Is your heating ON or OFF?

mrsr

Living room still at 24c heat off with candles burning away,OH sat in T-Shirt ,dogs sat on my lap and me with a thermal top on.The rest of the house is chilly, i will be putting a hotwater bottle in bed before i go up and taking dogs to cuddle.:)Very icey out ATM glad i'm not back to work till tomorrow night.

janb5

Just discovered water leaking from the door where our boiler is. Repair guy- very nice, picked up the phone- says the pipe outside must have leaked due to the weather - He is coming around on Monday to lag the pipe. I kep all my spare batteries in the cupboard where the boiler is housed ( IYSWIM) and it has leaked onto the carbboard etc. Must have been quietly leaking all evening.....

debtmess

we've got the fan heater on (just one tonight) im amazed at how well they work (even more so only cost 9.99)

i must sort this duvet for chimney thing, i reckon that will make my place a lot warmer so much must be lost due to the fireplace

susank

slipthru wrote: »

Coldest evening/night here so far this cold snap, -4 outside now. Heating has been on most of the day. cats all curled up on the sofa with us.

It was minus 10.5 at 2am this morning and been minus 11 on and off all week - its back to minus 3 tonight and so its blissfully warm now! - We sleep with our bedroom window open and it was frozen all along inside it this morning but I was toasty in bed!!
Heating on loads and set to 21 turned stat to 15 at night and overridden the heating so it comes on and off a couple of times during the night as it has been so cold

slipthru

susank wrote: »

It was minus 10.5 at 2am this morning and been minus 11 on and off all week - its back to minus 3 tonight and so its blissfully warm now! - We sleep with our bedroom window open and it was frozen all along inside it this morning but I was toasty in bed!!
Heating on loads and set to 21 turned stat to 15 at night and overridden the heating so it comes on and off a couple of times during the night as it has been so cold

It does seem that we have the mildest of the bad weather where we are and I'm begining to see the upside to moving here. OH usually sleeps with window open at night but not since it got colder.

It's meant to be 7c here tomorrow during the day, really hope it happens.

Ben84

I'm using the heating a lot, but this extremely cold weather is just too much for the boiler output and the heat loss from the house it seems. It's been turned on and set to 20 degrees for seven hours now, with all the radiators on full and boiler thermostat at maximum, but despite this the temperature inside has only just reached a rare high of 13 degrees.

Sammyantha

Got it on 9 hours per day since 3 days ago It's hideously expensive (calor gas LPG bulk tank) but our barn conversion flat is a draft magnet with no double glazing!!!

marmiterulesok

It snowed again today for a short while.
I had the heating on in the sitting-room for three hours today,as had visitors.Feeling chilly now,it's 16c,but it's not unpleasant.I hate being hot/too hot-it actually makes me feel violent....

Hippeechiq

slipthru wrote: »

It does seem that we have the mildest of the bad weather where we are and I'm begining to see the upside to moving here. OH usually sleeps with window open at night but not since it got colder.

It's meant to be 7c here tomorrow during the day, really hope it happens.

You down south then Slipthru? It's supposed to be 7º in my area tomorrow too. I also prefer to sleep with the bedroom window open, but it's been way too cold to do that for the past few nights, it's been bitterly, bitterly cold.

I'm in Dorset and I love the snow! We finally had some yesterday :j but as I'm typing this, it's blowing a gale outside and rain is hammering on the patio doors, so it barely had the chance to settle before it's all gone again

Apparently is supposed to rain all day tomorrow with a high of 7º

Give me cold, dry, bright weather over mild, miserable wet weather any day. I HATE the rain, it's so depressing.

dogstarheaven

Frugal wrote: »

dogstarheaven - I am very concerned about you and your family. I know you don't want to get into debt, but it sounds like you will receive money once the claim goes thru so why not pop the heating on even if its just an hour a day, just to take the chill out of the house?

I really think its awful that in this day and age, people are forced to be freezing because of the evil we call 'money'

Hippeechiq - My heating is on 24hrs a day but on low (thermostat not showing accurate temp so no idea exactly how cool/warm it is in here) but rather than keep the house 'warm', we keep it 'not cold'.

I have an ancient backboiler, god bless her she's been going for years with no trouble , which also heats the water tank which is also on 24 hours

It costs me £3 a day roughly to heat a large 2 bed end terrace house and hot water all day and night.

