Candles for heat

[unloadonme]

You should find someone to share body heat with.

[frankfrank]

Isn't it worth a little more than an extra £1 per week, to have the convenience of radiator heat?

Be careful with the candles, please. Unattended candles have caused a lot of fires. I don't know if you have any pets which are up-and-about, such as a cat or a dog, but if you do, I'd say that candles are a very, VERY bad and dangerous idea.

[mikey3000]

And unless you're using all natural bee's wax candles, the regular candles emit toxic fumes that can make you very sick.

[maxpowr9]

Do what I do: fleece sheets and comforter, fleece pants (flannel works well also) and wool socks. It is paramount that you have a fleece fitted sheet on your bed. I also have a polartec blanket to do whatever with too.

[ChickenGuy]

Poor Mitchy.

I know these are obvious questions you've probably already considered, but would you....

....look for a cheaper place to rent?

....share accommodation with someone?

....ask a family member for help?

[mikey3000]

WHAT???? Tell me more!

Not to scare you, just read and use your judgement...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8211543.stm

[Beachguyj]

Just get a small space heater with thermostat and move it from one area to another that you are at.

[G-Lexington]

My local council has made consultations, they are aware of heating difficulties in their high-rise housing stock. So far they have added draft strips on the bottom of the main doors and letterbox (which is damn annoying for postmen lol). The windows really need to be looked at next cos there are these paper-thin gaps under the ledges that actually whistle when its windy outside.

Take some old t-shirts or something, roll them up, and shove them against those gaps. Even that can make a difference.

Lec

[looseliam]

You indicate there are gaps under the window. Buy the cheapest caulk you can find and run a bead around the windows. Smooth it out with your finger - an old plastic bag works as a makeshift glove. Then, put plastic over it. This will stop most of the cold air from coming in. You will notice a dramatic increase in your flat's ability to retain heat.

Seeing as the council is aware of the window problem, are they not willing to offset the additional cost? There has to be some scheme out there that can help with heat in the winter. I'm not familiar with programmes available, but I imagine the utility companies have some ways of working with those having trouble meeting their bills.

Check on your electric rates. Maybe for that two quid you'd be spending on candles, you may be able to run an electric radiator for a bit instead.

If you're allowed, perhaps an old wood-burning stove could work. I'm not sure where you'd put the flue, though. On the upside, you could burn stuff you found around the estate. Bits of wood, tightly-rolled newsprint, etc.

[bankside]

Canadian winters:
Electric/water combined: $100/month (£60)
Natural Gas: $250-$350 (£155-£220)

For a house. My mom's apartment is $40 (£25) for electric, but heat is included in the rent. Actually, heat is pretty much always included in the rent. It isn't like an "optional extra" here. Even if a person were willing to bundle up and endure the cold, you just couldn't. The pipes would freeze so the heat has to stay on.

[jensu846]

whats wrong with getting a space heater??? they're cheap and really warm up a room.

[bankside]

whats wrong with getting a space heater??? they're cheap and really warm up a room.

Same problem; you have to plug them in to run them, which costs money. Same thing as an electric radiator anyway.

[Beachguyj]

Same problem; you have to plug them in to run them, which costs money. Same thing as an electric radiator anyway.

But it's gonna use a lot less energy and will only be heating an area and not the whole apartment.

[Harke the Boeotarch]

You indicate there are gaps under the window. Buy the cheapest caulk you can find and run a bead around the windows. Smooth it out with your finger - an old plastic bag works as a makeshift glove. Then, put plastic over it. This will stop most of the cold air from coming in. You will notice a dramatic increase in your flat's ability to retain heat.

Seeing as the council is aware of the window problem, are they not willing to offset the additional cost? There has to be some scheme out there that can help with heat in the winter. I'm not familiar with programmes available, but I imagine the utility companies have some ways of working with those having trouble meeting their bills.

Check on your electric rates. Maybe for that two quid you'd be spending on candles, you may be able to run an electric radiator for a bit instead.

If you're allowed, perhaps an old wood-burning stove could work. I'm not sure where you'd put the flue, though. On the upside, you could burn stuff you found around the estate. Bits of wood, tightly-rolled newsprint, etc.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is a very real danger here, unless his windows are really as loose as you are.

[cgymike]

Gas heating on annualisation runs about 800 bucks here so per month about 65 bucks. Yep, expensive but flipside is no air con in summer.

