How to live without heating - save £000s

BikingBud

wittynamegoeshere said:

wild666 said:

Armengar said:

how do you plan on removing the mould spores? Once those take hold then you are going to pay more to get the infestation removed  Even an overpressure system with lightweight fan wont prevent this.

If he was ever to get mould spores then he would use a mould and mildew remover as has I did just don't follow the instructions to wipe it off but leave it on. When I had mould in another flat, about 15 years ago, I used to follow the instructions and the mould always returned but the one time I left it on, accidently, without wiping it off after the recommended time it never came back in the 15 months I lived there. IMO the manufacturer of these products want you to keep buying and reapplying the product so they have a steady income from the product. 

The actual reason you should wipe it off is because it's chlorine bleach so will release toxic chlorine gas.  It's probably at least as bad for you as any mould spores, it needs to be well vented then got rid of.

Also, sodium chloride, after releasing the chlorine gas, becomes sodium, i.e. common salt.  You are leaving behind a thin layer of dried salt crystals which will actively draw moisture out of the air every bit as efficiently as a dehumidifier, creating the perfect wet, salty environment for the next batch of mould.

This spray should only be used as a one-off fix for an existing problem before dealing with the actual cause, often by putting an extractor in the kitchen or bathroom, which often fixes the issue in adjoining rooms too.

Be interested to hear where these thought come from.

What are you adding to the bleach to break it down and release chlorine, the poster was leaving it to dwell. Mixing with vinegar works to release the chlorine but mixing household chemicals is really quite dangerous and should be avoided.

Also table salt is Sodium Chloride (NaCl) you can break it down into sodium (Na) a metal and Chlorine (Cl) the poisonous gas by melting it and then passing an electric current through it. Not sure that's happening here either

I think you my need to read up on your O-level chemistry rather than spreading scare stories.

Elisheba

I think you my need to read up on your O-level chemistry rather than spreading scare stories.

Getting a bit personal there. No need for that. A simple 'I believe you to be wrong and why' will suffice. 

BikingBud

wild666 said:

Coffeekup said:

wild666 said:

my normal daily usage is around 3 kWh per day but has being known to drop to as low as 1.7 kWh some days and as high as 11 kWh 

Impressive young jedi, I average 3.6... with a low of 2.4 and I high of 5 which is rare. 
Thta may increase in a couple of years as I do the kitchen and begrudgingly opt for a ceramic or induction hob (I like the control I have with gas and or was was obviously cheaper).

Induction hobs are cheaper than ceramic to use as the plate only heats up the surface that the pan comes into contact with and not the whole plate like ceramic hobs do. The price of the cooker might be slightly dearer but the electric used will be less than other hobs because you're only heating up the area that a pan is in contact with.

Induction hobs do not heat up to transfer energy to the pan, other than conduction of heat back from the pan they remain cool.

They are completely different to ceramic hobs and will only work with pans that have a magnetic base, not those lovely old prestige copper bottom pans.  The base needs to be magnetic so that the electromagnetic induction sets up eddy current in the pan base and produces heat

jvjack

Just went in garage. Thermometer shows 7 degrees. Shivered and thought of you Hertslad.
Ive doubled down on things , hope you dont go further.
Then played this new tune. Thought maybe youd like it. 
https://youtu.be/OcjHynXoroE
Or not.
Im probly scrambling to say dont continue with it and that cold in the garage.

Swipe

jvjack said:

Just went in garage. Thermometer shows 7 degrees. Shivered and thought of you Hertslad.

Anything below 17C and I'm out

HertsLad

Swipe said:

jvjack said:

Just went in garage. Thermometer shows 7 degrees. Shivered and thought of you Hertslad.

Anything below 17C and I'm out

It's so predictable. Neither of you can be wearing enough so you get cold. I would get cold too if not adequately dressed.

HertsLad

I just read an article suggesting heating bills for winter 2022/23 may be even higher than feared, going over £3,300 for many people. I certainly have better ways to spend my money and fully intend to continue with my approach of zero heating. Towards the end of last winter, Martin Lewis suggested people could keep themselves warm by using electrically heated pads and similar. It will certainly help but I found it's a lot more hassle than simply wearing enough clothes. I tried it for one winter, over 10 years ago and regard it as a second rate approach.

Max68

Credit to you for trying something.  I tried over December to live with the heating on for only one hour a day.  Problem I had was condensation and damp started to become a problem and mould started to appear.  I then went to two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening but limited it at 18.5 c, which turned out to be only a little more expensive than one hour a day.  Probably because the boiler didn't have to work as hard getting from 15 to 18.5 than it do to get from 13 to 18.5..  I was still chilly, so no idea how you cope at 2oc but I topped up by buying a curtain for the porch door, thermal socks, fleece throw for sitting in front of the TV and a few new fleeces or jumpers.  Wasn't comfortable but just about coped but at least the condensation, damp and mould cleared.  This I fear is the keep yourself warm but not the house quandary.  Depending on the house of course but any money saved for not heating could be gulped up by repairs needed in future to sort out issues caused by damp.  It's possibly a damned if you do damned if you don't scenario.

zzzt

I don't want to read all 18 pages of replies, so if this has been asked already I apologise.

I do a similar thing to the original poster, but it was not to make money. I originally did it because I've always been comfortable at colder temperatures than others. So I would just hardly ever put the heating on and if I was cold I would put a jumper on or another pair of socks, get an extra blanket for bed, etc.

I never took it to the extremes of not having the heating on at all. I found that on the coldest nights of winter, having the heating come on once would ensure the house stayed above 10°C.

But what I'm wondering is about the drawbacks for your house. If you don't keep your house warm enough, don't you encourage mould? And basically, the rewilding of your house? The warm temperature of a house is what makes it a different environment to the outside. One thing I noticed when I kept my house cooler was a lot of woodlice and even slugs coming inside.

theoretica said:

I find it very interesting to wonder what the best environment for a human actually is - I suspect there are aspects to shutting ourselves up in climate controlled houses which are similar to junk food.  Not the best for most of us, we like it, and a hard to avoid feature of our modern world as it ties into things like jobs which need us to sit mostly still for hours.

Cold exposure is good for us and we did not evolve to be in a constant warm temperature. Regular cold exposure causes the preservation of brown fat (the good kind of fat which burns calories to generate heat) as well as lower inflammation.

comeandgo

I would rather go hungry than cold but we can have winters in the minus 20’s so do not plan on shutting off the heating, ever.  We have open fires for when we get the usual power cuts.