Room temperatures

[Bmblbzzz]

I think lots of us remember waking up to ice inside bedroom windows. The ice itself wasn't so much of a problem but when it started melting... As to whether it did any harm, hard to say; it probably did to asthmatics, for instance. Heating avoids that but causes other problems. No wins!

If it was exceptional, it could be a '2 coat night'.

What's that on the dog scale?

[ambodach]

Any hospital I have been in served porridge or a choice of cereal for breakfast.
The wards I was in a couple of weeks ago were adequately heated thankfully as I only had a hospital gown since my stay was unexpected and I had virtually nothing with me and 120 miles from home. I now have more underwear than M&S I think as several friends & relatives responded to my plea for supplies.
I rival Mike Sales I think as an old lag patient. Unfortunately I am also I am told a good patient ( whatever that means) which means they use me as a practice ground for junior nurses.

[100%JR]

Makes me sick to see people wearing t-shirts inside in winter

If I can't sit comfortably in shorts and a T all year round it's too cold.
Hive is currently set at 25 degrees and heating is on 24/7.The Hive sensor/thermostat is on the Stairs as that's the coolest part of the house Wife complains and says put a jumper on.I reply it's the 21st Century and we have heating so I don't have to
When I get up for work at 05:00 or get home off nights at 05:45 I like the house to be warm thank you very much!
Why live in a cold house

[Bmblbzzz]

For a cool planet.

[mercalia]

Makes me sick to see people wearing t-shirts inside in winter

If I can't sit comfortably in shorts and a T all year round it's too cold.
Hive is currently set at 25 degrees and heating is on 24/7.The Hive sensor/thermostat is on the Stairs as that's the coolest part of the house Wife complains and says put a jumper on.I reply it's the 21st Century and we have heating so I don't have to
When I get up for work at 05:00 or get home off nights at 05:45 I like the house to be warm thank you very much!
Why live in a cold house

you must be rich able to squander all the money to heat up a place like that

[100%JR]

Makes me sick to see people wearing t-shirts inside in winter

If I can't sit comfortably in shorts and a T all year round it's too cold.
Hive is currently set at 25 degrees and heating is on 24/7.The Hive sensor/thermostat is on the Stairs as that's the coolest part of the house Wife complains and says put a jumper on.I reply it's the 21st Century and we have heating so I don't have to
When I get up for work at 05:00 or get home off nights at 05:45 I like the house to be warm thank you very much!
Why live in a cold house

you must be rich able to squander all the money to heat up a place like that

Not at all.
Average working class couple(Steel worker and nurse).Our heating bills are about 30% LESS since having a new boiler Cheaper to keep the house at a constant IMO than letting it go cold then heating it back up!It's only a small 3-bed semi and I don't see keeping warm as "squandering"money for the same reason I don't see buying fresh food as "squandering" money.We work so we can live comfortably.Heating is a necessity not a luxury!
I've just got back from a chilly 29 miles ride into a nice warm house.That's what it's all about

[Graham]

Within the last few years and decades, us first-worlders have racheted up our standards of living & comfort to levels never seen before in human history.

It becomes ever more clear how unsustainable these standards have become. Alas, the rachet holds firm as few seem able adapt to more modest lifestyles.

Our bodies can adapt easily to lower temperatures in winter. It takes a bit of time to adapt - which make fast temperature changes a bit challenging.

OTOH. I was struggling to avoid discomfort in an overheated public building during a hustings meeting. It was probably 10 degrees C warmer than inside my house.

PS. It's not about money. . . . unless we note the almost complete failure of conventional economics to account for environmental damage. How is your carbon budget looking this year ?

[Polisman]

^ < SNIP>

Absolutely agree. I have a friend I visit maybe once a fortnight, his house is the same, on average 26C, ours is 16.. That's plenty in winter. And it keeps our heating bills pretty stable at £90 a month November till March. I like to sleep with the window slightly ajar, so we only have a small electric heater in the bedroom and jump right into bed, sleep like a log.

It's this 'me first' attitude that's burning up our planet. In years to come I hope to see all fossil fuel burning banned completely. We lived in the North of Spain a few years ago (which only gets half an hour more sunlight than Britain in winter) and almost every single house had solar power of some variety. Its a myth you need 'hot' climates to produce electricity this way, even in the depths of winter there's more than enough energy and daylight to heat a house.

