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Staying Warm This Winter
The Sage House Wayfinding Team is here to help people living with dementia live safely and keep warm at home. We're working in partnership with SGN to give you the best, up-to-date advice and support when it comes to energy. This advice can be provided in person at our dementia hub in Tangmere, over the phone or on our Advice Bus at a location near you.
Get in touch today to find out how we can advise and support you through the winter months and beyond.
Living in a cold and damp home is bad for our physical and mental health. It can raise blood pressure and lead to serious conditions such as strokes, heart attacks and pneumonia. For people living with dementia, it can be difficult to navigate ways to make improvements and these sorts of environments can exacerbate existing health problems, while causing social isolation, sleep deprivation, depression and anxiety.
It is recommended that you heat the rooms that you are spending most of your time in to between 18 and 21°C. But with rising energy costs to factor in, many people, especially those on a low income, may feel that it is impossible to make their living space feel more comfortable.
Energy Advice
Tips to Stay Warm this Winter
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Prioritise one room to heat and turn down radiators in rooms you don’t use
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Get rid of draughts. Close doors, hang curtains over external doors, use draught excluders under doors. Don’t have furniture against external walls
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Wrap up warm, use warm socks, slippers etc. Wear layers of clothes rather than very bulky clothing
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Move around – moving on the spot or moving around will help you stay warm
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Use a heated throw, blanket or sleeping bag
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Make hot drinks and eat a hot meal
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Prevent/treat damp and mould in the home
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Find warm spaces – such as Sage House and make the most of natural daylight
Priority Service Register
We can help you sign up for the Priority Service Register. By signing up, you get extra help for when there is a power cut, gas supply interruption or if your water supply suddenly stops.
Locking Cooker Valves
This safety device prevents gas cookers from being unintentionally turned on or left on. These are provided free of charge and an SGN engineer will carry out a home visit to fit the lockable safety device to the existing gas cooker pipework. A carer or relative will need to be present at the visit to agree the valve’s position.
You can contact SGN to apply for a free locking cooker valve by emailing locking.valve@sgn.co.uk, telephoning 0800 975 1818 or simply by speaking to a Sage House Wayfinder.
Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarms
CO alarms will alert you if there is deadly carbon monoxide present in your home. You can get a free one from Sage House by speaking to a Wayfinder. You can also buy carbon monoxide alarms in DIY stores, supermarkets and online.
Remember that a smoke alarm is not a carbon monoxide alarm and should be fitted in every room where there is a potential source of carbon monoxide. They can be placed high up in the room around 15-30cms from the ceiling or a light fitting and 1-3m from the cooking/heating appliance.
Always make sure the detector that has an alarm that would wake you up if you were asleep and only use ones which feature the British Standard EN 50291 code and a British Standards Kite Mark. Both the battery and the CO sensor in a detector will wear out and no CO detector should be more than 10 years old.
If you're concerned there is CO present in your home or notice symptoms of CO poisoning, contact the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 immediately.
What is a Wayfinder?
Wayfinders provide one to one support and advice for people living with dementia, their families and carers. Your Wayfinder will stay with you at every stage from pre-diagnosis, and will be your named contact throughout your journey.
Contact the team on 01243 888691 or fill out the form below.
The team are available Monday - Friday 9am - 4:30pm. There is an out-of-hours answering machine and we will call you back during office hours. Click here to find out about the other services offered by Sage House.
Contact a Wayfinder
Please fill out this short form to contact a Wayfinder. We will be in touch very soon.