The Money Mustache Community
Around the World => UK Discussion => Topic started by: shelivesthedream on October 19, 2017, 02:23:23 PM
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We've been trying to avoid turning ours on for as long as possible but I just decided I am bloody freezing and whacked it on. I don't know what the indoor temperature was, but I was not comfortable. Have we done well or have we copped out early?
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Our boiler keeps the house on the warm side when the heating is off - I was opening windows to cool down until a few weeks ago. I'm trying to hold out until mid-November (after our holiday), I think it was mid-late November last year. My body runs warm though. [Cambridgeshire]
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Am I missing something or is this the wrong section?
I live in the southern US so I turn my heat on almost never I feel like. I use an electric blanket to compensate. I do have cats though so I can't keep it TOO cold, but it usually stays above 60-65 F (15-18 C) during the day. Being in an apartment helps of course.
Someone posted this awhile back which is pretty interesting:
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/02/heating-people-not-spaces.html
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Am I missing something or is this the wrong section?
I live in the southern US so I turn my heat on almost never I feel like. I use an electric blanket to compensate. I do have cats though so I can't keep it TOO cold, but it usually stays above 60-65 F (15-18 C) during the day. Being in an apartment helps of course.
Someone posted this awhile back which is pretty interesting:
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/02/heating-people-not-spaces.html
Nope - I wanted UK answers because of course Alaska and Texas are going to be so different there's no comparison!
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Today, coincidentally!
As our house was a complete renovation, we took the chance to install underfloor heating downstairs. It's cheaper to run as the water temperature is lower than in radiators, so we tend to put it on earlier in the Autumn and just leave it burbling away til Spring. Each room has a thermostat and is individually controlled.
Mmm, warm floors!
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We usually try to hold out until October.
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Ours was on for a few days a couple of weeks ago, but is off again. It hasn't been cold.
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Our current flat is well insulated and I've not been cold yet this year and I don't think I was ever cold last year. It was a different story entirely in our previous (drafty, damp) flat in the exact same city.
That said, we've started using the heating to dry clothes on the radiator gradually over the last couple of months as its reached the point that we otherwise find everything takes too long to dry, so our heating has generally been on for at least a couple of hours a week since the beginning of September.
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I haven't turned it on yet, but I don't think it's gotten below 0 yet and my apartment has been comfortable. Luckily I live above a bakery so I think that warms up my place (and makes delicious smells!)
I did pull out an extra blanket, so the heat will probably be on in the next couple weeks.
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When we get our first night of freezing temps. We live in a mountain town, and it may be quite pleasant during the day, but not risking frozen pipes to save money on gas.
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Seems like we've done kind of average? The problem with this house is it's very dark compared to our last place. It's much less draughty but the old place could get away with it because it got sun through big windows literally from dawn til dusk. We were warm til about Christmas then started getting hot again around Candlemas. The orientation of the windows and the shadows cast by other buildings here mean we get proper sun at the front from mid-late afternoon and that's about it. So it never passively heats up the way our old flat did.
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Mine has been on in kitchen, sitting room and wetroom for the last week, but not in the study (big south facing windows) or bedroom (no heating, just hot water bottles). My excuse for having it on this early is mainly my elderly arthritic dog, who loves the underfloor heating in the kitchen and the radiator to cuddle up to in the sitting room. The wetroom heating dries the floor after a shower when the temperature is such that having the skylight open no longer works.
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No heating until the clocks go back! We use the woodburner mostly.
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I like to keep Mrs londonstache cold as long as possible, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to hold out before she starts vocally complaining. Planning to hold out until November at least.
The bonus is that she doesn't know how the thermostat works so hoping to be able to maintain it at a cost-effective 10C this year :)
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Not until November, unless it gets to freezing outside.
I may be considered cheating as I have an aga....
I was brought up with the put another jumper on approach!
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Still not sure how the resolve the stupid humidity here in the UK, running the dehumidifier every night seems like a silly thing (but needs doing).
Really? Do you live near water or are you used to a drier climate? I've only rarely had issues with humidity in the UK. Is it definitely the humidity rather than damp?
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We're still using our A/C, thermostat set at 79 degrees... (The UK sounds cold)
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I'm never cold during the day (I just put on a jumper if I am), but I know it's time to turn it on when I wake up with a cough in the morning.
Turned the storage heater on almost a month ago (gradually increasing from 3 to now 5 out of 10) and I haven't turned on the bedroom heater yet.
(ground floor flat, lots and lots of windows, flat orientation is as you'd want it, but I have a few bushes/trees in front of my bedroom window so can't rely on the sun keeping me warm)
Still not sure how the resolve the stupid humidity here in the UK, running the dehumidifier every night seems like a silly thing (but needs doing).
We resolve humidity by opening the windows. Specifically, air out your bedroom in the mornings by opening the windows for 5 or 10 minutes (need only be the small top window if you have one - that's what they are for), air out the kitchen after cooking (unless you have and use an efficient cooker hood), air out the bathroom after a bath or shower, and so on.
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I'm never cold during the day (I just put on a jumper if I am), but I know it's time to turn it on when I wake up with a cough in the morning.
Turned the storage heater on almost a month ago (gradually increasing from 3 to now 5 out of 10) and I haven't turned on the bedroom heater yet.
(ground floor flat, lots and lots of windows, flat orientation is as you'd want it, but I have a few bushes/trees in front of my bedroom window so can't rely on the sun keeping me warm)
Still not sure how the resolve the stupid humidity here in the UK, running the dehumidifier every night seems like a silly thing (but needs doing).
We resolve humidity by opening the windows. Specifically, air out your bedroom in the mornings by opening the windows for 5 or 10 minutes (need only be the small top window if you have one - that's what they are for), air out the kitchen after cooking (unless you have and use an efficient cooker hood), air out the bathroom after a bath or shower, and so on.
It is so frustrating that the bathroom in our new house doesn't have a window. It has a little extractor fan in the ceiling and, to be fair, zero mould so far. Funnily enough the old bathroom with the window had chronic mould (like the bedroom which was also on the non-sunny side of the flat) but I *felt* better if I could open a window :)
+1 that I'm surprised you're complaining about the humidity unless you live in a river valley or peat bog. Running a dehumidifier every day seems excessive.
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I ran a dehumidifier in a rental a long time ago - the issue was a gas cooker with inadequate ventilation, a housemate who would open the bathroom door rather than window after a shower and a crap damp course. Happy days.
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I turned the storage heaters on two days ago - so far only two of them, and to only the lowest setting (1 / 5). But I'm in a flat on the top floor, you can feel the temperature gradient as you climb up the stairs... I've been in the ground floor flats and they are pretty chilly.
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Rather than turn off the heat, why not keep it on but set the thermostat really low? This way you don't run the risk of freezing pipes from an overnight cold snap.
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My answer is not UK specific:
I never understood setting a date. It makes way more sense to me to set a temperature, if you don't trust yourself.
I do pile on the clothes before reaching for the thermostat. I also use an electric blanket to heat the bed long before reaching for the thermostat. It makes all the difference in the world to me to be able to crawl into a warm bed when all else is cold and/or damp.
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Rather than turn off the heat, why not keep it on but set the thermostat really low? This way you don't run the risk of freezing pipes from an overnight cold snap.
I am confronting this problem now because I've never lived anywhere before where: a) I had total control over the heating; b) My boiler has settings to just eat water for radiators, just heat water for taps, or both. That's what I've really now turned on. I'm not having the boiler heat up water I don't want!
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In our all electric flat in Scotland the storage heaters are still off.
I have had the wee electric heater in the bathroom on to make getting out of the morning shower bearable, but I'm not sure that really counts.
Neither of us are in the flat much and we don't really need to worry about frozen pipes thanks to the neighours.
The storage heater in the living room will be turned on when I'm wandering around with thick socks, slippers, a couple of jumpers, blanket, hot water bottle and pretty much constant cups of tea. I run pretty cold so this corresponds to an inside temperature of about 13-14C. Hoping to be able to hold off till at least mid november, but it wouldn't be unusual to have a cold snap before then and turn on the heater for a couple of days.
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When my parents come over!
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I set the thermostat permanently to 17 degrees this morning and all the radiators instantly came on. Clearly I wasn't making it up about being cold before! Frustratingly, it's an old dial thermostat so we have no idea how cold it was so I'm Freegling for a room thermometer.
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With temps predicted to hit 106°F today (yes, its late October), the thought of turning on central heating is nothing more than a distant dream. We will be struggling over the next week to NOT turn on our A/C. 106°F in the shade feels A LOT HOTTER when one is in the sun.
Might be one or two super cold nights next year in January where I might consider turning on the heat for a few hours............or maybe not.
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Ah, I'm so glad we don't have to bother with aircon here in the UK.
I'm going to hold out until Nov to put the heating on; it's not been that cold yet and has been unseasonably hot in my opinion.
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I haven't turned mine on yet. I have been doing a little Ethereum mining to keep me warm, though :)
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From about 0 mins to 60 mins a day at the moment. House was built in 1826, so not very effecient, despite dot/dabbing exterior walls, insulating the loft, triple and double glazing!
Started last week. Using Nest, but I think it's negligible if it pays for itself.
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I haven't turned mine on yet. I have been doing a little Ethereum mining to keep me warm, though :)
Youngest son's ethereum (& bitcoin in the past) mining is a useful heat source for some of my not-so-hardy plants through winter.
I don't think there's a single month of the year when my wife has not had the heating on. There have certainly been days in June, July & August at some point in the last decade when she's decided she was too cold. I spent several years of my childhood in a house with no heating (we sat in the living room with blankets wrapped round us) so I'm not a good judge of such things.
We have not had anything close to a frost yet - last year we had first frost in September. I'm still picking tomatoes and strawberries from the garden. So I think it's been a relatively warm autumn in the sense of no cold nights so far.
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We’re in Glasgow, having endured a pretty rotten summer - as Billy Connolly once said, we have two seasons, June and winter!