We are planning a 3kw solar array next year, with perhaps battery storage to run all our heating and hot water for the house. I'm going to do most of they install myself (it's not complicated, anyone who can do basic service on a car could do it) and it'll cost us about £4,200. Currently paying about a£1000 a year for heating and hot water, so we're getting free heat and water in just 4 years time. For life. Maintenance costs are minimal and the panels are guaranteed for 30 years.

Restrictions on power supply and water are coming. It's only a matter of time, best to invest a little more in the future than wait until electricity is provided on a curfew basis, either that or at very high prices.

[LittleGreyCat]

Possibly one point missed.
Houses insulated to modern standards and heated by condensing gas boilers are probably far more efficient that previous generations, even if heated to the mid 20Cs.

After all, it isn't the room temperature which costs the money, but the rate of heat loss to the outside over the whole house.

[Vorpal]

Individuals vary considerably, as well. I tolerate cool indoors more easily than warm. Mr. V is similar, though his ideal indoor temperature is a degree or two warmer than mine (18 or 19 versus 17) He just wears an extra layer of clothes.

Both of us are uncomfortable in my father's house. My father keeps his house at about 25, and I find it far too warm.

[Bmblbzzz]

Possibly one point missed.
Houses insulated to modern standards and heated by condensing gas boilers are probably far more efficient that previous generations, even if heated to the mid 20Cs.

After all, it isn't the room temperature which costs the money, but the rate of heat loss to the outside over the whole house.

It's the heat input into the house which costs money. The rate of heat loss will be one of the factors in determining that input, some others being desired temperature, how flexible the desired temperature is, use patterns, budget, etc.

And in summer it's reversed; the rate of heat input to the house is one of the factors determining the energy spent on cooling. Worldwide, more energy is used in air conditioning than heating.

[Cyril Haearn]

Went to the theatre
Too hot inside so lots of people hand in their coats at the garderobe
After the performance there was a big queue to collect coats. I think it was free but often there is a charge
Coats could be nicked too

Better to turn down the heating instead

[fullupandslowingdown]

If you are technically minded and can follow instructions then fitting your own solar system is perfectly OK, that is unless you want to connect it to the main grid. Or get any payment for leccy generated (or has the tyrannies finally scrapped it all together?) You also need a energy certificate at band D or better, which if you happen to live in a non conventional pad you probably can't achieve without knocking it down anyway.....
You can't add stuff to the mains unless you are a sparky qualified to fit solar jobs. So separate system only which you can then tailor to your own needs. If I could afford it and had the roof space, I'd have 16 to 20kW of panels fitted so I could have a free instant shower even in winter. And use surplus power to run my own Hydrogen generation plant to supply my hydrogen car that I'd buy.... pie in the sky wishing.

But to get back to the point of science. The rate of heat loss is directly proportional to the difference in temperature. i.e the higher the temperature of an object, the more heat energy it loses to the surroundings for any given amount of insulation. Therefore, keeping a home at a constant 25 DegC for instance, rather than allowing it to cycle up and down over 24 hours/7 days, you WILL lose more heat than setting a timer to turn up the heating when you come home, but I suppose if you have several occupants who between them occupy the home constantly over 24 hours / 7 days then it saves time taken to achieve the desired temperature.

[Mike Sales]

If you are technically minded and can follow instructions then fitting your own solar system is perfectly OK,.

I guess God was quite handy then, He seems to have done a fairly good job.

[LittleGreyCat]

<snip>
But to get back to the point of science. The rate of heat loss is directly proportional to the difference in temperature. i.e the higher the temperature of an object, the more heat energy it loses to the surroundings for any given amount of insulation.<snip>

The point I was trying to make was that, despite the rate of heat loss being related to temperature difference for the same level of insulation a very well insulated house which meets or exceeds the current insulation requirements and is heated by the latest high efficiency condensing boiler should be cheaper to heat at, say, 25C than a poorly insulated house at ,say, 15C with a previous generation less efficient boiler.

To me what is important is the absolute difference in heat loss and fuel costs.

If you can save £250 a year by lowering the temperature it is a more persuasive argument that saving £25 a year or around £0,50p a week.
Having said that, if you told me I could live in toastiness all year round for an average cost of £5 a week or less that £1 a day I might find that a persuasive proposition.

It surprised me that when we went away for a (sunny) few days a couple of months back with the CH turned down to frost protect at 5C the solar gain and insulation kept the back of the house at around 19C.