Is your heating ON or OFF?

VfM4meplse

st999 wrote: »

Mine is on at 21deg C from 07:50 to 23:30 every day.


I was on holiday for 13 days and had left my thermostat set at 15deg C.


When I got home at 13:00 last Friday the house was cold and damp and it took the rest of the day to get rid of the damp feeling.
And the heating had used 143 kWh of gas in the 13 days I was away according to my smart meter.

st999 wrote: »

We are both over 73 years old.
Last year we used 13500 kWh of gas for heating and hot water and cooking.
In the summer when the heating is off we use about 11 kWh of gas a day so the heating portion is about 9500 kWh of gas a year.

I am absolutely stunned by your gas usage. In July and August, for example, I used less than 1kWh per month, and that was heating the water for 20 minutes a day. How do you get through 11kWh a day in the summer?! Is the smart meter of any use to you? Do you need to upgrade your boiler? Are there any home improvement grants available to you?

Eta: I've just checked my last bill, and my estimated annual gas usage is less than 4,000kWh pa. I live in a large family-sized house, and I am very sensitive to the cold. This year I spent a fortune on improving the energy efficiency of my home, so I would like to see this figure halve.

catz4m8z wrote: »

Def getting chillier now but Im trying to hold out until November. No heating but I did have to shut the back door today as it was too parky in the house.
Im relying on double jumpers, wooly sock and ugg boots at the moment. I dont have central heating so hopefully it wont get too cold this year (too cold and my fridgefreezer keeps turning itself off!).

How do you manage without?

Suffolk_lass

Hello everyone - I don't remember removing my subscription to this thread but realised I had not seen it this year and went looking.

We have not turned our heating on at all yet this year - big but though - we have a thatched property with excellent insulation that is now double glazed (including two doors), with a new front door that has draught strip all round - such a difference. We did buy 500l of heating oil but it is only being used for hot water.

We also (crucially) have a range that has been on for a month so the room it is in is probably too warm and by leaving the adjacent room doors open, there is enough heat elsewhere to keep everything warm enough. That leaves the sitting room. The chimney has been swept ready to feed the wood-burner but not cold enough yet to light it, and a small convector heater has been on for maybe one evening.

I had a warm sweatshirt on yesterday that meant I was too warm. Not sure what is going on really as it looks as though there is frost on the car windscreen this morning. I have shut the bedroom window now but the cat is also too warm - she snuggles into the back of my knees when it is cold but is still in her preferred position in DH's slippers at the top of the stairs at the moment.

pattypan4

Underfloor heating, it is very different to radiators that heat and cool much more quickly. I am too warm just now downstairs and the floor is still warm. I have had to go around tweaking yet again, on earlier ie 4.30am and 1.5 degrees lower and off earlier as in a good hour earlier. Last week gas usage was higher but no surprise. Maybe my body is adapting anyway. I am definitely not going to top up with electric, I have a lightweight electric heater in reserve. The electric cost is a lot higher than gas. I had 2 candles lit last night, in tall metal lanterns, they are like mini radiators so I always have a backup. This UFH is very definitely not instant, it needs forward planning and then some

VfM4meplse

pattypan4 wrote: »

Underfloor heating, it is very different to radiators that heat and cool much more quickly. I am too warm just now downstairs and the floor is still warm. I have had to go around tweaking yet again, on earlier ie 4.30am and 1.5 degrees lower and off earlier as in a good hour earlier. Last week gas usage was higher but no surprise. Maybe my body is adapting anyway. I am definitely not going to top up with electric, I have a lightweight electric heater in reserve. The electric cost is a lot higher than gas. I had 2 candles lit last night, in tall metal lanterns, they are like mini radiators so I always have a backup. This UFH is very definitely not instant, it needs forward planning and then some

Things that put me off UFH:

1) The hassle and disruption of having it installed, especially if you have decent flooring that you would prefer not to destroy / replace on top of the outlay for the system itself.

2) The cost of heating - presumably it's electric and not GCH / water piping?

3) The hassle and cost of locating a fault when it goes wrong, then lifting up the flooring and making it good once more.

4) What you have just said.

Conclusion: not for me. Its cheaper and less hassle to go with a pair of warm woolly socks.

pattypan4

Its built into most new houses these days VfM I would never retro-fit it but I am liking it overall, particularly as it is gas driven. The house is very well insulated so it won`t cost too much to run. I think my gas, incuding hot water was £14 for the last month and £9 before the heating went on. These new builds have much smaller rooms so having the extra wall space is good. It won`t go wrong, it is designed with a manifold and each pipe length is one length which comes into the manifold, which is in a hall cupboard. Another downside with these new build systems is that there is no hall cupboard space because it is taken up with the gubbins and the understairs is a cloakroom. Naturally the upside is the excellent insulation and the heat is a cosy heat

I forgot, I do have a very nice modern multi fuel stove in my living room, I could actually go quite cool underfloor but I cba cleaning the stove too often

Slinky

Got heating coming on for hour 20 mins in the morning and 2 hours in the evening at the moment. This will be our first winter in the house so still trying to assess our usage.



I try and use solar gain as much as possible in our 1960s house as we have nice large windows. Open curtains/blinds as wide as possible and close just before it gets dark. Unfortunately front faces east and back is west with no windows on the south side, but I'm sure we get some benefit when the sun's out.

uk_american

Living in a tiny, top floor fishbowl flat, the heat is still OFF in my corner of Essex, since March.

I live in the top floor flat, I get the morning sun and the rising heat from my neighbours first thing in the morning plus the evenings. I do have my wool blanket and a jumper on now though. I have double glazed doors/windows with draught strip plus some homemade draft blockers for the door bases, they're filled with cheap rice, 5+ years old.

I normally hold off until November as a middle-aged adult with no health issues.

Stay warm folks. I've found a (secondhand) wool blanket is much more effective than a new fleece one. My handmade wool socks purchased from the 'bay of E' will make a huge difference in the coldest months, a price I am happy to pay since I cannot knit.

VfM4meplse

pattypan4 wrote: »

Its built into most new houses these days VfM

Now I feel quite outmoded! But also comfortable in the knowledge that I cannot see myself moving into a new build, this is my home and I'm not budging unless this area goes into steep decline (it is a v nice part of town).

Came home today and it did feel very cold, although on days like this I regret not being able to take full advantage of the conservatory which gets beautifully heated by the sun. Heating is on at 15 twice a day at least, and I now can't see that changing until well after the clocks go forward.

Novice_investor101

Proper winter has finally arrived! Frost in the morning, & dark on the way home from work at 5pm. It's been a cold day today.
Heating is also on winter mode. Set to on for 1.5 hours in the morning & 5-8pm weekdays, 4-8pm weekends. Thermostat set to 18c, which equals a comfortable 20c downstairs, & the boiler is never on for the full 3-4 hours on an evening.

My cheap decathlon puffy coat was plenty warm enough walking to work (best bargain of the year) but my gloves have seen better days.
My local Tesco has a 20% off sale on clothing so I might get some essential bits from there one day on the way home this week.

pattypan4

VfM you have what seems like a very nice project on your hands, enjoy it. I am too past a project now, hence the new build

Slinky I actually love E/W configuration, I had S/N previously with massive windows facing south, yes it was lovely but I had a verandah to shade when the sun was blazing. Now I have 2 through rooms downstairs with windows at each end, morning and evening sun suits me fine. I chose E/W when I was looking for a house, constant south can get overbearingly hot in summer and I hate extreme heat

I don`t like the change of hour, body clock has not adjusted