Is your heating ON or OFF?

Quasar

Well I had it on the last three days as it has turned very cold! BUT not all day long. Was out most of the day on work assignments, and been coming home at around 8-ish. I put the heating on full for about half an hour then on very low and not for the whole evening. Whilst I definitely don't want to waste money on excessive heating, I certainly don't want to rattle my teeth when I'm meant to be relaxing. Hot water bottle under feet and hot drink flask by me DO help, however. :A

lostinrates

Brrrrr....our loo is outside...its bitter out there!

marmiterulesok

Still off here.It's been cold,wet and windy.In the flat it's 17c and I feel very cosy,wearing layers plus a fleece blanket.

I think I'm fortuanate to have flats above and below and double glazing,when I read what temperature some of you have in your houses.I think someone wrote that it was 10c inside recently.Brrrrr!
14c sounds bad enough...

I've put out peanuts and fat balls for the birds now,along with the usual seeds and grains.There's a lot of activity and chirping (mainly from the sparrows) out on the balcony,it's endlessly fascinating.

lostinrates thanks for your comments on winter weather and wildlife,very interesting.I understand your point of view,but I find the harshness of winter soul-sapping.I am glad I'm not a sparrow or a deer.

mollysbb do you feed squirrels who come into your garden?What do you feed them and where do you put the food ?I don't have a garden,but live next to a park,where there are squirrels.What do you feed the hedgehogs?I hear that they like catfood (?).I'm always worried that rats would eat any food laying on the ground.

Stay warm folks!

debtmess

lostinrates wrote: »

Brrrrr....our loo is outside...its bitter out there!

wow ! hugs to you xxx

lostinrates

debtmess wrote: »

wow ! hugs to you xxx

Its not as bad as it sounds, we do have one upstairs too, with an indoor bathroom , but for various reasons -mostly pumbing related- best to use outdoors when possible. The new sewage system will be in for next winter and then I'll trip upstairs all the time.

edit: a huge bonus is it feels dramatically warmer in the house when you come back in!

debtmess

very true lol bet the first few mins of back indoors id bliss, id hate having a cold loo seat (sorry !)

lostinrates

debtmess wrote: »

very true lol bet the first few mins of back indoors id bliss, id hate having a cold loo seat (sorry !)

Its invigorating!

Right, it is nippy and I want to try and get a grip with the condensation, tomorrow I'll do the washing up liquid, tonight I'm going to try leaving heating on with the temp set to 60 farenheit...I can't think in farenheit, but I think its worth seeing if there is any improvement with that

jenster

a few have said its better to leave the heating on low rather then the on-off method

there lots of mentions of this on MSE on the utilities pages and others , but put it like this would u leave the kettle on cos u think its better then to reboil it ?

also this
http://www.nef.org.uk/actonCO2/energymyths.asp

but choice is yours and pls dont go cold

de1amo

their must be some latent heat that permeates into the fabricate of the property--the walls get cold which is born out by the amount of people who are suffering 'cold mold' these days. Maybe not leave the heating pumping all day but set the thermostat so it comes on when the temperature drops below a certain level.

mollysbb

marmiterulesok wrote: »

Still off here.It's been cold,wet and windy.In the flat it's 17c and I feel very cosy,wearing layers plus a fleece blanket.

I think I'm fortuanate to have flats above and below and double glazing,when I read what temperature some of you have in your houses.I think someone wrote that it was 10c inside recently.Brrrrr!
14c sounds bad enough...

I've put out peanuts and fat balls for the birds now,along with the usual seeds and grains.There's a lot of activity and chirping (mainly from the sparrows) out on the balcony,it's endlessly fascinating.

lostinrates thanks for your comments on winter weather and wildlife,very interesting.I understand your point of view,but I find the harshness of winter soul-sapping.I am glad I'm not a sparrow or a deer.

mollysbb do you feed squirrels who come into your garden?What do you feed them and where do you put the food ?I don't have a garden,but live next to a park,where there are squirrels.What do you feed the hedgehogs?I hear that they like catfood (?).I'm always worried that rats would eat any food laying on the ground.

Stay warm folks!

I feed the squirrels that come in the garden marmite, although, that's a bit chicken and egg I suppose, as I suspect they tell their mates and invite them along. To keep them off the bird feeders, I put specific lots out just for them. In the front garden I have an upturned hanging basket, with a tomato tray inside (has holes in, so any rain will drain out) and I put the whole thing inside a bush. Squirrels are happy with that and it keeps the birds off. In the back garden I put the peanuts in an old bamboo steamer (again, keeps them off the ground) and under a garden table to keep the rain off.

Hedgehogs have their own special food, but when that runs out, there are always seeds and peanuts dropped on the ground; also, they are the gardener's friend, as they like slugs

Re the on all day/on set times debate, wouldn't that depend on how long you spend in the house? If you are only home (and up) an hour or so in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening, I would feel that having heating on for 24 hours, however low, would be wasteful. But, if you are home all day.... With that, and the type/age etc of the house - so many variables!

I have had the odd one hour blast, but am still coping mainly with hot water bottles and the electric blanket under the throw on the sofa

Cheers

Molly