TheWeatherOutlook, one of the UK’s leading weather forecasters has suggested that there’s going to be around a 45-50% chance of snow this Winter. Even if many of us don’t end up seeing snow this year, we willdefinitelybe in for a colder than normal Winter. Not what we want to hear with around 6.6 million of us in fuel poverty.
This Autumn was quite mild temperature wise, we only experienced increased rain fall. However, as we entered into December the weather made a considerable change. We are now starting to see very cold conditions and this will come as a shock to many.
Around 37,000 people died last year because of the cold weather during Winter. This death toll was almost 50% higher than that of the previous year. Of those 37,000, over 90% were elderly as they are the least able to pay their heating bills and they are also the most likely to catch cold based diseases.
Now with another cold Winter planned this year, plus that we are trying to get out of a global recession, it’s estimated that even more elderly pensioners will die this Winter. There are a number of methods of staying warm while paying less. One would be the use of portable heaters which allow affordable heating without having to use the central heating. A fan heater is another alternative to powering up the central heating. These portable heaters provide an almost instant supply of heat however, they do require mains power which will raise your electricity bill.
The final alternative would be the paraffin heater. These extremely portable piece of equipment is very cheap to run and requires no wires. Many of the more modern units are quite stylish and provide a good source of heat. They also feature many safety features such as anti-topple features which switch the device off when toppled over.
Using just one of the above would help to reduce the death toll we see each Winter. Unfortunately you can’t buy indoor patio heatersas these are a great source of heat. As for those of us that survive the Winter chill, we will be able to look ahead to what’s suggested to be the warmest summer ever.
Tags: appliances, bills, health, heaters, winter