Leaving heating on 24hrs?

Reason123

i just thought about the 'normal' cling film.
But we have cats, and i know the !!!!!!s with rip it to shreds!
Will have a look at B&Q for some proper stuff. What is it called in B&Q or elsewhere? As i imagine its not called cling film??!

PolishBigSpender

penrhyn wrote: »

Get a room thermometer, as peoples perception of temperature is not a good guide.
20-21 degrees is regarded a comfortable.

True, but it's her perception what is important here, isn't it? As long as she feels cold, the temperature isn't comfortable.

My personal comfortable temperature is somewhere between 25 and 27 degrees... :]

Maybe try to seal up your windows? You can get special window foam that seems to be quite effective.

Reason123

Cheers all for your advice.

Ive bought http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/QUALITY-WARMSEAL-WINDOW-INSULATION-DOUBLE-GLAZING-KIT_W0QQitemZ370124545068QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Home_Garden_Decorative_Accents_LE?hash=item370124545068&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318 from ebay to test on a couple of windows. Il put some Silica sachets in the bottom to help our fight with condensation.
Ive also invested in a DeLonghi DEM10 dehumidifier as we dry clothes on an in-doors washing line.

Next thing il look to get is a think curtain to cover the front door as a lot of draft comes in there!

Cheers again

rhiwfield

We went thru this exercise earlier this year following the oil price hikes and after putting in extra insulation wherever possible we now need 30% less fuel than before. We even ended up taking out one rad leaving better use of wall space.

Ideally you first need to work out where you are losing heat:

1. Floor - ground floor is presumably unheated. If it was occupied/heated you would be gaining benefit. As it is you will be losing heat thru the floor which you can offset by thermal underlay and thick carpet
2. Walls - cavity wall insulation can make a big difference. If not possible you might try reflective radiator foil.
3. Loft space - insulate to current standards if possible
4. Windows- secondary glaze if possible or use insulation film (cheap method but not very robust) and foam insulation strips around window openings to stop draughts. We have mostly double glazing which stops draughts/heat loss but we also bought 40m (half price when bought in bulk) of thermal lining and lined all our curtains. That makes a big difference even with double glazing and its fairly cheap and quick to do.
5. Door - I'd guess the lobby is unheated so use insulating foam strips to seal off draughts around door opening. An internal lined curtain across the door will also help cut heat loss, as will a draught excluder.

Bear in mind that you need to have sufficient ventilation or your house will be prone to condensation and mould.

Try using this model to work out the impact of each action on the rate of heat loss:
http://www.trademate.co.uk/Services/HeatLoss/default.asp?_brand=CP

Once your house is insulated to the best level you can do(or are allowed) then your attention switches to heat input. It may be that your boiler or rads are undersized for the current heat loss. If so the extra insulation may bring heat input/loss into balance. If not, then you may need to upgrade boiler or rads and/or install an extra rad.

For me, a comfort temperature in our lounge (or any area where I am sitting for any length of time) is 21C. 15C seems way too low.

Pssst

You need to stop energy leaking out rather than supply more to keep the birds warm!

greenbee

If your rads are on all that time with the thermostat set to 25, then they obviously aren't up to the job - possibly because the heat is escaping from elsewhere.

rhiwfield has provided some great advice on how to insulate. Once you've done this, then you can look at calculating the size of the radiators required for the rooms and seeing whether you've got a problem.

I'd add that even if you do have cavity wall insulation, reflector panels behind the radiators (particularly those on outside walls) are worth it. Cheap and easy to do ...

... and if you can't line your curtains, then you can make simple blinds to put behind them (lined with thermal lining fabric, or even just made from it). I make mine using a piece of fabric just over twice the size of the window aperture (work out what you need for the seams etc after you have read this and before buying/cutting the fabric!).

Cut a piece of thermal lining slightly smaller than the window aperture, place in the middle of one half of the blind fabric, on the wrong side of the fabric. Stitch firmly into place (machine if you aren't worried about the stitching showing, or can make it a feature, otherwise handstitch with invisible hemming stictch ). Then fold the fabric in half, right sides together (so your lining fabric is on the outside) and machine up both sides. Turn right side out.

You now have a lined envelope, with a long side open. Machine down this side to close it up (neatly, but it doesn't need to be invisible). I usually have plenty of extra fabric at the top so that I can fold over about 4 inches (sometimes I use a contrasting fabric e.g. leftover curtain fabric so it matches). If you have wooden window frames, stitch this to form a channel at the top of the curtain wide enough to take a length of dowel (for small windows, use curtain wire on the top). If you have plastic frames, stich one half of a length of velcro to the top of the back of the blind. There should be a flap hanging over, under which you can sew the front ties. You can also fold over the bottom hem to make a channel for another piece of dowel if you want a rigid edge there.

You need to make four lengths of fabric (or use ribbon) to fix in pairs back and front which you can use to tie the blind up.

If you are using dowel, you can put the blind up by putting cuphooks on the window frame and regular intervals, and cutting slits in the top of the blind so that the dowel rests in the cuphooks.

I hope this a. makes sense, and b. is useful! These have been a godsend for me, as they're cheap, warm and attractive. I managed to make these from calico to put up in my house before I could afford curtains.

Mazio_2

rhiwfield wrote: »

1. Windows- secondary glaze if possible or use insulation film (cheap method but not very robust) and foam insulation strips around window openings to stop draughts. We have mostly double glazing which stops draughts/heat loss but we also bought 40m (half price when bought in bulk) of thermal lining and lined all our curtains. That makes a big difference even with double glazing and its fairly cheap and quick to do.

I have done this with thermal lining of some of my rooms and my results are very good it has made a big difference. I bought mine from a shop called Boyes ready cut average window will cost about £15 patio door £24 .
Biggest difference front door to hallway and patio door in backroom.

I have double glazed windows throughout ( 20 years old now) but its still made a difference.

Ken68

Similar situation here, greenbee, tho your's seem neater.
Also have made up some EXTERIOR polystyrene shutters for the 5 windows at the back of the house.
Slot them in about 4pm and out by 10am. Savings £50 a year. Cost.. 2 sheets 8'x4' £20.
Big bonus here no condensation on the inside of the windows. Tho do run a de-humidifer 3hrs most days at a cost of 7pence.