Heat in the home

[al_yrpal]

Gave in a little when it has been frosty over the last week or so and turned the gas boiler on for an hour or two now and then. We have a smart meter that shows expenditure so its easy to take readings every day at a consistent time to see what effect its having.
We both have £14 Primark 'Leisure Suits' which worn indoors give truly amazing personal insulation lessening the need for any heating.

Al

[rjb]

Me too. Caved in under pressure and put the CH to come on for an hour in the evening, heating the lounge and bathroom. Mrs likes a hot bath before bed. We supplement this with a gas fire in the lounge.
Unfortunately our Smets 2 meter stopped communicating with our supplier so we are waiting for BG to get it sorted. Unfortunately it's still recording our usage but it's outside, it's chucking it down and blowing a gale so I won't be venturing outside to take readings any time soon.
The IHD doesn't work either so I can't see my usage.

[al_yrpal]

In praise of Martin Lewis and Primark...

I have always admired Martin Lewis and what he has done for everyone over many years. That said I dont like his personal delivery on TV.

What he has been advising is insulate yourself and thus be able to reduce temperatures a degree or two in your home saving significant heating costs.

A few weeks ago I went into Primark to see if they had any insulated 'leisurewear' and...they did at £14! I wore it one evening when the woodburner was going - I had to go and change, it was too warm. But, it showed great promise so the Mrs got a ladies version too.

Tonight its 18 degrees in our sitting room with no woodburner or central heating we are sitting here very comfortably. Thats 3 degrees less than what is usually comfortable.

£14 has been a great investment. Bring the colder weather on...

Al

[Paulatic]

I wore it one evening when the woodburner was going - I had to go and change, it was too warm.

Clever insulation that allows heat through but stops cold getting through.

[al_yrpal]

I wore it one evening when the woodburner was going - I had to go and change, it was too warm.

Clever insulation that allows heat through but stops cold getting through.

These are they....

https://www.primark.com/en-gb/p/zip-up- ... 1036967505

If you wear them somewhere warm, you will boil. Emminently suitable for eating out at MacDonalds

Seriously, fantastic if your dwelling is cold.

Al

[simonineaston]

I've often wondered, in the back of what passes for my mind, if there's something special about room temp and sleeping and it turns out there is. In that the body depends on a bit of cooling in order to move towards a sleep state. Can't remember where I read it, but it will have been in one of the dozens of articles about 'good sleep' that have popped up over the last couple of years.

[Mick F]

We had mould in a south-western corner of the bedroom, that never gets any sun. In fact the bedroom only gets sunshine in the mid-summer mornings and never in that corner.

Why did we have mould?
Because we had the window open and it let IN the damp air. Since keeping it closed, and the bedroom door always wide open, the mould hasn't returned.

We don't all live in a bright breezy light environment. Our place is tucked under the hillside and surrounded by damp trees.

[al_yrpal]

17 degrees C is the recommended temperature for bedrooms.

Just checked the smart thermostat, a 1 hour 15 minute blast of the boiler to warm our house up cost £1.40. that seems ok, but when you calculate the monthly cost its £42!
BP (before Putin) it would have been about £12.

New Govt scheme for dwellings in bands A to D offers 25% off energy saving methods such as extra loft insulation and cavity wall insulation.

Al

[pwa]

We had mould in a south-western corner of the bedroom, that never gets any sun. In fact the bedroom only gets sunshine in the mid-summer mornings and never in that corner.

Why did we have mould?
Because we had the window open and it let IN the damp air. Since keeping it closed, and the bedroom door always wide open, the mould hasn't returned.

We don't all live in a bright breezy light environment. Our place is tucked under the hillside and surrounded by damp trees.

Perhaps you do what we do. We use the wood burning stove for a couple of hours in the evening. It is downstairs, but we leave inside doors open so that the warmed air can drift upstairs and air the bedrooms a little.

Overnight the heating (which is technically "on" all the time) is set to 16c on the thermostat, which we find just about right for sleeping beneath a duvet. We turn it to 18c in daytime, when we are in, if we begin to feel uncomfortably chilly.

[thirdcrank]

I wore it one evening when the woodburner was going - I had to go and change, it was too warm.

Clever insulation that :wink: allows heat through but stops cold getting through.

I'm intrigued by that quip. Surely, nobody is suggesting that wearing a thick coat will keep the wearer cool in a hot room. I can see that it might stop somebody getting really hot in front of a fire. This seems to go back to the days of grandma's insisting you took your coat off indoors or you "wouldn't feel the benefit" when you went out.

Anyway, ime wearing "warm" togs inside has the effect described by Al

[mjr]

17 degrees C is the recommended temperature for bedrooms.

Just checked the smart thermostat, a 1 hour 15 minute blast of the boiler to warm our house up cost £1.40. that seems ok, but when you calculate the monthly cost its £42!
BP (before Putin) it would have been about £12.

New Govt scheme for dwellings in bands A to D offers 25% off energy saving methods such as extra loft insulation and cavity wall insulation.

ASHP heating costs about 60p/h for a 4-bed (with 1 bed used as office so heated more than a bedroom) semi so your £1.40 boiler heating sounds inefficient.

But we've already got 450mm left and full wall insulation. It's a shame some won't fit those basics without grants. I had someone telling me the old myth that wall cavities are for prewenting damp penetration by ventilation yesterday: roll eyes at their misunderstanding and move on... if they haven't accepted any explanation yet, another probably won't work.

[mjr]

I wore it one evening when the woodburner was going - I had to go and change, it was too warm.

Clever insulation that allows heat through but stops cold getting through.

I'm intrigued by that quip. Surely, nobody is suggesting that wearing a thick coat will keep the wearer cool in a hot room. I can see that it might stop somebody getting really hot in front of a fire.

Not keep cool, but warm up less quickly than if you open it. If you doubt that, try explaining how cool bags work for summer picnics, or why Spanish soldiers wore six layer uniforms in Florida.

This seems to go back to the days of grandma's insisting you took your coat off indoors or you "wouldn't feel the benefit" when you went out.

Granny had a point but may have been misunderstood and mocked by cruel children.

[al_yrpal]

£1.40?
Bear in mind that was warming up a large Georgian house from scratch with solid walls and no double glazing from a 23 hour period with no heat on at all. I think the hourly cost would drop considerably if we kept the CH on all day. Its a 5 year old Worcester Bosch condensing boiler running at full bore which is when this type of boiler is most efficient.

Al

[axel_knutt]

I've just spent the last ~3 weeks mostly housebound because of my health, and what's really noticeable is that I've been feeling as warm as toast instead of freezing cold, even though the lounge temperature remained unchanged at 22. Perception of warmth isn't just about the temperaure at the time you're feeling it, it also depends on the cumulative effect of your energy levels and how warm you've been in the recent past. The same bedclothes at the same bedroom temperature feel colder after I've been out exercising than when I haven't because the effects of getting cold, or more exercise/less food, persist even after temperature/energy levels return to normal.

The problem I have with heating that switches off overnight is that the same bedclothes that are too warm when I get into bed are too cold just before the heating comes back on, and the colder the weather the bigger the difference. It's common for me to throw blankets off because I'm too warm when I get into bed, then get up in the small hours and put them back on because I'm too cold, and then wake up stifling hot after the heating comes back on.

[thirdcrank]

I see a difference between keeping the sun off, and being in a heated room.