How cold can I keep the house safely?

valk_scot

daisiegg wrote: »

There is no laundrette in my town or the next one either! Also you can't dry everything in a tumble drier...my OH would go mental if I put one of his £90 work shirts in the drier. I dry most things around the house and only tumble towels, sheets, underwear and pyjamas.

£90 work shirts? I can't quite square that with trying to save money on drying clothes tbh. If my OH was buying £90 work shirts I'd be too terrified to wash and iron them tbh, I'd make him take them to a shirt washing service to get washed and pressed properly!

daisiegg

valk_scot wrote: »

£90 work shirts? I can't quite square that with trying to save money on drying clothes tbh. If my OH was buying £90 work shirts I'd be too terrified to wash and iron them tbh, I'd make him take them to a shirt washing service to get washed and pressed properly!

I don't really try to save money on drying clothes tbh, I use the tumble drier for anything that I think won't be ruined. I used to send his shirts out, at £1 a shirt it wasn't bad at all, but now I only work part time I do them myself and I just about manage!

Don't forget, though, sometimes people can afford to be extravagant in some areas purely because they are frugal in others...

whiteguineapig

mysuni wrote: »

those of you with dehumidifiers what make/model do you have and what sort of price did you pay? I'm looking to get one as my house is very damp.
thanks

i got the best one i could afford, its worth its weight in gold in the damp hole i live in
i also go to the launderette to dry everything

valk_scot

I've been reading back through this thread and to summarise it seems like 18'C would be a good temperature to aim to keep your house at when folk are in and sitting around, say in the evenings and at weekends. Active healthy folk could get away with a little less, say down to 16'C but for babies and sick or old folk that can't move around so well 18'C would seem to be the minimum, with a little higher for the elderly. Over 20'C is a bit unnecessary though if you're all healthy and money is tight, you can wear more clothes to compensate. 20'C is a summer's day after all, shorts and t-shirt weather!

valk_scot

daisiegg wrote: »

I don't really try to save money on drying clothes tbh, I use the tumble drier for anything that I think won't be ruined. I used to send his shirts out, at £1 a shirt it wasn't bad at all, but now I only work part time I do them myself and I just about manage!

Don't forget, though, sometimes people can afford to be extravagant in some areas purely because they are frugal in others...

I must admit I do struggle with the concept of spending £90 on a shirt, your OH must be in a very smart line of work! The most expensive garment in this house is my OH's £600 kilt but that's a one-off, it will last him 20+ years of formal dressing. I remember my son practically having to prise my credit card out my purse when I bought him a £200 jacket to wear for hillwalking.....:eek: I practically dust it when it comes back from a trip. :rotfl:

newgirly

I have just bought a three tier heated airer from lak*land (£89) which is expensive, but less than 5p ph to run and keeps up with my huge amount of washing daily (we are a family of 5) so no longer have to re-wash stuff that has gone dank before it is dry.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I've lived in a cold flat for 3 winters where I've routinely dried my washing indoors on the radiators (I happen to have a garden here, but many inner city apartment blocks have absolutely zero outdoor space). There are no signs of mould or damp in the flat. So I wouldn't automatically assume indoor drying is a complete No No until you see evidence that it's starting to cause problems.

daisiegg

valk_scot wrote: »

I must admit I do struggle with the concept of spending £90 on a shirt, your OH must be in a very smart line of work! The most expensive garment in this house is my OH's £600 kilt but that's a one-off, it will last him 20+ years of formal dressing. I remember my son practically having to prise my credit card out my purse when I bought him a £200 jacket to wear for hillwalking.....:eek: I practically dust it when it comes back from a trip. :rotfl:

He works in the finance sector (but he is not evil, promise!) and bizarrely often goes to work pairing those £90 shirts with a pair of jeans from TK Maxx! (But keeps a suit at work to change into for meetings). He is happy to have cheap out of work clothes by all means, but his shirts, suits (I say it in the plural but he only has two) and work shoes (again, only ever one pair on the go, worn until they wear out) are always expensive. But tbh, I think it is worth it as far as the shirts are concerned. His Thomas Pink £90 shirts last far longer and wash far better than his cheaper ones (though by cheaper I mean more like £40 a shirt which to me is still pretty expensive!). They really are still pristine even after hundreds of washes (and it is hundreds, he hasn't thrown away an expensive shirt in the three and a half years I've known him) whereas his cheaper ones go discoloured under the arms, faded, and generally get a bit shabby.

Anyway sorry, totally off topic for the thread! Just wanted to respond to the comments!

thriftyniftyme

Well, I'd never pay £90 for a shirt myself, but it's yours & OH's money, and so long as you aren't posting a "help - we're up to our eyeballs" type plea, you don't have to justify it to anyone here!

Anyway, back on topic, newgirly, do you find the heated airer speeds things along significantly?

Molly41

valk_scot wrote: »

I must admit I do struggle with the concept of spending £90 on a shirt, your OH must be in a very smart line of work! The most expensive garment in this house is my OH's £600 kilt but that's a one-off, it will last him 20+ years of formal dressing. I remember my son practically having to prise my credit card out my purse when I bought him a £200 jacket to wear for hillwalking.....:eek: I practically dust it when it comes back from a trip. :rotfl:

A 600 pound kilt:eek::eek::eek:
I felt guilty enough buying a pair of UGGs which I wear around the house. They really keep my feet warm and circulation moving as I have illness and disabilities. Seriously feet are very important as if they are warm then I guarantee the rest of you is too.

I grew up in a very cold house with no CH. To this day my parents still have metal framed windows with frost on the insides. Seriously those were the bad old days and now we have entirely new standards which are beneficial to our health. Why would we want to return to those days? I do really feel for the OP and hope you have found a compromise with heating your house and maintaining the health of you and your family x