i was holding on til October but the last week i have been putting it on for an hour morning and evening so the kids won’t be cold getting up for school and getting ready for bed. dreading the price hike can barely cover the bills as they are.

having lived in USA for years…i tend to stick with the trend that i had over there and that is to not even think about putting on heating until October at least… and then to try to hold out for as long as possible and try to get to middle of month…i think alot of people will be putting on the second jumper first before touching the heating button….

get a stove ! I installed 2 , 2 years ago. bag of coal last ya nearly a week…nice and snug…Oil is just not a option anymore…install them yourself, with a bit of help from your friends.

Insulated the attic for 300 euro last year. made a HUGE difference. Get off your arse, get some rolls and roll them out! nasty job, but its done for years…! ya be quare itchy after it !!!

One hour at night.I have gas and am dreading the winter.Thinking of buying thermals and a warm dressing gown.I dont know how we will manage electricity/gas this winter!!!!!!

I haven’t had any oil since last Feb, finally got 300 litres two weeks ago but that may have to last through the Winter.
Just reading these comments, how the hell do our government expect people to pay tax increase after tax increase if we can’t even heat our homes. It’s almost medieval, the rich lord over the downtrodden poor dispensing advice while they don’t suffer themselves. The only solace is that history has shown us everywhere, everytime people are downtrodden and suppressed sooner or later they can only take so much, they rise up eventually. The sooner the better.

No heating on yet! Having kids in warm pjs n 2 duvets each. Cant afford oil at moment.

Have an old wood burning stove hooked up to my central heating. Works a treat all I have to do is cut down a tree every now and again. Don’t think I’ve used the oil burner more then 10 times in the last 2 winters.

Here in Poland, I have no choice about the heating being on or off. Heating is provided by the city council to virtually every apartment in the city. It’s free (well, paid for by taxes) so you never have to worry about having it up too high. Just regulate each radiator to suit your preference. With the harsh winters here, this is done to ensure no one dies of the cold because they can’t pay the gas bill. As soon as the temperatures dip below ten degrees for three days, on goes the heating for the whole city. If it stays over ten degrees for three days, it goes off again. It’s off right now because it’s still around 18-24 degrees most days. As well as this, the city council provides your hot water as well (though there is a water meter for this and a separate one for cold water, but it costs half nothing) so no need to ever worry about the immersion.

Besides being a great advantage of not having to worry about the heating bill, I imagine it’s a lot more efficient to have one big boiler rather than a few hundred thousand of them all over the city. Less gas being burnt means less zlotys going to Russia. :-)

My tip is to get a good hot water bottle.

Buy a briquette maker in Argos and reuse all your old card board and news papers they work a treat when dried properly

A customer told me he only buys one bag of coal for the winter and thats it. I asked how is that and he said he puts it on his back, then every hour he runs down the street with it and hes never cold.

Have it on for an hour in the early morning before the children get up, put on a boost half hour or hour if the evening is cold. However I’m heavily pregnant now due imminently and with these recent increases I hate thinking ahead to the heating & electricity bills for after baby arrives. Snuggley baby cardigans and blankets are all ready but we simply can’t have the house cold after the birth, and then there’s the mountain of washing that’ll come with it.

With all the costs we anticipated and budgeted for with the new arrival, such a large increase in essential utility costs wasn’t one of them.

Dreading the massive bills that will start coming during the winter. If I didn’t have kids I’d suck it up and put up with the cold but have to have the heating on for the little ones…..bbbbrrrrrr!!!!!!

Join the gym :) yearly membership is much cheaper than your morning and evening shower bills at home alone + you get the gym so healthier you :) your average heart beat and metabolism also improves and you dont feel cold as much as before while not doing any exercise.

Have storage heating so I am doing my best to wait until the clocks go back..
Slanket and hot water bottle at the ready!

There is still a grant for heating controls available from the SEAI. Efficient controls will drop the heating bill by up to 20%.

I was away from my flat for nearly a week, came back earlier this week and it was freezing!!! Put the heat on intermittently but it took a few days for the place to properly warm up.

My house is heated by an efficient wood burning stove.
I cut the wood from old dead trees locally – have truck.

I have noticed of late that more and more trees are being cut down as the price of firewood is also going up :(

Never a better time to insulate

Get one of those sexy blankets with sleeves and the Big Foot boot thing which fits two feet. Cuppa cocoa. Sorted :-)

Long time ago!

light the fire and burn everything you can instead of Binning it,at least till this global warming heats Ireland up a bit

No need for heating yet, I bought a couple of nuns on the Internet, problem sorted.

I’m considering asking my landlord if I can I put up curtains. I’ve floor to ceiling windows in my living room & bedroom which are great in summer but in winter they just let in too much cold. It costs a fortune to heat the place as it is because its a big open plan space, pains me to imagine heat being wasted.

Gas is included in my rent so Im burning it up like there’s no tomorrow!

I haven’t turned on the heating in 7 years in fact i don’t think i have heating only AC and fans, rarely drops below 18c at night here during the winter boom boom lol.

I think people should switch to a pellet stoves they are cheaper and efficent,oils has gone very expensive i have switched and it saves me money on heating.