Cold homes can be bad for your health and with high energy costs, it’s important to do what you can to stay warm. Here are a few tips: 

• Don’t keep your heating on around the clock, set it to come on just before you get up and make sure to switch it off before you go to bed 

• Close the curtains when it gets dark and shut the doors to rooms you use to keep heat in 
• A hot water bottle or an electric blanket can help keep you warm – but avoid using both at the same time 

For more advice, click on the button below to visit the centre for sustainable energy:

Cold homes and health

Winter brings so many celebrations into our homes, including Halloween, Bonfire Night, Diwali and Christmas. While we enjoy celebrating these occasions, it’s also important to be aware of the dangers they could bring: 

• Keep Christmas trees away from radiators, light fittings and any possible sources of heat 

• Use LED candles if you can but if you use real ones, make sure they’re not near anything flammable like decorations, your curtains or your tree 

• When you leave a room, blow candles out to be safe and keep them away from children and pets 

• Make sure decorations don’t block any fire escapes, signage or firefighting equipment 

• Most fires start in the kitchen, so don’t leave your cooker unattended when it’s turned on 

• Don't build bonfires, set off fireworks or use sparklers in communal spaces. 

This time of the year, it can be a warming sight to see candles lit around the house to help brighten up the dark evenings but it's really important that we make sure we're safe:  

• Don’t leave candles unattended and keep anything that may melt or catch fire well away 

• LED candles are a great alternative to real candles – and are much safer 

• Always use a heat resistant candle holder to avoid burn marks and to catch hot wax 

• Check your smoke alarm at least once a month. If it doesn’t beep or if it’s beeping for no obvious reason, this could also mean it needs new batteries. If it still isn’t working after changing the batteries, please report it to us 

For more information, click the button below:

Fire safety

Make sure your smoke alarm is working properly. If it’s beeping for no obvious reason, you’ll need to change the batteries. 

If it still doesn’t work after you’ve changed the batteries, please click to the button below:

Report a repair

Here are some tips for a power outage: 

• If electricity is vital for your medical equipment, please contact your distribution network operator at any time, to see if they can put you on their Priority Register, for assistance during a power outage 

• Try to have your mobile phone charged for emergency calls, a charged power bank can help too 

• Make sure you have torches with extra batteries 

• Keep fridges and freezers closed, with a blanket over them to help them stay cold for longer 

• Look out for elderly neighbours
  
  
• Switch off appliances like irons, ovens, electric fires and fryers, which could be a hazard if the power comes back on and you’re not there 

For more advice, please click on the button below to visit the Met Office’s website: 

What to do in a power cut

When the waste pipe, which takes the condensation from your boiler to the drain outside, freezes, your boiler may lock out or in some cases, still be running intermittently but making a strange noise. 

If you think this has happened and you have a frozen pipe, please click the button below to see how you can fix it.

Fix your frozen pipes