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

Phileas
Posts: 414
Joined: 18 Feb 2009, 6:12pm
Location: Bristol

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Phileas »

Jdsk wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 5:01pm Thanks.

It's going to be very interesting to see where air source heat pumps fit into this approach.

Jonathan

PS: And how vehicle batteries complement intermittent sources...
Just to be clear, the battery would be one designed specifically for this purpose e.g. from Givenergy, Tesla or whoever.
Phileas
Posts: 414
Joined: 18 Feb 2009, 6:12pm
Location: Bristol

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Phileas »

geocycle wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 5:06pmWould be interested in what you find out. We had a survey from Eon for 18 solar panels on optimal sw facing roof. Even with a battery it would never really break even as we were not using enough electricity. We have gas central heating. The gap between the feedin tariff and the usage tariff was too much to make sense. We also wouldn’t get a buffer even with a battery if there was a power cut without additional circuitry. Maybe charging an ev would make it more worthwhile.
The economics are very dependent on the electricity price which as you will be aware has been shooting up. If you can buy electricity at 5p/kWh at night as opposed to 25p during the day the calculation looks a lot better. Of course, the future price is uncertain so this might turn out to be a gamble.
This chap is doing an experiment at the moment:
https://youtu.be/d4ttp7I9ZJk
Last edited by Phileas on 28 Nov 2021, 5:41pm, edited 1 time in total.
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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 »

philvantwo wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 4:21pm How much water does the tank hold Mick F?
It's huge.
Bought it from a friend 20odd years ago, and I did the plumbing, as I've done all of it throughout.

Without going into the loft and measuring, it's a standard diameter - perhaps a little wider - hot water tank but maybe 6ft or 8ft tall.
It's fed from a "coffin tank" right in the very top of the roof.

The water supply from the mains is ok with pressure, but the flow is poor due to the long run of a threequarter inch plastic pipe. Turn on two taps, and they both go down to a dribble. Consequently, the shower can't be fed from mains water and hot water, but from the coffin tank and the hot water .......... making them the same pressure and flow. The loft coffin tank is huge, so we have no end of hot water supply and two hot water taps can be used at the same time. Both fires feed the coil in there, so when we have hot water, we have tons of it.

Southwest Water told us years ago, that we wouldn't get planning permission here because they couldn't supply mains water within spec. Back in 1952 when this place was built, the planning system didn't exist.
Mick F. Cornwall
yakdiver
Posts: 1466
Joined: 12 Jul 2007, 2:54pm
Location: North Baddesley Hampshire

Re: Heat in the home

Post by yakdiver »

philvantwo wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 1:48pm
yakdiver wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 10:37am My heating is off as I'm trying not to use it this winter due to cost, the bathroom radiator comes on for 12 minutes per day to dry the towel, but that's it.
How can a radiator get up to temperature and dry a towel in 12 minutes?
It's only a small 500mm rad set to max, just felt it now as it has just turn off and I can't put my hand on it.
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[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Heat in the home

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Does no-one else set temperatures below 18?
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.
Jdsk
Posts: 24480
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Jdsk »

[XAP]Bob wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 7:58pm Does no-one else set temperatures below 18?
We do.

Jonathan
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mjr
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Location: Norfolk or Somerset, mostly
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by mjr »

[XAP]Bob wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 7:58pm Does no-one else set temperatures below 18?
I used to set it to 13 or 16 when out, but the new heating controller seems stupid when in room temperature target mode, doing nothing until the house cools too much, then putting all radiators on full blast! That was rather expensive and the house wasn't even warm.

So I think I'm going to set it to normal-4°c next time we're out all day, which I think should be 15, but the remote control doesn't understand relative settings so we won't be able to turn it back up before we get home. That's a bit of a first world problem, though.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
All the above is CC-By-SA and no other implied copyright license to Cycle magazine.
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Hellhound
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Joined: 19 May 2021, 7:39am

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Hellhound »

yakdiver wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 6:06pm
philvantwo wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 1:48pm
yakdiver wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 10:37am My heating is off as I'm trying not to use it this winter due to cost, the bathroom radiator comes on for 12 minutes per day to dry the towel, but that's it.
How can a radiator get up to temperature and dry a towel in 12 minutes?
It's only a small 500mm rad set to max, just felt it now as it has just turn off and I can't put my hand on it.
Our bathroom towel rail radiator is the first in the house to heat up and it cannot heat up and dry a towel in 12 minutes.I doubt any radiator could?
[XAP]Bob wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 7:58pm Does no-one else set temperatures below 18?
No because that is too cold.I would need a jacket on in our house if the Thermostat read 18°.Our heating is on whether were home,out or on holiday.I once left it off whilst we went away one February and the house was like a freezer when we got home.Had the heating on constant and it took two full days for it to feel warm!
Slowtwitch
Posts: 744
Joined: 25 Oct 2021, 11:35pm

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Slowtwitch »

Jdsk wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 8:32pm
[XAP]Bob wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 7:58pm Does no-one else set temperatures below 18?
We do.

