of fires in the little woodstove in our kitchen. But like you, we intend to hold off on starting the furnace as long as possible, not least because heating oil now costs about $3.50 a gallon and we have a 1,000 gallon tank. And if we kept the house warm, we probably could go through at least 1,500 gallons in a winter. Who could afford that? Sign us up for the 47 percent, I guess. Good for you for holding out.
Posted by: Jeanie | 10/01/2012 at 06:30 AM