Cold in the house!

LegacyUser

The weather is getting cold so one evening I put on the gas for one hour. I then got a lecture from house mate about running up bills! Surely in October it's normal to have the heating on for one hour in the evening! I will try to find a different place but that will take time.

Any advice on how to handle this person?

Do you mosey about in the evenings or do you settle down? If you're staying in the one spot you could just get an electric blanket, and watch as your housemate slowly freezes/comes round to the idea of putting heating on.

Otherwise, you could calculate the cost of it (which for only one hour would be very little) and offer to pay it. I know it's unfair, because your housemate is benefiting from it, and ultimately your housemate is the one being unrealistic and insensitive, but maybe they're in a tight spot and are having trouble with the bills? The frost is coming in, and if you don't want to freeze in the night, you're going to have to put the heating on for a little while. Maybe you could explain this to your housemate?

Did your housemate come home to the warm house? If so, wait to put the heating on next time so that they might realise how cold it is without it. Houses always seem overheated when you've just come in from the cold.

petes

Seriously, tell your housemate to cop on. It's bloody baltic out there!!

Cool_CM

Hot water bottle, hoodie, warm socks and hot chocolate. Or tell them that the alternative is getting a heater, which eats electricity!
Our house in University had no insulation and during the winter you could see your own breath...

Cold Cold Cold

Cold Cold Cold wrote: »

Any advice on how to handle this person?

Tell them flat out that your entitled to reasonable living conditions.
If anything an hours heat in the evening is miserly usage.
They can move out if they have a problem with it.

Seraphina

Coming from the other side of the argument, I live in a shared house with 6 people in total. It's a large house and hard/expensive to heat. We are currently still paying off gas from last winter.

I come in, and my housemate is swanning around in leggings and an oversize t-shirt, complaining about the cold. She puts the heating on full blast and does not turn it off. She has no concept of the bills in the house and what they cost. It pisses me off to no ****ing end that she can't just put a ****ing jumper on (I'm not saying you're like this OP just trying to give another perspective). I am currently working part time in a badly paid job so I have free days to volunteer in the area I studied to get experience. I can NOT afford to pay for her inability to dress appropriately for the weather. The worst part is, she is right in the middle of the house, the warmest part. My room is in the basement which is much much colder, and also a bit damp. I would LOVE to have the heating on 24/7 but it's really not viable.

Remember OP, it's only October. It's going to get MUCH colder.

OS119

hi OP, you need to have a sit down conversation with your housemate(s) about what you all expect in terms of heating, and what you can all afford to deliver.

your housemate may be being tight and unreasonable, or he might be being realistic about how much its going to cost to keep the house warm enough to live in - not be comfortable in - should we have a winter like last year, and he's thinking that you'd all be a damn sight better off husbanding your available money for when there's ice on the inside of the windows and you need to keep the heating on 24hrs a day for a month to stop the pipes freezing up and then bursting.

he could have been better at discussing it, but if, like the poster above, he's still paying off last winters bill, seeing snow in tomorows forecast, and has memories of living in one room for a month, then his concerns are justifiable.

you need to talk, and if you can't find an acceptable compromise then you need to think about whether you/he can stay there.

Overheal

Need to form a conventional energy plan for your house. As Seraphina points out, it shouldn't be considered acceptable to heat the place up to the point where you need to be comfortable running around the house in pyjamas. But at the same time it shouldn't be unreasonable to be able to walk around without full arctic gear. Personally I always wore a hoodie, fingerless gloves, Jeans and Long Johns, but do whatever works for you. If you schedule/ration when the heating is allowed on this winter and being reasonable about the needs (longer in Dec/Jan, Shorter in other months etc.) you should all be able to math out what winter is going to cost you.

Darkginger

Calor gas fire - pay as you go, basically. No bills, just an upfront payment for the gas bottle. Supplement it with microwaveable cuddly toys, slippers and things and hot water bottles. I've lived without central heating for 12 years now, and it's totally doable. A bottle of gas is around €40, which lasts two weeks if you have it on a lot, as we do in the winter. It'd be a lot less if it's just a couple of hours in the evening. Tell your housemate that you're opting out of the communal heating, and just using your own.

R.D. aka MR.D

Have to agree with poster saying that some people are just inconsiderate when it comes to the heating.

Sometimes a jumper or little fleece blanket will keep you perfectly toasty without costing the other person any money.

Sesudra

I'd suggest what we do - have the heating on for about an hour or so in the evening to warm up the house,then switch it off and dress up warm for the rest of the night,have a duvet on the sofa and a hot water bottle for bed. You should be allowed to have the heating on for sure, but no need to have it on for hours on end. +1 to everyone saying that you'll need the heat more later on in the winter if it gets as bad as last year

Daisy M

Darkginger wrote: »

Calor gas fire - pay as you go, basically. No bills, just an upfront payment for the gas bottle. Supplement it with microwaveable cuddly toys, slippers and things and hot water bottles. I've lived without central heating for 12 years now, and it's totally doable. A bottle of gas is around €40, which lasts two weeks if you have it on a lot, as we do in the winter. It'd be a lot less if it's just a couple of hours in the evening. Tell your housemate that you're opting out of the communal heating, and just using your own.

You can only use these in well vented large enough areas though so bear that in mind. 40e is crazy for a standard tank of gas! They cost 32.50e in shops if you are returning a cylinder and 15e more if you are not. Darkginger try and find a flogas/calor gas agent supplier and you will save a lot. Near me there is a toolhire place who is an agent they sell tanks to public for 27e. We have a gas stove and like you if we use it during winter for long periods we need a tank every two weeks so 5.50e is no small savings. I only found this out by accident its not widely advertised. Btw I would advise use of a gas detector and carbon monoxide alarm with this type of gas appliance.

LegacyUser

I don't expect to go around in skimpy clothing. I wear jean, jumpers, vests etc. I should not have to wear a coat and scarf in the house. I can't sit under a duvet all evening. I have house work to do, clothes to wash etc. One hour of heating on is not excessive in October. And money is not an issue for this person (who possibly earns tripple what I earn).

sparkthatbled

Think i actually have a good tip for you and anyone else wanting to save on their heating bills. We have a gas fire and it's nice and toasty while it's on but once it's off the heat is gone almost instantly, not to mention it was adding at least €100 to each gas bill over last winter...

By chance we were in homestore & more when they opened here and they had half price on candles so we got a few of their generic brand yankee candles. You would be surprised how much heat those things give off after a while. I figure the jar keeps the wax from dripping off and cooling so eventually you end up with about half the jar molten and giving off a nice steady heat.

They last a couple of weeks when lit for a few hours a day (not quite as long as yankee candles but at €7 full price as opposed to 25 they are worth a day less imo) and will heat up the whole room. Should point out we also blocked up the chimney/gas fire because it was quite draughty but the candles definitely work for us. Worth a shot for you, i reckon and tbh the generic ones have less offensive smells than the yankee ones.

mikemac

Ah, the cause of many a row between housemates

Some manage fine with no heat and some can manage to use a tank of oil in a few weeks. Answer somewhere in the middle

Half hour in the morning and an hour in the evening sounds reasonable
We don't use heating about nine to ten months a year so it's ok to be liberal with the heating for two or three months

woodoo

In a week it will be November. November, December January and February heat will be on in 99% of homes around the country. Tell her its unreasonable to spend those months in a cold house.

One hour is not enough imo. 4 hrs min.