Have you turned your heating on yet?

jimmyay

We're in London and the flat hasnt dropped below 21.5 degrees yet.

The last couple of years we've managed not to put the heating on until the 2nd week in November. It goes off again as early as possible, sometime in March.

Get acclimatised. Wear shorts and t shirts as long as you can outside ( case in point, last weekend - it was 22 degrees in London, not baking hot, but certainly not cold enough to justify all the coats and jumpers i saw people wearing just because "its september" - i donned my shorts and t shirt), and then gradually put on appropriate clothing.

The trouble is that people work in overheated offices and they think they can walk around in skimpy clothes quite happily in winter so they come used to interiors being stiflingly hot, dry.

Sweaters and thick socks are normal clothes for winter, not t shirts and 25 degree houses and workplaces.

Even with our new boiler and with the thermostat set to 19 , we still paid a fortune for gas last winter, hundreds of pounds more than usual, and thats being prudent in a London flat. i dread to think how some people manage to afford to heat say a draughty old house in windy yorkshire.

mollythewestie

No heating on here - we try and hold out till the end of october normally. Jumpers and winter coats will be brought out of storage and summer clothes put away soon though.

michaels

In our old house we had a multi-period multi-temperature thermostat and just left it on all year - 22 in the day 19 at night - very occasionally it would come on on a chilly summer morning which was not good as by the time the day heated up the house would be sweltering. New house you can only set temperature and on/off times which will be more challenging as it doesn't need to be as warm at night as in the day but it is nice if it can warm up before getting out of bed.

Mayflower10cat

No, though on a few very chilly early mornings I've been sorely tempted to drag the little heater out of the shed for the conservatory! We do have an open fire in the lounge and if we burn our paper rubbish in the evening & add a few extra little bits of wood, the cottage is small enough to feel the benefit.

pault123

how do you guys dry towels after bath/shower in morn and eve?

I stick them on a maiden in back bedroom with two windows open to stop condensation build up, but they still take 2 days to dry fully.

Can't beat the hot radiator dried towel but its hard to justify heating the whole house to dry x2 towels a day! Can't risk putting them out before work as recently its been rain rain rain!

WestonDave

michaels wrote: »

In our old house we had a multi-period multi-temperature thermostat and just left it on all year - 22 in the day 19 at night - very occasionally it would come on on a chilly summer morning which was not good as by the time the day heated up the house would be sweltering. New house you can only set temperature and on/off times which will be more challenging as it doesn't need to be as warm at night as in the day but it is nice if it can warm up before getting out of bed.

You can swap it over for less than £100 - the wires generally just swap over, or alternatively get the engineer to do it next time they service the boiler.

WestonDave

pault123 wrote: »

how do you guys dry towels after bath/shower in morn and eve?

I stick them on a maiden in back bedroom with two windows open to stop condensation build up, but they still take 2 days to dry fully.

Can't beat the hot radiator dried towel but its hard to justify heating the whole house to dry x2 towels a day! Can't risk putting them out before work as recently its been rain rain rain!

We have a dual heat towel rail/radiator in the bathroom (one of the chrome style jobbies) that runs off the central heating in winter, but has an electric element in it for when the heating isn't on. That's wired into an programmable timer switch so that it always comes on for a short time morning and evening to dry to towels off (thinking about it now the kids don't often have baths in the evenings we can probably knock out the evening setting). It also helps dry the bathroom out as well.

pault123

michaels wrote: »

In our old house we had a multi-period multi-temperature thermostat and just left it on all year - 22 in the day 19 at night - very occasionally it would come on on a chilly summer morning which was not good as by the time the day heated up the house would be sweltering. New house you can only set temperature and on/off times which will be more challenging as it doesn't need to be as warm at night as in the day but it is nice if it can warm up before getting out of bed.

i set my timer dial to come on at 6am and turn off at 8am then 530pm and turn off at 8pm for warmth when get home from work.

Before bed if its a cold night i'll turn the timer dial to timed, then leave it like that for the evening if its a cold day.

Its its a mild night before bed i'll simply turn off the timer mode. I've never had a house with themostat.

Although its usually middle of October before this happens rregularly

ontheroad_2

pault123 wrote: »

how do you guys dry towels after bath/shower in morn and eve?

I stick them on a maiden in back bedroom with two windows open to stop condensation build up, but they still take 2 days to dry fully.

Can't beat the hot radiator dried towel but its hard to justify heating the whole house to dry x2 towels a day! Can't risk putting them out before work as recently its been rain rain rain!

Ours is a combi-boiler, and so the radiators don't stay stone-cold if theres been hot water running for baths etc. I just pop the damp towels over the radiators, and they are dry by next morning.

dogcat_2

No...we've not got the heating on at the moment. As regards to getting the washing dry..we have an independent heated towel rail...which is good for getting towels and heavier items dry. I still use the clothes airer...and put it out ot the way by the back door....If theres something urgent that needs to be dried...then alas....the tumble dryer....