Does anyone here not have central heating and what do you use/how do you cope?

Ames

lostinrates wrote: »

This week our central heating is being installed. We have been without for two years. I have lived without it before too and even when it's uncomfortable, enough precautions taken its not the end of the world.

The slight complication is that I do feel the cold (I have underactive thyroid along with a plethora of health conditions) and I am now on pills the side effects of which are dramatically increased in cold weather.

On the plus side, for my dh, who has psoriasis, his skin is never so healthy as when he is in an unheated and in air conditioned environment,

You do acclimatise a lot, we pant like working Labradors when visiting other peoples homes at christmas, and shopping centres or overheated shops. But you still feel cold when their is ice on the inside of your windows!

I know while I will be more comfortable when we can kept the house heated (though we shall not make it over warm, merely not cold) I shall miss the beauty of those ice windows with the sun rising in them, because nothing 'made' is so magical. And the appreciation of the wonders of heating etc will be huge.

I hate shopping in winter because in shops and cafes I'm far too hot in a coat. If I'm only going to one shop or an indoor shopping centre then I leave my coat in the car.

I went swimming last week and the girl on reception asked me if it had warmed up outside yet because she was freezing, I was sweltering!

samtoby wrote: »

I'm just about to move into a property solely heated by night storage heaters. What are the best alternatives for me to consider?

I have to say I'm really inspired how many people don't have heating at all and use old fashioned methods to keep warm!

It depends on the size of the room. My last flat was in a converted Victorian terrace, with high ceilings and huge single glazed windows. All the heat escaped pretty quickly, and by 4pm it was freezing. I ended up almost nocturnal, as it was too cold to be up and about in the evening. Going to the supermarket to get warm isn't exactly fun.

If I were going back to that kind of place I wouldn't bother with the storage heaters, I'd just use plug in ones when I needed them.

It also depends on the type of storage heaters, some just heat the room overnight (that's what I had), some heat themselves through the night and slowly let out heat during the day.

Tesco are selling electric throws for £19 right now. I got one last winter and it's fab, only needs a blast for a few minutes to warm me up, put another thick throw over it and I'm warm until I need to get up again.

Frugalista

We don't have any CH either. In fact, I have never lived in a house with CH in all my 54 years .

We have a large woodburner in the lounge and a calor gas fire in the bathroom. OH took the woodburner out when we had the lounge floor tiled and hasn't put it back yet :mad: so we are using a calor gas heater at the moment, along with throws on the chairs.

There is a small woodburner in the bedroom but we never use it as I prefer a cold bedroom - but I do have an electric blanket to warm the bed (never leave it on though). I add an extra duvet when it's really cold and wear fleecy pj's and bed socks . Down boys!!!:D

lostinrates

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

OH NO anything but that!!

I would rather dress like an eskimo!!:)

Hahaha,

I dress like an Eskimo, but sometimes it's just not enough, or too much feeling bundled up. Bopping around in your knickers to the radio while ironing feels positively blissful after waddling around like the Michelin man for long enough IMO.


I think something else I should say is how comfortable you can be depends so much on the house, more than on the people I think. We live ina. Very old, porrly maintained wreck which we are restoring. It's usually colder inside than out . However, we are reaching the end of restoring one part of it, a single storey section with mainly Victorian walls. These have now been insulated from the inside, and had double glazing put in, and despite opening up the space to have in one case double height ceiling, all unheated still it is dramatically warmer than the resty of the house. We would still be verycomfortable in that part of the house alone with no heating, or heating just for a short time in the mornings.

pawsies

Can't cope with cold! We live in England after all. I use an eco friendly company for electric and gas so not so bad.

fawd1

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

When we decorate we are going to remove all the radiators.

Might be a long way off, but have you considered what that might do to the resale price? I would be really put off by a house with no central heating

JCS1

In a farmhouse (working farm) no central heating, just one coal fire downstairs. Regularly get ice on inside of bedroom and bathroom windows in Winter, cope with electric blanket and the cat to snuggle up to!

POPPYOSCAR

fawd1 wrote: »

Might be a long way off, but have you considered what that might do to the resale price? I would be really put off by a house with no central heating

That is true but I would rather enjoy my house without the radiators rather than worry about that.

The boiler will still be there as it is in the garage and all the pipework, so if need be if it proved to be a problem we could just replace the radiators again.

Fire_Fox

No central heating like most modern flats, electric panel heaters with the thermostat so low they only come on when it snows. Bizarrely we have economy 7 electric meters. Fleece throws on the sofa, electric underblanket on the bed, neighbouring flats that do use their heating so I've never measured below 10C and that was with the windows open. I do put the panel heater on in the main living area when I have guests and are guided by what is comfortable for them.

Although my block is prone to condensation and mould due to non existent ventilation in the bathrooms and metal window frames, I open the windows daily year round and only turn the shower on when wetting and rinsing so manage it well. Heating doesn't prevent this as the windows are still icy behind the curtains at night.

pinkskyatnight

samtoby wrote: »

I'm just about to move into a property solely heated by night storage heaters. What are the best alternatives for me to consider?

I have to say I'm really inspired how many people don't have heating at all and use old fashioned methods to keep warm!

hiya,
we have been in our current house for just over a year now.
its a 3 bed maisonette with night storage heaters on economy 7 electric, we were a bit dubious about how much they would cost us to run, everyone kept saying ohhh electric will be so expensive poor u etc etc..
well my electric bill is £17.00 a month, i have no gas, we have electric water heating, 2 x night storage heaters and electric hob and oven etc. we have 2 big ones, 1 in the hallway (heats the upstairs) and 1 in the lounge. and to be honest we couldnt be happier with the way they heat the house, it can be a tad annoying that they are most hot around 6am-7am in the morning and then they release the heat slowly throughout the day until the can recharge again but just make sure you watch the weather report every night so you know whether to change the settings or not. let me know how you cope with them

bugslet

londonsurrey wrote: »

I know someone who works outdoors, and he's virtually always hot, even in winter, and only turns on his central heating when he has visitors.

I spent 5 years working outside and trust me, I felt the flipping cold!

I'm wedded to central heating and I absolutely detest being cold when i get out of the shower or bath.

I put it on for an hour in the morning and about 5- 6 hours at night - heck I sound profligate!