Delaying putting heating on

Wibbles

Who's delaying putting the heating on this year ?

Our living room is currently 17 degrees c - the coldest that its been since March !

We plan to save the heating until December

life

@Wibbles it's definitely getting colder and I wouldn't risk my health waiting until December to turn on the heating. Stay safe 👌

66Mustang

We are not delaying it in monthly terms but we do delay it each day by waiting until it gets colder in the evening.

I agree about not risking your health if you can afford to put the heating on, but some people seriously would have to not eat properly if they used the heating, which is probably even worse for their health! Not a good situation.

poppy123456

I’ve already put mine on several times. Usually for 1 hour in the morning. Then a couple of hours in the evening. I decided my health comes first before anything else. I’m still in credit on my energy account by a decent amount so that will help. 

vikingqueen

         That's the trouble with insulating houses to much, we're told to stop draughts, get double glazing, seal round skirting boards, insulate the loft etc, and then the house can't breathe and we end up with condensation which is mistaken for damp. Then the mould starts. We are sealing houses up when we should air them. I do what you do @woodbine and it works. I never close my bedroom window even in the depths of winter but I do have heavy curtains to keep the cold out during the night.

vikingqueen

       Damp leaves a visible water mark on plaster, blackspot grows on the outer surface and is because of not enough ventilation. I live in an old terrace house pre 1900's and I have a spot on my kitchen wall where condensation loves to live despite putting in air bricks for the air to circulate. I think it's one of those things in old houses.
       I'm lucky in that I can keep my house well heated as I have a multi fuel stove, I open doors so the heat travels through the house. My fire was worth every penny when I installed it 30 years ago, it's a shame people closed up fireplaces when the 'modern fires' came into fashion.

RetroRemix

Yeah, we don't have it on nearly as much as we did last year. Due to us having less money not just due to the current financial situation but also something else life changing and sad that happened back in June. So we have a lot less money and can barely just afford the essentials.

I don't mind though I like it cool, and it has to be cool because I can't breathe and sleep if it's too warm.

So we just switch it on for half an hour every day during the evening.

But I know just how bad it is with damp, the last place we lived at had damp in the bedrooms and the living room... and the heating did not help much there. When we (me and family) moved away we were all coughing from breathing that damp in every night. Thankfully we are better now.

Wibbles

We put our gas fire on for the first time this winter - yesterday afternoon and it felt wrong, so turned it off after an hour
That cost 20p
It would have cost 5p last year
It does appear that double glazing causes more problems than it helps 

OverlyAnxious

I noticed my shower room getting mouldy this week and the towels weren't drying from one day to the next so I have put the heater on in there.  (Only comes on during cheap rate electric).  

Haven't had any heat on in the main room so far, but it's just touching 19c this morning and I'm considering putting it on for an hour this afternoon (cheap rate electric) just to finish off the clothes on the airer before I put them away.

For reference, cheap rate electric costs just a third of normal rate for me.  So I'll only put the main room heater on during that!!

Wibbles

OverlyAnxious said:

I noticed my shower room getting mouldy this week and the towels weren't drying from one day to the next so I have put the heater on in there.  (Only comes on during cheap rate electric).  

Haven't had any heat on in the main room so far, but it's just touching 19c this morning and I'm considering putting it on for an hour this afternoon (cheap rate electric) just to finish off the clothes on the airer before I put them away.

For reference, cheap rate electric costs just a third of normal rate for me.  So I'll only put the main room heater on during that!!

You could do better with a dehumidifier

they run on about 200 watts - compared to 1kW or more for a heater (of any kind)

L_Volunteer

I agree about the usefulness of dehumidifiers. Thanks everyone for sharing your tips with one another.

If anyone does wish to talk about this further with us please don't hesitate. We are all here for and listening to each other 

Wibbles

woodbine said:

The only bit of useful advice I might have is to only heat the room you are using, pointless heating the bedrooms if you are living in the kitchen and lounge.

Unless you seal all of the doors closed - this is a little pointless as heat transfers through open doorways

RetroRemix

"Very supportive

kept me awake all night worrying. "

I didn't mean to keep up anyone all night worrying. I share my experiences to let others know they are not alone in their troubles... not to worry them.

L_Volunteer

We hear you @RetroRemix. We also hear that you share your experiences to let others know they are not alone in their troubles.

Thank you for sharing your experiences to let others know they are not alone in their troubles.

I am sure your experiences are invaluable for people experiencing similar things. Please don't hesitate to let us know if we can do anything to support you 

Luchia

Since moving to a bungalow we have barely had to put the heating on, the neighbour has theirs on pretty high so it keeps our home warm too 

JessieJ

I have very expensive to run underfloor heating, it is either all on or all off. I have the latter, took the fuses out February last year & I don't see them going back in for the forseeable, I can't afford it. It was 15 in my lounge a couple of weeks ago, so I layered up, had compression gloves on my hands & used a blanket.

JaneCowell

My current home is a 1890's cottage so it gets very cold and I'm not on mains heating I'm off grid. Whilst the costs to heat are lower, I have to have heating on a lot right now as its very cold. Without heating on my cottage drops down to 14 degrees very quickly in the winter.

Looking forward to moving into brand new house next year which is epc B. 

I've recently bought an oil alternative plug in heater from argos and it's really good. Gives off good heat and cheaper to run. It's awful being cold and makes you unwell. Wrap up everyone

Wibbles

Anyone considering a cheap plug in halogen heater needs to be aware that heat energy is the most expensive form of energy.

Whether you use a normal/ old fashioned 2 bar heater or a modern halogen - remember that 1kW of heat energy is 1kW of heat energy, no matter how it is obtained, and if you chose electricity, will cost you, currently 44p/kWh - whether you use a 2 bar heater or halogen - the only advantage to a halogen is that it provides "instant" heat - they are certainly NOT virtually free to use (as many adverts imply)

A cheap halogen heater could be dangerous - many foreign imported heaters can fall over, or have no safety cut out - resulting in a possible fire - so make sure that you do not leave a halogen heater running with nobody in the room.

A decent gas CH system is up to 90% efficient, so with gas being around 1/4 of the price (per kW of electricity) -  it clearly makes sense to use gas rather than electricity to heat a home.

Ensure that your home is free from draughts and use a blanket / duvet - close doors and try to stay warm

Antony

I havent put my radiators on and dont intend to just like last year but i bought a lpg gas heater that i use to warm my self for a hour in the morning if its really cold and again in the evening i got tobed at 7pm and watch movies ie Netflix i dont watch normal tv as i dont bother with a tv license i have been on the tv licence web site and declared it the lowest rate Netflix is only £6 a month only issue is i have now got mould growing in my kitchen on the ceiling i have copd so im a little worried about that with the savings i have made i eat well and have invested in a lot of winter clothes im on my own some kind lady is bringing me a christmas dinner happy days are here

Hannah_Alumni

Not good with the Mould @Antony. Have you got some remover to spray on to keep it at bay?

Antony

I have neuropathy in both feet Osteoarthritis in knees hips and hands i can not climb up to wipe the mold off im unsteady on my feet if it gets to bad i will just not use the kitchen i will bring the microwave in to the living room and buy a gas portable cooker i dont like living here in this bungelow its to big for me im going to buy a sofa bed so i only need to live in my living room its so cold in my bedroom its awful i dont have carpets and only have flooring in my living room i dont like it here the neighbours ore awfull its because of then i had my cat taken away by the council because they all ganged up on me because they didnt approve of my cat