How to live without heating - save £000s

HertsLad

I took some photos as requested and, at the risk of depleting my battery bank, I used my desktop PC to edit them a bit.

Here's the first one of how I look today for the current house temperature of something like 1C It's a tad bulky but I feel it doesn't affect my movement to any extent:



And here is a photo to show the upper layers as described a few hours ago:

[Deleted User]

I think if I wore that many layers, I would no longer fit through doorways!

Bacman

In the old days you had a fire in the lounge to give hot water and heat in the main room and in the kitchen to cook the food; the other rooms just got cold (apart from other bedrooms with their own fireplaces). Not great, also homes prone to damp and mould especially when combined with poorly insulated walls.

At school in the 80's the boarding school I went to was an old house so had thick walls, had a few radiators however was always cold as had not double glazing. In cold weather the bed blankets got a bit "crispy".

It is important to make sure a modern house is at least 5 degrees celcius so you need some heating, even if minimal

HertsLad

Bacman said:

It is important to make sure a modern house is at least 5 degrees celcius so you need some heating, even if minimal

Where does the figure of 5C come from?

InvertedVee

Many thanks to you @HertsLad for the pictures and all the information. I enjoy your posts and your patience. There's no way that I would do what you're doing but it's a free country and I applaud your innovation and individual style. This forum would be poorer without you!

EssexHebridean

I’d be uncomfortable if I wore that many layers outside, never mind just relaxing at home! Definitely not for me! 

Cirrus1

That’s a very interesting lifestyle you write about OP (not one I am remotely considering by the way, but fascinating nonetheless).
Apologies if you have already covered this -if you shower/bathe at home, how on earth do you do so if the bathroom is at 0 to 1 degrees? I am assuming that this is the kind of temperature under current conditions if you don’t have heating.

dealyboy

Hi HertsLad ... I think you're an inspiration and from what I can see you are wearing even more layers than me.

Its about being economical and sensible. I don't have central heating and do not use the hot water cylinder, but I have a couple of oil filled radiators on 24 hours (not on full) which maintain a temperature of 10C to 15C at the moment (I have to consider the cat). I am perfectly comfortable!

I use a heated throw top cover on the bed and have duvets above and below me. I also use a dehumidifier to help with condensation.

When the minimum outside temperature increases in a couple of days time I will time the radiators to be active overnight only (E7). I am an OAP and an MSE by nature.

BTW, I noted that you are interested in heating/insulation grants. I am also in Herts, North Herts. NHDC wrote to me recently about applying for a grant ... https://www.north-herts.gov.uk/are-you-eligible-free-home-improvements-make-your-home-warmer?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery, if not there may be useful information here for your district council.

hardergamer

Apodemus said:

hardergamer said:

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.

I agree, it will take a long time if every to defrost an outside exposed condensation pipe, by heating up the room with the boiler alone, as I was assuming they had thawed out the condensation pipe as @Max68 said they pored boiling water over it, so I assumed it was the next most common thing to freeze the water supply.

The problem as I see it, is on most newer convection boilers, the installers are/were instructed to slant the flue and condensation pipe back towards the boiler allowing for any condensation or moisture in the air to settle back into water which ends up freezing,

But I know this is an ongoing problem as my dad just had a new Ideal Vogue combi boiler fitted by British Gas 3 weeks ago and with in the first week the boiler froze up, and this is with the boiler switched on at all times, meaning it froze between the thermostat coming on and off, which it's not meant to happen as it has frost protection, and it was only -6C outside.

HertsLad

Cirrus1 said:

That’s a very interesting lifestyle you write about OP (not one I am remotely considering by the way, but fascinating nonetheless).
Apologies if you have already covered this -if you shower/bathe at home, how on earth do you do so if the bathroom is at 0 to 1 degrees? I am assuming that this is the kind of temperature under current conditions if you don’t have heating.

Yes, the bathroom temperature is currently about 1C. Before the energy prices shot up, I used mains electricity for up to 30 mins with a 1kw fan heater to take the chill off the bathroom but with only 6 panels for solar energy in mid winter, I face a problem. I bought a 500w ceramic heater which should blow hot air straight at me. Electricity in a bathroom? I know it's risky. Not yet tried. It will be powered from 2 car batteries and an inverter, so I can monitor energy usage more closely. The 2 car batteries will be recharged on sunny afternoons from the solar panels. I also bought a butane gas heater to see what that's like. Dangerous again with the risk of carbon monoxide so I will place a detector in the bathroom. Finally, I can use a public swimming pool with hot showers for only about £3.50 per session. Good exercise, too.