Keeping warm without turning up the heat!

Nevertheless, there is a definite nervousness about regarding the inevitable fall in temperature any time soon and it seems that next Monday i.e. October 24 has been designated as the day that many Brits will have to turn on the heating in any meaningful way when the minimum temperature hits 9oC for a few days, or so it has been predicted. I guess that this will be the time when people become even more stressed about their fuel bills and look for ways to minimise what energy they use at home.

As is always the case here, there are already newspaper headlines screaming at us about potential winter power cuts and how we could be staring at heating and lighting blackouts not witnessed since the bad-old-days of the mid-1970’s when good old Arthur Scargill and the miners held sway.

Research has indicated that Britons have their heating on for an average of four and a half hours a day in autumn, and five hours and 15 minutes in the winter months, at an average of 19oC. The peak times are apparently 6am to 7am and 5pm to 6pm. I reckon that this figures will have changed considerably over the next few weeks as horrified consumers will be shocked at the size of their energy bills and seek other ways of keeping themselves warm at home.

I’m not sure if those of you living in Mallorca are having the same sort of ‘off-the-scale’ rises in energy bills as we in the United Kingdom are now facing - but I suspect that you are but to a lesser extend because of broadly higher temperatures you enjoy - if that’s the right word? I suspect that many of you reading this have started to become obsessive about, for instance, lights being left on and the cost of oven cooking a Sunday roast.

Indeed, as someone who has become almost maniacal in the energy saving ‘game’ I am often to be found mid-evening roaming the house flicking off wasteful lights and charging points for everything from this computer on which I’m currently writing this piece (only re-charge when you get down to 15% or less I am told!) plus various radios, televisions and all manner of power outlets that you didn’t know even existed. Just this morning I found myself shouting at the ‘smart meter’ in the kitchen that had managed to ‘log’ £1.57 by 7.47am when to my knowledge we had no power on at all…save for the burglar alarm. And so - that’s going to have to get disconnected asap!

To add even more gloom to this subject, British householders are stockpiling thermal underwear and a blanket hoodie has become a top seller as people look to snuggle up in bed or on the sofa. Mark my words, the birth-rate is bound to skyrocket as people find even better ways of keeping warm than a Christmas ‘onesie’ and a furry pair of slippers.