Our heating has never been fully off. It’s timed to be available during waking hours and if a room thermometer asks for heat, it will get it. I do tweak the thermometers down in summer though, and as we are empty nesters we’ve got a couple of rooms closed down completely. Should really move to something smaller I guess.
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I've been tweaking the thermostat around and 16 is a wee bit too cold and 17 is a wee bit too warm. I miss our old programmable thermostat. Anyone have any idea what the ballpark payback time is for installing one?
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I've been tweaking the thermostat around and 16 is a wee bit too cold and 17 is a wee bit too warm. I miss our old programmable thermostat. Anyone have any idea what the ballpark payback time is for installing one?
Not what you asked but: we have programmable thermostat valves on every radiator. Bought them on offer for £2 each (out of the discount bin - we were lucky). Easy to install, they just replace the radiator valve. Reduced our gas bill by around £30 per month the first month (but IMO the house was crazy warm before this). You can set different temperatures for different times of the day and on different days in different rooms, and over ride if you want to change the temperature in one room. It does make it more difficult to say the house feels cold, let's turn the heating on in every room (you'd need to change each radiator). And you can set the temperature in 0.5º increments!
They are similar to this one https://www.screwfix.com/p/pegler-terrier-i-temp-i30-white-programmable-thermostatic-radiator-valve-x/71054 (https://www.screwfix.com/p/pegler-terrier-i-temp-i30-white-programmable-thermostatic-radiator-valve-x/71054)
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I've been tweaking the thermostat around and 16 is a wee bit too cold and 17 is a wee bit too warm. I miss our old programmable thermostat. Anyone have any idea what the ballpark payback time is for installing one?
Not what you asked but: we have programmable thermostat valves on every radiator. Bought them on offer for £2 each (out of the discount bin - we were lucky). Easy to install, they just replace the radiator valve. Reduced our gas bill by around £30 per month the first month (but IMO the house was crazy warm before this). You can set different temperatures for different times of the day and on different days in different rooms, and over ride if you want to change the temperature in one room. It does make it more difficult to say the house feels cold, let's turn the heating on in every room (you'd need to change each radiator). And you can set the temperature in 0.5º increments!
They are similar to this one https://www.screwfix.com/p/pegler-terrier-i-temp-i30-white-programmable-thermostatic-radiator-valve-x/71054 (https://www.screwfix.com/p/pegler-terrier-i-temp-i30-white-programmable-thermostatic-radiator-valve-x/71054)
What witchcraft is this?! I have questions...
1. I have never significantly interacted with a radiator before. Do radiators have sizes? Do you just screw the cap off and screw this on? Is there any danger of boiling water spurting everywhere?
2. How does this interact with the main thermostat? Presumably you have your main thermostat set on the highest setting that your radiator ones are on, otherwise the radiator would be pumping cold water around?
3. We don't actually have controls on our current radiators, just a plain white cap. Is this likely to be a problem?
4. What if I just buy one? The main thing is that I don't want to be heating the bedroom all day, so could I just buy one to shut the heating off in there except in the morning and at night?
5. Is there a temporary manual override? In our old flat, if we felt cold we could whack the temperature up on the thermostat but then whenever it entered the next programmed period it would go back to whatever the programming was, so we could turn it up a few degrees of an evening without then needing to remember to change it back again.
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1. We just unscrewed and screwed. It was straightforward, there was no boiling water, but we had an old towel underneath and a bucket near by out of an abundance of caution. These were new style radiators (rather than the old cast iron ones), I believe that there is a single valve size.
2. Yes
3. This might be a deal breaker. I think the term to google is a "slave" radiator, I've seen them in houses that also have some radiators with individual controls, so it seems possible to add the control valve, but it could be a job that involves draining the system. This is beyond my knowledge sphere.
4. Yes, you can do this. It probably makes sense to buy one first to see if you get on with it.
5. Yes, there is a manual control that defaults back to the next programmed temperature, just as you describe (it is possible that this isn't on every model though, but that is how ours work).
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1. We just unscrewed and screwed. It was straightforward, there was no boiling water, but we had an old towel underneath and a bucket near by out of an abundance of caution. These were new style radiators (rather than the old cast iron ones), I believe that there is a single valve size.
2. Yes
3. This might be a deal breaker. I think the term to google is a "slave" radiator, I've seen them in houses that also have some radiators with individual controls, so it seems possible to add the control valve, but it could be a job that involves draining the system. This is beyond my knowledge sphere.
4. Yes, you can do this. It probably makes sense to buy one first to see if you get on with it.
5. Yes, there is a manual control that defaults back to the next programmed temperature, just as you describe (it is possible that this isn't on every model though, but that is how ours work).
This is very exciting. I will look into #3 further.
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I see the anniversary of this thread by SLTD was yesterday. How are people doing this year? It is getting cold at night and first thing in the morning now where I live , but I’m still holding out so far.
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I would still be fine on my own account but I have an elderly dog with arthritis and I noticed him yesterday evening lying along the (cold) night storage heater in my living room - the first time he's done that since last winter - so the heating went on for him last night. 170 for the underfloor heating in the kitchen where his bed is, and the night storage in the sitting room on 2 out of 6.
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That’s such a lovely image former player. When I had a dog as a kid, he used to love to stretch out by the fire in the winter, he looked as peaceful as anything could ever be. Underfloor heating sounds like absolute heaven for a dog!
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An embarrassingly unmustachian couple of weeks here. Only in occasional little bursts though, still a fan of snuggly blankets.
Possibly, I need to look at being more mobile and active at home, in order to generate my own heat.
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Were having a terrible time with our heating at the moment! BabySLTD sleeps best in a warmer room, around 21 degrees. His room gets lots of sun during the day and heats up a lot, but then the temperature plummets during the night. We're trying to find a setting on our hall thermostat that will make his room a comfortable temperature. I know we should get round to installing those individual radiator thermostats...
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Fired up the woodstove last night!
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Fired up the woodstove last night!
We've needed to use ours a few times over the last couple of weeks. Do you have a fan on yours to blow the warm air about? If not then I thoroughly recommend them. Trying to hold out until November for the central heating, but we only use that for the bedrooms as the stove heats our main open plane living area.
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I caved probably around mid-September, but only in so far as telling the thermostat robot that it's allowed to turn the heating on in these particular time periods if it gets below X degrees, so in my defence it's been not coming on as much as it has been coming on in the past week or so. This is largely due to our house being insulated with absolutely bugger all, which will be getting fixed when we get a new roof in December [insert praise hands emoji].
Re: the discussion further up around dehumidifiers - we have to have one running constantly in our cellar to make it usable as a storage room, otherwise it gets to 90%+ humidity. Could probably do with one in the laundry-drying-room, too, tbh, but can't justify the initial outlay or the running costs (they're expensive buggers in both senses).
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I wanted to hold out until November but my parents are coming around tonight and it really is very cold. Although I’m happy enough in my three layers I’ve reluctantly switched on the central heating for the first time. I would have felt just too guilty if they had sat there huddled together for warmth! The trials and tribulations of being a host. I’m still debating whether to charge them 50p on entry :-)
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Call me Mr Spendypants.... it's never off. If the house is ever (all year around) below 20 degrees, then on switches the heating automatically. Well more accurately the kids room as that is where the sensor is.
Whats worse is that my house was built in 1899, so insulation is not exactly world class.
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Well we can certainly call you Mr Warmpants :-) I did this one year. I had it turned down to about 9 degrees at night and 14 during the day and was sure it would never come on for 7 months of the year. As far as I knew it didn’t. I found though that my bill was a lot higher in this year. Since then I have fully turned the boiler off from March/April through to Ocober and my bill fell again. I never looked into the reason why but assumed keeping it on was working the boiler harder in some way and costing me money somehow. Not sure if there are any plumbing experts able to confirm the correct procedure for central heating settings in the summer but it may be worth experimenting with ExitViaTheCashRamp.
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We recently came to the conclusion that it's a false economy to hold out, as once the walls cooled we started getting a damp issue, which would only heat loss. As autumn is the worst time for humidity, we have shifted to putting the house on a thermostat (18 degrees upstairs, which so far has triggered only once this autumn). SLTD, if you do go for thermostatic valves on the radiators, be aware that one rad must always be left without one, usually the bathroom if you have one there. I can't remember the exact reason, but it has to do with the main thermostat telling the boiler to heat, but the radiator ones telling them not to heat, and the tank therefore overheating or something like that. Also, whilst I can in no way predict the behaviour of baby SLTD, I have spent the past three winters re-adjusting the valves after mini Squelchy has gone through and changed them to whatever number is his current favourite. This, at least, is better than the time we called the plumber out because we had no hot water only to find that this too was controlled by a tempting little dial at toddler height that we hadn't known he'd spotted.
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PS re baby's room, this sounds very much like the situation we had with our old one before we moved. We did find an improvement after adding proper loft insulation. Is there any chance that might help in your situation? Failing that, cheap thermal blockout blinds (ours about £10 from Tesco) made a significant difference to heat retention. For context, this was the box room of a victorian terrace (above the kitchen) with an older double-glazed window.
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I have a top floor flat, under a reasonably well-insulated roof, so I get the benefit of the heating from the flats below me. Heating went on yesterday!
Sadly I have storage heaters, so the place is at its warmest at about 8am when I'm leaving for work, and at its coldest from 8-12pm when I'm home.
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We've been trying to avoid turning ours on for as long as possible but I just decided I am bloody freezing and whacked it on. I don't know what the indoor temperature was, but I was not comfortable. Have we done well or have we copped out early?
We turn it on in October. But we have a wood stove that we occasionally use in September (and often in the rest of the winter).
Yesterday evening I was cold. I put on a sweater, turned on the woodstove and put a thick blanket on my lap when watching TV. The central heating was on 20C.
