Heat in the home

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My central heating is set for what range?

I don't have central heating
8
13%
below 18
22
37%
18-20
23
38%
21-22
2
3%
23-25
2
3%
25-plus
3
5%
 
Total votes: 60

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simonineaston
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Heat in the home

Post by simonineaston »

Now its nearly December, the leaves are well and truly off the trees and Storm What-ever-its-called-this-time is with us, what sort of temperature do forum readers aim for at home?
Last edited by simonineaston on 10 Jan 2023, 8:51pm, edited 1 time in total.
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
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Mick F
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Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 11:24am
Location: Tamar Valley, Cornwall

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Mick F »

Can't answer your poll, as although we have a few radiators, they aren't thermostatic and are only used when the two fires we have produce too much hot water so we use the radiators as a heat-sink. Two bedroom bungalow with four radiators, one of which is blanked off as we never use it or need it.

Solid fuel cooking range in the kitchen, and a multifuel stove in the livingroom - both with back-boilers.

Kitchen range is lit, and has been for months.
Stove in the livingroom not been lit since Thursday, but it will be lit later today. Wood mainly, but augmented with coal sometimes.

Temperature?
Dunno, but it's chilly here in the livingroom and cosy in the kitchen.
Spare bedroom is damned freezing in there, and our bedroom isn't too bad. Lecky blanket time of year! :D
Mick F. Cornwall
tatanab
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Joined: 8 Feb 2007, 12:37pm

Re: Heat in the home

Post by tatanab »

19 in the living room, about 16 in the bedroom. 2 bed 1930s solid wall semi. Having succumbed to smart meters, I can see that yesterday cost me £3 in gas and less than £1 in electricity.
I can see that it costs £1 in gas during the first hour to raise the temp from night time 14 to 17 on its way to the daytime temp setting. I will watch this for a while, and then experiment with leaving the heating on overnight which I think may well be the same or nearly the same in cost.
Psamathe
Posts: 17616
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Psamathe »

I answered "don't have central heating" - but I do, just that it has not been used for years and radiators/pipes have been drained for several years.

Ian
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al_yrpal
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by al_yrpal »

Only just turned the central heating on because the AGA and the woodburner for about 4 hours in the evening have so far been keeping us comfortable.
A Worcester gas boiler just heats radiators that we havent been using until this week because the AGA heats the hot water and towel rails in two bathrooms. Its our only cooking appliance and warms the kitchen and the Sheila Maid clothes dryer/airer instead of using a tumble dryer in the winter.
Couldnt get the Worcester boiler going. It turned out to be a faulty time clock/ thermostat. So we just replaced it with a new wireless thermostat that enables you to set different temperatures at different times of day. In the evening its set at 21C, 19C in the early morning, and 16C rest of the day.
But today we have fired up the living room Stove that usually burns logs with Aldi smokeless fuel nuts. Seems to work well and stays in all night.
This place has no cavity walls and huge sliding sashes but it does have loft insulation good draught proofing and insulating blinds on the massive windows. Its very expensive to heat but we love it and decent heating is our only real indulgence. Because its a listed building theres nothing more we are really allowed to do.

Al
IMG20211127114148.jpg
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Stevek76
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Joined: 28 Jul 2015, 11:23am

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Stevek76 »

Well I don't have a proper thermostat hooked up yet so control it manually, but even if I did, your options don't go low enough!

Probably about 15-16 at a guess. Living in a terrace where at least one of my neighbours are the kind of people who like the heating well into the 20s that means unless it goes under 10C outside I don't normally need to have it on at all beyond the bathroom/towel rail and other occasional room specific needs.

Even once renovations sorted so I might actually be sat down long enough to want to warmer I'd not look to go much above 17/18.
The contents of this post, unless otherwise stated, are opinions of the author and may actually be complete codswallop
Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Jdsk »

tatanab wrote: 27 Nov 2021, 11:24amI will watch this for a while, and then experiment with leaving the heating on overnight which I think may well be the same or nearly the same in cost.
I'd always recommend doing the experiment. : - )

The idea that it uses less energy to keep living spaces warm rather than warming then up when needed crops up quite often. It isn't correct.

