To what extreme do you try save on heating?

becksfaz

I've recently had a huge bill from heating and I am now obsessed with reducing costs. Heating is now on a timer and is set to come on at 3.30pm (as that's when my little one come home from pre-school during the week). We are going out today and not due back until 5-5.30pm - I'm thinking of lowering thermostat right down so heating doesn't come on and then will just put it on when we get back - Am I taking things to the extreme? What things do you do to help reduce energy bills??

bloss0m

Monitor usage. Turn the heating down to say 19c or not all if its comfortable enough. Wear plenty of clothing not thick layers, thin players trap air and keep heat in. Make sure heating is coming off 30-45 minutes before you go to bed. Rads down in bedroom you dont need a huge amount of heat in a bedroom

My energy usage is down last year by around 30% but I am paying just as much because of price rises

Cardew

To what extreme do you try save on heating?

Move in with Mother-in-Law

becksfaz

Cardew wrote: »

Move in with Mother-in-Law

NOT an option for me

Foggy

I don't use a timer - when it's cold I get off my backside and turn the heating on and when I'm warm enough I turn it off. Mornings can be fun but to be honest I think it's toughened me up. It reminds me of staying at my grandparents as a child when I just had to wait until the coal fire got going.

You also learn to love getting into a freezing cold bed. It doesn't take long to warm up. Electric blankets. Pah...

becksfaz

bloss0m wrote: »

Monitor usage. Turn the heating down to say 19c or not all if its comfortable enough. Wear plenty of clothing not thick layers, thin players trap air and keep heat in. Make sure heating is coming off 30-45 minutes before you go to bed. Rads down in bedroom you dont need a huge amount of heat in a bedroom

By all this, I'm on track then - Have taken a meter reading and decided will assess weekly what we've used (taking into account weather etc). Thermostat already only set to 18. Heating set to go off at 8pm (We go to be around 10pm but haven't yet felt cold) and rads also been lowered in bedrooms.

becksfaz

Foggy wrote: »

I don't use a timer - when it's cold I get off my backside and turn the heating on and when I'm warm enough I turn it off. Mornings can be fun but to be honest I think it's toughened me up. It reminds me of staying at my grandparents as a child when I just had to wait until the coal fire got going.

You also learn to love getting into a freezing cold bed. It doesn't take long to warm up. Electric blankets. Pah...

This 'extreme' wouldn't work for me - I have a 3 year old and an 8 week old - can't expect them to freeze in a morning... but I like your thinking!

Swipe

becksfaz wrote: »

This 'extreme' wouldn't work for me - I have a 3 year old and an 8 week old - can't expect them to freeze in a morning... but I like your thinking!

How did parents cope all those years before central heating became the norm?

jalexa

becksfaz wrote: »

This 'extreme' wouldn't work for me - I have a 3 year old and an 8 week old - can't expect them to freeze in a morning...

I don't consider having timed heating on for an hour in the morning - having had the heating off overnight (or set-back on a programmable stat:D) is unreasonable or extravangant.

It's the temperature and hours set for the rest of the day which most influences the heating costs.

jalexa

Swipe wrote: »

How did parents cope all those years before central heating became the norm?

The norm? Not the norm in the cheaper end of the private rented sector. That's the sector that trousers huge amounts of government rent subsidy for what exactly?

grahamc2003

Swipe wrote: »

How did parents cope all those years before central heating became the norm?

Yeah. It's a shame if, as has been posted here, the nhs recommend a minimum of 18 or whatever for a child. Our kids never got that, or anything like.

Don't like to go against nhs advice, but our kids don't have inhalers/asthma (like pretty much most of the others at school), and neither suffer from colds more than once a year. Not saying a baby should be left to freeze, but in a bed with a quilt, I personally don't see much harm in the room being 10 or less. I sometimes wonder of some damage is done by keeping kids in very hot rooms (say 25, like some people have!) and unable to escape from the thick and numerous wrapping of blankets.

Obviously, we evolved without any heating at all, so I have trouble seeing the very high (imo) minimum temperature the nhs recommends for kids. I'd have trouble sleepinmg if my bedroom was 18 (windows wide open last night with the forecast being a low of 10C).

I'm not advising anyone to go against nhs advice btw.