You can keep your central heating! Couple stay cosy thanks to three jumpers, a snuggly dog (and the warm glow of not paying greedy British Gas) Somewhere inside Jim and Joanne Bell's neatly kept bungalow, you might find Mrs Bell relaxing in two pairs of socks and a woolly hat. She is wearing three knitted jumpers, sometimes a dressing gown as well, and beneath it all she is embracing a hot water bottle. In an armchair beside her is her husband, similarly dressed. Tonight, if he's lucky, he may also be in possession of the Bell family's secret weapon against these unseasonably chilly evenings: Bobby, the black miniature poodle, snuggled cosily on his lap. Cold outside: Mr and Mrs Bell at the their home, in Devon, with pet dogs Lucky and Bob Saving money: For the last year the couple have not been using any heating in their home Yes, it's pretty darn cold here since the Bells turned off the heating a year ago - and it's not going to get much warmer. Because for the last 12 months, through one of the nastiest, drawn-out winters for years, the couple have survived on the deliciously warm feeling they get from knowing their money is no longer going to a greedy, profit-obsessed energy company. Other more elderly and vulnerable individuals have no choice but to turn up the gas, but in a courageously defiant stand against spiralling bills, Mr Bell, 64, and his wife, 67, have sacrificed the modern day comfort of central heating for the kind of conditions their grannies took as the norm. And actually, they've quite come to like it. The couple's dog Bob (pictured with Mr and Mrs Bell, left) even wears a coat to keep him warm as the boiler (right) is no longer used to heat their home Scared: Mrs Bell said she was afraid to put the heating on because of the frightening rise in energy bills "It's really not that bad," Mrs Bell told me from the comfort of her warm outfit (s). I have to laugh sometimes when I go into the bathroom and it's absolutely freezing, but I enjoy the challenge. I despise the power companies so much it soon cheers me up. Mr and Mrs Bell reckon they have saved £800 in bills since adopting the no-heat strategy, not including the price hike British Gas imposed to help towards its whopping jump in profits. The direct debit for Bungalow Bell heating was gradually reduced from £60 a month, until they cancelled it altogether. The last letter they got from British Gas showed a balance of £98.21 in credit. Money: Mr Bell said the couple had received a £300 rebate from British Gas on their dual fuel bill in the last 12 months Turned off: The couple have no intention of putting the heating back on, despite the freezing temperatures this winter Protest: The Bells said their protest of principle on behalf of hard-up families all over Britain was 'a kick in the teeth' to energy giants who had hiked their prices over the winter According to Mrs Bell, it took a little while to convince her husband that abandoning central heating was the right way to go. "We had a bit of a face-off," she said. I turned it off, he turned it on, I turned it off. Eventually we agreed it was only like living in a house with no central heating, which we all used to do at one time. We do vie a bit over who gets the poodle in the evenings. The Bells still use electricity to heat the water at their home in Barnstaple, Devon, but are adamant they'll never go back to central heating. "It's been a bit nippy at times," Mr Bell, a retired mechanical engineer, says. Yesterday it was freezing - minus five or six outside with the wind chill factor - but inside we were fine. The couple plan to use the money they save to buy some "slightly more glamorous" warm clothing, as Mrs Bell described it; then to take their grandchildren on holiday. "Somewhere hot," said Mr Bell. The Bells turned off their heating a year ago and have survived one of the most drawn-out winters in years