Working from home - heat the house, or just the office?

jakey-wakey

Hi all,

I am soon to become a full-time distance learning student, and will be spending most of my time at home in a spare bedroom/office. So I am looking for ways to stay warm while working from home, since our gas bill is big enough already when we have the heating on for just a few hours in the evening.

I live in a fairly large detached rented house, where there is gas central heating but the radiators and boiler are quite old, and that is not likely to be upgraded/changed any time soon.

I know that electric heaters are not the cheapest way to heat a room, but will it be cheaper than having the central heating on all day? It seems madness to heat the whole house, when I will be spending almost all day in just one room. I am assuming that I will be better off with a small portable-type heater, but don't have the knowledge to understanding to make the required calculations myself.

So what is the best solution? Portable fan heater or radiator? Electric blanket?! Or shall I just go to the local library and camp out there all day instead ;-)

I did see that 'heat your house for 8p' YouTube clip recently, where the boat owner had used a loaf tin a few flower pots with some candles. I am quite keen on the cost efficiency of this type of heater, but fear that it could be dangerous if I fall asleep when reading a particularly dull chapter of my textbook…!

Thanks in advance for any wisdom or guidance anyone can offer!

Jake

Nada666

Turn the radiator on on the room in which you work. Turn down the rest.

Dieselman

Keep the heating low and do the Jane Fonda workout fo 1hr every 3 hrs you will be warm and fit.:D

jakey-wakey

Nada666 wrote: »

Turn the radiator on on the room in which you work. Turn down the rest.

OK - I thought that since the room I would be working in is away form the thermostat, that if I turn the thermostat down (along with all other radiators) then the one radiator I want to get warm wouldn't do so? I am really showing my ignorance of how heating systems work here!…. :eek:

Loving the Jane Fonda suggestion also - if procrastination gets the better of me then that'll be what I do!

In my quest to stay warm cheaply, I came across these military jackets and trousers, called 'Softies'. They are essentially made from the same fabrics and fillings as sleeping bags - you may never have to have the heating on again with those on!

Thanks for your suggestions :-)

vincewurt

Go for a run, when you get back you will want to open the windows.

UserX

I work from home a fair bit too. It would be a complete pain to go around turning off radiators in all the rooms so I could put the heating on in just one room so I do the following:

Layer up my clothes - 4 or 5 thinner layers
Make sure I have plenty of warm food & drink - porridge, soup, cups of tea a plenty :T
Work with the door to my office closed - luckily it's only a small room so that does help it warm up
It's even better if I can persuade the cat to come in too!
I sit with a hot water bottle nestled in my lower back and occasionally put a blanker over my knee (although more often than not I find the blanket a nuisance TBH
I have changed the time of the heating to come on a little later - so although I get up to a cold house, that's okay because I'm moving around to shower, get breakfast, take the dog out etc etc. So the heating starts warming the house up at the beginning of my working day rather than my waking day IYKWIM but is set for just 45 mins (an hour later on in the winter) - it takes the chill off enough to make it more comfy
I'm really careful to make sure the house then doesn't lose heat quicker than it needs to eg I only open an external door if I really need to, keep doors shut in draughty areas
I also try to Split my week up so I'm not at home in the office for big long stretches at a time but of course your routine might be different

I do have to resort to putting the heating on for longer in the depth of winter but I set myself goals - eg at the moment I'm adamant that I'm not going to put the heating back on during the day until December at least. It does grieve me to have to put the heating on in the day when I'm the only one here

MillicentBystander

Unless the office is cavernous you shouldn't really need to have the heating on at all at the moment what with the PC running in it. Close the door and see how you go with no heating on.

lstar337

UserX wrote: »

I work from home a fair bit too. It would be a complete pain to go around turning off radiators in all the rooms so I could put the heating on in just one room

Saving money always takes extra effort. If it was easier than wasting money, everybody would be doing it.

MillicentBystander

If you don't fancy my idea of no heating in the office and can't be arrissed to go round switching off radiators then maybe another solution would be an oil fired radiator for just the office. They can be picked up very cheaply these days (about £30 with thermostat control which is obviously essential). Yes. I *know* electric is more expensive than gas (although it is more efficient) but localising the heating like this has to be cheaper than heating all those rooms you won't be using by gas CH.

MillicentBystander

lstar337 wrote: »

Saving money always takes extra effort. If it was easier than wasting money, everybody would be doing it.

Says the poster who is such a wuss when it comes to switching off the shower whilst soaping himself (ooerr).

UserX

lstar337 wrote: »

Saving money always takes extra effort.

Not always

I save lots of money by not going shopping - which is way less effort than driving into town, finding a parking space, kicking through the crowds etc etc..... :rotfl:

However, my point was that the things I do do to keep warm when I am working from home are easier (and even cheaper!) than putting on the heating but turning off 10 out of 11 radiators!