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How to live without heating - save £000s

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  • Max68
    Max68 Posts: 244 Forumite
    Third Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 16 December 2022 at 11:40AM
    Hearts Lad,  Serious question, if you put the heating on would it actually work?  Just been trying to help my neighbour because like us all he has tried to cut back on heating and his boiler has frozen up this morning, I saw him pouring warm water over a condensation pipe, although he isn't sure if it is that.  Not sure of his layout but he has a three year old combi and has had a total revamp with extensions this summer and this condensation pipe that runs outside.  My boiler is a 22 year old Potterton with just a small flume that pokes out of the wall.  Have just put it on and thankfully it works.  So I guess it all depends on the layout of the house etc but pipes etc do freeze so was wondering if your layout is the type that won't freeze up in case you did want to use it?  Obviously now my neighbour is having to get an emergency plumbing and heating engineer out as they are a family of four with two small children so as well as the energy bill they will probably now have a call out/repair bill as well.  Would it have happened if they weren't trying to cut back like everyone else?  Who knows?  One of the downsides to the heating the person rather than the house dilemma. 
  • Mstty said:
    At some point are there some pictures of the gear you wear round the house and ifnit looks bulky etc.(blue face etc)

    Also I want to believe you completely but would you also post your energy usage if you have the bright app or a bill.

    That may put some of the people thinking this is a lie to bed once and for all.


    I was intending to take a picture of myself to post here. Thank you for reminding me. Maybe today is a good day because it is bright and sunny but about as cold as it gets so I never wear more. But the ski trousers need a wash so do I want to post a photo which discredits me? I was going to see if I have other (xxxl) trousers to go over the top but it all takes time. My priority had been to move some of  my solar panels to a better position for Winter sun angles and less risk of them being covered in snow.

    I will upload energy bills a.s.a.p.
  • Max68 said:
    Hearts Lad,  Serious question, if you put the heating on would it actually work?  Just been trying to help my neighbour because like us all he has tried to cut back on heating and his boiler has frozen up this morning, I saw him pouring warm water over a condensation pipe, although he isn't sure if it is that.  Not sure of his layout but he has a three year old combi and has had a total revamp with extensions this summer and this condensation pipe that runs outside.  My boiler is a 22 year old Potterton with just a small flume that pokes out of the wall.  Have just put it on and thankfully it works.  So I guess it all depends on the layout of the house etc but pipes etc do freeze so was wondering if your layout is the type that won't freeze up in case you did want to use it?  Obviously now my neighbour is having to get an emergency plumbing and heating engineer out as they are a family of four with two small children so as well as the energy bill they will probably now have a call out/repair bill as well.  Would it have happened if they weren't trying to cut back like everyone else?  Who knows?  One of the downsides to the heating the person rather than the house dilemma. 

    All they need to do is put a heater in the room like a £12 3kw fan heater, that's all a heating engineer will do, just have the fan heater blowing towards the cold water supply and boiler and in very little time it will be fine, 2 hours max.
    SW/Devon lat50.3*, Longi half cut cells 2x 400w + 2x 420w S/f & 4x 150w SW/f PV. 5kw Reliable Inverter 21kwh LFP battery bank, built to charge E-MCycle E-Bike, and power 90% of my home
  • Max68 said:
    Hearts Lad,  Serious question, if you put the heating on would it actually work?  Just been trying to help my neighbour...
    Sorry to hear your neighbour can't get his heating system to work. I'm lucky to have a warm air system. Too many people hate them and change over to a water based system. There is nothing to freeze up and I am confident it will still work, not that I need to use it, beyond a brief test.
  • EssexHebridean
    EssexHebridean Posts: 24,421 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 16 December 2022 at 12:07PM
    HertsLad said:
    Sea_Shell said:
    Fun !?!?!    

    This thread proves that there really is nowt so "odd" as folk.


    I realised some people like you would hate it that anyone like me would be enjoying life. Would it be better if Iied and made out I was barely surviving and thoroughly miserable? Perhaps 90% of people could do what I am doing. I even provided shopping lists,  but no payable links, to help others get started.
    You know life isn’t some form of competition to see who is the “hardest” - yes? Really no need for phrasing like “people like you” - not least as surely you understand that your way of living is not one that 99.9% of the population would choose, and right now, with the number of those struggling to afford heating, a lot of folk will see your approach at “playing at being poor”? 

    Living as you do - when it doesn’t affect anyone else - is great if that’s what you want to do, but you’re no better than anyone else for doing so, IMO. Is it going to seem odd to the vast majority? Yes, personally I’d have to agree that it seems a strange idea for someone to choose to wear layer on layer of clothing in their own home when they can perfectly well afford to pop some heating on. And for those who don’t have a choice about being able to heat, I imagine it feels entirely incomprehensible that anyone would be choosing not to! 

