Living on your own? How much energy do you use? Am I using too much?

Norman_Castle

TomsMom wrote: »

I am retired so I'm in most of the day. During the winter my heating comes on at 7.30 am and goes off at 10.30 pm. Spring and autumn I alter it to suit.
If you set the heating to switch off an hour before you go to bed would the rooms cool down noticably?




Sun room/kitchen is set on 5 (most used room during daytime), two rads nicely warm, but can keep hand on.
TRVs set to 5 are about 90 degrees. Try setting this to 3 and adjust in small amounts

My boiler is set at 80 degrees. Installer advised higher temp / lower burn time was more efficient. My bills are low.

TomsMom

Norman_Castle wrote: »

If you set the heating to switch off an hour before you go to bed would the rooms cool down noticably?

Boiler goes off at 10.30pm, I usually go to bed about 11.30, the rooms are still OK but I wouldn't want to be up too much longer after that as I'd find it on the cool side.

TRVs set to 5 are about 90 degrees. Try setting this to 3 and adjust in small amounts

My boiler is set at 80 degrees. Installer advised higher temp / lower burn time was more efficient. My bills are low.

Thanks for that. I'm experimenting today. My boiler's top temp is 75, I've set it at 70 now. In the rooms not used the TRVs are now set either at 0.5 or 1 and the rads are not coming on. In the little used rooms (utility, downstairs WC, hall and landing) TRVs are set at 1.5 and are just coming on barely warm sometimes so keeping the chill off. Dining area is set at 2 and hasn't come on yet. Bedroom is set at 2, bedroom was 17C this morning and that's fine. I've set the living room and sun room TRVs at 3 and they are hot, can't keep hand on. Will continue to monitor and see what suits best and I'll keep a check on gas usage to see if it makes a difference.

MillicentBystander

TomsMom wrote: »

Thanks for that. I'm experimenting today. My boiler's top temp is 75, I've set it at 70 now. In the rooms not used the TRVs are now set either at 0.5 or 1 and the rads are not coming on. In the little used rooms (utility, downstairs WC, hall and landing) TRVs are set at 1.5 and are just coming on barely warm sometimes so keeping the chill off. Dining area is set at 2 and hasn't come on yet. Bedroom is set at 2, bedroom was 17C this morning and that's fine. I've set the living room and sun room TRVs at 3 and they are hot, can't keep hand on. Will continue to monitor and see what suits best and I'll keep a check on gas usage to see if it makes a difference.

Try knocking them down to 2 Genuinely can't wait to see the results of all this. I really do believe you will be very surprised at the savings and at the very small difference in comfort levels.

TomsMom

MillicentBystander wrote: »

Try knocking them down to 2 Genuinely can't wait to see the results of all this. I really do believe you will be very surprised at the savings and at the very small difference in comfort levels.

I'm in and out a fair bit today so will keep my eye on things.

I've just checked the living room and noticed that TRV I did set at 2 (I blame senior brain for forgetting ) and the temp is 70F even with the french door to sun room open a bit for the dog to go in and out.

I've brought the thermometer into the sun room while I'm on the computer and will see what the temp is in here with the TRVs at 3 at the moment. It's nice and comfortable at the moment, sun is shining in but not a lot of warmth and very cold outside. I'll reduce to 2 later on and compare.

MillicentBystander

Personally, I would go the whole hog and hide the room thermometer/s. Imo they are a bit like a watch; you get to rely on them too much, like when someone is asked if they are hungry and they instinctively look at their watch to see if it is dinner time! if you feel comfortable the temp. is high enough imo.

TomsMom

MillicentBystander wrote: »

Personally, I would go the whole hog and hide the room thermometer/s. Imo they are a bit like a watch; you get to rely on them too much, like when someone is asked if they are hungry and they instinctively look at their watch to see if it is dinner time! if you feel comfortable the temp. is high enough imo.

I don't normally look at it, I'm just using it during this experiment as I'm curious as to what the temp is . I was quite surprised to find that my living room was 68F and I was comfortable as my late hubby never felt the cold and I was always wrapped up in jumpers! He was always saying how warm it was and usually was in just a short sleeved shirt.

The sun room is at 72F at the moment with the TRVs on 3. I'm going out in half an hour so will now turn them down to 2.5 and see what it is when I get back.

George_Bray

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Whilst it is not excessively warm, that in combination with the amount of hours you use the heating is a huge amount. 18C is considered completely safe for most people and I believe every degree can make quite a difference to bills.

Could you turn the heating off for a few hours during the day when you are sitting in the sun room? Could you wear another layer of clothing, say some super lightweight silk or microfibre long johns and long sleeve vest?

I agree. I took this argument further than ever this winter and haven't put the gas heating on once, in a medium sized isolated house. So there's no warmth coming through from neighbours, as in a flat or semi perhaps. My predicted gas costs are £60 for the year after VAT, and that includes quite a lot of cooking. I can't get my electricity usage much below 1000kwH a year, costing about £150. This includes heating (only) the bathroom for 10 minutes a day and the computer, of course.

The inside of my house has been between 3C and 7C for most of the winter, with only a few more weeks to go. I don't notice the cold because I wrap up well, mainly relying on down-filled garments. These clothes cost relatively little and will last years. It's far more cost-effective to keep myself warm than to heat the entire house. Another advantage is that I happily move from one cold room to another, and yet stay perfectly warm in myself. In the past, when I heated one room but was wearing less clothes, the moment you leave the sanctuary, you freeze. I don't feel a need to ever heat the house again - it's like burning money.

When I visit other people who heat their homes 'normally' I tend to feel a bit chilly because I'm then wearing 'normal' clothes, so the difference between, say, 18C and 20C becomes noticeable.

So, in conclusion, it's quite possible to be warmer at 3C than at 18C or 20C ambient, if you wear the right clothes.

TomsMom

MillicentBystander wrote: »

Try knocking them down to 2 Genuinely can't wait to see the results of all this. I really do believe you will be very surprised at the savings and at the very small difference in comfort levels.

It's been a week now and I took a meter reading yesterday evening. I can't compare accurately as I usually take meter readings once a month and it's only been seven days so far.

Last year for the 30 days from Feb 1st to March 2nd I used 109.50 units (my meter measures in cubic feet) so a daily average of 3.65. This year from Feb 2nd to March 3rd I used 94.16 units so a daily average of 3.25 so that was already down a bit on last year but I still had the boiler set as previously.

Last year From March 2nd to April 1st I used 68.42 units so a daily average of 2.28 (we must have had a warm spell). For the past week with the boiler temp set much higher and the TRVs set lower I've used 21.02 units so a daily average of 3. Not a great saving compared to last month (3.25) but the outside temp has been very changeable all week and has gone back to being really cold again now. It will be interesting to see what the average is after a full month.

The rooms I use most are at a temperature where I'm comfortable, the sun room I've got the TRVs at 2 and the living room at 1.5. In the little used rooms, hallway/landing, utility room, downstairs WC are set at 1.5 and it keeps the chill off. Dining area is on 2 but doesn't seem to come on. Bedroom is 2 and just about right, not over warm but comfortable enough to get changed. Unused rooms the TRVs at set at 0.5 and don't come on.

MillicentBystander

Yes, as you intimated it's difficult to compare such a small period with last year especially given the unseasonably cold weather we are experiencing this year. I'm confident your yearly savings will be well worth having though.