Heating takes ages to heat up - small house

Albermarle

silvercar said:

bjorn_toby_wilde said:

QrizB said:

While we're all having fun with the suggestion:

silvercar said:

A £2 tea could last a couple of hours and save on your heating costs.

Let's not forget that £60 a month, £2 a day, is the OP's self-imposed limit on their entire heating bill.

Spending that £2 on a cup of tea in a cafe would mean having no heating at home at all.

If we're saying "oh but this is extra spending", IMHO they'd be better off spending an extra £1 on gas and having a cup of tea at home with a good book / the telly / TikTok.

It would be better I would think to heat the house more or less constantly to a lower temperature. As it loses temperature it will be harder to raise the temperature of the fabric of the building.

When you are being frugal with heating, does it make sense to have it at 16 degrees 24/7 when you don't really need it more than 12-14 in the night when you are huddled under duvets and blankets? It may be worth experimenting on the costs of heating all day vs a higher temp for a few hours.

This seems to be the argument that crops up every Winter, with proponents on both sides.

My personal take is that the higher the temperature inside, the higher the heat losses to the outside ( just physics).
So in an older, less well insulated house, it makes sense to only get it warm when you need it warm.
On the other side heating only a few hours a day in very cold weather, will struggle to get the fabric of the house warm, so a trade off.
Currently we have the heating on from 05.30 to 21.30, with maybe a couple of hours break in the middle.
Hopefully from tomorrow we can turn it down a bit !

jvjack

rosamy52  If i have this right , then £2 a day is not going to heat your house to be pleasant in winter.
The radiator will take hours to get the living room to even to 18 degrees that you get if only on for 4 hours.
That will be the same for many houses.
For £2 more a day you could have warm house and you should have it.
I see that's double what you paid this month. Obviously you're saying can't afford it , but there is help as living like that is not necessary. 
Have a chat with you're energy provider.
Anyone got other help links for this. 

 
 

WIAWSNB

Albermarle said:

silvercar said:

bjorn_toby_wilde said:

QrizB said:

While we're all having fun with the suggestion:

silvercar said:

A £2 tea could last a couple of hours and save on your heating costs.

Let's not forget that £60 a month, £2 a day, is the OP's self-imposed limit on their entire heating bill.

Spending that £2 on a cup of tea in a cafe would mean having no heating at home at all.

If we're saying "oh but this is extra spending", IMHO they'd be better off spending an extra £1 on gas and having a cup of tea at home with a good book / the telly / TikTok.

It would be better I would think to heat the house more or less constantly to a lower temperature. As it loses temperature it will be harder to raise the temperature of the fabric of the building.

When you are being frugal with heating, does it make sense to have it at 16 degrees 24/7 when you don't really need it more than 12-14 in the night when you are huddled under duvets and blankets? It may be worth experimenting on the costs of heating all day vs a higher temp for a few hours.

My personal take is that the higher the temperature inside, the higher the heat losses to the outside (just physics).
So in an older, less well insulated house, it makes sense to only get it warm when you need it warm.
On the other side heating only a few hours a day in very cold weather, will struggle to get the fabric of the house warm, so a trade off.
Currently we have the heating on from 05.30 to 21.30, with maybe a couple of hours break in the middle.
Hopefully from tomorrow we can turn it down a bit !

Yes, that is how it works. For max energy savings, you heat a house only when it's required. 
There are caveats; if your house takes too long to get back up to temp for when needed - and it will take longer, of course, if kept cool at other times - then you may have to compromise and either extend preheating times, or raise the 'standby' temp. As I do in my 30s house (overnight temp of 15o, tho' it very rarely falls that far).
Or, if you find the resulting wide temp fluctuations are causing other issues such as damp, which can happen with 'large' drops in temp causing moisture to condense out without it being ventilated away, then you may need to tweak stuff.
But, I repeat earlier stuff - for max energy savings;
1) don't heat rooms that aren't being used. Ventilate them instead - internal door closed, window cracked to vent. Obvs prevent from freezing (they shouldn't anyway).
2) don't heat bedrooms overnight or at any other times except at a low background temp unless you really need to (babies and suchlike); 12oC, say, is chilly, but perfectly manageable - heat you/the bed instead.
3) you can cope with just 18oC in living areas provided you are active, dress appropriately, use blankets inc electric types eg seating, etc as required. No, that isn't ideal, but I'm just saying for 99% of folk it's doable. That's my daytime temp.
Unless you need to heat a whole house, that should be doable on £60 pm as far as I can see. 

