How to live without heating - save £000s

Swipe

Two bitterly cold nights incoming. Stay safe.

HertsLad

Swipe said:

Two bitterly cold nights incoming. Stay safe.

Thanks. If anything goes wrong, you could say I was warned! On Friday night, I will be sleeping in my car overnight, ahead of my annual ski holiday. The temperature could be anything between about -5C and +5C. But I have done it so many times before, I am confident I won't get the slightest bit cold.

FreeBear

HertsLad said: The temperature in my house is now 2C, the lowest it ever seemed to go until it hit 1C a couple of years ago

At that sort of temperature, you have a very serious risk of pipes freezing and bursting. The repair bills incurred will be a lot higher than what a small amount of heating would have cost. In addition, you may well find that insurance won't cover you.

HertsLad

FreeBear said:

HertsLad said: The temperature in my house is now 2C, the lowest it ever seemed to go until it hit 1C a couple of years ago

At that sort of temperature, you have a very serious risk of pipes freezing and bursting. The repair bills incurred will be a lot higher than what a small amount of heating would have cost. In addition, you may well find that insurance won't cover you.

In my opinion, there's zero risk of pipes bursting in my house. I took steps back around 2011 when I stopped heating my house. Anyone else thinking of trying this - unlikely I know - needs to take similar meaaures. There has been 14.5 winters since then and no pipes have burst. Moreover, the freezing point of water has never been reached in my house, so far, anyway. I know because I put out ramekin dishes with a little water. The water has never frozen or even turned slushy.

MarzipanCrumble

lagging the pipes?  I noticed that there is a 'free' outside tap cover that water companies offer to help offset burst / frozen taps.  It is like a mitten for taps.
https://www.watersafe.org.uk/news/latest_news/watersafe-winter-giveaway-insulation-jackets/

Amazon sell similar (ed)

Swipe

MarzipanCrumble said:

lagging the pipes?  I noticed that there is a 'free' outside tap cover that water companies offer to help offset burst / frozen taps.  It is like a mitten for taps.
https://www.watersafe.org.uk/news/latest_news/watersafe-winter-giveaway-insulation-jackets/

Amazon sell similar (ed)

B&M sells them too but I still found that the outside tap would sometimes freeze on -6C mornings such as today. So now I also isolate my outside tap at the valve on the other side of the wall in the bathroom at the start of winter and drain any water from the pipe. I have a full water butt if I need any water.

wrf12345

The only time I encountered a frozen pipe was during that really cold winter over a decade ago and then because the pipe/tap that supplied the house emerged in the integrated garage that itself was vented to the outside - the house was less than ten years old btw. In an empty house with no water flow you might well have problems, though...

QrizB

My outside tap (attached directly to my house) froze this week. No damage apparent.

HertsLad

QrizB said:

My outside tap (attached directly to my house) froze this week. No damage apparent.

Good to hear from you again on this thread. My preparations in 2011 included adding a valve inside the house, to isolate the outside tap. Worth considering for anyone, I suggest.

masonic

Great reminder for me to isolate my outside tap!