This is reality, my nose is frozen

taj

I've really enjoyed reading this there's been some good idea's. As I'm retired now I can go back to bed in the morning with my cuppa and read or watch TV instead of putting on the heating.
Over a few years I've slowly managed to turn the heating down gradually a notch at a time 15_17 and that's all I need now. If it was that temperature outside we wouldn't need the heating on at all.
I do agree working in a warm office all day you can get used to that heat and makes you a bit of a softy when you get back home...so its all about acclimatising.

Topher

After a few of the experiments I said I was going to try, here, for anyone who is interested are some results.
Should I keep the heating on low all the time, or stick to my "mean" timed schedule?
Findings: The thermostats in my house (On radiators & one upstairs for whole house regulation), aren't good enough to fine tune what rooms get heated to what temperature without disturbing the flow between radiators.
Heat on constant = 2.5 on the meter after 24 hours
Heat on timed (6:00a.m.- 8:00 a.m. & 4:00 p.m.- 8:00p.m.) 1 on the meter after 24 hours.
(Outside weather & temp was pretty comparable during both trials)
Although I was initially miserable around lunch time/early afternoon, I got used to being colder, and my family (when home) did not complain, but adapted.
The main difficulty with extra clothing is that it was warm, but restricted movement (for vigorous housework).
When the heating was on through the night it woke me as I felt too warm and the room felt stuffy (even though the thermostat was set at 12)
When my six month old grandson is with us I worry that our "Day" temperature isn't the best temperature for him, and heat the house for longer.

The real fire in the lounge is a good (pre-paid) alternative to heating the whole house when only I am in.

In all, to save money, I've decided to stick to the timer on all but the frostiest of days when I will have heat on all day up until 8:00p.m. and use the real fire from the afternoon onwards. At least I've already budgeted for the fuel.

FYI We are burning our way through three unwanted 1930s oak chairs. don't tear me apart, they've been well used, & were in seriously poor condition.
I think it's a fine example of Cameron's Britain in this modern age
(They were also surplus to storage space, and we still have a set of four from the same era).
(and I've used some of the bits as "In cupboard" shelf steps for herbs and spices)

Sweetie83

When I saw the title for this thread I was intrigued. Its really made me think about always setting the temp down by a degree. I took it down from 20 degrees to 19 this year but I will now make it set at 18 as have 2 small kids. When I lived with my mum when I was younger she loved to heat it to the max so much so that my body thought that it was normal. Now I've reclimatised I find her house sooooo hot so i think your body changes and adapts to new temps.

Does anyone know how much it saves (approx) by dropping down a degree each year?

Thanks

alixandrea

Topher wrote: »

After a few of the experiments I said I was going to try, here, for anyone who is interested are some results.
Should I keep the heating on low all the time, or stick to my "mean" timed schedule?
Findings: The thermostats in my house (On radiators & one upstairs for whole house regulation), aren't good enough to fine tune what rooms get heated to what temperature without disturbing the flow between radiators.
Heat on constant = 2.5 on the meter after 24 hours
Heat on timed (6:00a.m.- 8:00 a.m. & 4:00 p.m.- 8:00p.m.) 1 on the meter after 24 hours.
(Outside weather & temp was pretty comparable during both trials)
Although I was initially miserable around lunch time/early afternoon, I got used to being colder, and my family (when home) did not complain, but adapted.
The main difficulty with extra clothing is that it was warm, but restricted movement (for vigorous housework).
When the heating was on through the night it woke me as I felt too warm and the room felt stuffy (even though the thermostat was set at 12)
When my six month old grandson is with us I worry that our "Day" temperature isn't the best temperature for him, and heat the house for longer.

The real fire in the lounge is a good (pre-paid) alternative to heating the whole house when only I am in.

In all, to save money, I've decided to stick to the timer on all but the frostiest of days when I will have heat on all day up until 8:00p.m. and use the real fire from the afternoon onwards. At least I've already budgeted for the fuel.

