| AdminHistory | When the earlier districts of Livingston were built, financial restrictions and a high level of tendering kept expenditure on heating systems near the minimum, especially in the lower amenity houses. It was thought that night storage heaters using off-peak electrical usage would be acceptable. For rooms in which no heaters were installed, the cheap price of electricity in the 1960s led to the conclusion that these rooms could be heated through electric heaters, using peak rates electricity at no great cost. The sudden rise in electricity prices in the 1970s led to prohibitive heating costs for many of the lower income families in Livingston. This, coupled with issues of condensation, damp and mould, led to the Corporation converting many houses to gas heating, improving insulation and upgrading, in general, the provision of heating in the housing stock. |