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Your house is meant to be warm and comfortable, since you live there. If you are cold, stick the heat on (after you have layered up) :)
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On thermostatic valves, if the point is still relevant: AFAIK you are supposed to have them everywhere *except* the room where your main thermostat is, so that if everything else is shut down that space heats up and turns the boiler off.
On baby's rooms: Wild guess that you're in a fairly typical oldish British house with a small bedroom above the hall/stairs, which seems like a great place to store a small person, until you realise it has a lot of external walls relative to the size and it's virtually impossible to control the temperature.
On humidity:
Call it damp if you like, but in our case I'm 99% it's not coming in from outside (either from above or below), it's just the product of four people breathing (plus cooking, washing, drying clothes) in an old house which manages to be slightly draughty in places but also not actually change enough air. Makes sense to me to call it humidity.
Opening the windows in the morning is all very well, but comes with a heating cost. Also at this time of year the air outside is also pretty wet. Yes, because of how relative humidity works, outside air at the same relative humidity is drier, but still limits the difference it can make.
We're looking at dehumidifiers and various other options as a short term fix - it used to be tolerable in our place but with more bodies, more cooking, more washing, etc it's getting less so.
I think the 'proper' answer is heat recovery ventilation, which would be like leaving windows open all the time without the heating bill. Ought to be law for new-build because it's not usually terribly easy to retrofit, but given a government intent on watering down anything that might cause housebuilders to have to improve, don't hold your breath. Think it might be practical in ours without too much upheaval, just need to somehow conjure up the mental bandwidth to deal with another project.
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We recently came to the conclusion that it's a false economy to hold out, as once the walls cooled we started getting a damp issue, which would only heat loss. As autumn is the worst time for humidity, we have shifted to putting the house on a thermostat (18 degrees upstairs, which so far has triggered only once this autumn). SLTD, if you do go for thermostatic valves on the radiators, be aware that one rad must always be left without one, usually the bathroom if you have one there. I can't remember the exact reason, but it has to do with the main thermostat telling the boiler to heat, but the radiator ones telling them not to heat, and the tank therefore overheating or something like that. Also, whilst I can in no way predict the behaviour of baby SLTD, I have spent the past three winters re-adjusting the valves after mini Squelchy has gone through and changed them to whatever number is his current favourite. This, at least, is better than the time we called the plumber out because we had no hot water only to find that this too was controlled by a tempting little dial at toddler height that we hadn't known he'd spotted.
The reason to leave one rad open is that when the thermostat turns the heating on it turns on a pump to drive the hot water round the circuit. If all your TRVs close, then the water has nowhere to go unless you have one rad permanently open. Modern systems will also have an overpressure relief valve to deal with this problem, but better to keep that as a last line of defence.
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Been on for at least a month here. I think that’s a combination of me being a very cold person and it generally being colder up here than where many of you are based (very un-MMM place to live). The house would sit around 14-15 degrees without it which is too cold for me. The de-icer has already been out for the car in the mornings so that’s definitely heating time in my book.
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Re. "damp", you are quite right, I do mean humidity, and agree that if we could just refrain from breathing inside the house, it really wouldn't be a problem any more. Even so, we are having particular issues that I haven't had anywhere before with one room where we suspect that the cavity wall insulation has slumped leaving a cold bridge. As I'm not happy with having a child sleeping in a room with black mould growing on the walls until we can get it properly rectified, we're using the dehumidifier, opening windows in the morning or after a shower, heating etc to keep it all dry. Actually, I spent several days this summer making good last winter's damage there, but that's another story. We have also looked into heat recovery ventilation, but can't face the disruption right now, or the expense, as the one company who thought they could do it without ripping all of the ceilings out was a very small one who pulled out for personal reasons.
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To anyone who has thermostatic radiator valves: how much is it reasonable to pay for them? I thought I would try getting just the one for starters for BabySLTD's room because it overheats compared to the rest of the house but I am somewhat overwhelmed and many of them seem hugely over-engineered. I do not require something I can control from my smartphone or something that learns my radiator's inside leg measurement. I just want something that I can set at a particular temperature for that room and that's that.
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Mine are by Drayton. I don’t know their cost individually but a quick search seems to give a range of relatively simple ones. Mine are internet free! I agree. Why does everything nowadays need to be controlled by a phone!
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A bog standard TRV that just turns off that one radiator based on room temperature will set you back about a tenner from somewhere like Screwfix or Toolstation.
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Mine are by Drayton. I don’t know their cost individually but a quick search seems to give a range of relatively simple ones. Mine are internet free! I agree. Why does everything nowadays need to be controlled by a phone!
My idea... Everything connected to the internet is vulnerable to hacking.
But it is neat if a heating system is programmable, with or without the help of a phone.
We have electric warm water heating, with floor heating, as well as some separate electric radiators in the bedrooms. The thermostat for the floor heating is not programmable, in a 7 year old house! My parents house already had a programmable thermostat 25 years ago. And our previous house had a programmable warmth pump. This is such a stupid house...
There is a switch that we could put on night temperature, which makes it 2C colder. But who wants to remember flipping this twice a day? I have of course searched the internet for a different thermostat to connect to this kettle, but it isn't available. So we have the temperature on 20C the whole day and night. Very annoying.
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A bog standard TRV that just turns off that one radiator based on room temperature will set you back about a tenner from somewhere like Screwfix or Toolstation.
How do you retrofit them?
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A bog standard TRV that just turns off that one radiator based on room temperature will set you back about a tenner from somewhere like Screwfix or Toolstation.
How do you retrofit them?
Personally I'd drain down the system, swap the valves and then fill it back up again using the filling loop on the boiler. It can be done without draining the system if you get a pipe freezing kit and work quickly, but I've never tried one of those myself.
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Some are advertised that you don't need to drain the system or use special tools to install. Unclear how this works, but I'm looking at this one: https://www.reichelt.com/gb/en/electronic-radiator-thermostat-model-n-eht-classic-n-p144068.html?CTYPE=0&MWSTFREE=0&PROVID=2788&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjbveBRDVARIsAKxH7vmGmcCT1CrYN4iZFrQfAVi5mxFvqccARFFdVPYAYD7kJaMZ6HcHpF0aAmnSEALw_wcB&&r=1
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In South Wales; have just put the heating on for the first time this year. Aiming to just put it on for an hour or so to take the chill off.
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Some are advertised that you don't need to drain the system or use special tools to install. Unclear how this works, but I'm looking at this one: https://www.reichelt.com/gb/en/electronic-radiator-thermostat-model-n-eht-classic-n-p144068.html?CTYPE=0&MWSTFREE=0&PROVID=2788&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjbveBRDVARIsAKxH7vmGmcCT1CrYN4iZFrQfAVi5mxFvqccARFFdVPYAYD7kJaMZ6HcHpF0aAmnSEALw_wcB&&r=1
Looking at the instruction sheet I'm pretty sure that this product is to be installed on an existing TRV, not on an old fashioned manual valve. TRVs work by pressing down on a small spindle as they expand and that seems to be what this does. If someone did make one that could turn an existing manual value that would be great, but the forces involved would probably be too much for the batteries.
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Some are advertised that you don't need to drain the system or use special tools to install. Unclear how this works, but I'm looking at this one: https://www.reichelt.com/gb/en/electronic-radiator-thermostat-model-n-eht-classic-n-p144068.html?CTYPE=0&MWSTFREE=0&PROVID=2788&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjbveBRDVARIsAKxH7vmGmcCT1CrYN4iZFrQfAVi5mxFvqccARFFdVPYAYD7kJaMZ6HcHpF0aAmnSEALw_wcB&&r=1
Looking at the instruction sheet I'm pretty sure that this product is to be installed on an existing TRV, not on an old fashioned manual valve. TRVs work by pressing down on a small spindle as they expand and that seems to be what this does. If someone did make one that could turn an existing manual value that would be great, but the forces involved would probably be too much for the batteries.
Really? I know very very little about plumbing and how heating works, but my layperson's logic was "Hey, that photo of the radiator at the end looks just like my radiator! Why yes, I can see a little unscrewy thing on my radiator of approximately the right size, and in the right place."
There also seems to be this one which is similar and makes similar installation claims but is mounted in a different place: https://www.reichelt.com/gb/en/radiator-thermostat-model-m-electronic-uk-version-eht-classic-m-p227218.html?&trstct=lsbght_sldr::144068
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Call me Mr Spendypants.... it's never off. If the house is ever (all year around) below 20 degrees, then on switches the heating automatically. Well more accurately the kids room as that is where the sensor is.
Whats worse is that my house was built in 1899, so insulation is not exactly world class.
This is also my strategy for my Victorian terrace. My Nest is set to 20C (unless ramping down for the night) all year round and the boiler manages itself to turn on or off.
Could I be more thrifty by turning down the setting? Yes. Although my partner already complains that it's too cold so I would struggle to get buy in for that.
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@shelivesthedream
Do you need a digital TRV? I just replaced 2 radiators and got free Drayton TRVs with them but they're not (and don't need to be!) digital.
You can pick them up at Screwfix for £20
https://www.screwfix.com/p/drayton-rt212-white-chrome-trv-lockshield-15mm-x/53581 (https://www.screwfix.com/p/drayton-rt212-white-chrome-trv-lockshield-15mm-x/53581)
It does require draining the central heating system, removing the existing valves on the radiator, and refitting which might not be feasible for you.
Apparently it is possible to replace them without draining the system by closing the other valve on the radiator (to stop the water coming in/out on end) and freezing the water in the pipe that leads the valve you'll be replacing with the TRV. However, I feel there is more to go wrong with this approach.
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@shelivesthedream
Do you need a digital TRV? I just replaced 2 radiators and got free Drayton TRVs with them but they're not (and don't need to be!) digital.
You can pick them up at Screwfix for £20
https://www.screwfix.com/p/drayton-rt212-white-chrome-trv-lockshield-15mm-x/53581 (https://www.screwfix.com/p/drayton-rt212-white-chrome-trv-lockshield-15mm-x/53581)
It does require draining the central heating system, removing the existing valves on the radiator, and refitting which might not be feasible for you.