Have you tried spacing your six hours out over the whole day yet? Might be worth giving that a go and seeing whether it helps at all and is more or less expensive. For instance, you could have the heating pattern like this:

ON: 6am-7am (1hr)
OFF: 7am-9am (2hrs)
ON: 9am-10am (1hr etc.)
OFF: 10am-12pm (2hrs etc.)
ON: 12pm-1pm
OFF: 1pm-3pm
ON: 3pm-4pm
OFF: 4pm-6pm
ON:6pm-7pm

The you only use five hours'-worth of gas. Alternatively you could use the extra hour in the evening, or split it in half so you have the heating on for 1.5 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the evening. That would offset the timing I've listed, so your last lot of heating would come on at 6:30pm and go off at 8pm.

Or another way you could do it is to use the fire for some of that time, so that you don't have the heating on for one of those 1hr slots. If you light the fire at the end of one slot (say at 10am) and keep it going for five hours (say until 3pm) then it covers the middle of your day when you only really need heat in one room for yourself.

Best of luck with it all!

Alixandrea

SailorSam

They've been talking to someone this morning on our local radio who says there has been research which seems to prove that being cold can actually help you lose weight.
http://m.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/stay-cool-stay-thin

viv0147

What are the must have herbs and spices for home cooking please.

thriftwizard

SailorSam wrote: »

They've been talking to someone this morning on our local radio who says there has been research which seems to prove that being cold can actually help you lose weight.
http://m.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/stay-cool-stay-thin

Oh dear - we have our thermostat set to 17℃, the heating's only on from 7am-9am and 4.30-10pm, and I'm still technically almost 2 stone overweight! I'm also pretty active, walk miles every day & dance a lot, so I'm not going to fret overly, but I can't help worrying that my overly-weight-conscious 18 y.o. daughter's going to be surreptitiously turning the thermostat down whenever I turn my back…

A cat is an excellent device for warming one's lap up when sitting still, by the way. But sometimes they want to sit on it when you're standing up, which is painful.

OP, how are your curtains? We live a in draughty Edwardian rambling house with gaps in the window frames, round the skirting boards, in the floorboards where it's not tiled, and under the doors. We can't afford the kind of double-glazing that would look right, but for some years I've been "rescuing" & cutting down the sort of curtains that we couldn't afford, either - i.e. posh fabric, handmade, weighted, interlined. They've made a huge difference, made into smaller curtains & matching Roman blinds, and we are much snugger now! I have some hung at particularly draughty doorways as well as at the windows, plus I use draughtstoppers on some of the gappier windows as well as the doors. It all helps!

Topher

With regard to intermittent heating, I think, as I'm experimenting it's worth a try, however I'm conscious of the theory that it takes more gas in the initial fire up to bring a house up to temperature, what I'd be gambling on is whether or not the house temp. might not have dropped so much in the time the heating's off.
All the curtains we do have are thermally lined, however we have really poor blinds in one bathroom, nothing in the window of the second bathroom, and nothing in the kitchen. I put up (each night) two fleeces on a long garden cane balanced on two cupboards, to cover the kitchen window which really does keep the heat in, and slow down the cooling off of that room.
I forgot to mention, I have re-jigged some of my daily routines as suggested by one thoughtful person on here, & that does defer the sitting in the cold living room. Funny how I have to really think ahead rather than let my day unroll, but as this really applies to other money saving ideas (like meal planning, & cooking/baking planning etc) I'm just learning to make it habitual.

Topher

viv0147 wrote: »

What are the must have herbs and spices for home cooking please.

Depends where you're going with your cooking. We use the poverty menus from many cultures, and have the herbs & spices that go with those. E.g. Italian, oregano, Mexican, chilli if that's any use.
FYI the one that keeps my nose warmest is paprika in Hungarian dishes.:D:D

Topher

viv0147 wrote: »

What are the must have herbs and spices for home cooking please.

Depends where you're going with your cooking. We use the poverty menus from many cultures, and have the herbs & spices that go with those. E.g. Italian, oregano, Mexican, chilli if that's any use.
FYI the one that keeps my nose warmest is paprika in Hungarian dishes.:D:D