@AuntyRach I keep the fingers crossed that you got power back in the meantime. Having a power cut would be the worst at this time of the winter.
@raisingirl is absolutely right  It's counter-intuitive, but keeping the heating on constantly uses less energy than turning it on and off.
If the temperature is below 17 degrees, it takes more energy to heat up
the furniture, because the cold is not only coming from the outer walls,
but also from what we have inside a house/flat.
I had visited my parents this week and found following situation: they live in a flat for many years where the bathroom heating went inside the wall between hallway and bathroom. The hallway wall was so warm that the entire flat profited from this. If I had lived there, I wouldn't have to turn on the heating at all because they always had 21C.
This year, the housing society (a leftover from the East German history and has nothing to do with the welfare system here) needed to replace the old heating system and since then, there is no heat coming up the wall. Of course, my parents in the their end 80's complained how cold it was. They permanently closed the room doors and turned off the heating in the bedrooms. The bathroom smelled damp (something I had never experienced before) and there was a cold airflow as soon as they went into one of the rooms or onto the balcony. Studies have shown that cold air exchanges the air much quicker in a room. It takes only 6 minutes during the winter and it takes 17 minutes over the summer to ventilate a room.
After 1 day, I told them that their heating and ventilation behaviour is still what they did when they got the heating for free. They have to keep the bathroom (which has no window) and the bedroom doors open, and they should turn the heating to 3 (out of 5 levels) in all rooms all the time. That keeps the same temperature in the entire flat. The stress for the body to feel cold is much less, and even if the heating on 3 means it's not hot (for their age!) they can compensate it with clothing. A miracle has happened, my parent started to listen to me :-) After 2 days, the entire temperature and air circulation had changed to the better.
With the temperature here, constant minus C during the night, We have now turned on the heating to a constant 18 degrees. We also have a damp issue on an outer wall in the bedroom and I also can't stay longer below 17 degrees. I spent the first 2 weeks this winter sitting/working with 15 degrees but I get sick from being permanently cold. Thanks goodness, we can afford the heating (this year) and my heart is with everybody who struggles to pay for the heating in these days.
The clingfilm double glazing does work. You can find out how on YouTube. It's nothing new.(involves hairdryer, ideally double sided tape. Martin Lewis,has spoken to experts,you put the heating on when required. Yesterday we helped my daughter move. It was -5,no heating on in the house,and back and front doors open. I mentioned, she said I would get warm moving! I didn't,(I have a prolapse, not meant to lift) we left the heating on low in the bungalow,dogs had to be in conservatory. Left here at 8am, got home at 6. She wasn't ready.....packed etc,removal blokes running 2hours late. I couldn't get warm. Was really cross with her. I know she has health problems,both mental and physical,but.........
A small thing I got the girls to do a while ago was, don't run the taps on hot when hand washing [unless for a certain situation]. Get used to using cold water. It's such a waste because the water takes a fair while to get hot. I also don't wash my dishes until after I've had a shower, and the water's already hot, so I'm not starting it up again in the evening when we've not had the heating on much. I walk every day, so I do have a shower, and mine works off the boiler.
I also understand how hard it is for many people, even when working. When I bought my first property, back in the 80s, interest rates were at mid teens, and I didn't have a well paid job. By the time I paid my mortgage, electricity, insurance and other costs, I was struggling to buy food. I needed a car [worked very unsociable hours so public transport was out] I didn't have a phone, and I had no central heating - a small gas fire in the main room [sandstone tenement with high ceilings] and one of those portable gas ones for the bedroom. I did without a lot, including clothes - couldn't afford to buy anything new. Saving? Fat chance of that. It only got easier once my partner moved in. What's horrific is that people are still having to do that kind of thing in the 3rd decade of the 21st century.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
That's a particular problem with combis eh? - and especially when single lever mixer taps are installed. How many times are taps turned on and the boiler is triggered when it doesn't need to be?