Apparently it is possible to replace them without draining the system by closing the other valve on the radiator (to stop the water coming in/out on end) and freezing the water in the pipe that leads the valve you'll be replacing with the TRV. However, I feel there is more to go wrong with this approach.
I think this is what we have at the moment on all our radiators, but the effect of the sun on the two rooms at the front of the house is so extreme (the back is shrouded in shadow) that it really requires constant adjusting depending on season, cloud cover and time of day to maintain a moderate temperature. I am very confused by all this, though, so may be wrong.
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If you have something about the size of a small apple on your radiator the you already have a TRV. In that case it's just a matter of removing the head and replacing it with the digital one. If you just have a small old fashioned nob then you don't and it becomes a much more major task. It probably won't be any better at controlling the temperature than an old fashioned TRV, but what it will let you do is turn that room off or down at certain times of day when the rest of the heating is still running. I'm thinking about getting some for a couple of downstairs radiators to turn them off through the night and just have them come on for the last early morning cycle. Many reviews mention that they are too noisy for a bedroom if you are a light sleeper.
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I tried to turn our storage heater in the living room on last night.
However I'd forgotten that I'd switched them off at the main circuit breaker in the hallway over summer to avoid accidentally turning it on.
So looks like the heating will be going on tonight instead!
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Living in the South East of England for a few more weeks and no heating on yet.
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I tried to turn our storage heater in the living room on last night.
However I'd forgotten that I'd switched them off at the main circuit breaker in the hallway over summer to avoid accidentally turning it on.
So looks like the heating will be going on tonight instead!
We are on storage heaters, I loathe the things because they are so difficult to control. I have looked at converting to oil but the figures don't really add up.
One thing I did do was put a digital thermometer in each room, I'm sure having an objective measure of the temperature has removed the temptation to turn the heating up.
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I tried to turn our storage heater in the living room on last night.
However I'd forgotten that I'd switched them off at the main circuit breaker in the hallway over summer to avoid accidentally turning it on.
So looks like the heating will be going on tonight instead!
We are on storage heaters, I loathe the things because they are so difficult to control. I have looked at converting to oil but the figures don't really add up.
One thing I did do was put a digital thermometer in each room, I'm sure having an objective measure of the temperature has removed the temptation to turn the heating up.
I'm currently on holiday in a cottage with storage heaters. I had forgotten how much I hate them. We did rip them out and convert to oil. If you do decide to replace them, I have one tip - don't ever try and carry a large storage heater downstairs on your own. Surfing backwards down a flight of stairs on a metal-wrapped block of concrete is not an experience I ever wish to repeat.
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We've had ours "on" since September, but with the thermostat set to 16 so it's barely come on until recently. I've been coping by living under a blanket and in jumpers, drinking tea, and always taking a hot water bottle to bed. Last week DH complained of being cold, realised the temp was set low and said we should turn it up to 20! We compromised and set it to 18.
Had someone round to sweep the chimney last month because I wanted to get the woodburner ready for winter. Turns out we need a new one :( The handle fell off when the bloke opened the door, it needs new glass in the door and new clips to keep the glass in, new firebricks as they're all cracked and crumbling. I did get a second opinion who said that if I wanted to have it repaired I'd need to take the door off, take that to an engineering firm to have the clips replaced, but it's old and inefficient so I should just get a new one. Sigh, no fire on Xmas day for us! Maybe January.
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I'm currently on holiday in a cottage with storage heaters. I had forgotten how much I hate them. We did rip them out and convert to oil. If you do decide to replace them, I have one tip - don't ever try and carry a large storage heater downstairs on your own. Surfing backwards down a flight of stairs on a metal-wrapped block of concrete is not an experience I ever wish to repeat.
I have moved them but I always remove the bricks first, well after the first time anyway. :)
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I replaced my valves (they are white, cylindrical, the size of a small apple (nice description PhilB) and have the numbers 1 to 5 on the base with the 3 replaced by a black button thing, you turn the dial to make the radiator hotter or cooler) with digital ones without draining or freezing anything. It took maybe 30 seconds and was really straightforward. My digital valves are standalone, battery powered and on timers with individual temperature settings (so it can be warmer in the evening than in the morning or warmer at the weekends).
They are the absolute best and I rave about them frequently.
Heating got turned on today.
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Ours is set on 18c most of the year so it sometimes comes on and off as early as September.
I think its been firing on and off the last few weeks. Not been on at all the last few days.
Our UFH comes on 1st November and goes off 1st April!
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b) My boiler has settings to just eat water for radiators, just heat water for taps, or both. That's what I've really now turned on.
I have a boiler like this, and I recently switched it to heat both. I thought that would turn on heat, but I have yet to see the radiators warm. So far I am just wearing extra layers and sitting with a light blanket, but I am starting to think it would be nice to have heat if I could figure it out.
This thread inspired me to take another look at the directions, and I think maybe it was that a little switch on the clock bit of the central heating was set to off instead of to follow the times set. Waiting to see if changing that did anything.
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I have just installed two programmable radiator valves! It took me fifteen minutes each from taking them out of the box to walking away. Now to see how well they work and if we want to get them for all the radiators! I put one in BabySLTD's room to stop it getting so hot (it's the only room that gets loads of sun) during the day and cold at night (stupid air vent holes in the walls), and one in the bathroom to test how it does with more complicated programming (hot for Mr SLTD's shower, then my much later shower, then BabySLTD's evening bath). Whee! Excited!
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Yay!!!!! Hope they work well for you and BabySLTD.
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Can confirm they are working very well! However, I am not sure about installing more. If I did, I would have:
BabySLTD: 20 degrees day, 21 degrees night
Bathroom: High for morning showers and evening bath, low the rest of the time
Proposed:
Our bedroom: High morning and late evening, medium overnight, low during day
Toilet: Medium-high during day, medium-low during night
Dining room: Medium during day, low during night
Study: Medium during day, low during night
Then we have one radiator in the hall at the bottom of the stairs, sort of on the opposite wall to the thermostat. Presumably I leave the normal valve on that one? And what do I set the thermostat to? The hall itself is very short and that one radiator heats the whole stairwell. But presumably I need the thermostat on high so that it tells the boiler to heat up water so it is always available for whichever radiators require it - otherwise they will be pumping cold water round. Would that just use up all our energy savings on permanently heating the hall to 21+ degrees?
No, I do not really understand central heating.
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Can confirm they are working very well! However, I am not sure about installing more. If I did, I would have:
BabySLTD: 20 degrees day, 21 degrees night
Bathroom: High for morning showers and evening bath, low the rest of the time
Proposed:
Our bedroom: High morning and late evening, medium overnight, low during day
Toilet: Medium-high during day, medium-low during night
Dining room: Medium during day, low during night
Study: Medium during day, low during night
Then we have one radiator in the hall at the bottom of the stairs, sort of on the opposite wall to the thermostat. Presumably I leave the normal valve on that one? And what do I set the thermostat to? The hall itself is very short and that one radiator heats the whole stairwell. But presumably I need the thermostat on high so that it tells the boiler to heat up water so it is always available for whichever radiators require it - otherwise they will be pumping cold water round. Would that just use up all our energy savings on permanently heating the hall to 21+ degrees?
No, I do not really understand central heating.
Great news that the new valves are working well. I'm afraid you'll never get the system to do exactly what you want automatically, but you should be able to get close. The important thing is to understand how the heating works then you'll be better placed to work out how you want to operate it - don't worry, it isn't that complicated!
You'll never have a position where you are pumping cold water around the radiators, because the pump and the heating of the water work together. Whenever the boiler is 'on' for heating it will run the pump and it will keep the water at the right temperature. Whenever it is 'off' the pump doesn't run and the water in the pipes isn't heated. There are probably 3 ways of turning the boiler on or off:
1. An switch on the boiler - if this is off then everything is off
2. A timer control (if you have one) - this also has to be in an 'on' phase for the boiler to run
3. The thermostat in the hall - if 1 and 2 are both 'on' this can still turn the boiler 'off' if the temperature in the hall is higher than the temperature selected.
The new valves on your radiators won't turn the boiler off, they just stop the water going through that particular radiator. That makes it essential that one radiator is always 'on' as if all of them are close but the boiler switches on the pump will be in trouble. Normally people opt for a bathroom for this.
You can buy very expensive systems now where the individual radiator valves each act like the wall thermostat to turn the boiler off if each room is at the desired temperature, but that would be overkill. Instead what you need to do is firstly to set the timer, if you have one, to turn the boiler off if there are times you don't want it on at all. For the times when it is on you may as well largely ignore the hall thermostat - just turn it up high, but turn the radiator down low (or use one of the new valves to vary it during the day). You could then forget the thermostat, other than to use it as a manual override to switch the boiler off on a warm day.
For the rest of your radiators it's them a choice of do you a) fit programmable valves, or b) just use normal TRVs and turn them up and down manually if you want different settings at different times of the day. The decider on that one is do you want the heating to change before you get up in the morning, other than the overall on-off that the timer (if you have one) gives. Feel free to pm me if you need any more info.
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Thank you, @PhilB! I hadn't understood what the deal was with what made the boiler heat up water and pump it round - I thought they were more separate. We turned off the boiler timer some time ago - either when I was pregnant and having hot baths in the middle of the night or shortly after BabySLTD was born when day and night were one and the same - and have never touched it again. I don't really want to turn it off as I'm concerned about keeping BabySLTD's room warm at night while he's still so little.
Manually turning the valves would be a PITA and unlikely to happen. I've decided to buy three more, for the bedroom, dining room and study, and leave the toilet upstairs and the hall downstairs open all the time. Would it be better to open them on low?
