I’m pretty sure I’m going to be slightly scarred from living through the 2023 London utility bills last winter and going into this winter I just… wasn’t having it.

I don’t understand how they charge me. I live in an ancient apartment that is nearly impossible to warm properly. Both the electric and gas meters seem to be from like 1970 (at best) and have no smart monitoring options. To get to the electric meter I have to climb into a dank, cold hole (I visit frequently thanks to the fact that I have to use an electric key to pay for my electricity here).

So. This year I wanted to see what I could do to minimize these bills. Fortunately, even though everything is still expensive, utility prices aren’t at the absolutely ridiculous amount they were last year.

However, I preferred to see what I could do about one-off purchases that actually made a difference in how warm I stay versus trying to track my apartment consumption of gas and electricity – especially since my boiler has been on the fritz since I moved in and I firmly believe it is still using gas that is just doing nothing whenever the boiler light is red and no warm water or heat is happening.

Ok. Enough complaining. Here are purchases I made to fight the chill and how effective they’ve been.

Small, Cheap Electric Heater – Approx. £20.

So I bought this right after I moved here when I was living in an AirBnB for two months and there was no heat in my part of the flat. But my utilities were included. So the little heater was fine.

What I have found since paying for my own utilities is that this little heater is the most expensive way possible to heat my flat. It is also only hot when it is on, the heat evaporates immediately upon turning it off. However, it is the best thing I own for if I’m absolutely freezing to warm up quickly.

Would not recommend buying just for that though. Probably skip any very cheap personal heaters if you are paying the utility bills.

Cheap Slippers – £10

I bought a cheap pair of slippers from Primark. So maybe if you find the right slippers, they’d be fine, but these flimsy little ones only had minimal cushioning beween my foot and the floor and did not encompass my whole foot.

Do not waste money on slippers that are not well insulated and don’t go around your whole foot.

Snoodie – Stolen from Boyfriend

Yes. 10/10 recommend. This was the main item that kept me from freezing last winter and I wear it regularly this winter too. I think it’s an offbrand Snoodie but it’s fine. It’s very warm.

Worth purchasing.

Bloch Slippers – £35

So I have seen many dancers wear these all over very cold theatres at work, and going into this winter, I realized that bad footwear was a big deal. It is very hard to stay warm when your feet are freezing. I picked a weird pattern from the ones on sale on the website and I have been very happy. On the coldest nights, I even sleep with them. The craziest thing is I find they work best with no socks or very lightweight ones. They are like lovely little sleeping bags for your feet.

Portable Oil Radiator – £70

So growing up, we had an old oil radiator in our basement, where my friends and I hung out, and it took a while to heat up but then the basement was fine. I was hoping to recreate this, however, the one I bought reaches it’s maximum output and switches off before it has achieved much in my very average sized room with the door closed.

I will say, because it turns off so often, it has been one of the best ways to warm the place when I am home for days at a time, because if you give it like 5-6 hours (madness) it will put out enough heat to put a dent in the cold. It will not be comfortable enough on its own.

Electric Blanket – £25

The electric blanket has been pretty good. I don’t actually use it in bed, I threw it over my desk chair where I work all the time and made my own sort of heated chair and it has been very effective there.

Hot Water Bottle – Christmas Gift

So you could find a hot water bottle for like £5-10 and I cannot stress enough how magic this little this is. I love him (mine has a Highland cow body and I call him Hamish, Jr). Like an Austen heroine, I fill that sucker up and throw it down by the foot of my bed and I am very quickly, very toasty.

Overall, if I were trying to recreate an initial drafty British apartment survival kit, I would highly recommend thick, full foot slippers (like Bloch’s), a hot water bottle, and a Snoodie as a starter.

I also recommend living somewhere with a reliable boiler.

What tricks do you have for staying warm while keeping the heat as low as possible? Has anyone tried those window clings that are supposed to help insulate the flat?