[JayHawk]

My local council has made consultations, they are aware of heating difficulties in their high-rise housing stock. So far they have added draft strips on the bottom of the main doors and letterbox (which is damn annoying for postmen lol). The windows really need to be looked at next cos there are these paper-thin gaps under the ledges that actually whistle when its windy outside.

Dude just spend a few bucks on window insulation... your bill will drop significantly and you can then use the heater... these kits go on with juts a hair dryer for a tool....

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...Kits/Products/

[bankside]

Carbon monoxide poisoning is a very real danger here, unless his windows are really as loose as you are.

What is the source of the CO?

[justsimon]

Dude just spend a few bucks on window insulation... your bill will drop significantly and you can then use the heater... these kits go on with juts a hair dryer for a tool....

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...Kits/Products/

There's also mylar sheeting that can be stapled or taped on. It doesn't seal quite as thoroughly, but still helps. I lived in a trailer as a kid and one of my chores was sealing up the windows at the start of winter.

[bankside]

I can answer this.

Some of the antique wood stoves weren't completely airtight, so if/when the wood burned imperfectly, and if the chimney didn't work as it should have, carbon monoxide fumes were emitted into the room.

I would not have thought it possible to find a wood stove in a flat.

[star-warrior]

Do you have hot running water in your flat? If it's scolding to touch, you might like to fill up empty 2ltr drinks bottles with them and use it as a bed warmer. I used to do this with my mum, but I'd either wrap them in a towel first, or pull a sock over the bottle so it wouldn't scold. With smaller pop bottles 500ml or less, you can fill these up as hand warmers.

After mum's stroke, her circulation wasn't so good so her extremities, hands and feet would sometimes be cold. It was a great and cheap way to keep warm. You could save the water for whatever you need later, say empty to wash stuff, or put in a bucket to flush the loo.

[star-warrior]

BTW, if you're burning anything, you need air circulation. Sealing the windows might keep in the noxious gases...

[Kahaih]

Is it safe to assume that you have free Internet? Cable TV?

Without seeing your budget, income/spending, no one can guess or advise much.

All that intrusiveness aside, check out a sports/hunting store sometime to see what they have for small propane heaters and lanterns.

Also, a good oil lamp can be had pretty cheap, and they put out quite a bit of heat as well as light, and they’re a lot safer to use than candles.

[unloadonme]

.. i could apply for a working tax credit, which cuts my tax contributions. I'm not happy about that tho. I shouldn't have to pay less in tax, when that money helps those poorer than me ...

Don't be a mug Mitch. If you're entitled to Tax Credits, claim 'em. Those poorer than you will be claiming for everything under the sun and you shouldn't feel that you have to hold back so they can have even more.

[unloadonme]

I know. But it doesn't make sense to me. If i (and everyone else in my boat) claims tax credit, the government loses revenue, and what will it do? Raise taxes, raise VAT, that would cancel out the gain.
Is there not something just a bit wrong that workers should be reliant on benefits?

In other threads you've argued that your rent should be free, leaving the taxpayer to pick up the bill. As soon as there's something you can actually claim, you turn arse about face and say that you don't want to be subsidised by the taxpayer after all.

Free rent is pie in the sky. Claim what you're entitled to man.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/TAXCREDITS/

[bankside]

How are the prospects for a higher-paying job?

[talbot57]

Mitchy, claim what you are due. Government departments are given a yearly budget. Each department will make sure they use that budget, otherwise it gets cut the following year. If people are not claiming what is due to them, government will make sure that it spends it for them. Members of Parliament are never slow in claiming what is due to them.

[bankside]

There are none as yet. For an unskilled worker, my employer actually pays one of the better rates around. And they make you feel appreciated, especially at xmas. The store i work in is not large enough to take a step up the ladder either, i could only consider that if my immediate boss left, but i don't want her to, she's cool.

That's alright then. Any training schemes available?

[unloadonme]

Hmmm, probably the deadly sin i am most guilty of. I look back at the times i HAVE took help (or asked), and feel shame. That can't be a good thing.

Tax Credits aren't help in that sense and certainly aren't shameful. They're part of the mechanism the state has set up to determine your tax liability and mine. Don't look on them any differently to your Personal Allowance.

[ChickenGuy]

Hmmm, probably the deadly sin i am most guilty of. I look back at the times i HAVE took help (or asked), and feel shame. That can't be a good thing.

