Living in a draughty old house means its nearly impossible to heat properly with the installed radiators. So we end up supplementing it with an oil filled radiator in the kitchen where we spend most of our time.
Amusingly had to leave the bathroom underfloor heating on all the time as the cat absolutely loves lying on the bathmat enjoying the warmth 😂
But can't imagine we'd bother with any extra heating until late October. Being Mediterranean frankly I don't feel the cold as much as the Brit partner. So he gets a thick jumper on and I stay in my shorts.
My washing wasn't get dry and I was cold in the evening, so I put it on yesterday for a few hours after umming and aahhing for ages.
Should it be on?
I don't remember turning it on this early in the autumn before. I try and keep it off as much as possible.
Should I put on more layers?
yes, probably
Is it too early to even think about it?
I've frozen my arse off in eco-communities before now and it's no way to live; utterly miserable; people living in the house wrapped up in scarves and woolly hats. To me it's a balance of using what we need and no more. How we decide what that looks like is another matter.
Are
you all about comfort and cost be blowed?
no. I'm cost- and carbon-conscious
Are you environmentally
and/or cost conscious and would rather wrap up than heat up?
I live alone at the moment so I get to call all the shots in the house. It also makes zero sense to heat a whole house just for me; making rooms toasty that I'm not using. The house is Edwardian brick and keeping the house dry is almost as important for the structure as keeping it warm. There is no point not having the heating on in an old house as it will just get damp and mouldy (as has happened along our terrace). We need to ventilate well. From about Oct to May I keep most of the rads on low (with therm valves) so that the walls stay dry, and set to normal settings in the living spaces - around 20oC.
Some years ago I went over to keeping the house therm
constantly on 17oC or over from around Sept-May (rather than switching
it on and off). The house has been much more comfortable, dry, and yes,
the bills went down. The brick takes a lot of time to heat up if it cools down too much, esp as my neighbours in the terrace don't use much heating.
I have an infrared heater in the loft which works to keep it dry and me warm. I am thinking about having one (in mirror form) in the living room too - so that I use more renewable lecy rather than finite gas. Then I would keep all the gas rads on low and use the infrared panel if chilly. I will experiment this winter.
Seems it's going to be warmer next week, but I wouldn't be surprised if we start putting ours on within the next few weeks. I've had a small electric heater running occasionally in my home office lately though.
Adding to my comment, it's off at the moment, but once it is turned on it's on, there's no 1hr in the morning 1hr in the evening stuff, we set the radiators to a comfortable temperature, as we don't have a thermostat, and some rooms are kept warmer than others. If the circulating water drops below the target temperature the furnace comes on a bit stronger but it generally sits around 30%. heating the house from cold takes more power but we've found that if the house is to left to cool down for more than 4 days you save fuel. less than 4 days and it costs just the same as leaving the heating on for those days. Running at 100% to reheat a cold house in -10C weather as we had to do last year after the B*/!# thing broke well it burnt about 60kg of pellets per day.
I just ordered our winter fuel it will last us until May 7.2ton of pellets costing about £1500 equivalent. ouch.
Not sure when it was turned off - March/April. Will probably go back on Oct/Nov. I'm one of those annoying folk who don't seem to feel as cold as normal folk. If it was up to me, it probably would be off for longer than it is.
I'm weird. I don't feel the need for it. Sometimes i'll stick the electric fire on for an hour in the winter. Luckily i live on my own so don't have to worry about others. The heat in my parents house can make me feel ill. I'm used to winter camping on mountain summits so don't seem to feel the cold.
Got to watch the pennies. Only got my pension these days,and the gas and electricity costs have shot. up. Did comparison sites, could only save £33 per annum by swapping,so didn't bother. Nice and warm in the conservatory where I am now, reading. It's 28c,20c outside.Heating when on set at 18,off an hour before I go to bed. I. Find it very difficult to sleep in double figures. We spend a lot of time in the conservatory,and although north facing,will be warm when a bit of sun comes in. There are 2 radiators in there if need be
I don't like being over hot either @Balgay.Hill, although I can also get cold very quickly. This current spell is too hot for toiling up from the lower slopes isn't it? Terrible really when you consider what it's usually like in summer! My parents' house was always roasting too. Horrible. @amancalledgeorge - a draughty house with high ceilings is a nightmare. Draughts are the worst for wasting heat, and keeping heating on is a much more economical way to heat it. My current house is well insulated, and quite easy to keep warm, so the heating can be on for an hour in spring or autumn and it warms up quickly.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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Amusingly had to leave the bathroom underfloor heating on all the time as the cat absolutely loves lying on the bathmat enjoying the warmth 😂
But can't imagine we'd bother with any extra heating until late October. Being Mediterranean frankly I don't feel the cold as much as the Brit partner. So he gets a thick jumper on and I stay in my shorts.
Luckily i live on my own so don't have to worry about others.
The heat in my parents house can make me feel ill.
I'm used to winter camping on mountain summits so don't seem to feel the cold.
My parents' house was always roasting too. Horrible.
@amancalledgeorge - a draughty house with high ceilings is a nightmare. Draughts are the worst for wasting heat, and keeping heating on is a much more economical way to heat it.
My current house is well insulated, and quite easy to keep warm, so the heating can be on for an hour in spring or autumn and it warms up quickly.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...