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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mjr
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by mjr »

al_yrpal wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 8:24am 200 to 500 miles south makes quite a bit of difference. I once experienced 44 degrees C in southern France. Absolutely hated that.
Is that being soft about heat? I've been in those temperatures but further south than France. Not as bad as I expected but I walked more than cycled during it because there's more shade along foot ways and it's easier to stop for a moment.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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Hellhound
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by Hellhound »

[XAP]Bob wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 11:20pm 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).
T-shirt,thin jumper and a hoody indoors!?That's two layers too many indoors :lol:
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al_yrpal
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by al_yrpal »

mjr wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 8:30am
al_yrpal wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 8:24am 200 to 500 miles south makes quite a bit of difference. I once experienced 44 degrees C in southern France. Absolutely hated that.
Is that being soft about heat? I've been in those temperatures but further south than France. Not as bad as I expected but I walked more than cycled during it because there's more shade along foot ways and it's easier to stop for a moment.
That was in the Dordogne and it was pretty humid too. I have been in Death Valley in 50+ degrees but that was more bearable because it was very dry.

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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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Hellhound wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 8:38am
[XAP]Bob wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 11:20pm 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).
T-shirt,thin jumper and a hoody indoors!?That's two layers too many indoors :lol:
Why?

It's not bulky or awkward, it's just wearing clothes that are reasonably appropriate to the conditions. It's not exactly inconvenient to put on clothes in the morning.
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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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by [XAP]Bob »

al_yrpal wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 9:09am
mjr wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 8:30am
al_yrpal wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 8:24am 200 to 500 miles south makes quite a bit of difference. I once experienced 44 degrees C in southern France. Absolutely hated that.
Is that being soft about heat? I've been in those temperatures but further south than France. Not as bad as I expected but I walked more than cycled during it because there's more shade along foot ways and it's easier to stop for a moment.
That was in the Dordogne and it was pretty humid too. I have been in Death Valley in 50+ degrees but that was more bearable because it was very dry.

Al
Death Valley was interesting... Car was showing 124F when we were there, and it felt like an oven, but it was sufficiently dry that it wasn't actually even uncomfortable.

Similarly Helsinki at -6C was fine, it was dry and crisp, but I was only in a shirt and open fleece (was too warm to have it closed). Good shoes on and it was fine. The sea froze between me arriving at work and leaving one day... to a depth of well over half an inch.

My conclusion - temperature doesn't matter much - humidity, that's the annoying thing.
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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Re: Heat in the home

Post by Hellhound »

[XAP]Bob wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 9:39am
Hellhound wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 8:38am
[XAP]Bob wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 11:20pm 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).
T-shirt,thin jumper and a hoody indoors!?That's two layers too many indoors :lol:
Why?

It's not bulky or awkward, it's just wearing clothes that are reasonably appropriate to the conditions. It's not exactly inconvenient to put on clothes in the morning.
I put clothes on.Indoor clothes.T shirt and shorts.I then put extra clothes on if I need to go outside.Why wear more around the house if you have central heating?Why have heating if you don't use it?
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by [XAP]Bob »

I use the heating, but wearing sensible clothes means I don't need to change if I want to go out, just put shoes, coat, and gloves on.

If I didn't use the heating the house would be in single digit temperatures, and that is colder than would be comfortable.

Why waste money by burning all that energy to keep the temperature so high that you can't wear sensible clothes :lol: ?
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.
francovendee
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by francovendee »

al_yrpal wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 8:24am 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
Sorry to disagree but the outside temperature was 0 degrees this morning and the car was covered in frost.
Our house at the moment is at 14.6 deg with no heating.
Outside temperature is 5 deg and might get to 8 deg by mid afternoon.
We have greater extremes of heat, nearly 40 deg in the summer and at times a fortnight of up to minus 8 and daytime temperatures of barely above freezing.
You've all become soft. :lol: :lol:
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squeaker
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by squeaker »

Phileas wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 5:20pmThis chap is doing an experiment at the moment:
https://youtu.be/d4ttp7I9ZJk
Painful to watch the discussion around air quality - Passivhaus addressed all this decades ago.
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mjr
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by mjr »

squeaker wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 11:07am
Phileas wrote: 28 Nov 2021, 5:20pmThis chap is doing an experiment at the moment:
https://youtu.be/d4ttp7I9ZJk
Painful to watch the discussion around air quality - Passivhaus addressed all this decades ago.
And concluded what?

