How to live without heating - save £000s

LessImpecunious

TheAble said:

Swipe said:

TheAble said:

Interesting thread, thanks op. I do agree with you that you can condition your body over time and that what may have once been uncomfortable ceases to be after a while. We heat our house to 15c nowadays over winter and it feels perfectly warm. Much more than 16c and it starts to feel too hot. Definitely couldn't stand 20+.

Isn't your house warmer than 20C+ right now? I know mine is.

Most probably. We keep it well ventilated in summer though.

Keeping the house well-ventilated in the high temperatures experienced lately will have the opposite effect - allowing warm outside air in. Advice given recently (probably on the Today prog, via one of the weather people, I think) was to open windows at night to allow cooler air in, then, when the sun rises, to shut windows and keep doors closed, and close curtains, especially on sunny windows. This is the technique used in, e.g., the Mediterranean, or other parts of Europe where high temps have always been common. We tried this in a hot spell last year, and again this year, and it works (admittedly in a stone-built house which is usually cooler than the outside through summer - but was overheating with more extreme temps...). Sorry, off-topic!

YoungBlueEyes

Father spent a lot of time in Arab countries, and they do similar. I can’t tell you the number of times he told us “you don’t let heat out, you keep heat out”.

Open up for the night breezes, and get closed up when the sun gets a bit of strength to it. Close blinds/door curtains to keep it out. 

Makes things so much more comfortable!

Mstty

It doesn't work that well with UK construction especially red brick houses with west or south facing walls. They store the sun's heat during the day and release it during the night (massive storage heater on two sides of your house if you have both orientations)

Might paint the house white if this continues lol.

Swipe

I've got a feeling this will be one of the top threads on here this winter.

brewerdave

Mstty said:

It doesn't work that well with UK construction especially red brick houses with west or south facing walls. They store the sun's heat during the day and release it during the night (massive storage heater on two sides of your house if you have both orientations)

Might paint the house white if this continues lol.

Back of our house faces South and West. In the very hot spell I closed all windows and curtains at the back and shut the doors, but the bedrooms still ended up extremely warm by the evening ~ 29deg C - AND we have white stone cladding on all 4 walls !!

QrizB

Mstty said:

It doesn't work that well with UK construction especially red brick houses with west or south facing walls. They store the sun's heat during the day and release it during the night (massive storage heater on two sides of your house if you have both orientations)

It helps you keep warm in the cooler months, though.

Might paint the house white if this continues lol.

Paint it white every May then back to brick-coloured in September?

Mstty

I agree @QrizB I was just explaining why the open windows technique that works in Mediterranean countries doesn't work as well here.

Maybe a white tarpaulin cover lol the Mrs would love that for street appeal🤣🤣

HertsLad

chris_n said:

I suspect it is considerably easier to do this in Herts as opposed to Northumberland or Scotland 

If the indoor temperature drops below my limit of 2C (so far) then you may be right.

HertsLad

It is now being predicted that: 

Energy bills 'could hit £6,552 in April'

My target, which I believe is quite achievable, is about £50 per year. How high will it need to go before you may think it's worth trying out some of the clothing I suggest? Or even Martin Lewis' idea of using electrically heated pads - bonkers if you ask me but certainly better than simply accepting whatever you may get charged.

brewerdave

HertsLad said:

It is now being predicted that: 

Energy bills 'could hit £6,552 in April'

My target, which I believe is quite achievable, is about £50 per year. How high will it need to go before you may think it's worth trying out some of the clothing I suggest? Or even Martin Lewis' idea of using electrically heated pads - bonkers if you ask me but certainly better than simply accepting whatever you may get charged.

Eh ? Can't be bothered to re-read the whole thread but since the standing charges alone on SVT are £275 pa ??