Central Heating

summerday

Hi,

The weather is turning and it's starting to get cold here. I was wondering when other OS's start to put their central heating on, do you wait till the thermometer shows a certain temperature or wait till a certain month? I'm holding out for now as I feel that gas is one expense that we have some control over and there are no children in the house, just us 2 and with the price rises I feel I should.

I am also curious about how long you have it on for? I do feel conscious of the cost of it and would rather put another jumper on to avoid using heating until it gets really cold but OH says i'm being too tight! Also last year OH set the system to stay on till 10.30 at night when he went to bed but I wondered if it matters much to switch it off an hour before and the heat will linger for an hour?

I am interested in what other people do and try to save on using central heating, or have I taken OS too far and shouldn't be so tight like OH says??

Sarah

Curry_Queen

You might want to have a read of the thread above/below - the ice man cometh - which is pretty much all about this subject

mah_jong

Mine has been on for while. I have raynauds. Extra clothing etc will only work for a certain while but I need to keep healthy. Infact most of the tips suggested have little or no effect on me in trying maintain a decent blood supply to my extremeties!!! If the surrounding temprature is not warm enough I suffer. Once I feel the cold it goes on.

I just have to cut back in other areas. I think the condition is getting worse each year, I can tell when its due to go/when its gone on not by ear but by temperature!!! And its only September!!! Brrrrrr its going to be a cold one this year!!!

i think you have to balance things out, betweeen your selves. Read the thread and see what changes you can make. rooms that are not used etc could be shut and unheated, lined curtains etc it all helps.

Ma

Ticklemouse

I have had heating on for a couple of weeks now - 3 hours in the morning - 6 til 9 then in the evening until 9.30. I don't like to be cold and I also am at home a lot more than others, with small kids, so that's my excuse

I have to say that since I came back 'ooop norf' 3 years ago, I have had to have my heating on at some point EVERY month of the year - I remember a couple of days in June, July and August where it got cold and damp so the heating went on, even just for a couple of hours!! Maybe living 'dahn sarf' all those years has just made me a wuss

r.mac_2

hi there

I have had my central heating on a couple of times recently, but I havn't yet set it to automatic yet.

When I do I have it on for 40 mins in the morning when I am about to get out of bed in the morning.

I then have it on for a bout an hour in teh evening from 8-9, usually when I am watching tv etc.

apart from that I sometimes stick it on about 4pm for 30mins at the weekend - but try extra clothes first.

i have been known to get a little carried away with the booster switch though

Sarahsaver

No way josé!
I have lit myself a lovely log fire with FREE wood i got from the builders next door (flutter of eyelids, poor single mum with 3 kids...;)) They even chopped it and put it in the coal cellar for me.
I cannot afford to put my central heating on yet. We just wear clothes appropriate to the weather. Kids have a throw to put over them in the evenings if they are watching telly, and a real fire in their front room. Extra blanket over the duvet. We have ceilings about 10 or 11 foot high, 3 floors so as you can imagine they learnt the phrase 'shut the door' very quickly. I still make sure to air the house in the mornings anyway, so there would be no point having heat on then. I am lucky in that, working from home I can sit in front of the fire and answer letters/file invoices etc. Bliss:)

Badgergal

Oh you're so lucky to have a real fire, I love them!

I have a gas flame effect fire to warm my studio flat that pretends to be a real fire (the main room anyway, there is nothing in the kitchen or bathroom in the way of heating ), down here in London I have thus far resisted putting it on and just put on warmer clothes because I am so conscious of the cost.

I know that once I start putting it on every night after work, I will not be able to stop so trying to delay as much as poss.

MATH

I gave our old boiler a fire up test a few weeks ago and everything way fine. Went to double check last night cos we may need heat when we get back after the weekend and the thing has died so we will not be putting the heating on for a while yet as we have to source and find the money for a new boiler:o

researcher

I leave my heating on for 24 hours per day! You might think I'm crazy but I neither like a hot house or living in an igloo - the thermostate is set at 15 c and the heating only comes on when its quite chilly and only ever comes on at night in the winter when temperatures are way below freezing. When we sit down in the evening we tweek the thermostate to maybe 18c - or put one bar on the gas fire on. The benefit of this is that the house never gets cold - much of the cost of heating a home is bringing up everything to an ambient temperature - when it's there it doesn't cost much more. But neither does it get overheated - which is bad for your health.

Making sure you have heat reflectors behind all radiators maximises the heat you produce - and sufficient insulation ensures it's not wasted.

squiggles

What are heat reflectors????? and are they expensive,anyone please.

getcarter

i read somewhere that its better to have your heating on low for a long time than blasting high for short - less lecci