Is your heating ON or OFF?

mandy47

Managed to get through the whole of February without using central heating.  Only used the log burner in the evenings. Dried most my washing outside and haven't used the tumble dryer at all. Really surprised ourselves,  didn't think it would be possible.  

Auntycaz

@mandy47 isn't it just as expensive using the log burning as turning on the central heating or do you have a supply of free wood. At my last house I had no mains gas and found the woodburner expensive to run. Then again it was a 300 yr old cottage and was cold indoors even in the summer.

Cherryfudge

We've just had a weekend away in a cottage with a log burner that had a free-standing fan on top. When the air above reaches about 50C, the air current starts the fan. The idea is to circulate the air better, thus reducing fuel consumption. A bit of research indicates you need a temperature gauge to ensure nothing overheats, but that wasn't a problem while we used it and the place warmed up nicely. They cost from about £30 and are entirely mechanical.

I wondered if anyone else is using one, and what are your opinions please?

luvchocolate

I have no other form of heating other than central heating 
I managed to have 14 days last month without any heating whatsoever. 
Bill due in a couple of days..will be interesting 

MikeyPGT

Have had the heating on for about 3 hours in total all winter!  That said, I do tend to spend all day in the library making use of their free wi-fi and free tea and coffee, only heading for home to watch the tv wrapped in a blankie ...

Primrose

Fed in our dual meter readings today and relieved to discover our bill was lower than January's but of course February is 3 days shorter.  However, we were very stringent with our energy use.

   However Scottish Power now have around £700 credit on our account which should be in OUR bank account and not theirs!

I realise this is an unexpectedly  comfortable financial situation for us to be in but if this mirrors a lot of other customers' situations surely it's about time the regular should be imposing powers to make energy companies start paying their customers interest on these credit balances?
They must be earning considerable sums in interest on the money markets.

mandy47

Auntycaz said:

@mandy47 isn't it just as expensive using the log burning as turning on the central heating or do you have a supply of free wood. At my last house I had no mains gas and found the woodburner expensive to run. Then again it was a 300 yr old cottage and was cold indoors even in the summer.

We spend approx £150 each winter on seasoned wood. Plus £15 delivery charge. We get free kindling in the form of off cuts from the local wood yard. Sometimes we are gifted wood/trees which we have to store for a minimum of 2 years before using.
We did work it out and it costs far more to run the central heating. 
Plus I love the real fire. 

Auntycaz

@mandy47 when I lived in the old cottage I was still working full time and I was out of the house 12/14 hours per day as I lived rurally and worked in the city so spent 3/4 hrs per day on the bus so it wasn't really worth using the woodburner except on my days off. When it got going it was sometimes too hot and I opened the doors so the heat spread through the house. Most days I would use the oil filled radiators in the living room to take the chill off before I went to work and again when I got home.As I lived in a terraced cottage on the main road if I had a log delivery I had to take them all round the back and through the passage in a wheelbarrow. I'm glad I have central heating now but I do like to see o coal fire. I have a chimney but it can't be used as the landlord blocked it up so I just light a few tea lights in red glass holders on the grate and I have a mirror behind them that reflects back into the  living room, Not a real fire but it looks nice on a cold evening.

Auntycaz

My dual energy bill for February was lower than my January bill but not as low as I was hoping for. Let's hope it's quite a bit warmer in April when the prices go up again and the government subsidy to our heating cost comes to an end.

YoungBlueEyes

My thermostat is set to 18' from 1800-2100 and it's not come on these last few nights. Hopefully that's the worst of the cold gone now It's lovely getting my windows open and some fresh air in, one of my favourite things in the world.

My neighbours don't think so though, I never see any of their windows open. Their boilers are constantly going so I expect they can't open a window cos it'd let all that expensive heat out