    As for 90% of people being able to do what you do - I’d doubt that. Most people have others in the household who may well not have the same resistance to cold that you clearly do. Others have health conditions that preclude it - remember this sort of thing was pointed out early in this thread when you were being (in a lot of people’s opinion) somewhat bombastic about the ability of anyone to live that way and (again in many people’s opinion) rather cavalier about the way you were giving advice. Personally I’m what would generally be considered to be a fit healthy person - but I do feel the cold, particularly in my hands and feet. I’m currently in my 19° heated living room yet my finger tips are cold, and my feel still slightly chilly in spite of thick wool socks and well padded slippers after being out for a walk (in sturdy boots) this morning. Could I live as you choose to? Possibly, but would I choose to? Absolutely without question not! 

    Re posting the photo by the way - I think to follow forum rules you would need to blank out or blur your face anyway so you are not identifiable. So probably no issue with any “discredit”. In any event I’m assuming that these clothes aren’t visibly “dirty” or presumably you wouldn’t be wearing them! 
    🎉 MORTGAGE FREE (First time!) 30/09/2016 🎉 And now we go again…New mortgage taken 01/09/23 🏡
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  • Max68
    Max68 Posts: 244 Forumite
    Third Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Thankfully the neighbour has got his boiler working and has got someone around later to insulate the outdoor condensation pipe.  hardergamer, many thanks for the tip above, I'll bookmark that in case he has the issue again.
  • Etch
    Etch Posts: 908 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Name Dropper
    Max68 said:
    Just been trying to help my neighbour because like us all he has tried to cut back on heating and his boiler has frozen up this morning, I saw him pouring warm water over a condensation pipe, although he isn't sure if it is that.  Not sure of his layout but he has a three year old combi and has had a total revamp with extensions this summer and this condensation pipe that runs outside. 
    Interesting to hear of others having problems with the condensate pipe freezing. I correctly diagnosed a frozen pipe on a fairly new combi boiler (not mine) a few days ago. The outlet from the boiler isn't sealed, just directed into an open trap which had overflowed on the ceiling below (boiler had been operating constantly since the start of the cold spell). Managed to defrost the outside pipe with warm water - several plugs of ice came out - and fitted new pipe lagging. However, it had frozen again yesterday (overnight temperature down to -6C) and, try as I might, I couldn't clear the blockage this time. Luckily the amount of condensate produced is not great so the boiler outlet is currently being collected in a bucket.
  • Apodemus
    Apodemus Posts: 3,410 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Max68 said:
    Hearts Lad,  Serious question, if you put the heating on would it actually work?  Just been trying to help my neighbour because like us all he has tried to cut back on heating and his boiler has frozen up this morning, I saw him pouring warm water over a condensation pipe, although he isn't sure if it is that.  Not sure of his layout but he has a three year old combi and has had a total revamp with extensions this summer and this condensation pipe that runs outside.  My boiler is a 22 year old Potterton with just a small flume that pokes out of the wall.  Have just put it on and thankfully it works.  So I guess it all depends on the layout of the house etc but pipes etc do freeze so was wondering if your layout is the type that won't freeze up in case you did want to use it?  Obviously now my neighbour is having to get an emergency plumbing and heating engineer out as they are a family of four with two small children so as well as the energy bill they will probably now have a call out/repair bill as well.  Would it have happened if they weren't trying to cut back like everyone else?  Who knows?  One of the downsides to the heating the person rather than the house dilemma. 

    All they need to do is put a heater in the room like a £12 3kw fan heater, that's all a heating engineer will do, just have the fan heater blowing towards the cold water supply and boiler and in very little time it will be fine, 2 hours max.
    That won't necessarily fix the problem if the condensate drain has iced up. I believe that these should no longer be installed in such a way that the condensate is exposed to outside temperatures, but there are plenty of installations where that still happens.
  • HertsLad
    HertsLad Posts: 370 Forumite
    Third Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Re posting the photo by the way - I think to follow forum rules you would need to blank out or blur your face anyway so you are not identifiable. So probably no issue with any “discredit”. In any event I’m assuming that these clothes aren’t visibly “dirty” or presumably you wouldn’t be wearing them! 
    Yes, I was going to blank out my face but nothing is simple. I use photoshop on my desktop PC.  There is so little energy coming from my solar panels that it's too risky to turn on the PC so it will have to wait. Doing it all on my mobile phone is almost certainly possible but finding my tripod holder and finding how to blur out a section of a photo will take too long.
  • Sea_Shell
    Sea_Shell Posts: 10,007 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Can you give us a quick recap of how you get (and store) the power and hot water that you do use?   It's lost in the history of the thread... somewhere.


    I did see you have solar tubes for hot water, but if they work on sunny winter days like today, what about next week when it's going to be cloudy?
    How's it going, AKA, Nutwatch? - 12 month spends to date = 2.60% of current retirement "pot" (as at end May 2025)
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