Woman comes home after month away—realizes she made big mistake

A video showing the “horrendous” moment a woman realized she had left her heating on for an entire month while away has gone viral on TikTok.
The clip, posted by user @aprilgoesglobal1, has garnered over 615,000 views since it was shared on January 13. The video captures the devastating discovery as the woman returns home after spending a month at her parents’ house, only to find that her heating system had been running the entire time.
In the clip, the woman says: “Look what I’ve done,” as the camera later pans across the room to a radiator on the wall. “Wondering why it feels warm in here,” she continues, before opening the heater’s switch cover.
She then reveals: “I left the heating on the whole time I’ve been away,” before later holding her hands over her face in frustration.
In a follow-up video, the TikToker revealed the financial impact of the oversight—a heating bill totaling £276.12 ($343).
The video resonated with many people as households have been facing inflation and rising energy costs.
Wholesale and retail propane prices in the United States were reported to be higher so far during this winter heating season than in the same period a year ago, “largely because of colder weather in January and higher exports,” the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Tuesday.
“Prices have been higher despite relatively strong propane inventories heading into this winter heating season,” the EIA said.
The average price of residential heating oil in the country has been lower so far in the current heating season than during the previous year, averaging around $3.94 per gallon, as of January 20, which marks a 14 cent rise from a week ago, according to the EIA.
‘Horrendous’
Reflecting on the mistake, the woman in the viral TikTok clip says: “This bill is gonna be horrendous.”
She notes that “the worst thing” is that she stayed at her parents’ home for another whole week. “I was being all cocky thinking ‘Oh yeah, I won’t pay for another week’s heating. I’ll just stay here.’ Turns out I’ve been paying for a whole month’s heating,” the woman says in the clip.
The video ends with her lamenting the irony of unplugging her television next to the radiator, but forgetting to switch off the heating before she left. “Oh, so annoyed,” she says as the clip ends.
Viewers flooded the comments with a mix of sympathy and shared experiences.
Ghostwarrior said: “Your bill is going screwed up yikes,” while Tony Batey wrote: “Definitely going to need a go fund me page when that bill comes in lol.”
User terencerobinson4 agreed, saying: “ouch that will hurt your purse.”
Em 🇬🇧 said: “Ngl [not gonna lie] I would cry, so you are handing it well!”
PCP2004 said: “Ok, at least you won’t have a damp and mold problem to sort out.”
Peter noted: “Well, at least you will have a nice cosy warm house.”
Bilbo bagpipes suggested: “Just turn the heating off for a month, should even out.”
User emmaandellesjourney wrote: “No heating for the rest of the year X.”
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.
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