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Still in shorts here in Cambs and no heating yet. It's gone quite mild again.
Why do people think little kids need extra warm houses? I see lots of people worrying that their kids will be cold when the kids are not acually cold. We did this too at first.
Why do people think little kids need extra warm houses?
100% they are usually in t shirts from running around. Even our toddler (who last year was a proper baby) was not bothered by a house at 15-18 Deg c. Just had an extra body grow thing on.
Ok so my last post was inelegant, but your kids are probably much tougher and less bothered than you think.
My nephew likes to strip to his underwear and run about in the rain, whatever time of year. His mum was horrified at first but he's fine.
My nephew likes to strip to his underwear and run about in the rain, whatever time of year. His mum was horrified at first but he’s fine.
His university house mates are getting used to it now as well....
Still in shorts here in Cambs and no heating yet. It’s gone quite mild again.
Compared to here where my shed lock had ice on following the dawn drizzle...
Yip, 5 degrees at 8am here so the heating got a boost for an hour. That will be in for the rest of the day as the heat keeps in the house well. Still trying to sort the account with EON which is frustrating.
first solid frost on the car this morning
was 2 degrees outside at 7am.
When I say comes on, it heats up for half an hour in the morning, then nothing for the rest of the day as the solar gain in the living room and the insulation keeps the house pretty much at temperature. Re the baby and heat thing, I guess it's conditioning, I'll maybe undertake an experiment. I'm still in shorts and, at best, a hoody. I've gone 2 years without wearing trousers consistently, but we had a very mild winter last year. We're just south of the Lakes, so it's usually grey and wet.
I guess it’s conditioning
A lot of it is, with adults as well as kids. Kids have lots of brown fat tissue, which generates heat. That's how come they can play in the sea far longer than grown ups can. You lose this as you grow up but you can prompt your body to create more by making yourself cold more.
And a lot is perception. I keep thinking "oh it's a little chilly, I should put the heating on" but this is because my feet might be a bit chilly whilst my core is fine. So I put thick socks on. You only need worry when your core is cold. I am tempted to put heating on because I can simply press a button and get a warm house. But I have to remind myself of the downsides of that.
You lose this as you grow up but you can prompt your body to create more by making yourself cold more.
wife swims in the sea and lochs year round for extended periods.
Can still detect the house dropping below 18 degrees instantly.
Dwtecting it is one thing, solving it by putting on the heating is something else 🙂
well if you wanted to be a complete and utter **** about it ....
But to her credit shes usually under the blanket before the heating goes on .... shes just runs cold.
As a result i end up in shorts and tshirt most of the time.
Why do people think little kids need extra warm houses?
Eee, when I were a lad………..
I grew up in a council house up in Durham. Coal fire but no central heating & we’d often wake up to frost on the inside of the single glazing.
Thermostat showing 17.5° in the home office, heating comes on at 17.
Feet are toasty warm in the new hut slippers, legs requiring a blanket. Might go and make a cup of tea in a minute...
But to her credit shes usually under the blanket before the heating goes on …. shes just runs cold.
Ok, fair play, as long as she makes an effort.
As an aside, I've been feeling much warmer since I got back on Zwift.
21.8 in my room according to my Garmin, heating not been on. That's all residual heat from us having slept in here. Quite impressive.
we’d often wake up to frost on the inside of the single glazing.
Yup I remember that too – no CH until I was about 10 years old IIRC and single-glazed draughty windows.
And we haven't put our heating on yet either – I haven't really felt cold enough to actually WANT it on.
A bad winter round 1981 was -15C in Glasgow. I returned to my flat after a couple of days away to find the water off as the lead rising main was frozen and a layer of ice in the toilet bowl
No CH in that flat.
Not on yet here in HD6. Bit of a chill last night but still reasonably mild really. It's ~18 degrees in my home office (dining room), sp perfectly pleasant at the moment. I have got a woolly hat on though, but that's because I'm a baldy who likes a warm head 🙂
I have also set the boiler to heat the heating water to 60C, down from the 75C it was set at.
Blimey!!!
The thermostats on my immersions max out at 60c and that needs mixing down to make it useable!
I've not had to light the stove for 10 days or so but it's looking like it could be on tonight and then that's it, it'll be lit every day for the next 6 months.
I've started turning the shower off while I lather up to save hot water, that's easy currently but as it gets chillier that could prove more challenging. I'll see how I get on.
Why do people think little kids need extra warm houses?
Eee, when I were a lad………..
I grew up in a council house up in Durham. Coal fire but no central heating & we’d often wake up to frost on the inside of the single glazing.
I worked in a Scandinavian nursery who sleep the kids outdoors, including in sub zero, and the measure of 'too much' snow was if the kids are shorter than the snow is tall...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21537988
Agree a lot is conditioning - if you live in CH house, work in CH office or school, sit in heated car etc, then your body does loose it's ability to physically respond, and your brain certainly finds it a shock.
