Is your heating ON or OFF?

GaleSF63

Primrose said:

Have been reading gov warnings about possible gas shortages this winter.  Can anybody explain to me how a gas supply to a household can be safely cut off in the same way thwt An electricity power cut can be implemented  to affect a whole area?.  Surely some gas must remain in the pipes?  I,m concerned about the safety aspect.

When we had the power cuts in the seventies I seem to remember that gas could not be turned off because of the danger of it going off when appliances were on, then coming back on when they were still on and gas was coming out without the appliances being lit again. 

Wednesday2000

YorksLass said:

Wednesday2000 said:I don't think I have ever read about putting a blanket on top of the sheets, but under the duvet.

Yes, it works - ask me how I know.      

Ooh, was that your comment on there? If it was I think we are all on here quite becoming hip and trendy with our money-saving advice.:)

Cherryfudge

As a non-dog/cat owner looking on, my thought was that dogs don't need coats (certainly not ridiculous fashions) but then I thought on.

Wild relatives of dogs don't have coats, working dogs don't either, but the latter are bred and conditioned through an outdoor life to be hardy. Many dogs, however, are bred to have very little fur or non-shedding coats that need to be clipped for the sake of their health. Some are bred to be super-small so they have a proportionately large surface through which heat is lost. Some are elderly or have health conditions.

I don't think there's a 'one size fits all' response to the question of dog coats.  

Doom_and_Gloom

It is definitely a case by case basis for animals needing coats/jackets/jumpers/cardigans or the like. My parents dog has very short fur and gets cold easily, far sooner than my parents do or I do when I visit them. She has cardigans and jumpers for indoor use and by this time of year she can easily be wearing them inside and her coat outside. She isn't forced to wear them, she quite politely 'asks' to have the item put on her, even helps as much as she can, and you can see the difference between before and after as she stops shivering.
My parents have their gas central heating to go on at around 18 or 19 during the day so it isn't like they aren't keeping the place at a decent temperature. My parents are in their 60s and starting to need the heating on more due to health issues. I was brought up with knowing that a jumper or the like has to go on before I could moan about the heating needing to go on.

Thankfully we have a chinchilla which means we have never had to worry about it getting cold for them. Having them even means our heating can't go too high which saves money. However as I said I was brought up to cover up first before turning the heating on but being disabled does mean I sometimes have to have the heat on when others may not.

The heating is off here still. Our neighbours on both sides really must have theirs on rather high as it almost feels like we do have our heating on even though we don't. We haven't had to shut the living room or bedroom doors to preserve heat or anything. I don't want to think about how warm it is going to feel when the oven gets put on later for our dinner!

arnoldy

Dog breeding can be a horrible thing. Visual aesthetics taking precedent over healthy dogs. Dogs are not human; they should be working, active things. I'm sad how many live in domestic mollycoddled centrally heated houses with fluffy knit wear on, under-exercised and over fed. Many of the owners are unable to really afford them, let alone train and discipline them. Plastic bags full of you know what often litter the countryside, what we might term a significant minority of irresponsible dog owners.

London_1

Yes still off here , but I live in the sunny south east where we still have the sun at the moment ,not blazing down, but a nice 18-20c 
We still have to be careful with our water as well as the reservoirs are still not full just yet, any rain is more the misty autumn kind not the down pour we need to top them up
My gas CH boiler only comes on for two hours in the morning just o heat a tank full of water.

JackieO xx

arnoldy

No significant cold weather for the next two weeks for UK according to the weather forecasts.

Just had a look at the government handouts - listed they are pretty generous; this morning Shell doubled the warm front bung to £300 and that's on top. With the price cap as well are we actually going to be better off than last year? - especially if we have a mild winter which is not unlikely.
Help with your energy bills - Help for Households

YoungBlueEyes

Yep I agree that it's not one-size-fits-all when it comes to coats for dogs.  When I said 'your average dog' I meant that to exclude the very elderly or poorly dogs.

When the Beast from the East was with us a few years ago, my cocker Jack would have been nearly 10 years old.  He had hair not fur so I bought him a wax coat that was fleecy underneath thinking "I'm sure he'll appreciate this" because he was slim and that wind was biting. He didn't take a bit of notice of it and still jumped in the (cold deep fast) river that he swam in every day. Complete waste of money.

Most dogs will quickly acclimatise to their conditions.  You don't have to worry about them so much, you really don't

Cherryfudge

The thermostat went down to 15.5 this morning so I blipped it till we got 16C. So, the heating has been on.

I'm amazed I'm okay with 16 degrees. If I'm sitting still or tired or not 100% well, I used the heated pad, but mostly it's just a case of adding another layer of jumper or fleece. Our weakness is a hot bath before bed, which probably undoes a lot of the daytime lack of central heating. However, DH doesn't have good circulation, so it helps get him warmed through to sleep.

freyasmum

No, not yet. 

But I'm in the South East and it's not been terribly cold here yet; it's currently 23° in the living room.