I wear men's thermal longjohns and long-sleeved thermal vests from Asda, stretch toweling socks under fleece-lined trousers, and fleece or thick knitted tops. I am stuck with night storage heaters, the new one is set on 19o and the 2 old ones are set on max. input, min output. No heating on in the bedrooms yet. I have a multi-fuel fire which I light around 5.00 pm to take over from the storage heaters. I collect fallen branches for firewood, and I feel like a bag lady sometimes!, as well as buying in logs and Phurnacite, a smokeless fuel.  I only use my washing machine at night, I put it on when I go to bed. I dry the washing outside or in the conservatory, I gave up having a tumble dryer several years ago, takes longer but I am trying to avoid condensation in the house. I had the old double glazing replaced during the summer which has definitely improved things. My curtains began to move when it was windy! I have an immersion heater which I put on when I wake up around 6.00 am then turn off before I go downstairs. I have changed to LED bulbs as the old ones have needed to be replaced. I have never washed all of my clothes every day, Trousers and jumpers can last for a week if I am careful. I only wash up every 2-3 days unless I have been cooking. I am on my own which helps. I always turn off lights when I leave a room, even if I am going back soon. I do not have a bath anymore. I shower 2-3 times a week and strip wash the rest of the time. (When I was a child everyone had a bath once a week, children shared, and hair was only washed once a week as well). My Mum used to have her bath then Dad would top up with some extra hot water to have his bath. My daughter and son-in-law still do this as they are divers and for health safety, need to have a bath after they have been diving in the sometimes polluted sea. My cooker has a gas hob, butane gas, no mains gas available here, and an electric fan oven. I try to batch cook, always have done, and have just bought myself a slow cooker and a mini oven. I also try to keep my freezer full as it is cheaper to run. I multi-buy or bulk buy and divide them into individual portions, sausages, mince, joints, chickens, etc., before storing them in the freezer. In August my electricity bill was £75.00, of course, there was no heating on. My last bill was just over £200.00. It will be interesting to see what this month's bill will be. I was born during the war so grew up in a time of severe austerity, food and clothing coupons etc., life improved and I feel we have all been rather spoiled, not needing to count every penny, now it is hitting hard again for people who have not experienced making do and mending. Patching the seats of underwear, turning sheets sides to the middle, turning collars and cuffs on shirts, letting down hems on skirts for fast-growing children, making paperchains for Christmas, handmade presents and cards etc. the tallyman knocking each week, I could go on. I am not suggesting we should go back to those conditions but maybe we could lower our expectations slightly.
Power was restored about midnight 🥳 We were already in bed with extra layers and hats. Heating on this morning (only 2 rooms) and everything being re-charged ‘just in case’.Â
Lessons for power cut/very cold weather: retreat to the warmest room, layer clothes and blankets, hat/hood, warm drinks, have things like phones, radios, torches charged. Extra points for having a battery pack (great for topping up phones), head torch and something to ‘do’.Â
I've heard that people are bubble wrapping themselves. I don't think I'll be going down that route somehow! It's relatively easy to cope, and make adjustments, if you're healthy, have a decent wage, and have a reasonable property to live in, and enough money to pay bills. I've always been careful with money, but I see what my daughters earn, and there's no chance they'd be able to afford a basic property and maintain it nowadays. They wouldn't get a mortgage for a start. They don't buy designer clothing or go out on the town on a regular basis either- probably a lot less than I did when living at home.
However, the big problem, as I see it, is - not everyone has that decent housing, and their earnings simply don't meet the needs to maintain the property. That's what's appalling. No one should be living in poorly insulated, damp homes. There was a man in the news recently who was buying rolls of cardboard to line his living room in an attempt to insulate it. Appalling.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
Having a power cut would be the worst at this time of the winter.
@raisingirl is absolutely right Â
It's counter-intuitive, but keeping the heating on constantly uses less energy than turning it on and off.
If the temperature is below 17 degrees, it takes more energy to heat up the furniture, because the cold is not only coming from the outer walls, but also from what we have inside a house/flat.
I had visited my parents this week and found following situation: they live in a flat for many years where the bathroom heating went inside the wall between hallway and bathroom. The hallway wall was so warm that the entire flat profited from this. If I had lived there, I wouldn't have to turn on the heating at all because they always had 21C.
This year, the housing society (a leftover from the East German history and has nothing to do with the welfare system here) needed to replace the old heating system and since then, there is no heat coming up the wall. Of course, my parents in the their end 80's complained how cold it was. They permanently closed the room doors and turned off the heating in the bedrooms. The bathroom smelled damp (something I had never experienced before) and there was a cold airflow as soon as they went into one of the rooms or onto the balcony.
Studies have shown that cold air exchanges the air much quicker in a room. It takes only 6 minutes during the winter and it takes 17 minutes over the summer to ventilate a room.
After 1 day, I told them that their heating and ventilation behaviour is still what they did when they got the heating for free. They have to keep the bathroom (which has no window) and the bedroom doors open, and they should turn the heating to 3 (out of 5 levels) in all rooms all the time. That keeps the same temperature in the entire flat. The stress for the body to feel cold is much less, and even if the heating on 3 means it's not hot (for their age!) they can compensate it with clothing.