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We're in the Southern US and it's been on a few times. We have it set at 66 when we're home, 64 when we're asleep, and 60 when we're gone. I'll probably bump all of those down a degree or two once we've acclimated to the colder weather. It kind of sucks because we went from 90 degrees outside to 40 degrees outside in about 3 weeks. I usually get a month where I don't have to run either the A/C or a heater. This year I got 10 days.
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I have a plea for advice from anyone who knows their UK electric heating.
Full description here: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/balancing-two-mortgages-two-jobs-living-for-today-and-saving-for-tomorrow-(uk)/msg2223178/#msg2223178
Basically I live in a flat with electric-only heating and an economy 7 electricity tariff. The heaters themselves date back from the early 90s and are starting to break, and I haven't been able to find anyone to service them so it's time for them to be replaced. I'm wondering whether to keep going in the direction of night-storage heating, or to other kinds of electric radiators.
I'd like to find the best long-term option for the flat. Does anyone know if there's a way for me to crunch the numbers based on my current usage of peak and off-peak electricity? Or general thoughts and experiences.
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I have a plea for advice from anyone who knows their UK electric heating.
Full description here: https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/balancing-two-mortgages-two-jobs-living-for-today-and-saving-for-tomorrow-(uk)/msg2223178/#msg2223178
Basically I live in a flat with electric-only heating and an economy 7 electricity tariff. The heaters themselves date back from the early 90s and are starting to break, and I haven't been able to find anyone to service them so it's time for them to be replaced. I'm wondering whether to keep going in the direction of night-storage heating, or to other kinds of electric radiators.
I'd like to find the best long-term option for the flat. Does anyone know if there's a way for me to crunch the numbers based on my current usage of peak and off-peak electricity? Or general thoughts and experiences.
It's an expensive set up, but under-floor electric heating is very awesome. I don't have it in my house, but my parents have it in theirs and it seems to be both efficient, a lovely treat in the morning, and frees up wall space.
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Thought about turning the heating on for a few hours today and decided to look up this thread. Still holding out ;)
Pleased to note, by the way, that the radiator valves have come with us to the new house and are a doddle to install and were very good at doing their job all last winter. I had to tweak the temperature and timings a few times, I think mainly to account for unfortunately-placed furniture or curtains making it think it was hotter than it was, but then they just ticked away in the background doing their thing and not unnecessarily heating rooms.
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It wouldn’t be autumn without this thread being active! It should replace Halloween as a tradition. Now I’m working from home on a permanent basis I’ll be interested to see how much my heating bills increase this winter.
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Sometimes I feel bad about our energy bills, but actually when you consider it involves four people being at home all the time and cooking 99.99999999% of all our meals ourselves, I don't think we're doing too badly! Of course we don't have to heat the whole house the whole time, but we can't shut everything off completely the way we could if we weren't here.
Ditto for when I did a calculation to see if we'd save if we got a water meter - not if all our flushing and washing-up-creation happens at home rather than in offices and schools.
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I've put the heating on in the downstairs cloakroom because that's how I dry my dog-walking clothes. And I've put the kitchen on to a 16C minimum because that's the centre of the house and below my (otherwise unheated) bedroom: it's come on a bit but not much. Solar gain and more modern insulation standards have kept my two main "sitting" rooms comfortable so far.
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Slight touch of frost here on Friday morning, which is a bit late for the first frost of the Autumn. I reckon you're allowed some heating once it's getting down to 4C at night.
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I put the heating on last week, although only at intensity setting 1 out of 7. It takes it about two days for the storage heaters to fully warm up, so it's safer to err on the side of caution about when to get them going cos those things are NOT nimble and it's horrible being caught out without enough heat in the tank for a cold snap.
I'd be more inclined to see how long I can go if it was just me, but I also have a lodger so it's just easier to keep the flat comfortably warm rather than have to negotiate whether she's wearing the appropriate number of layers or whatever :)
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Heating isn't going on until November. I've busted out the hot water bottle tonight for the first time. WFH life ain't all it's cracked up to be....
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Put it on for an hour tonight because it was 12 degrees in Awdry's room. But we have started giving him a (my, actually) hot water bottle this week and he seems pleased with it and to enjoy cuddling it and to have had the fear of God put into him about fiddling with the cover. One of my jobs this coming week is to sew him a cover for our second hot water bottle, so I can have mine back!
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That's fun! My lodger is actually off CAMPING this weekend and was like 'ha ha we will freeze ha ha'.
Me: please tell me you have a hot water bottle?
Her: no... that's a good idea but I don't have one here
Me: (pressing my hot water bottle into her hands) please. Take it.
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Heating isn't going on until November. I've busted out the hot water bottle tonight for the first time. WFH life ain't all it's cracked up to be....
Same here, trying to hold out until November! My hot water bottle has been out since September, though.
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I gave in to demands from she who must be obeyed and turned ours on today, just for an hour every evening and primarily to dry the towels.
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We have ours set to come on when the temperature drops below a certain point. Doesn't matter what the date is IMO, if it's cold it's cold. We tend to have radiators turned down in rooms we aren't sat in though.
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Us too.
We bought an absolute wreck of a house in 2004 (think rammed earth floors and round-pin sockets) and so put in underfloor heating on the ground floor when we dug up the rammed earth.
Each downstairs room has a timer/stat so the heating comes on when the air temperature is low enough to trip the stat.
It's on at the moment and I have warm feet!
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Heating isn't going on until November. I've busted out the hot water bottle tonight for the first time. WFH life ain't all it's cracked up to be....
Update (and a bit of a boast!) from me - I made it to November easily enough. Now I have the heating set to come on for an hour in the morning to make it a bit easier to haul myself out of bed and to my PC. That's it though - no heating in the evenings, which has involved quite a lot of layers. Meh, if I ever get visitors (not allowed right now!) maybe I'll treat us to some GCH.
I live in a flat on the top floor and it's only 20 or so years old so it has reasonable insulation. Still happy with myself though.
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Midsummer... as it turns out
Brrr!
:(
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Possibility of frost in some towns in Wales tonight!
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Came home from work tonight, and the heating was on! Bit early in my opinion, but then, I'm not the fairer sex.
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Made it to October... I'm a little chilly right now lol, so I'll start with a fireplace fire (got unlimited free firewood thanks to my awesome neighbor). Not sure how much longer that'll be enough, though - my fireplace isn't very good at heating the house but it'll take the chill away.
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How I love that this thread keeps coming round every year! We were just talking about the heating this morning as we're really feeling the cold, but I think it's because it turned so sudden like that we haven't acclimatised - and Mr SLTD's still getting over hand foot and mouth (thanks, nursery). We're going to wait a week and see how we feel. Children don't seem remotely bothered, but that's mainly because they are old enough to spend the whole day scampering round after each other working up a sweat, while we grown ups lie indolently around reading our books.
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Anyone else plotting their annual switch on dates on a line graph? No, just me then. It has got a lot colder awfully quickly. I’d be ok but my mum is visiting today. I have a bet with myself that within ten minutes of arrival I will be asked to switch the heating on. I’m happy to oblige because I’ll win a chocolate bar if I’m right!
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My heating's not on yet but I'll confess I've started with a hot water bottle.
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No heating yet, but we did have the fire going for most of yesterday. No need today as the sun is back!
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Ours came on over saturday I think. Our bedroom radiator was barely warm and all the rest were blazing hot (thermostat is in our bedroom). Dug out my radiator key and an enormous amount of air blasted out, it started to heat up fine
Open the other rads on the 2nd floor, let more air out... but then no water came out of the opened rad. Checked the boiler... 0 bar pressure !!! Let some water into the system and all seems well. Had small pressure loss before - never to zero though !
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This time of year is challenging. Yesterday it was warmer in the garden than in the kitchen!
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For me the worst thing about this time of year is towels not drying. In the summer, no worries. Once the central heating is on, again no problem as they dry on the ladder radiator where they hang. There is just this really annoying gap in the spring and the autumn where they don't quite dry between showers :(
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The weather's perked right up, so we're toasty with plenty of sunshine streaming in. The condensation has started in earnest, though, and our laundry doesn't quite fully dry overnight. Similar to PhilB, we'll be fine once the kitchen radiator is on, but it's an awkward gap.
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We've turned the heating on at the boiler. Geronima's room is freezing and Mr SLTD has really been feeling the cold this year. However, the plan is to use the hall thermostat to just have it on overnight at the moment. We have programmable radiator thermostats but I am convinced that turning it "off" during the day by by turning the hall thermostat to ten degrees will save us money vs keeping it at 15 degrees 24/7 because it will stop the boiler firing up for random fifteen minuteses during the day which we won't notice but our bills will. Solar gain and keeping the right doors closed should mean we don't need the heating during the day for a little while longer. The boiler has a timer, but we DO want hot water during the day, so we're not setting it.
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We haven't had a cool day yet this whole October, which is pretty unusual.
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Expected to be 39F in the morning so it might kick on tonight/tomorrow. We have it set to turn on at 68 for the sake of the pets (including birds) but in the deep part of winter when everyone is acclimated, we sometimes do 65.
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FYI, this is in the UK section of the forum and aimed at UK residents.
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I suppose that’s what I get for reading title and thread pages, but not the forum subsection. I apologize for my offense.
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I suppose that’s what I get for reading title and thread pages, but not the forum subsection. I apologize for my offense.
To be fair, it's filed away under 'UK Tax Discussion' . . .
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I didn’t read the subforum. When you sort by unread, it shows the unread from every forum. Taxes, heating, exotic locales…
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We don't often get called an exotic locale, so all is forgiven.
Still far too warm here to be thinking about heating but towards the end of next week the forecast is for colder weather.
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Answer : when you can see your breath in the room!
Back in 2012, I went the whole winter without any heating on, as an experiment in resiliency.
I am based in the UK.
Also managed total yearly expenses of 2500.
I reckon this must be a record, even beating people on welfare.
I have a wood stove, and acres of forestry.