Slightly off-topic - I was realising earlier that if I ever met you in person, I'd also feel an odd emotion.... guilt.

Reading this thread, I feel you're a far more hard-working and 'honourable' person, and a much more deserving one to have been given a certain degree of wealth, than me.

[Harke the Boeotarch]

My basis of comparison is that American and England had comparable standards of living.

England's standard of living is a lot lower than for people in, say, the Netherlands or Germany.
I don't know America well, but a friends mother had traveled there from her home in NY in the eighties and said she was appalled at the poor living conditions she encountered there.

Is it safe to assume that you have free Internet?

Internet is not a luxury in 2012's crisis-stricken Europe.

I should have a wage that matches the cost of basic living. Either employers are made to pay more, or government brings down the cost of housing to an affordable level. The rent is the killer in the wage packet, almost 45% of gross income.

That's the evilness inherent in this particular kind of capitalism.

Normal wages do not give you enough money to rent decent housing space at market prices. You have to rent council housing which is presented as some sort of charity towards people with low incomes, when it could just as easily be seen as government sponsoring of stingy employers.

[bendted]

I'm trying to wrap my mind around on how a dozen candles could possibly make any difference as far as warmth goes.

[Harke the Boeotarch]

I'm trying to wrap my mind around on how a dozen candles could possibly make any difference as far as warmth goes.

For some it's an easier to understand concept than for others...

[bendted]

For some it's an easier to understand concept than for others...

So then explain it to the great unwashed. I mean, I have central heating so I can't relate.

[Harke the Boeotarch]

So then explain it to the great unwashed. I mean, I have central heating so I can't relate.

Take a candle, light it, put your finger over it...

[bankside]

The point is, Harke, a candle seems inapt for home heating and better suited only to decorating and creating ambiance, due to the smallness of the flame and the relative vastness of the space to be heated.

[sixthson]

Just out of curiosity, Mitch, how much do you spend on cigarettes each month?

[seven2go]

^ That's only about $95 a month U.S.........either you don't smoke very much, cigs are really cheap over there or you're rolling your own.

(Not saying a C note a month is an insignificant amount of money)

[unloadonme]

Still, £60 a month is £720 a year. That should pay for a enough gas or electricity to heat your flat all winter long and reduce the risk of lung cancer into the bargain. A no brainer I'd say!

[unloadonme]

Yes, but plenty of people do quit and your GP will always help.

[Harke the Boeotarch]

The point is, Harke, a candle seems inapt for home heating and better suited only to decorating and creating ambiance, due to the smallness of the flame and the relative vastness of the space to be heated.

The relative vastness of British council housing is vastly overrated by vast Americans with vast asses.

[Kahaih]

. . . . . .

I can always got the option of going to the doc for a prescription drug to suppress the cravings, that Champix or whatever its called.

Do it.

It will improve your circulation - which helps you stay warm.

[frankfrank]

Quitting is god damn hard!!!!

Yes, but plenty of people do quit and your GP will always help.

Do it.

It will improve your circulation - which helps you stay warm.

Not to mention, if it is any help to you in your drive and motivation to quit, that you will have UNCONDITIONAL best wishes and support from some people here - myself, and many others (including, in all probability, an unknown number of lurkers who you'll never see).

Then, you CAN do yourself the favour of no longer worrying about shivering through an entire winter. You're putting your own health at risk by using some of your own calories to fight off being too cold, rather than using those calories for proper metabolism without the physical stress.

I assume you put at least a small value on your TIME and, if the cold flat is costing you some chances to be more efficient in what you're doing, a "cost" must be assigned to that.

I'm worried about you.

[seven2go]

IF you really WANT to quit ask your doctor about a scrip for bupropion.
I'm taking it right now.......again.
I quit smoking for 2 1/2 years and like a dumbass started again.......
An unexpected side effect MAY be an increased libdo........ ....... http://www.bupropion.com/wonderwell/index.html
Outside of the above mentioned possible libido enhancing property of bupropion I experienced zero negative side effects.

[freefall]

You should find someone to share body heat with.

That WOULD be lovely. No need for bedroom radiator then.

You can always hire me I am called 'the space heater' =P

[seven2go]

^Seven, buproprion has some contraindications that don't make it suitable for epileptics, for example, or any other person who has had a seizure. Plus, bipolar patients can develop hypomania.

A good doctor will discuss all of the possible side effects.

So......who's epileptic?......
Any antidepressant will carry the same warnings.