A 76-year-old woman in south Devon says she is afraid to switch on her heating because the cost of domestic heating oil has nearly doubled, leaving her worried about staying warm as temperatures fall.
Roslynn Garner-Gatley lives in a three-bedroom semi-detached cottage in Yealmpton, where there is no mains gas supply. She relies entirely on heating oil for both heating and hot water.
Garner-Gatley said she previously paid £317 plus VAT for 500 litres of heating oil. When she recently contacted her supplier for an updated quote, she was told the same quantity would cost £600 plus VAT.
“I did not expect at my age after working for 50 years to be in a situation where I am terrified of putting on the heating because of the price of it,” she said.
Changing daily habits to stay warm
Garner-Gatley said the rising costs had forced her to change how she kept warm at home.
She has started going to bed earlier in the evening to watch television under the covers and has begun using a hot water bottle and bed socks as the weather gets colder.
She has also stopped keeping her hot water on a timer. Instead, she switches it on only when she needs it for washing, cooking or bathing, turning it off afterwards.
She said people in rural areas who depend on heating oil often have little choice but to pay the higher prices.
“After working all my life I didn’t expect to be constantly worrying about how to keep warm at my age. It is really quite frightening,” she added.
Heating oil prices surge
Heating fuel costs have risen by as much as 82% since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, according to Polly Billington, the minister for energy consumers.
The government pledged earlier in October to strengthen regulation of the heating oil sector, with plans to tighten rules, encourage competition and give customers clearer routes to compensation when problems arise.
Ministers also said they would review minimum order requirements imposed on some customers.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the government had pledged £53m in support for vulnerable households that rely on heating oil.
The department also pointed to grants worth up to £9,000 under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to help eligible households switch to cleaner heating systems.
“We are also reforming the heating oil sector, holding suppliers to account and giving consumers confidence that they will get a fair deal,” the spokesperson said.
Financial support for struggling households
Local authorities in Devon and Cornwall have funding available to help households struggling with rising heating oil costs through government-backed crisis resilience funds.
Cornwall Council said it had paid £300 to 1,386 households, amounting to £415,800. Following a decision to award the same households an additional £300, the total support for those recipients is set to double.
Devon’s fund, worth about £8.4m a year, is available through district councils and is aimed at low-income households facing essential costs they cannot afford.
Plymouth City Council and Torbay Council also operate their own crisis resilience funds.
However, Garner-Gatley’s experience highlights the pressure facing people in rural communities who depend on heating oil and must weigh the cost of keeping warm against other everyday expenses.
With prices remaining high, she says the prospect of heating her home has become a source of fear rather than comfort.
