Amidst dropping temperatures and rising bills, people are finding ways to keep warm that won’t leave them with a huge hole in their pocket.
In a helpful newsletter from Martin Lewis and his Money Saving Expert team, they repeated the idea that we should “heat the person, not the home”. They recommended a bunch of ways that households can keep warm without turning on the money-burning central heating
On Martin Lewis’ ITV program The Martin Lewis Money Show, he stated: “It was really depressing, the fact that we needed to do it because of the way energy prices were going and the way some people wouldn’t be able to turn their central heating on”
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“As it turned out the research that we did has been really useful, not just for people who are in desperate states… but for many who just want to reduce their central heating”, he continued.
Hull Live have rounded up some of the ways Martin and his team have suggested to keep warm this winter other than turning on your central heating:
Halogen Heaters
A cost-friendly way to keep warm this winter, rather than putting on your heating, halogen heaters are the item that shoppers have rushed to buy. The Money Saving Experts didn’t recommend any specific model, however Manchester Evening News found one from Argos with rave reviews.
Racking up thousands of five-star reviews, the halogen heater has been some shoppers go-to during the cold weather. One person wrote: “I’ve only have this a week, it’s a great little product it takes the chill from any room. Especially first thing . Cheap to run, light to move room to room. Plus the cats love laying in front of it.”
(Image: Argos)
Whilst another said: “Very good value for money, cheap to run, safety feature causes cutout if they’re knocked over and they put out a fantastic amount of heat (I bought two ‘cos they’re quite compact and it means we can heat upstairs and down); would recommend and would buy again.”
One other shopper raved: “Bought this about a month ago, in the cold spell as back up for our temperamental combi boiler. It has been a real help, quickly heating us and the room to a comfortable temperature. We only ever needed two of the three elements on, reducing down to one to keep things toasty.”
Electric blanket
(Image: Wilkos)
In a guide on the Money Saving Expert website, Martin’s team also stated that electric blankets are an efficient way to keep yourself warm this winter, with the majority of blankets costing just 4p an hour to run.
The experts said: “It costs roughly 4p an hour to run an electric blanket’ and with the energy price cap raising by 80 percent, electric blankets are an effective way for people to warm themselves, without having to warm their entire homes.
You can buy the product from any big retailers from Amazon to Wilko’s who are selling a highly popular blanket for just £18 for a single or £23 for a double. Alternatively retailers such as John Lewis are selling a Sherpa electric blanket starting from £64.99.
Oversized hoodies
(Image: Oodie)
As Martin and his team keep repeating, heat the human not the home, and oversized fleeced hoodies seem to be a big hit this year for all members of the family.
Although the expert team don’t name any certain brand, shoppers have raved about Australian brand Oodie with a range of fun oversized hoodies with a warm Sherpa fleece interior. Often having sales, Oodies are a huge hit and on many people’s Christmas wish list.
Electric gilet
(Image: Amazon)
The Money Saving Expert also noted for those working at home, although expensive to buy, they are inexpensive to run as they work at as little as 1p per hour to keep the whole body warm.
“Lightweight but like all jackets the heated areas are never as big as shown in the pictures. Little bigger than expected but it’s kept me warm so happy overall”, one owner said.
Costing around £50, electric gilets work by USB and charger and can be worn for hours before needing to be recharged. With four and five star reviews on Amazon, shoppers seem to find it an effective way to keep warm.
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