I like the outdoors, and have good warm clothing. Icebreaker base layers, wax jacket, military surplus clothing.
No mortgage or debt.
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We've turned ours off again, as the weather turned back and we were baking!
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I'm still waiting for a day where the AC doesn't kick on at least once and for the mosquitos to go back to Hell where they came from.
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We bought the hive radiator valves and installed them this week. Fortunately, the weather has been a bit warmer so we haven't had to use them yet. But means we can heat individual rooms rather than the entire house.
Don't think we'll see a return on investment for a good few years, but I feel slightly more eco-friendly at least.
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Our house has 2 zones on the central heating, ie upstairs and downstairs. We now have the downstairs heating on (on a timer + thermostat), but not the upstairs yet.
We also have thermostatic valves on each radiator, but not the hive type valves. Ours is complicated enough as it is!
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We're back to having them on for (part of) the night, and set to stay this way for a while, I reckon.
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The time has come. Yesterday morning there was a hard frost and I needed to give the butter a quick zap in the microwave to make it spreadable, both of which I took as signs. I've set the central heating to come on upstairs for 50 minutes before bedtime and another 50 in the morning .
I also now need to get up a few minutes earlier every weekday to allow time to light the fire before I cook #1 son's breakfast :(
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Brrrr. I’m now officially in central heating on low, long johns on and three layers on top mode!
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Not quite there yet, but the hot water bottle came out last night again and I'll probably light a fire later on. Definitely moved over to the winter wardrobe with short sleeve shirts relegated to the back of the drawer (must remember to get a short sleeved one back out whenever booster day arrives).
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I have C/H on year-round from 6-9am and 5-10pm timed with 18degC on the thermostat. It isn't on or doing much for spring-autumn, but has started working a bit in the last fortnight or so. The next step is hitting the advance button to bring it back on again when it goes off, but I have only needed to do that once so far when we were home all day.
The woodburner will be taking some of the strain when it gets colder and the hot water bottles will be out to take the edge off at bed time. (DW and I don't like a warm bedroom so never have the heating on overnight)
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FWIW, I usually keep track of first frost (usually means about 4C overnight) and it's always late September or early October. Never before have we gone all the way through to November without any frost.
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Given up, and put the heating on in the kitchen when it got down to 13.5C. Woodstove in the library makes it a now toasty 19C and climbing.
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Made it until this week easily enough. Although, my partner has been griping about the cold a little for a couple of weeks, until I pointed out we're both still wearing t-shirts. Have had to layer up and start using hot water bottles in the evening on the sofa. However, the turn has come this week. Single-glazed flat doesn't help matters. Started with an hour in the morning. Will hold out a little while longer before it goes on at night. Not bad going. Elec and gas bills have been around £30 a month since April.
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Fiancée bought a fancy Nest thermostat before we met, so it's theoretically "on"as needed. But in the past week or so, we've been actively fighting with the "intuitive" automatic settings to get a warmer temperature in the house. Seems like only a few weeks ago that we were fighting it in the opposite direction...
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FWIW, I usually keep track of first frost (usually means about 4C overnight) and it's always late September or early October. Never before have we gone all the way through to November without any frost.
Might be a bit different, when you're living in North Yorkshire!
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Might be a bit different, when you're living in North Yorkshire!
Indeed, although I suppose it will depend a lot on where. I could imagine Whitby or Scarborough being frost-free year round whereas buttertubs pass had snow in July.
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I put it on a small amount back in early October, and added an extra amount a couple of weeks ago I think. (We have one of those boilers that works with a timer.) In general, my alarm clock has a temperature gauge and I think I want to keep it at at least 17C to avoid accidentally getting mold issues. So it's been varying between about 17 and 20 depending on how recently the heating has been on, and if it gets colder as we go into December I might add a bit more. Initially I had an hour in the morning and 2 hours in the evening, and now it's at 2 hours in the morning, 1 in the middle of the day, and 2 and a half in the evening.
The house we're in has quite high ceilings and this is the first winter we've been in it, so I'm waiting to see how terrible it is in terms of heat loss as we go on. I think in the future we might replace the boiler with something more efficient, since it's quite an old one anyway.
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Considering our house is detached and only has a EPC rating of D, 56 (or something) I find that our insulation is reasonably good, particularly upstairs it is often too hot when we go to bed even though the radiators are switched off.
We set our timer on a little over a week ago, me and the OH have big blankets which we use on the couch and there is something comfy when you are wrapped up warm but its nippy outside, unfortunately the cold has become too much to bare! So the heating is currently on for an hour when we wake up and 2 hours in the evening, will aim to keep it this way as long as possible but we always up it during the coldest points.
We used to rent a new build flat before we bought our house and that had a really high EPC rating, pretty sure it was an A. It was amazing as we were a mid level flat (3 stories) and taking advantage of other people switching the heating on, I am pretty sure we only turned the heating on half as much as we do now!
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unfortunately the cold has become too much to bare!
Well put some clothes on then!
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unfortunately the cold has become too much to bare!
Well put some clothes on then!
Haha I am weak, but I have knocked it down to an hour in the evening out of guilt.. Luckily I am still on a cheap tariff until the end of Feb so I feel like I should enjoy it before I'm hit by mega bills. I will certainly be investing in a bigger blanket though!!
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What is the temperature for the heating to be on to prevent pipe bursting?
I googled and it said
Leave your heating on
Set your thermostat at 12-15C when you're away from the property. This keeps the air inside warm to help stop internal pipes from freezing.
But isn't that water freeze at 0c, so I can leave the heater say at like 5c ???
I have drained my garden water pipes. There are 2-3 feet of water pipe for the washer and continue into the house in conservatory, which is significantly cooler and no heating. I am thinking about getting a draught stopper in the conservatory door.
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What is the temperature for the heating to be on to prevent pipe bursting?
I googled and it said
Leave your heating on
Set your thermostat at 12-15C when you're away from the property. This keeps the air inside warm to help stop internal pipes from freezing.
But isn't that water freeze at 0c, so I can leave the heater say at like 5c ???
I suppose it depends on a number of factors based on your individual household set up so a safe guess for them to ensure almost anyone wont have burst pipes is probably 12-15c no matter what.
You also have to be mindful where your thermostat is as ours is in the downstairs hallway, which is next to the front door and staircase but is only serviced by a tiny radiator. It doesn’t really get warm there and because of this I can set my thermostat to 15 degrees and the heating stays on regardless of being a sauna in other areas of the house. I am planning to switch to an air source heat pump and smart thermostat controls at some point in the short/medium future so will eventually sort this issue out.
I guess you will need to figure out what temperature to set that ensures the coldest point of your house doesn’t cause your pipes to freeze. Even if its warm enough to stop your pipes freezing if your house is really cold you could have other issues develop such as mould or condensation but this is probably more relevant in older or less efficient/insulated/ventilated properties.
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Some modern heating systems have a built-in 'frost-free' setting of 5C, which is the temperature that causes them to turn themselves on to avoid problems. But obviously it does depend on the temperature difference between the pipe and the sensor.
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Had a baby on Thursday, so we boomeranged immediately to 24/7 tropical temperatures! Mr SLTD has noted that the baby could be wearing more clothes and the rest of us could be sweating less, so we are going to drop it by a degree a day until we think it's too cold for the baby. The issue is mainly that I need it to be hot enough in the big bedroom at night that I can have her in bed with me with the duvet round my waist and not be tempted to
smother her with it draw it up any higher.
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Had a baby on Thursday
That's the best news, fantastic!
Don't even think about what you're spending on heating, there's plenty of time to consider that later. Is it your first? kids are life enhancing, and you'll be happier than you were before, for ever.
You know all the stuff about not getting them too hot, and not rolling onto them if you fall asleep and they're in bed with you.
Well done, and enjoy the moment.
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I'm in Scotland so some form of heating goes on around October til end of March. I HATE being cold! I do only heat 1 room and only sporadically - I turn the heating on for a few hours, then off, then on again later. My favourite thing though is my electric blanket. I will never part with it!
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We might need to change the name of this thread to 'When do you turn your central heating off?'....
It's been f*****g freezing for ages now.
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Had a baby on Thursday, so we boomeranged immediately to 24/7 tropical temperatures! Mr SLTD has noted that the baby could be wearing more clothes and the rest of us could be sweating less, so we are going to drop it by a degree a day until we think it's too cold for the baby. The issue is mainly that I need it to be hot enough in the big bedroom at night that I can have her in bed with me with the duvet round my waist and not be tempted to smother her with it draw it up any higher.
Been there! Winter babies have extra needs, in some ways. Congrats to you, snd best of luck with the sleep! With my four, the first few months were glorious, and also a walking dead sort of situation at times!
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I'll drag the topic back out of the cupboard then.
The office I worked at was turning the heating on today. My new thermostat that I just installed for my central heating currently says it is 17.5 degrees in my dining room, so the heating is definitely staying off here for a fair bit longer.
I have brought out the electric blanket for the bed and the big fleecy blanket for the sofa though. I can't find the hot water bottle or my SAD lamp. Will have to look harder.
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I have brought out the electric blanket for the bed and the big fleecy blanket for the sofa though. I can't find the hot water bottle or my SAD lamp. Will have to look harder.
I have only just discovered the wonders of an electric blanket (well a heated throw!), yes I may be a burly man but my feet still get cold!! Its almost not cold enough to use it even without it turned on, I managed to get them for £85 down from £110 and im pretty sure it will double our money over the next 4 months.
Our heating turns on for an hour a day to heat up the hot water only (still have a tank) which costs me around £0.60p a day, we have no other gas appliances so the gas bill should hopefully stay relatively low. I'm going to see how long we last with our heated blankets, I will post here if (or when) we cave and put it on.
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I have only just discovered the wonders of an electric blanket (well a heated throw!), yes I may be a burly man but my feet still get cold!! Its almost not cold enough to use it even without it turned on, I managed to get them for £85 down from £110 and im pretty sure it will double our money over the next 4 months.