It's been a while since I looked at it, but Passivhaus seemed great if you were building a new house and not very useful if you already had one.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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squeaker
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by squeaker »

mjr wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 12:41pm And concluded what?
That it's not just about heating and insulation, but achieving a comfortable interior environment at minimal energy cost. Something our fragmented building regs miss completely, so we continue building poor quality dwellings that will need retrofitting if the UK is to have a cat in hell's chance of meeting its 2050 carbon targets.

It's been a while since I looked at it, but Passivhaus seemed great if you were building a new house and not very useful if you already had one.[/quote]Time to look again, then?
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mjr
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by mjr »

squeaker wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 12:53pm
mjr wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 12:41pm It's been a while since I looked at it, but Passivhaus seemed great if you were building a new house and not very useful if you already had one.
Time to look again, then?
I did but I'd still file that as "not very useful if you already have a house". Their recommendations for existing houses seem to be to hire assessors and testers, create detailed theoretical models of your house, and draft a schedule of work to do in future, aiming for their standard, rather than anything people can actually do! I'm sure this is great for the assessors and designers who pay to use their trademark, but it's not moving us forwards.
Image

For example, the first retrofit case study is commercial accommodation and has four consultants hired, the second is residential, has one consultant but is being done by an architect owner, the third three consultants but was a vacant property developed speculatively, the fourth four consultants and again vacant while retrofitted, the fifth three consultants doing blocks of flats for a housing association... I've not browsed them all, but are any your typical English owner-occupiers? Anyone doing it DIY or with a single consultant?

At best, their website is a jumble that needs restructuring to make useful details easier to find and look less like a scary sales effort for expensive consultants. At worst, maybe Passivhaus just actually is not that useful for existing homes.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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yakdiver
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by yakdiver »

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?
[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!
OK the said towel is only damp after a shower, rad is only 2 foot from boiler.
Switch boiler on, temperature at rad – 14.1c
after 3 minutes – 37.2c
after 6 minutes – 46c
after 9 minutes - 46.6c
after 12 minutes – 45.8c
Boiler off 30 minutes later – 37.5c
Don't forget the rad will stay hot for quite sometime even if the boiler is off
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squeaker
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by squeaker »

mjr wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 1:20pmAt best, their website is a jumble that needs restructuring to make useful details easier to find and look less like a scary sales effort for expensive consultants. At worst, maybe Passivhaus just actually is not that useful for existing homes.
And the UK gov would have us believe that just replacing gas boilers with heat pumps will solve the problem (of very poor standard housing with high carbon footprint? There won't be enough low carbon electricity for a start.)
I agree that Passivhaus is not the answer, but it does show a way forward. I would be delighted (and highly surprised) if UK Gov produced some accessible interactive modelling software that the average 'A'-level (do they still exist?) science student could use to assess existing dwellings and identify a way forward for each. Currently it's down to the market to find solutions - this is one of our local ones (which fails to work now, but when it did was not impressive with its recommendations :roll: ).
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mjr
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Re: Heat in the home

Post by mjr »

squeaker wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 3:39pm I agree that Passivhaus is not the answer, but it does show a way forward.
What way forward and is it any use? Hiring loads of brand-licensed consultants to assess the house and make models and schedules and (based on the case studies) moving out for months while the modifications are made doesn't seem a practical way forward.

backtracking:
squeaker wrote: 29 Nov 2021, 3:39pm And the UK gov would have us believe that just replacing gas boilers with heat pumps will solve the problem (of very poor standard housing with high carbon footprint? There won't be enough low carbon electricity for a start.)
The Passivhaus case studies seemed keen on replacing gas boilers with whole-house MHRVs which aren't much more efficient and with electric direct heaters which are far worse.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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