It is starting to reach freezing temps here and my bedroom is a nice and cozy 12 degrees C right now. My gf and I look like the grandparents in Charlie and the chocolate factory because we lay on the couch under blankets the whole evening. But my heating is still off.
I pay 66 euro’s a month right now but my energy supplier suggests upping it to 192 euro’s a month, or pay a 350 euro end bill. I choose the end bill in the hope that shit will calm down soon because the amount is doable right now. Several of my coworkers pay 2-4000 euro’s for their end bill though. Needless to say, they can’t afford it.
How about you guys? Got any tips to heat the house without turning the heating on?
Also, our cat sleeps with us, so I have a never ending bag of heat at night, which is nice.
Same, also very loud purring and occasional clawing.
Italy here, the stereotype is that is all warm and nice but temperatures in the winter can reach - 7 here in Rome, that said our condominium didn’t even turn on heating and they won’t till December, it’s really sad n dumb considering that even now in the “warm” month yemperatures regularly reach sub zero in the night, its unbearable and I’m starting to feel like a 19th century peasant, without heating (that we still pay😴) we need to constantly have jackets on and we need to sleep with so much stuff on
At least we’re
providing record profitowning the evil RuskiesThe big energy company has a location 50 metres from me, I might go full USA if u know what I mean 😎
When in Rome… freeze to death on behalf of the US
⚠️ Warning big flex ⚠️
My family’s 3 months gas bill costs the same as my skirt
🇩🇿🇩🇿🇩🇿
Dumb westerner question comrade, but do you consider your nation socialist or socialist-aligned? I’ve looked into Algerian politics a little bit and was mostly left with more questions than answers. It’s a big question and feel free not to respond at all if you don’t feel like it.
It is a leftist aligned country pretending to be neutral, the country was socialist and currently defines itself as “free market economy” the ruling party is still the same arab socialist party it always had, there’s still socialist policies implemented and there’s 400+ nationalized sectors with privatization frozen since 2018, there was/is an oligarchy issue until the current president arrived and started arresting them because in his words “it’s common sense to arrest them”, Algeria’s situation is unknown to everyone because it wants to be unknown the country has seen what happened to gaddafi and dprk and doesn’t want the same to happen to it. It doesn’t call itself socialist to the population because of the red scare AL qaeda funded terrorists were doing in the civil war.
Thank you comrade, incredibly informative.
Just a warning: 12°C is not enough. You need to keep your home heated so that mold doesn’t form due to moisture condensation on/in your walls. You need to have at least 17-19°C. Otherwise you will incur much more severe costs to repair the damage later. Not to mention that it’s bad for your health to live in such conditions. Heating is not something you should be skimping on if at all possible. Depending on the country you live in you may be entitled to some form of government financial aid to subsidize your energy costs if they become exorbitantly high. Or you may be able to take legal recourse, it may not even be legal for the energy company to charge that much. In any case whenever you receive some unjustifiably huge increase in any of your usual bills, whether it’s rent, energy, etc. it’s a good idea to contact a lawyer.
I can’t do anything as I rent. The government has measures mostly targeted at people that bought a house. Renovation budgets and all. They do NOTHING for the high price. It’s turn off your heating or financially destroy yourself here. Mold sucks but destroying my savings account sucks too. There’s nothing renters can do really.
That’s unfortunate. In that case i would advise airing out your apartment at least once or twice a day and maybe get a dehumidifier. You can also buy for relatively cheap a small mobile electric heater that you can just plug in and just use it in the one room where you spend the most time and turn it off when you don’t need it to save on electricity. Unfortunately you won’t get around spending. You should always put your health first and foremost, even if your savings take a hit.
I leave the bed/bathroom window open until 19.00h. Got a heater in the basement which I can use. If things get worse I will turn on heating in the bathroom. Won’t be an easy winter but I will manage.
Well guys Europeans, what can I say, for example, my salary is about 250 euros per month, of which I pay about 80 euros for utility bills for an apartment. The question of the ratio of salaries in your country. From Russia with love. So don’t cry! And every six months our prices are growing by 10-15%.