A miracle has happened, my parent started to listen to me :-) After 2 days, the entire temperature and air circulation had changed to the better.
With the temperature here, constant minus C during the night, We have now turned on the heating to a constant 18 degrees. We also have a damp issue on an outer wall in the bedroom and I also can't stay longer below 17 degrees.
I spent the first 2 weeks this winter sitting/working with 15 degrees but I get sick from being permanently cold.
Thanks goodness, we can afford the heating (this year) and my heart is with everybody who struggles to pay for the heating in these days.
I ♥ my garden.
I also understand how hard it is for many people, even when working. When I bought my first property, back in the 80s, interest rates were at mid teens, and I didn't have a well paid job. By the time I paid my mortgage, electricity, insurance and other costs, I was struggling to buy food. I needed a car [worked very unsociable hours so public transport was out] I didn't have a phone, and I had no central heating - a small gas fire in the main room [sandstone tenement with high ceilings] and one of those portable gas ones for the bedroom. I did without a lot, including clothes - couldn't afford to buy anything new. Saving? Fat chance of that. It only got easier once my partner moved in.
What's horrific is that people are still having to do that kind of thing in the 3rd decade of the 21st century.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I am stuck with night storage heaters, the new one is set on 19o and the 2 old ones are set on max. input, min output. No heating on in the bedrooms yet. I have a multi-fuel fire which I light around 5.00 pm to take over from the storage heaters. I collect fallen branches for firewood, and I feel like a bag lady sometimes!, as well as buying in logs and Phurnacite, a smokeless fuel.
 I only use my washing machine at night, I put it on when I go to bed. I dry the washing outside or in the conservatory, I gave up having a tumble dryer several years ago, takes longer but I am trying to avoid condensation in the house. I had the old double glazing replaced during the summer which has definitely improved things. My curtains began to move when it was windy! I have an immersion heater which I put on when I wake up around 6.00 am then turn off before I go downstairs. I have changed to LED bulbs as the old ones have needed to be replaced. I have never washed all of my clothes every day, Trousers and jumpers can last for a week if I am careful.
I only wash up every 2-3 days unless I have been cooking. I am on my own which helps. I always turn off lights when I leave a room, even if I am going back soon.
I do not have a bath anymore. I shower 2-3 times a week and strip wash the rest of the time. (When I was a child everyone had a bath once a week, children shared, and hair was only washed once a week as well). My Mum used to have her bath then Dad would top up with some extra hot water to have his bath. My daughter and son-in-law still do this as they are divers and for health safety, need to have a bath after they have been diving in the sometimes polluted sea.
My cooker has a gas hob, butane gas, no mains gas available here, and an electric fan oven. I try to batch cook, always have done, and have just bought myself a slow cooker and a mini oven. I also try to keep my freezer full as it is cheaper to run. I multi-buy or bulk buy and divide them into individual portions, sausages, mince, joints, chickens, etc., before storing them in the freezer.
In August my electricity bill was £75.00, of course, there was no heating on. My last bill was just over £200.00. It will be interesting to see what this month's bill will be.
I was born during the war so grew up in a time of severe austerity, food and clothing coupons etc., life improved and I feel we have all been rather spoiled, not needing to count every penny, now it is hitting hard again for people who have not experienced making do and mending. Patching the seats of underwear, turning sheets sides to the middle, turning collars and cuffs on shirts, letting down hems on skirts for fast-growing children, making paperchains for Christmas, handmade presents and cards etc. the tallyman knocking each week, I could go on.
I am not suggesting we should go back to those conditions but maybe we could lower our expectations slightly.
We were already in bed with extra layers and hats. Heating on this morning (only 2 rooms) and everything being re-charged ‘just in case’.Â
It's relatively easy to cope, and make adjustments, if you're healthy, have a decent wage, and have a reasonable property to live in, and enough money to pay bills. I've always been careful with money, but I see what my daughters earn, and there's no chance they'd be able to afford a basic property and maintain it nowadays. They wouldn't get a mortgage for a start. They don't buy designer clothing or go out on the town on a regular basis either- probably a lot less than I did when living at home.
However, the big problem, as I see it, is - not everyone has that decent housing, and their earnings simply don't meet the needs to maintain the property. That's what's appalling. No one should be living in poorly insulated, damp homes. There was a man in the news recently who was buying rolls of cardboard to line his living room in an attempt to insulate it. Appalling.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I ♥ my garden.