I bought my Mrs one last year, as she works from home. She thinks it's brilliant, and works with it wrapped around her. Ours was about £35 from Aldi, rated at 180 watts I think - but it has a thermostat and a timer.
Our heating is still off, although the girlies are making rumblings (and a colder few days ahead).
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My electric blanket is actually a pet-therapy blanket, so it's literally just big enough to warm my feet up in bed, but it makes so much difference. Then the cat can sit on it when I move in bed or during the day. It's 15W and gets up to about 39 degrees C, cat body temperature.
Room temperature down to 15.5. Heating still off. I feel OK in a woolly dress and a hoody, but I do need a blanket if I sit for long enough to watch TV. Also, located the hot water bottle, so that's a good thing.
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I bought my Mrs one last year, as she works from home. She thinks it's brilliant, and works with it wrapped around her. Ours was about £35 from Aldi, rated at 180 watts I think - but it has a thermostat and a timer.
Our heating is still off, although the girlies are making rumblings (and a colder few days ahead).
My electric blanket is actually a pet-therapy blanket, so it's literally just big enough to warm my feet up in bed, but it makes so much difference. Then the cat can sit on it when I move in bed or during the day. It's 15W and gets up to about 39 degrees C, cat body temperature.
Room temperature down to 15.5. Heating still off. I feel OK in a woolly dress and a hoody, but I do need a blanket if I sit for long enough to watch TV. Also, located the hot water bottle, so that's a good thing.
I think anything heated is amazing especially if your using a throw on top as well, I never considered it before and I kind of got carried away buying expensive ones! But me and wifey have agreed to try and make it back from the gas, its just two of us with no kids to be worried about (yet) so its a bit easier but there has been a few cold mornings this week.
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Ive gone off-grid, and never turn on the heat, unless its my stove.. only burn pallets, sourced for free.
What is this energy crisis that you speak of?
I just bought a base layer... Smartwool, 260 weight... its super warm.
I was spending 20 per week on food, now its 22... big deal.
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Still not had the heating on, so far it looks to be a milder winter, lets hope it continues!
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Ours has been on quite a bit (a boost every evening and another in the morning + we use Hive to keep babies' room at a constant temp through the night). We want to keep our 5-month-old warm.
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Mine has stayed off. I'm in a flat so I'm insulated by other dwellings below me, but even the houses near me I don't think have much/any heating on at the moment. It's 18 degrees here, and tomorrow it will be 20. TWENTY!! with a low of 12.
I wish I could be happy about it but honestly it feels a bit apocalyptic for being a couple of days away from November.
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Food for thought really, global warming is truly here to stay :(
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I'm happy we will be able to get to November without turning on the heat. It's been 64 (18C) in the house all week. I'd hold out for longer, but we have houseguest coming midweek, so we shall see...
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Mine is now officially on. I had boosted for the odd hour to dry laundry, but it was getting down to 14.5 degrees frequently, so now it's on and set to 18 degrees in the morning and evening.
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Yeah I spent today unconsciously avoiding work because I didn't want to take my fingers out of my warm fuzzy sleeves out from under the heated throw. It's time.
Not looking forward to seeing it on the smart meter though. Just watching the hot water go vroom is frustrating enough.
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Not looking forward to seeing it on the smart meter though. Just watching the hot water go vroom is frustrating enough.
Like watching the £'s fall out of the tap!
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We had houseguests, so DH set the thermostat for 62. It kicked on this morning. At least we made it into November.
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Mine went on last night in the snug, which is where I'm spending time indoors. One day after my electricity company allowed me to put my direct debit down to £1. The fools!
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That amounts to paying them £67 a month for the next 5 months, so they're not that foolish.
Our heating is never turned off except when we go away, we have these odd things called thermostats and timers. The first day this year that it called for heat was 17th of September. Try to keep room temperatures low, but there's a certain amount of resistance to that.
Thinking of changing to a heat pump, so I've been reducing the boiler temperature to heat pump compatible temperatures (35C mean temperature), but that means the heating has to run for longer and 2 rooms that weren't heated normally have had to have the radiators enabled in order to get enough flow in the system to reduce boiler short cycling. It will be interesting to compare gas consumption after a few days.
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In an effort to delay it a bit longer we've just invested in a heated throw to sit under. Seems to do the job very nicely.
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The heated throws are great, we love ours.
Definitely didn't enjoy waking up this morning to £4.53 on the meter before I'd even done anything, just from the hot water cylinder and heaters. Flat is really quite warm though so I clearly turned the dial a bit too far for these not yet freezing days.
I have electric storage heaters and electricity costs per kwh are double that of gas. Hard to believe when I moved in here my electricity bill was £60/month and now it's close to £200 (before the rebate). This winter is going to be horrible for so many people. On other forums I'm in, we're getting lots of unsafe suggestions like making fireplaces inside your home.
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The heated throws are great, we love ours.
Definitely didn't enjoy waking up this morning to £4.53 on the meter before I'd even done anything, just from the hot water cylinder and heaters. Flat is really quite warm though so I clearly turned the dial a bit too far for these not yet freezing days.
I have electric storage heaters and electricity costs per kwh are double that of gas. Hard to believe when I moved in here my electricity bill was £60/month and now it's close to £200 (before the rebate). This winter is going to be horrible for so many people. On other forums I'm in, we're getting lots of unsafe suggestions like making fireplaces inside your home.
I'm on a renewables tariff for my electricity and all my heating is either storage heaters or a wood-burning stove (all wood from my garden). Paying more to heat my home renewably than I would if I were burning fossil fuels is galling, and just another symptom of what is wrong with government policy.
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Today. Last night I had to wear a hat in bed.
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It just wouldn't be autumn without this thread, so I've popped on to say we turned ours on on Friday. Hall thermostat set at 10 degrees, boiler set to lowest possible temperature, overnight only. The boiler is in the garage and there is a fair bit of pipework in there before it gets to the actual moderately insulated house, so we are concerned about pipes freezing.
We have yet to buy an electric blanket because we would have to buy three, and baby wouldn't have one so we'd have to heat her room anyway. But it could happen. We have, however, ALL got full-body thermal underwear (even the not-for-much-longer-because-it's-her-birthday-this-Friday) baby and I have wool-rich tights and I'll wear a hat indoors until March if I have to, dammit. The 4.5yo and 2.5yo still aren't wearing their thermals during the day and have spurned my offers of hot water bottles at night. *shrug*
As long as it's sunny, we get a huge amount of solar gain in the sitting room, kitchen and baby's bedroom, so it's actually not been too bad unless we get multiple cloudy days in a row. Like, uh, today.
Our electricity company jacked our direct debit up to £213 a month way back in April, so we are comfortably in credit and I don't expect to see another major change, but it does mean we have been slightly out of sync in experiencing energy price rises because ours was already raised in anticipation, so despite the doom-mongering headlines everywhere it hasn't gone up again this autumn. We had a brief panic that it was going to double to £500 a month before we realised what had happened!
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Squeee. How lovely to see you @shelivesthedream. I hope you and all the family are doing well.
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Phew yes what a relief shelivesthedream!
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Aw SLTD I always think of you when I see this thread, so nice that this time it was because you actually dipped in in person!
After declaring earlier in this thread that I'd turned the heating on I actually turned it back off a couple of days later. But it's back on as of yesterday, still only one heater in the living room and on the lowest setting. The electric blanket has helped a huge deal in making my work station (which is by a large single glazed window) cosy during the day and keeping the sofa snuggly in the evenings. Cooking also adds a surprising amount of heat to the room in the evening.
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Nice to hear from you, @shelivesthedream!
Alas, I'm here to report two fails. My beloved (and very old) XL heating pad seems to have developed a short, so it's time to Let It Go, sob. We bought MIL a heated throw some years back. Now that she's in the land of Never Cold and doesn't need it, we may start using that. We only used the heating pad to warm the bed before climbing into it, not through the night, so we're not sure we'll like it, but it's worth a try.
We turned our heater on to a steady 64 degrees, but it's been mysteriously cranking up to 68 in the middle of the night, roasting us. DH figured out that it's some weird preset in the thermostat that he can't clear. Happily, a friend just told him our utility is offering Nest thermostats for $25/net cost, so we'll chase that down today.
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Don't know how relevant it is for this thread. But I read a story in the BBC this morning that NHS trials have seen great results from prescribing 'heating'. They offer free heating to people who suffer from things like arthritis and found it really helped. They also found it saved the NHS resources/money because it lead to reduced 'care'.
It's only a small scale trial, but they're doing a larger trial now. Could lead to a change in government/NHS policy further down the line.
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Good to hear from you SLTD. Happy Birthday to the baby for Friday and may all your days be sunny ones.
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Don't know how relevant it is for this thread. But I read a story in the BBC this morning that NHS trials have seen great results from prescribing 'heating'. They offer free heating to people who suffer from things like arthritis and found it really helped. They also found it saved the NHS resources/money because it lead to reduced 'care'.
It's only a small scale trial, but they're doing a larger trial now. Could lead to a change in government/NHS policy further down the line.
We have something like this now. We both use C-paps. Our utility gives us a larger allotment of the lowest tier pricing because of the medical devices. It helps
Nice to hear from you, @shelivesthedream!
...My beloved (and very old) XL heating pad seems to have developed a short, so it's time to Let It Go, sob. We bought MIL a heated throw some years back. Now that she's in the land of Never Cold and doesn't need it, we may start using that. We only used the heating pad to warm the bed before climbing into it, not through the night, so we're not sure we'll like it, but it's worth a try.
Update: I found the heated throw. I put it on and warmed the sheets before we went to bed, then turned it off. It worked pretty well.
Update to the Update: The throw is glorious! We run it on High for a few minutes before bedtime, then we turn it to Low. It shuts off automatically after three hours. We have dropped the thermostat to 62 degrees 24/7.
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Another yay for the brief return of SLTD.
