The heating is officially on is yours?

Astria

SAC2334 said:

Astria said:

FreeBear said:

Astria said:

SAC2334 said:

I ve cracked but only for four hours in the evening 6.pm to 10 pm .Taking readings from the gas meter at start and finish because I m varying the boiler settings and TRV s to see if it makes any difference. 

I lowered the flow rate from 65 cto 55 c but it does take a long time to heat the main room up . My friend who is a Gas safe engineer says it should nt make any difference but just take longer to heat up. Like a 3000 watt kettle boils a cup faster than a 2000 watt kettle and costs the same amount. 

My 4 evenings so far have cost not far off the same amount using just over 2 metric units / 24 kwh/ £2.50 for four hours .
I m going to increase the flow rate to 60 c to see if its more expensive 

One thing I have to ask: What are you radiators designed to run at? The output of the radiator depends on the delta t which is input temperature versus output temperature. It they were designed for 60c (or even 70c) then running them lower than that can cause them to be less efficient, heat up your room slower and use more gas as a result.

Most current radiators on the market now have a delta T of 50, meaning they are quite happy to run at lower expected boiler temperatures.

If your radiators are Delta 70 then they typically require a boiler temperature of 80c, give a return of 60c for a 70c overall radiator temperature. Delta 50 means they have a overall temperature of 50c.

Methinks you are a bit out there.... The "delta t" (Δt) refers to the temperature difference between the hot water and the nominal ambient air temperature. For a typical house, this will be 70°C for the CH hot water and 20°C for the room which gives a Δt of 50°C.

Stelrad explains it a bit better than me - https://www.stelrad.com/news-events/blog/the-importance-of-delta-t-in-calculating-heating-output/

Yes, and so 80 - 60 = 20c ? (70c expected radiator temperature), or 70 - 50 (60c expected radiator temperature) and so on ?

So if you want to run your boiler output temperature at 55c then you shouldn't be using radiators which are expecting an input of 70c, else you are reducing the rated BTU of the radiator?

Mine will be the Delta 70 as they are all over 40 years old .
My experiments continue so will increase the CH  flow rate to 60 c and 65 c . The room took too long to warm up and did nt reach my 18 c on my room thermometer and its not even proper winter yet .
Thanks for the info about radiators , something to think about when I replace my boiler .

Yes, that's what I was trying to get across, but sometimes I'm not that good at explaining things!

The way you are doing it is the perfect way - just remember to use the same conditions for each test. My heating was on for 6 hours yesterday but has only been on for an hour so far today and it's set for the same temperature, so it must have been very much colder yesterday - it was raining all day though and windy, that could have been it.

When we all change to heat pumps the typical output is more like 40c, so you will definitely need new radiators (maybe bigger ones, or additional ones), and maybe pipework. Need a proper site survey to do that, don't go with a cowboy installer which just installs a heat pump else you'll be paying through the roof for energy and it'll take forever to get the place warm.

ZolaBuddy

Still fairly mild up here in the Lake District. Am still firing up the CH on a morning basis for 2 hours and perhaps another hour before bedtime of an evening.

We've been getting outside temps of around 6-7C for November compared to about 3-5C this time last year. Moreover I haven't had to scrape the car of ice/frost yet, which is another first for November 2022 thus far.

However, I will be switching on my two dehumidifiers (hall and bedroom) as relative humidity is hovering just under 65%, roughly 10% above the comfort zone. I don't want to have any damp issues so may also have to open a few windows a touch as well.

Swipe

The hall storage heater come on last night. The hall is now a respectable 12C and no longer feels like I am stepping outside.

Jami74

Haven't turned the storage heater on yet. However, electric underblanket on my bed is getting lots of use. Saying that, lowest temperature in my house so far has been 14.1 at 7am this morning. Temperature then reached a peak of 19.1 during the morning when the sun was coming in. Plan is to try and hold off until December, then it'll be on every night until March.

Dizee123

Temperature in my lounge today didn't make it past 15.5 degrees (north west facing in Wiltshire).  However, it felt warmer than yesterday when it hovered around the 16 mark as the sun was out.  I can hold out at these temperatures during the day without heating by chunking the day into sitting periods and 'doing' periods (i.e. housework, leave raking up, dog walking, tennis).  I use a normal fleece throw and a hot water bottle for watching TV and have dug out some thermal socks.
I then don't mind the heating being on at night from 5pm to 9.30, supplemented by the log burner in the lounge.  It makes it more affordable.  We have young grandchildren who stay at weekends, so I have just accepted that on these days the house has to be warm and it will cost a lot more!

KevinG

I gave in on 17th November and it's set to come on for the usual 0630-0800 and 2100-2230, when it gets really cold we boost it at other times. In the room I'm sitting in at the moment it's 19.1 and the heating's been off all day - in fact the radiator in this room is actually switched off so it wasn't even on last night or this morning. So the temperature is still holding up pretty well.

Ally_E.

RelievedSheff said:

Our heating has been doing its own thing all month, coming on and off as needed set by the timer and thermostat.

We have been toasty warm at 20 degrees in the evening with a slightly lower 19 degrees for an hour in the morning while we get up and get ready for work. The rest of the time the house is left at 16 degrees minimum.

Just had our November bill and we have used just under 400kWh compared to 650kWh for the same period last year.

I am genuinely surprised at some of the temperatures some of you live with in your homes. There was an article over the weekend which studied the effects of colder temperatures on the body with surprising results at temperatures higher than those some of you are heating your homes too.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63602501

I've been trying to reduce the temperature inside the house help with the energy costs and 20C now feels hot. 18C is perfect for me now. And I have one of those health conditions. It's all relative and what we are used to. 

Alnat1

I've surprised myself and felt OK with the heating at 17C so far, although it hasn't got really cold out yet. I think the cushion shoved up the chimney has made a big difference to keeping the room warm.

Had the heated throw on a few times but found I'm turning it off after half an hour and it's blanketness is enough without the extra heat.

Apodemus

I'm envious of some of the temps being quoted above!

The frost on the lawn here hasn't shifted since Sunday and is getting added to every night.  Outside temp hasn't been above the temp of the fridge this week!  With a maximum room temp set at 16C evening and early morning, our heating has fired up for about five hours each day this week and bedroom temps are dropping to 10C overnight!  It's "layers, layers, layers!" time here and beds are all cosy with additional duvets and microwavable oatbags.

Astria

Apodemus said:

I'm envious of some of the temps being quoted above!

The frost on the lawn here hasn't shifted since Sunday and is getting added to every night.  Outside temp hasn't been above the temp of the fridge this week!  With a maximum room temp set at 16C evening and early morning, our heating has fired up for about five hours each day this week and bedroom temps are dropping to 10C overnight!  It's "layers, layers, layers!" time here and beds are all cosy with additional duvets and microwavable oatbags.

Last night was the first time I slept in socks because I woke up and they were like ice

Used 4 units of gas as well yesterday, so about £4.50 ish