Jonathan
rjb
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Joined: 11 Jan 2007, 10:25am
Location: Somerset (originally 60/70's Plymouth)

Re: Heat in the home

Post by rjb »

We turn our central heating on before we eat in the kitchen, then off at about 9 pm. We only heat the lounge, bathroom and kitchen. If we need additional heat in the lounge the gas fire goes on. It's one of those glass fronted versions so 70% efficient, only 30% going up the chimney. Our annual bill for gas and electric was about £500 but will be almost double that now since our provider went bust and we were transferred onto the price capped tariff with British Gas. :( ? Our Solar PV is not giving us much help at this time of year but every sunny days helps a bit with topping up the immersion tank, and we get paid for it too. :D

BTW I like your engine Al. Can we see a close up please.
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840 :D
rjb
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by rjb »

Found the gland leaking on one of our radiator valves. Repacked it with a length of wool steeped in vaseline as I done for years. When I cleaned out the old packing it looked like ptfe tape. How do you repair yours?
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840 :D
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al_yrpal
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by al_yrpal »

This has a meths boiler but its not part of our heating system :wink: Needs a bit of a clean and polish...

Al
IMG20211127141216.jpg
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
Psamathe
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Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Psamathe »

al_yrpal wrote: 27 Nov 2021, 2:14pm This has a meths boiler but its not part of our heating system :wink: Needs a bit of a clean and polish...

AlIMG20211127141216.jpg
Mamod? (I remember them and the smell (distinctive).

Ian
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[XAP]Bob
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Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Heat in the home

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Ours varies through the day, but I never aim to heat the house, just the rooms that we are going to be using.

Each radiator valve has a wax motor attached, and that is controlled by a small relay (A sonoff basic R2) which also has a temperatures sensor (DS18B20) wired up to two spare pins (the DIY mode jumpers are GND/GPIO16).
The boiler has a sonoff mini (a smaller model of relay, not suitable for exposed locations) tucked in behind the electronics flap, this powered from the 240 supply to the boiler and is wired up as per the normal thermostat wiring.

Those all talk to home assistant, which gives me very easy control... If a room is colder than the temperature I have set (and I have a variety of available schedules) then the command is sent to the relevant sonoff basic to open the valve, and a three minute timer is initiated. This allows plenty of time for the valve to open properly. Then the sonoff mini in the boiler is told to turn on the boiler - and it can pump water round just the radiators that need it.
There are two rads which have dumb TRVs (the hall and one in the dining room), and two towel rails which just have basic valves. They provide a bypass, so that the boiler is never trying to pump into a blocked loop.

So at the moment I'm in my office, which is set to 12 degrees... I don't usually spend enough time in here at the weekend to need it kept warm - but the lounge is set to ~18 at the moment - but that's about as high as I ever aim for.

So... what temperature? Well, it varies both in time and in location within the house.
Last edited by [XAP]Bob on 27 Nov 2021, 3:42pm, edited 1 time in total.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Jdsk wrote: 27 Nov 2021, 12:40pm
tatanab wrote: 27 Nov 2021, 11:24amI will watch this for a while, and then experiment with leaving the heating on overnight which I think may well be the same or nearly the same in cost.
I'd always recommend doing the experiment. : - )

The idea that it uses less energy to keep living spaces warm rather than warming then up when needed crops up quite often. It isn't correct.

Jonathan
That's true, but comfort is often felt early - if it's cold when I try to get up I'll need the heating on higher throughout the day.
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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Hellhound
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Joined: 19 May 2021, 7:39am

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Hellhound »

25+ all year round 24/7 that is what my Hive is set to.If it drops below that,even in Summer,the heating kicks in.I like it warm.No point having central heating and not using it.It's very windy and about 2° outside and I'm sat here with shorts and a t-shirt on 8)
pwa
Posts: 17357
Joined: 2 Oct 2011, 8:55pm

Re: Heat in the home

Post by pwa »

17 0vernight, turned up to 18 or 19 during the day. Much warmer than that and I feel uncomfortable. I am wearing jeans and a soft cotton pullover at the moment and feeling good with the thermostat at 18. It isn't just for economy and the environment, it is how we like it.
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