Winter "Wake & up save the pennies"

Toonie

I've just been learning how to use the room thermostat that the previous owners put in. Far more complicated than my last one (24 hour clock with push in bits). This one is a 7 day programmable timer with "heating events" throughout the day! I think for now I'll stick to my blanket and a hot cuppa to keep me warm, but it's definitely worthwhile knowing how whatever heating system you have works so for those times you do put it you have it set to the right setting.

wort

This might sound crazy ! Last night I got home late and was going straight to bed. I was really cold particularly my feet and hands, as I know I won't sleep with cold feet I got up to put fleecy slipper socks on and decided to put some on my hands as well. !!:rotfl:
Result ! Nice and cosy got to sleep ASAP! ! :T
Will definitely do again .

bouicca21

Toonie wrote: »

I've just been learning how to use the room thermostat that the previous owners put in. Far more complicated than my last one (24 hour clock with push in bits). This one is a 7 day programmable timer with "heating events" throughout the day! I think for now I'll stick to my blanket and a hot cuppa to keep me warm, but it's definitely worthwhile knowing how whatever heating system you have works so for those times you do put it you have it set to the right setting.

It was my complete inability to get to grips with a really complicated thermostat that pushed me into getting a Nest one. Supposedly it should pay for itself in 2 years but im not sure it will. It does however make me feel way better to know that I will never again be heating the place when it is empty, and it is so simple to use.

CAFCGirl

My top tip would be - eat!

Digesting food makes your liver produce heat, internal central heating!

PipneyJane

Toonie wrote: »

I've just been learning how to use the room thermostat that the previous owners put in. Far more complicated than my last one (24 hour clock with push in bits). This one is a 7 day programmable timer with "heating events" throughout the day! I think for now I'll stick to my blanket and a hot cuppa to keep me warm, but it's definitely worthwhile knowing how whatever heating system you have works so for those times you do put it you have it set to the right setting.

We have one of those. Actually, it's really simple once you get over the "OMG! WE HAVE SO MANY SETTINGS TO DEAL WITH" response. Create the first day and then copy it to the other days of the week.

The first step is to work out when, in a normal day, you are home and will need the heating on. For us, it's 5am to 8am and then 5pm to 11pm. For those periods, we have the heating set to 21C. Overnight, it's set at 15C and, when we're out at work, 10C. At the weekend, we have slightly different timings, but the principle is the same. If one of us is working from home and gets cold, there's a "party" setting where we can put the heating on for an hour or two.

For holidays, there's a holiday setting where it won't come on for the days specified, unless the temperature falls below a set level, so you set it when you're leaving and you will come home to a warm house BUT, in the meantime, the heating will not operate.

Beyond using the holiday setting, you will never have to "put your heating on" again nor will you be warming an empty house. If the house is warm enough, the heating does not come on and, when it does, it cuts out when the set temperature is reached. (When the weather turned last week, our heating was coming on for half an hour in the mornings, but at no other time.)

HTH

- Pip

Greenglockenspiel

A friend of mine has a blanket with sleeves which she ordered online. I think it's called a slanket and it is quite a good idea. However if you are prepared to have a slightly smaller one you can just wear your dressing gown backwards which is much more MSE! Layer with a normal blanket for additional warmth/length.


I am also making the most of the heat given out by my laptop charger currently by keeping it under the blanket I have over me while I use the computer. That way I don't need a HWB as well.

Primrose

These latest Hive type devices can be quite complicated to master - luckily my OH is more of a techie than I am so is happy to fiddle with it but I need to understand how to use it in case he's not around

We also have a device which closes our front lounge curtains automatically when it gets dark - useful anti burglar device when you're away from the house when it gets dark and use lamps on timers. It used to be an easy to operate Swish Autoglide system but that failed after 25+ years and we now have an overcomplicated replacement from another manufacturer which allows you to close them at a different time every day if necessary (over-egging the pudding in my view and not necessary.)

The only problem is that you need a computer degree to operate the darned system now and with daylight fading so rapidly at this time of year the Closing time needs to be continually adjusted. Luckily a remote controller allows you to manually override the settings

AndyCF

This is something I almost posted on another topic but it may be helpful in saving pennies perhaps.

If you have what appears to be a dead remote control for something and its got decent batteries in but still refuses to play nice, find a digital camera (it may work with a phone camera, it may not) , and via the camera 'viewscreen' look at the remote 'LED' on the end of it while operating a few buttons on it.

In theory as its infra-red the camera 'might' pick this up, so you may be able to 'see' it light up or not, note it will likely only flash for a fraction of a second you may have to press a few remote control buttons to catch it depending on the remote control itself.

However it does mean you can confirm if it is alive or not and decide what to do.

No need to 'take a pic' of it just viewing it may be enough.

Note this won't work for Ultra-Violet that I'm aware of and some remote controls are radio (RF) based I think not IR, but if its got a cleary LED on the end that points in the direction of the device then there's a reasonable chance this may work.

Certainly no harm in 2 minutes checking this before splashing out on a replacement remote if it turns out to be working (in which case the device might have an issue)

Frankieme

On the point of placement of radiators. The reason why they were placed under windows (especially in old houses) is to help heat conduction into the rooms. Hot air rises so if you have a radiator on an internal wall then the heat will just go up and take a long time to circulate into the room. If the heat rises and then hits noticeably cold air (e.g from a single glazed window) then it will effectively push the hot air further into the room helping it to circulate more efficiently. Not so much of a problem in new houses though.

Toonie

PipneyJane wrote: »

We have one of those. Actually, it's really simple once you get over the "OMG! WE HAVE SO MANY SETTINGS TO DEAL WITH" response. Create the first day and then copy it to the other days of the week.

- Pip

That was definitely my first reaction!



However, at the moment because I'm off work I'm at home quite a bit. Luckily I'm generally not that prone to feeling the cold (nor is my partner) so we're just popping it on if it feels chilly and the house gets warm quite quickly. But I will work out the settings once I'm back at work.