silvercar

The bottom line is that you haven’t allocated enough of your budget to your gas bill in these winter months. If there isn’t any more money available, then an answer would be to spend less at other times and more in the Winter. 

Albermarle

WIAWSNB said:

Albermarle said:

silvercar said:

bjorn_toby_wilde said:

QrizB said:

While we're all having fun with the suggestion:

silvercar said:

A £2 tea could last a couple of hours and save on your heating costs.

Let's not forget that £60 a month, £2 a day, is the OP's self-imposed limit on their entire heating bill.

Spending that £2 on a cup of tea in a cafe would mean having no heating at home at all.

If we're saying "oh but this is extra spending", IMHO they'd be better off spending an extra £1 on gas and having a cup of tea at home with a good book / the telly / TikTok.

It would be better I would think to heat the house more or less constantly to a lower temperature. As it loses temperature it will be harder to raise the temperature of the fabric of the building.

When you are being frugal with heating, does it make sense to have it at 16 degrees 24/7 when you don't really need it more than 12-14 in the night when you are huddled under duvets and blankets? It may be worth experimenting on the costs of heating all day vs a higher temp for a few hours.

My personal take is that the higher the temperature inside, the higher the heat losses to the outside (just physics).
So in an older, less well insulated house, it makes sense to only get it warm when you need it warm.
On the other side heating only a few hours a day in very cold weather, will struggle to get the fabric of the house warm, so a trade off.
Currently we have the heating on from 05.30 to 21.30, with maybe a couple of hours break in the middle.
Hopefully from tomorrow we can turn it down a bit !

Yes, that is how it works. For max energy savings, you heat a house only when it's required. 
There are caveats; if your house takes too long to get back up to temp for when needed - and it will take longer, of course, if kept cool at other times - then you may have to compromise and either extend preheating times, or raise the 'standby' temp. As I do in my 30s house (overnight temp of 15o, tho' it very rarely falls that far).
Or, if you find the resulting wide temp fluctuations are causing other issues such as damp, which can happen with 'large' drops in temp causing moisture to condense out without it being ventilated away, then you may need to tweak stuff.
But, I repeat earlier stuff - for max energy savings;
1) don't heat rooms that aren't being used. Ventilate them instead - internal door closed. Obvs prevent from freezing (they shouldn't anyway).
2) don't heat bedrooms overnight or at any other times except at a low background temp unless you really need to; 12oC, say, is chilly, but perfectly manageable - heat you/the bed instead.
3) you can cope with just 18oC in living areas provided you are active, dress appropriately, use blankets inc electric types eg seating, etc as required. No, that isn't ideal, but I'm just saying for 99% of folk it's doable. That's my daytime temp.
Unless you need to heat a whole house, that should be doable on £60 pm as far as I can see. 

However if you have a 4 bed older semi, and nearly all rooms are used at some point in the day ( so can not let any get very cold) and the lounge/bathrooms ( when used) are at a comfortable 21 degrees, then you can triple that £60 per month, especially in the recent weather.
Even wearing jumpers all day, and actively using the TRVs.

WIAWSNB

Albermarle said:

However if you have a 4 bed older semi, and nearly all rooms are used at some point in the day ( so can not let any get very cold) and the lounge/bathrooms ( when used) are at a comfortable 21 degrees, then you can triple that £60 per month, especially in the recent weather.
Even wearing jumpers all day, and actively using the TRVs.

I feel your pain, Albe - I feel your pain.