How to live without heating - save £000s

HertsLad

This forum is such a mine of information. I noticed some condensation on large patio windows and assumed it is inside but I checked and it is outside, How does that happen? Not too bad, I guess, if there's moisture outside,

drphila

Sea_Shell said:

But even if 90% of people (probably single) could do what you do, I doubt anyone who had a choice would.

 I have a choice and I do.

To earn the couple of thousand I save, I'd have to work 2 months full time. So there's 350 hours of my life lost for a start. Then there's the responsibility, the physical and/or mental exertion required and probably worst of all, being answerable to another person.

HertsLad

drphila said:

Sea_Shell said:

But even if 90% of people (probably single) could do what you do, I doubt anyone who had a choice would.

 I have a choice and I do.

To earn the couple of thousand I save, I'd have to work 2 months full time...

Interesting. It sounds like your saving is similar to mine. What's your approach to minimise the costs?

Reddleman79

HertsLad said:

This forum is such a mine of information. I noticed some condensation on large patio windows and assumed it is inside but I checked and it is outside, How does that happen? Not too bad, I guess, if there's moisture outside,

Probably warmer outside than in. It did that with with my house as I had no heating on during the cold weekend. It was 7.5°C in my living room, and 12°C outside in my garden. I opened the windows and doors to warm the house up!

HertsLad

Reddleman79 said:

 It was 7.5°C in my living room, and 12°C outside in my garden. I opened the windows and doors to warm the house up!

So are you surviving at low temperatures, too? How do you cope?

MattMattMattUK

HertsLad said:

This forum is such a mine of information. I noticed some condensation on large patio windows and assumed it is inside but I checked and it is outside, How does that happen? Not too bad, I guess, if there's moisture outside,

Everything in the underground carpark was soaked from condensation, the ambient temperature went from a daily average of -6c to a daily average of 8c with 60% humidity and it had been that cold for a week, that means that all the physical elements were very cold and the air was both damp and much warmer, hence condensation on all the cold stuff. 

Effician

MattMattMattUK said:

HertsLad said:

This forum is such a mine of information. I noticed some condensation on large patio windows and assumed it is inside but I checked and it is outside, How does that happen? Not too bad, I guess, if there's moisture outside,

Everything in the underground carpark was soaked from condensation, the ambient temperature went from a daily average of -6c to a daily average of 8c with 60% humidity and it had been that cold for a week, that means that all the physical elements were very cold and the air was both damp and much warmer, hence condensation on all the cold stuff. 

So you're basically saying HertsLad's house is colder than outside.

Reddleman79

HertsLad said:

So are you surviving at low temperatures, too? How do you cope?

I'm not as hard line as yourself, but I don't mind living with a room temperature of 12°C. I switch the GCH on if it's under 10°C, but only to warm the bathroom and living room radiators. I don't heat any of the bedrooms. On the occasion it dropped to 7.5°C I was away at my partner's house for the weekend, so that was a bit extreme. I keep warm enough by wearing two t shirts under a wool jersey, and indoor boots. A 10.4 TOG duvet and a hot water bottle when in bed. On current working out, the 'welfare' payments from the government and energy companies will just about pay for ALL my energy needs.

HertsLad

Reddleman79 said:

HertsLad said:

So are you surviving at low temperatures, too? How do you cope?

I'm not as hard line as yourself, but I don't mind living with a room temperature of 12°C. I switch the GCH on if it's under 10°C, but only to warm the bathroom and living room radiators. I don't heat any of the bedrooms. On the occasion it dropped to 7.5°C I was away at my partner's house for the weekend, so that was a bit extreme. I keep warm enough by wearing two t shirts under a wool jersey, and indoor boots. A 10.4 TOG duvet and a hot water bottle when in bed. On current working out, the 'welfare' payments from the government and energy companies will just about pay for ALL my energy needs.

If I wore only as much as you seem to, I would freeze at 12C during the daytime and at night I would be even colder, I reckon, if I was using only a duvet of 10.4 tog. As I said before, my duvets add up to 27 tog. You must be made of hardier stuff than I am.

During the recent cold spell, I made nights even warmer by starting to sleep in a sleeping bag, with the duvets over the top. My problem is/was when the duvets end up on the floor. The sleeping bag helps prevent me from getting cold.

A couple of days ago, I first heard about Chinese diesel heaters. I will now consider one of these as a potentially low cost way of heating my bathroom.

hardergamer

MattMattMattUK said:

HertsLad said:

This forum is such a mine of information. I noticed some condensation on large patio windows and assumed it is inside but I checked and it is outside, How does that happen? Not too bad, I guess, if there's moisture outside,

Everything in the underground carpark was soaked from condensation, the ambient temperature went from a daily average of -6c to a daily average of 8c with 60% humidity and it had been that cold for a week, that means that all the physical elements were very cold and the air was both damp and much warmer, hence condensation on all the cold stuff. 

As an general builder with city & guilds in construction, I used to maintain and look after second homes, holiday homes etc, with many worth up to £20 million (in 2010), and many were never lived in at all, and all most all had the heating switched off 52-54 weeks of the year, and only on when they are unoccupied, and my brother looks after national trust properties still today across south England, and according to you all these properties must be falling apart without any heating, which is simply not true.

Ventilation stops damp by removing any condensation from the building, heating evaporates water to condensation, it doesn't and can not remove it from the building, it only moves moisture into the air which it then resettles back on the internals of the building when humidity becomes too high or from a lack of air movement and ventilation, or a change of air pressure with a drop in temperature, plus warmer air with high condensation and cooler surfaces will form condensation. You may not feel the moisture/humidity in your CH home, but it is there just the same, this is why you notice damp when you turn the heating off and the building cools.

By far the best way to remove condensation moisture is with a dehumidifier or just good ventilation, which is what we used in all holiday and national trust properties, as the cold alone will not cause damage, it's the hot and cold cycling that damages buildings, and leads to mould, and again it's ventilation or a dehumidifier that removes mould, also mould will not live in colder temperature, but many types will live happily in a warm CH home.

One more thing if you have damp patches in your home this is from a problem with your building, ie rising damp, rotten/bad fascias, leaking cracked render or roof, or even a water pipe, CH is only covering the problem up.