Jonathan
I was brought up in a house with no central heating at all. We had electric three bar fires in the living room and aside from the cooker in the kitchen and a draw string fan heater the rest of the house was completely unheated.

My bedroom was probably 8 and 12 degrees, I can't say it ever bothered me, but I suppose when you don't know any different, it doesn't. I do remember waking up one morning in January to icicles inside of the windows though :shock:
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Hellhound
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Joined: 19 May 2021, 7:39am

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Hellhound »

Slowtwitch wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 9:54pm I was brought up in a house with no central heating at all. We had electric three bar fires in the living room and aside from the cooker in the kitchen and a draw string fan heater the rest of the house was completely unheated.
My bedroom was probably 8 and 12 degrees, I can't say it ever bothered me, but I suppose when you don't know any different, it doesn't. I do remember waking up one morning in January to icicles inside of the windows though :shock:
I was too until CH was fitted in the late 70s.I used to walk around to my Grans on the way to school and light her coal fire so the living room was warm when she got up and she would have hot water.Both ours and her house were freezing first thing in the morning :| I hated waking up cold.
I think this is why I have our house nice and warm...because we can 8)
A friend has a modern house with underfloor heating and for me it's always too cold.I don't get underfloor heating at all,your feet feel warm but the rest of you is cold :|
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[XAP]Bob
Posts: 19793
Joined: 26 Sep 2008, 4:12pm

Re: Heat in the home

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Hellhound wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 8:53pm
yakdiver wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 6:06pm
philvantwo wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 1:48pm
How can a radiator get up to temperature and dry a towel in 12 minutes?
It's only a small 500mm rad set to max, just felt it now as it has just turn off and I can't put my hand on it.
Our bathroom towel rail radiator is the first in the house to heat up and it cannot heat up and dry a towel in 12 minutes.I doubt any radiator could?
Depends how wet the towel is to start with...
[XAP]Bob wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 7:58pm Does no-one else set temperatures below 18?
No because that is too cold.I would need a jacket on in our house if the Thermostat read 18°.Our heating is on whether were home,out or on holiday.I once left it off whilst we went away one February and the house was like a freezer when we got home.Had the heating on constant and it took two full days for it to feel warm!
Too cold? Ok, I'm wearing a t shirt, a thin jumper and a hoody... but that's not exactly bulky hot clothing. At the moment my sleeves are rolled up as well, currently 14 degrees in here (not spending too long in the office, so I'm not heating it again today).

Nearly finished with a new church building and when we first fired the heating up it took two days to go from the entire structure being at or about freezing (all the steel, the screed, the blockwork etc) to being too hot.

My office (not a small room at all, and it's only got one wall connected to the house, it's a single storey extension so 5 external faces) can br brought up by a couple of degrees in about half an hour - it *never* used to warm up until I put the smart heating in, the length of pipe is just too much, so the rest of the house would be warm (and shut off the heating) before this rad got anything.
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.
pwa
Posts: 17357
Joined: 2 Oct 2011, 8:55pm

Re: Heat in the home

Post by pwa »

[XAP]Bob wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 7:58pm Does no-one else set temperatures below 18?
Overnight, yes. We turn it down to 17 at bedtime. I wouldn't want it much cooler than that because then we might get some overnight condensation and then mould would occur in the coolest corners. At the moment we have no mould, in spite of doing some of our clothes drying on airers.
francovendee
Posts: 3145
Joined: 5 May 2009, 6:32am

Re: Heat in the home

Post by francovendee »

I wonder if we've all become soft.
Like others I was brought up where we only warmed one room (open coal fire). We didn't have any other form of heating in the house.
Winters were much colder and it was quite common to have ice on the inside of the bedroom window. This was always open a crack, summer and winter.
We didn't have a bathroom and baths were done in front of the coal fire.
If you felt cold you put on another layer.
Today my SIL expects to walk around in shorts and a tee shirt in every part of his house.
If you are unwell or sick then you need a warm house, most of us don't and have become soft.
I still don't have central heating but use a woodburner, and turn the heater on in the bathroom just before showering
I did fit storage heaters 10 years ago but rarely run them. The one time I ran them for a period the bill was huge.
Phileas
Posts: 414
Joined: 18 Feb 2009, 6:12pm
Location: Bristol

Re: Heat in the home

Post by Phileas »

francovendee wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 7:59am I wonder if we've all become soft.
If I go down the electric heating route, I anticipate being stingier with the heating. I admit I usually wear a single layer although in cold weather I sometimes turn the thermostat down and put on a fleece.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by al_yrpal »

Yes Franco, but you mentioned 16.5 degrees..it was 0 degrees here this morning. How would you fare with continuous temperatures like that? 200 to 500 miles south makes quite a bit of difference. I once experienced 44 degrees C in southern France. Absolutely hated that.

Al
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......
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