Living alone, is a £150 annual heating budget possible?

Andrew_Cottrell

lstar337 wrote: »

Would be interesting to see if you could maintain such low costs in a year where we actually had a winter.

I take it you are on a NSC tariff?

I expect the costs to rise considerably during an prolonged cold period. So far as I know my heating hasn't yet come on this season. Yesterday evening when I arrived home the thermostat displayed 18.0°C, but after an hour or two it displayed 19.5°C. The radiators were cold and the Sun was down, so perhaps the heat is coming from my neighbours. It was displaying 19.5°C at 5am this morning as well.

You're correct, it's a no-standing-charge tariff.

Nada666

lstar337 wrote: »

Would be interesting to see if you could maintain such low costs in a year where we actually had a winter.

I take it you are on a NSC tariff?

My costs for heating are £0 per year (and, no, not just last winter).

matelodave

Heat travels from a warmer area to a colder area, so if your room is colder than next door then you should gain a little, likewise if your room is warmer than outside then your room will lose heat. The type and construction of the walls, floor & ceiling together with any insulation will either enhance the heat transference or hinder it.

A well insulated room with double glazing, no draughts and a decent carpet with underlay could require less than 50watts/square/metre to maintain it at 20c when it's 0c outside whereas a poorly insulated one might require 150watts/sq/m or more. A reasonable average is about 75w-100w/sq/m so a 4mx4m room would need about 1200-1500w to keep it warm unless you were prepared to have it a bit cooler. A 500 watt heater will only struggle up to 8-10 degrees, less if it gets really cold outside.

However you need enough in reserve for the days when the temperature drops below 0c. It got to -15 in the winter of 2012/2013 for several days, in which case a 1200w heater would only have achieved 5c inside, probably a bit too cold for comfort.

If you use a heater with a thermostat then you'll only use enough energy to achieve your set temperature & maintain it so make sure you get a heater big enough to do the job with a bit extra for those really cold days.

lstar337

Nada666 wrote: »

My costs for heating are £0 per year (and, no, not just last winter).

Unless you use gas, and actually turn your heating on, I don't see how your situation compares with Andrews.