I have tried various combinations and checked the cost (altho not for years and years) and found that it was no more expensive to have it on 24hrs on low, than coming on for a few hours morning and evening, and when we wanted a bath etc.

This way, the house never gets really cold, and the water tank never cools down so less effort for the boiler to heat it back up again.

I do turn the thermostat right down at night (also it does click in sometimes) and turn it up when i get up in the morning - on days i am working i turn it down to night temp and up once i get home.

Hope that helps

bluebag wrote: »

dogstarheaven,

From my past calculations with gas at 35p per therm, I think it is about 17p per hour on high and 10p per hour on low.

Gas fires are only about 60% efficient, so if you have an efficient boiler it may be cheaper to run your central heating and turn the radiators off in the rooms you are not using.

My central heating on at 22C costs about 27p per hour to run,( A rated boiler) and that's a massive three bedroom terraced. It would cost a lot less if I could evict the kids and turn the radiators down in all the upstairs rooms.:)

Please bear in mind my maths is very back of the envelope calculations type stuff.
It may be worth asking some questions on the heating board, they have a few engineers on there that are very knowlegeable. Cardew in particular comes to mind.

I would get on the phone every day to the DWP, they do make mistakes, when my daughter was ill and claiming income support they lost all her claim and I had to threaten to take them to court to get them to up their game, so don't just accept things at face value.. get on to them and tell them how you are living.

The CAB can be helpful and there are other charities and welfare agencies that can help, you should be able to afford some heating, it's classed as one of the basic necceseties.
Hope that helps.

thanks v much for yours and bluebag's calculations. it's interesting to know the figures don't seem that bad considering what it would cost per day. as a not-so-organised person, i don't keep tabs on what i spend on my fuel. the bills just come out by DD on my bank a/c, and i just skim thru' what goes out each month, and sometimes, i curb any excesses either on the food shop or the garden centre purchases! (i'm addicted to plants!!:D)

i don't have a clue as to what i have re. what type of boiler i have. tho' generally, i think Housing Assoc properties tend to have combi's don't they? so i'd imagine that mine is as energy-efficient as is possible. i'll look on the 'Fuel Forum' to see what tips i can pick up there.

Rosanna79 wrote: »

Heating ON 24 hours at present with current weather on low. Radiators turned off in bedroom and front sitting room- live in back and put on electric fire as necessary in front room- keep my musical instruments in there so cool is preferable. Can't sleep in a heated bedroom, nose gets so stuffy would be awake all night. Use more bedding to compensate which works well and OH is agreeable. First year of retirement so unsure how bill will pan out despite over 60s fuel allowance. Desperate to conserve personal funds rather than pay these greedy. grasping energy companies their inflated prices. However I've always hated freezing cold houses - so depressing and having particularly painful osteoarthritis in my hands can't afford to get too cold or I end up crying with the pain which gets so bad in very cold weather. So we're trying to strike a happy medium.

Have seen some fingerless 'anti arthritis' gloves in easylife magazine. Not sure if they work or are worth the money. Has anyone used these? I do a lot of craft work to keep my hands moving and wearing a double fleece indoors. Feel very sorry for those having to endure freezing homes... it can't be right in the 21st century. Also if you don't heat yoor home how do you prevent frozen / burst pipes?

Thinking of all in need at this time.

i too, can't sleep in a heated bedroom. whenever i stay over at a relative's house on a rare occasion. i get a sore throat and 'foggy'-headed upon waking up. when i at my parents', i have to sneakily open the window, but then close it as as i wake up, or else either them would give me a right telling-off:eek: for going to bed cold!:o

in keeping myself warm in bed, that is when i strip myself from my last layer, the fleecy dressing gown after a long, hot soak in the bath, and into a not-so-cold bed as i have a really good flannel bottom and and top sheet by Landsend (U.S company for good, quality clothes and homeware). altho' i got stung by the custom taxes i had to pay 10 years ago, i think i've got my money back on these sheets. http://www.landsend.com/pp/5ounceNoIronFlannelHerringboneBedding~217094_-1.html?bcc=y&action=order_more&sku_0=::XGW&CM_MERCH=IDX_00008__0000000257&origin=index