How to heat your home without turning on the heating

With the clocks going back this weekend, the nights will be drawing in.

So if you have a thicker duvet, now is the time to bring it out. Some supermarkets sell winter duvets for under £20 – look for 10.5 tog or higher.

But there’s something to be said for a craftily placed blanket, too. When it gets cold, Rebecca, 44, from Hertfordshire, sleeps with a blanket underneath her mattress, which she says stops draughts. “This was passed to me by my nan, she swore by it,” she says. Others swear by placing a blanket above the mattress but under the bedsheet.

You can heat your bed before getting in with a hot water bottle, but make sure you check the expiry date. A guide by NHS Scotland, external says to let the water from the kettle cool for a few minutes before filling, only fill it two-thirds full, squeeze air out of the top before putting the stopper on, and don’t hold it directly against your skin.

Using an electric blanket – to heat your bed before you get in or to wrap around yourself on the sofa – is “one of the cheapest ways” to stay warm, says Emily Seymour, energy editor at consumer organisation Which?. Testing by Which?, external shows it typically costs between 2p and 8p an hour to run an electric blanket at its highest setting. The London Fire Brigade, external says to unplug your blanket before you get into bed unless it has a thermostat control, not to use a hot water bottle at the same time, and replace it every 10 years.