Our heating is an oil-fired burner supplemented from time to time by a couple of wood-burning stoves. I'd like to not be burning stuff but don't see an obvious fix. Problem with a heat pump would seem to be that they don't cope well with power cuts, and we get those reasonably often.
A very warm autumn - no proper frost even here, high up in the dales, until late November. I reckon we've used ~£150 of oil in the last couple of months though.
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Update: The heated throw arrangement is working out well. We keep the house at 62 and use the throw to warm the bed at night. We just got our first utility bill since we figured this out. Um...I just got a notification that the next bill is projected to be...$369. Happily (snirt) our gas usage is way down (furnace is gas), but our electricity consumption is up just a touch and rates are higher overall. Thank Dog we don't need the A/C in the summer.
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Since I had to look it up - 62F is 17C.
After the ice inside the windows incident, I've totally caved and just cranked everything up, saving £3 a day just doesn't seem worth it. The bedroom is now set to maintain 15 degrees overnight. (The indoor icicle happened while it was set to 8 degrees in 'frost protect' mode - pah!!). I'll admit 15 degrees has made it a lot easier to get out of bed in the mornings, and actually also to stay asleep at night as we don't get blasted with cold air each time one of us turns around in bed creating a temporary freezing air gap.
No thermostat in the main living space so I can't tell you the temperature here, but I'm able to be Comfortably Warm while wearing thermals under normal indoor clothes (no hats, coats etc) and the heated throw takes it all the way to Ultra Cosy at my work desk during the day or on the sofa in the evenings.
Temperatures are meant to go firmly above freezing starting tomorrow, so that's good! And two days after that I'm running away to a hot country which is even better.
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Medical advice here in the UK is to keep the temperature to a minimum of 18C if you can, as this is apparently the temperature which stops bad things happening to the human circulation and so increasing the risks of heart attacks and strokes.
I'v definitely moved over to the camp of "just not worth it" and set the temperature in my kitchen diner to 18C. Thermals and a jumper as well and I'm toasty.
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That's interesting, I hadn't given it any thought from that angle. Normally the heat of two hot people in a really small room (and under a duvet) is more than enough and I've barely thought about heating the bedroom since S moved in. But a couple of nights there definitely showed there are limits to that and the heater exists for a reason!
The living room is much larger, has more external walls, and has a much larger and draftier window so it's the first to require heat and I haven't been particularly stingy with it. But I don't know what temperature it reached. Perhaps I should find out, as it's where we spend the most time by far. It doesn't feel cold though so hopefully we're good.
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AProblem with a heat pump would seem to be that they don't cope well with power cuts, and we get those reasonably often.
What gives you that idea? They should cope perfectly well with occasional power cuts. Rapid power cycling isn't likely to be very good for them, but that's not a power cut.
The issue with heat pumps is that the system has to be carefully designed to run with as low flow temperatures as you can and that doesn't seem to be the way a lot of installers operate. They aren't a drop in replacement for an oil or gas boiler.
I've been thinking about changing from a gas boiler to an ASHP and have done all the calculations and radiator resizing. I got a quote from an MCS registered installer - £17,000 before the £5,000 BUS handout. Materials would cost about £7-8,000.
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We keep ours at 16-18c to protect both people and house plants.
We did lose heating for a couple of days due to the boiler breaking, and it wasn't too bad -- it was down to 11c by day two. I really missed hot water though.
Really good to hear from you SLTD. Thanks for popping in.
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Although the freezing temps were nice and Christmassy. I'm quite glad we're back up to double-digit temps here.
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AProblem with a heat pump would seem to be that they don't cope well with power cuts, and we get those reasonably often.
What gives you that idea? They should cope perfectly well with occasional power cuts. Rapid power cycling isn't likely to be very good for them, but that's not a power cut.
I was told by a neighbour that they'd had a few problems with it simply freezing up when the power went off and it was very cold outside.
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We unfortunately were forced to turn our heat on early this year, but it wasn't our choice. We are doing some work on our house, and replaced the wood floor in our kitchen. The flooring guys told use we had to turn the heat on to make sure the wood they were going to use wouldn't get too cold before they installed it... something about acclimating to a higher temp to prevent warping. We didn't want to have to deal with the floors not sitting right, so we ended up having to turn the heat on at the beginning of November.
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I confess: the heating has gone on in my downstairs loo.
My excuse is that this is where my raincoats and the dog towels live and having the heating on is the only way to prevent mold from taking over. I'm in the far west, next to the sea and it has been raining: I have run out of keeping the house aired being enough.
One of these evenings the woodstove is going to be lit too. Sorry/not sorry.
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It's that time of year again!
We've had our heating on for a couple of hours in the mornings for the past week to "take the chill off".
Mr SLTD has started his new job so we've moved to a new house. It's not THE new house, as that's still having some repairs done, but we're in a temporary house down the road since beginning of September probably until beginning of December. It's a ye olde farmhouse and is very lovely, and gets toasty warm in the front two rooms once the sun has started shining on it but overnight it gets absolutely nose-pinchingly, muscle-achingly freezing. So Mr SLTD the early riser turns it on when he gets up and I turn it off when I come down to breakfast.
I'm slightly shocked looking at my heating entry from last year. We were really trying to cut everything down to the bone. Now we suddenly have (what feels to us like) absolutely pots of money, so we can afford to not turn blue before breakfast! We still find we prefer to wear our base layers and have it on the cold side, though, which I'm secretly pleased about.
We are all very happy. We managed to make it through to Mr SLTD's new job starting without running out of money (i.e. dipping into the Official Stash as opposed to the cash emergency fund), although we did take money out of the stash to buy our first car - a used VW e-Golf. I am homeschooling our eldest and the other two are along for the ride. We're living in a delicious chocolate-boxy village where our postman asks after our health as a matter of course. We are currently spending all of Mr SLTD's new higher salary on things for the new house (curtains, furniture, etc) but still frugalling and DIYing it (my next job is making eight pairs of curtains, and eBay remains our friend) and we should be done with all that until Christmas and never need to replace any of it unless it breaks. We've gone for an austere Victorian National Trust (but without all the clutter and knickknacks!) vibe so that should be pretty perennial and never need an aesthetic update. (No trendy grey in sight!) There is also a great big garden that I plan to fill with fruit trees and fruit bushes and rhubarb and asparagus and strawberries (oh, and maybe a few flowers too... and hopefully a grape vine!)
After Christmas we are going to knuckle down and start saving again. We need to discuss what FOR (generic retirement, do we want to buy a house...) We're both still very taken with the idea of buying a house/barn/stable/whatever to renovate/convert as a fun project, or even to build a house in keeping with the local countryside aesthetic, but planning is Hard round here so maybe we should do the sensible thing and just keep it as index funds. Sigh...
My son and I are going to build a model village/model railway in our new garden. I got several books out of the library about it the other week and asked my parents for a bag of cement and some cement dye for my birthday.
I'm not working and have no plans to, homeschooling being my "job", but I did finish my novel and edited it and I think it's not bad actually, and have sent it to lots of agents but no bites yet despite one full manuscript request.
My grandmother had a stroke so will be coming to live with us in the new house, plus daily carers, and we are all looking forward to having her for whatever time we get with her before she dies. She's 96 though, and tough! She's made an amazing recovery so far from her stroke - almost all the movement back in her arm and hand. She's just a bit clumsy with that hand and had already been struggling to remember stuff and organise herself. So now we can organise her and she can just enjoy playing with the children.
And that's my life right now, and my heating :)
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That's a great update SLTD. So many positives (sorry about your grandmother's stroke though).
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Wonderful to hear from you SLTD. Congratulations on the everything!
I turned one of my storage heaters on to the lowest setting when we had a freezing snap about a week ago, but turned it off again as it seems to be around 8 degrees at night again. So far we're ok with just normal clothes (not thermals under them) and our heated throw when we're sat down. Disclaimer: we have two inhabited flats below us.
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Woot woot for a @shelivesthedream update!
You sound happy and busy, what a great combination.
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That was the best central heating update ever!
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That was the best central heating update ever!
Definitely. Lovely to hear from you and even better to know you are well and happy. Go team SLTD.
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That was the best central heating update ever!
Agreed! Hurrah!
To stay on track: we haven't turned ours on yet. OTOH, we live in California, so that's not saying much. OTOOH, I hate being cold. I'd rather forgo A/C in the summer than cozy, delicious heat when it's cold.
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What a lovely update on the heating and everything else, SLTD!
My new place has heating controlled by the building management, so that has been on all the time for a couple weeks. I am running the air conditioners to balance it out; those also seem designed to be on all the time. There are dire warnings on the windows that discourage opening them--I'll attach a photo I took back in the summer. This is one area where I've had real reverse culture shock on going back to the US from the UK.
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Great to hear from you SLTD! What a fab update. (P.S We finally bought a mandolin! And haven't lost any fingers yet).
I'm sorry to say that my heating has been on for a while, our current house in the north west definitely runs colder (and damper, and mouldier) than our old house.
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It was 65 in our house yesterday afternoon, the warmest part of the day. We haven't turned the heat on, but I'm not sure how much longer we'll hold out. We were away a lot this summer and rarely used the A/C, so it will all even out. I hope.
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Due to the unusually warm October we've had in the south we've hardly had our heating on. It's been like an hour occasionally on odd days (not like previous years when it would have been on for hours each day).
Ours is a 3 bedroom semi, 1900's cottage with no cavity walls. We've max insulated the loft, but that's about it.
Typically Nest says the house is currently around 15c to 18c during the day without heating which is not bad.
I will assume November to March will be different; and like last year heating bills will be eye watering!
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Lovely to get an update, SLTD, very pleased to hear that you're now up to number 3 and that homeschooling is going well - what could be more educational than building a model railway?
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Oh, brrr! It's been 60 degrees in our house for two days. Two more nights until we can turn the heat on. I hope I don't cave...