You may have already done this but insulation makes a big, big different. Windows closed, blinds closed, thick curtains closed (curtains can be expensive but well-worth the investment long term). Treating the house like a giant reverse fridge (e.g. don’t open the door long etc). Even placement of furniture can make a difference, if you’re desperate enough I would remix the house so to speak (and hey sometimes a switch up is nice!).
I’m on easy mode though because we have a 1-bedroom, very small apartment that’s below ground-level with 3 floors on top of us and lots of surrounding tree cover. A little harder to heat than it is to cool but that’s our primary concern over here in North Carolina anyways.
We have broken windows without money to fix Em and the balcony window needs to stay open for the cat’s things to poop, 😭
I’ve had the heat on relatively low to keep some temperature in the apartment and stay moderately comfortable. It’s usually around 17° inside, a bit more if someone will be in a room for longer. We’ve luckily had relatively warm weather and the apartment has lots of south facing windows which really helps too. I haven’t been too worried about cost as I know that the owner is locked in to their gas and electric rate until the end of this year. We have no idea what kind of price hike to expect in six weeks though.
• If you can identify any drafts along floor level and around the edge of windows or doors, stuffing rolled up towels in any crack can help. • There are also thermal curtains which would probably be even better, as well as window insulation film, though I’ve heard somewhere that putting up bubble wrap on your windows can work as makeshift solution if you have any of that lying around. • If you can, try and stay in one room as much as possible and keep the door shut to prevent heat from escaping. • If you own a sleeping bag you could try and use it while in your normal bed under the covers. • Use gloves indoors (there are tonnes of cheap gloves that work with touchscreens) and thick socks (layer if possible). (1/2)
• Long-johns, or just base layers/thermal underwear in general, there are tonnes of stuff for heat insulation and layering in the skiing or outdoors sections of sports stores, check sport outlets also. Idk if it is because I used to live basically along the polar circle but I also recall just regular clothing retailers having long underwear in stock (pro-tip: layer thermal underwear atop your regular underwear, then top that off with loose jeans) • Idk if this one will help but try to wear looser pants (regular jeans/straight leg jeans work for me) the air between your skin and the pant leg helps SO MUCH with insulation (source: me waiting on the bus to arrive for 20+ min in -20° weather).
I hope any of this can be in any way applicable, I know a lot of this is “buy x thing” in a time where money is evaporating from our collective bank accounts. But in general, for your own person: layer. Dress like you’re going on a hike up a snowy mountain. Btw if your nose is freezing try using a tube scarf pulled up over it, condensation is a removed when it gets below freezing but it helps with at least keeping your face from going numb. End of word vomit. (2/2)
Thanks for all the tips
Also rip Lemmy ate my formatting.
I’m from southern Spain and so far it’s not too bad here yet. I’m always at my computer so the temperature in my room is good.
I had a 1000+€ electricity bill last month, came as a shock. Though it’s warm where I am so my consumption goes down in winter rather than up.
I have had the heating on for like a month, set at 20°C at day and 18°C at night in my bedroom where I spend almost all my time, and one set to 15°C in the rest of the apartment, and I have a blanket over me most of the time. I have chronic illness which makes me really bad at dealing at dealing with low temperatures.
Fortunately the last two months bills have been under 1000 NOK (~100 USD/EUR), so I’m managing so far, but worried about the cost in the next few months.
Even Rødt supports the war in Ukraine now =/
Wait what? I’ve been feeling iffy about quite a few of their positions, but ended up joining the party this year because I need to be doing something. Just read their updated statement, and the Red Party saying that they “support those who defend themselves against Putin’s troops and fight for their freedom, independence and democracy” is very disheartening, and I’m wondering if I’ve made a mistake. I don’t support Putin, but holy shit, Ukraine is not fighting for democracy or any kind of freedom that we value.
Maybe that and is operative. “Hey if you’re fighting Russia, thoughts and prayers. If you are in the other group that is fighting for freedom, independence or democracy, separate but equally valid thoughts and prayers” =P
If you can make a tent for your bed in some sort of canopy bed imitation, you will sleep warmer. Small spaces are easier to warm up in general.
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