Have you put your heating on yet?

ScarletBea

I've got separate individual heaters in each room of my flat. I only turn them on if I'm in the room and it's cold, which seems the obvious option, but I've stopped expecting the obvious.
Last weekend the living room one was one for an hour or so each day, to bring the temperature up to 18°.

For the person who always has them set at the same temperature, really? So you don't have summer clothes/winter clothes? You expect to walk around in a vest in winter? Strange.... but each to their own ...

Haventa

torbrex wrote: »

Why is england split into 3 regions but none of the other countries are?

There can be huge differences in the weather in Scotland between the west and east as well as between the north and south of the country.

Agreed....there can be wide variations as so many areas have their own micro-climate. It's irritating that Scotland is lumped together as one entity. Personally my heating is "fitted and forgotten" preset at 15C overnight and 18C in daylight. All year. The gas fire tops up the heat in the lounge if necessary but other than that leave the thermostats to do the job they were designed for.

nephilim

We have turned to using candles and a dehumidifier. The dehumidifier runs once a day for 30 minutes, and we burn approximately 20 tea candles every 4 hours. Our house is at a cosy 21C and our heating hasn't been on yet. The dehumidifier is there solely to help prevent any mould or damp forming from the candles, so far in 3 years, no issue yet!

Also we leave the oven door open at the end of cooking, and leave bath water in the bath until it has completely cooled. This saves us on our heating as it provides additional heat without the additional cost (We would use the appliances anyway, so why not make use of the heat they generate).

Our thermostat turns on if the temp drops below 15C, and to my knowledge it has not gone that low in my house. We used the government grant to insulate and double glaze our house.

catmonkey85

ScarletBea wrote: »

For the person who always has them set at the same temperature, really? So you don't have summer clothes/winter clothes? You expect to walk around in a vest in winter? Strange.... but each to their own ...

Not sure if you meant me? The point is that during the warm months it never falls below that temperature anyway, so they will never come on. Before I had a digital thermostat then I just turned it on and off when I wanted, now it comes on when it gets to a temperature that I find too cold.

I probably could have it on less and save a bit of cash, but at this point in my life I'd rather (and can afford to) be warm.

SailorSam

I had put the heating on last week but the gas people have started digging the road up to lay new pipes. They pushed a letter through last night to say we were going to have no gas all day and they were going to need access to the house from 8am, perhaps to get new pipes and meter in the house. I'm waiting to go the shops but don't want to go until they've been, no sign yet.

Faith177

I don't put my heating on anymore haven't for years it's a warm air unit and it eats gas.

I have one calor gas fire in the front room one bottle costs me about £36 and that lasts me about a month. In the cupboard I keep a duvet for when I'm on the sofa. Also have a thick mens XL hoody for if I really need it but most of the time I'm ok in PJ's and a dressing gown.

I have a hot water bottle in the bed and 2 duvets.

The water heater is on all the time though but hardly uses anything.

A £20 top up on gas at the moment lasts me 4-6 weeks as we are never in.

sarahemmm

I ticked the 'its on all year box', which is true, but does not reflect the fact that the thermostat ensures it only comes on when the temperature is low. I have it set to come at different temps through the day, depending on who will be at home. Morning temps are lower than evening ones, as you don't notice the cold so much in the morning when you are busy.

catwoman73

I never understand the logic of those people who say 'my thermostat is set at 17C' or some other unfeasibly cold temperature. Our house only drops below that temperature at night in the middle of winter so the heating would never come on if set at that level. Anything below 20C is far too cold for comfortable living IMHO. Our thermo is set at 22C in the mornings and evenings and 17C at night and when we are out. i wear jumpers extra socks etc and i.m still cold ut any wamer and DP complains
hes too hot. We then override the timer at any time when we are in during the day. Total monthly bill for all gas and electric is £75 per month, which I don't think is expensive, and we are currently in credit on our DD plan, but I do always make sure we are one of the cheapest tarriffs - just fixed in the summer until early 2014 with EDF.

Admittedly we do have a good condensing boiler and insulation, but I found that before we got central heating that the separate gas fire and other portable heating cost MORE to run than proper central heating and the house was still cold. So those of you that won't put the central heating on and then mess about with various portable heaters probably arent saving any money.

Manx_Viking

torbrex wrote: »

Why is england split into 3 regions but none of the other countries are?

There can be huge differences in the weather in Scotland between the west and east as well as between the north and south of the country.

Try living in the Isle of Man - which rarely figures in any mention of British Isles territories.

Strange really as we are all 'expert' Money Savers here albeit off-shore!

By the way I only hit the c/h button when I feel cold and it then comes on for an hour before switching off automatically. Do this every time and I save one tank of oil (900 litres) per year -yes really!!!!

Snow rarely falls on our shores but the wind chill factor can really blow your socks off.

Catriona_P

Not entirely sure lumping the whole of the South of England really works either - I live in the South West but come from the South East and the temperature is noticeably different most of the year.

A better comparison would have been between different societal groups - this time last year we had a small baby so the heating was on constantly, this year less so but we still have the heating on more often now than when it was just the 2 of us. Presumably older folk would have the heating on more aswell.