Fairygirl said: I have my thermostat at around 12 or 13 degrees when the heating isn't on. I don't see the point of having it on unless I feel cold.
I tried some years, in my current house, turning the heating all the way down during the night, but it seems to work better keep the walls around 18oC so the whole space is ambiently warm, instead of having to heating everything up every day. There are various studies online comparing the two approaches. My bills haven't gone up and the house feels much more comfortable all the time.
All the new boilers are actually self condensing, I remember BG saying there was a problem must have been about 12, years ago now,but in the Beast from the East when it went to -12c here, condensing pipe froze up, living in a bungalow it's not too high to gently thaw. Then hubby lagged the exterior downpipe
Fairygirl said: I have my thermostat at around 12 or 13 degrees when the heating isn't on. I don't see the point of having it on unless I feel cold.
I tried some years, in my current house, turning the heating all the way down during the night, but it seems to work better keep the walls around 18oC so the whole space is ambiently warm, instead of having to heating everything up every day. There are various studies online comparing the two approaches. My bills haven't gone up and the house feels much more comfortable all the time.
Yes, we've found the same. I like to be cool at night so we have it lower, but it never has to heat up from very cold, so actually doesn't come on that often or for very long. We also have a 'holiday' setting which overrides the usual daily settings and just keeps the house at or above 5° for however many day's we set.
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
Our gas central heating (combi boiler) is set at 19c all the time but switches off about 11 pm till 8 am, except for the frost setting. All radiators bar one have individual thermostats. I've tried turning those off in unused bedrooms but found they got musty with mould growing on the north facing walls so now all rooms are kept on 3 with the bedroom doors kept open. I believe it is better like Fire says, to keep the rooms warm all the time saves money in the long term rather than keep heating up a cold house.
If I'm extra cold, I put another fleece on and 2 pairs of socks, plus a throw if I'm sitting still for long.
We also keep the heating on continually through the winter, at 18C. If needed, we can switch it up to 20, or put the gas stove on in the living room. Seems to work well at keeping the walls warm, and the bills seem fairly stable. I must visit my friend with an air source heat pump to see how noisy it is. Can’t be worse than the oil boiler we had when we first moved in. Nearly had a heart attack the first few times it started up. Sounded like Concord taking off. Our next door neighbour still has their original boiler, and when I’m out in the garden, I can hear it starting up, sounds like an explosion.
Someone told me once it was cheaper to keep the heating on, I had an astronomical bill. Our spare bedroom and conservatory and bathroom face north. We do use a dehumidifier in the winter months at night,don't get any damp or mould. This morning when I got up,kettle on then the heating, probably took a whole 10 minutes to warm up
Every year our local sustainabilty group runs a "green homes" event, where neighbours can visit retrofitted homes and ask lots of questions. It's helped me a lot over the years to weigh up retrofitting decisions, price measures and find good sources for works. We having a set of events coming up soon and I will be visiting two local homes with heat pumps. It will be interesting to listen to the pumps. They are quite posh homes featured (always private houses, and not flats), but it's useful to be able to take certain interesting aspects to work with.
I understand that different gens of pumps are quite different. A good installer can make all the difference too.
Fire, just looked at that link, almost every house has solar
Panels,and some a wood burner as well as heat pump. Sun tubes don't warm anything,they just supply light. We were going to have one in our tiny hall and bathroom,both north facing.
Thanks for posting that link @Fire. Will enjoy watching some of the virtual tours and exploring the website. We are trying to source reliable advice and information on how we might retrofit our property so pleased to see examples and experiences from owners of older properties, although not quite as old as ours (17th century) 🤔
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
A lot of talk on here about 'warming the walls". For years we've been told to put foil behind the radiators to stop heating the walls. When hubby replaced our hugely unnecessary large rads,he put them on inside walls. Unless you have cavity wall insulation,it's bleeding straight outside.
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We also have a 'holiday' setting which overrides the usual daily settings and just keeps the house at or above 5° for however many day's we set.
If I'm extra cold, I put another fleece on and 2 pairs of socks, plus a throw if I'm sitting still for long.
I'd rather keep warm than eat.
I must visit my friend with an air source heat pump to see how noisy it is. Can’t be worse than the oil boiler we had when we first moved in. Nearly had a heart attack the first few times it started up. Sounded like Concord taking off. Our next door neighbour still has their original boiler, and when I’m out in the garden, I can hear it starting up, sounds like an explosion.
East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham