Keep warm Granny's way

Published:

09 January 2009

Topic:

News,Gas & Electricity

With the country having been plunged into sub-zero temperatures over the last week, it's no surprise that the energy providers seem to be in no hurry to reduce gas and electricity prices.

With the heating on full blast in millions of homes across the country our consumption will be soaring. But think about the impact this will have on your finances when it comes to paying for all this energy you're using.

So instead of keeping the heating on for hours at a time think back to how people coped in the days before central heating. Some of the more traditional ways of keeping warm could come in very handy at the moment and they also offer a great way of minimising your energy bills.

Here are moneysupermarket.com's top tips on keeping warm Granny's way:

• Rather than switch on the heating for the whole house, do as Granny did during and after the war and heat only the room you are using.
  
  
• Close the door when you go into a room and put a draft excluder in front of it - if you do that there'll be no need to turn up the fire. If you want to get into real Grandma-mode you could even make your own - stuff the leg of a stocking or pair of tights with old socks and there you have it, a home-made draft excluder...
  
  
• If you've got sash windows buy a cheap sealant kit or, as granny would do roll up some good old-fashioned newspaper and fill the gaps to stop the heat escaping.
  
  
• Draw your curtains at the first sign of dusk and if you have a radiator underneath the window tuck the curtains behind it. One of the main purposes of curtains is to help keep the heat in at night.
  
  
• Turn as many lights and switches off as possible - electricity used to be a real luxury so remember that, and get stingy with it.
  
  
• If you've had the oven on to cook dinner, open the oven door once you've finished and turned it off and let the warm air circulate round the kitchen.
  
  
• You were probably told it a hundred times as a child, but if you're cold put an extra jumper on. How often have you walked around the house with a t-shirt on and the heating on full blast?
  

• And wear a hat - even if you're inside. It's like central heating for your head.
  
  
• Get knitting. It's back in fashion now (so I'm told) and there's a reason why our grannies were whizzes with the knitting needles: woolen clothes and bedspreads are proven to be the warmest - and they're also cheap if you knit them yourself.
  
  
• Thermal underwear needn't only be for when you're on the ski slopes. You won't need to turn the thermostat up if you're wearing your Long Johns.
  
  
• Switch off the electric blanket - its way too tempting during the cold snaps to leave this running for hours on end. Instead, invest in a good old-fashioned hot water bottle.
  
   
• They may not be sexy, but they'll keep you warm at night - bed socks!
  

Related Links

• Compare tariffs from UK gas and electricity providers
• Vote in this week's poll: 'Have concerns about how you’ll pay your energy bills meant that you’ve not used your heating as much as you’d have liked during the recent cold snap?'