We cracked this weekend and put the central heating on. What did it for me was the curtains. The dampness in the house meant that the curtains wouldn't slide on the rail!
Those of you not putting the heating on:
A) How much are you actually saving?
B) Is it worth it?
I have also set the boiler to heat the heating water to 60C, down from the 75C it was set at.
Blimey!!!
The thermostats on my immersions max out at 60c and that needs mixing down to make it useable!
Not just me who was surprised at that then? 😀
My hot water is set at around 40ish, and the plumber told me not to increase it for fear of scalding an unwary hand-washer. (Just googling reveals that over 48degrees is considered unsafe.)
I read it as "heating water" as in the water in the radiators; a lot of people have recommended lowering the temperature of this recently as it can be quite a bit more efficient.
85 degree domestic hot water would indeed be crackers.
Still in shorts here in Cambs and no heating yet. It’s gone quite mild again.
Yes, very mild down here, I just reseeded the lawn yesterday afternoon!
My hot water is set at around 40ish, and the plumber told me not to increase it for fear of scalding an unwary hand-washer. (Just googling reveals that over 48degrees is considered unsafe.)
Posted 19 minutes ago
Ours is set at 70+ as we have a very small HW tank and won't have enough HW for showers, esp in winter when the CW temp is low.
I solved the scalding problem by fixing mixer units under the sinks, so the HW feeds is thermostatically controlled mix of HW and CW.
I read it as “heating water” as in the water in the radiators; a lot of people have recommended lowering the temperature of this recently as it can be quite a bit more efficient.
Of course. That would make more sense.
Those of you not putting the heating on:
A) How much are you actually saving?
B) Is it worth it?
A) Whatever running my heating for 45mins-1hr costs x however many days I haven't had it on
B) *ANY* money saved when you don't have much is worth it. As I've said further up the thread, it hasn't been remotely cold enough for me to even think about putting the heating on and isn't likely to be for a fair while yet. I try and limit my heating use to the 3 coldest months of the year and then for a max of 1 hour per day.
Those of you not putting the heating on:
A) How much are you actually saving?
B) Is it worth it?
No decent, properly functioning central heating system here thanks to microbore pipework in a hard water area. Yes, it is worth it but am in the South so no hardship at the moment. In fact it's a beautiful sunny day today.
Those of you not putting the heating on:
A) How much are you actually saving?
I've just taken a reading, we used 18 units of gas from 10/9 to 10/10. That's using a gas hob and gas hot water via a tank, not combi.
I dunno the volume calculations this month but last month was 14 units at a cost of £13 gas, and the standing charge is a tenner. So at £25 ish per month during an energy crisis without the heating on I'd say it's definitely worth it.
As above it was 22 in my bedroom this morning, it's now 20 ish cos the door has been open. I'm fine in a rather comfortable Rab hoodie, so absolutely no hardship here in Cardiff. Of course it's a mild part of the world.
Those of you not putting the heating on:
A) How much are you actually saving?
B) Is it worth it?
We’ve still got the windows open at night and during the day. The backdoor is open all day. I’m still in shorts and no socks in the house until it’s dark when I relent and put socks and a jumper on. Windows still open though.
A: I’m saving shit tonnes because I’d be heating the whole of outside!
B: So, yes, it’s worth it!
I’ve just taken a reading, we used 18 units of gas from 10/9 to 10/10. That’s using a gas hob and gas hot water via a tank, not combi.
We use about 8/9 units per month in summer (Cambridge). 30+ year old boiler (non condensing) heating a HW tank + gas hob. CH has been off all summer as it's been too warm.
2 Adults, 4 cats and Victorian Terraced house.
Systems that are heated with renewable energy (free £ - PV, Thermal) will store as much heat energy as possible when they can. Like a large water battery.
The system will then have a thermostatic mixer valve (Google TMV2) on the cylinder outlet which reduces the temp of the water to the taps. This also has the benefit of only using small amounts of the stored hot water, therefore meaning a cylinder full of 70°c hot water could last a family many days.
All very normal 👍
A) How much are you actually saving?
At least a couple of months worth of gas bills so far, compared to previous years.
B) Is it worth it?
I'm quite enjoying the challenge tbh.
I read it as “heating water” as in the water in the radiators
Ahhhhhh!
Those of you not putting the heating on:
A) How much are you actually saving?
B) Is it worth it?
A) Whatever the cost of the oil is plus the cost of the electricity to run the boiler and pump the hot water around the house.
B) Yes because it's all money saved. Don't get me wrong - when it gets cold enough then the heating will go on - but ATM the stove in the kitchen/snug is just fine.
Just turned the thermostat up to check it was working, bleed one radiator and have put it back to 17°C so it's all gone off again.
17 degrees! I our house is regularly down to 16 in the day (large Victorian semi- Midlands). We're keeping it off and taking the chill off with the wood burner. Added benefit being that the kids migrate to the warm room and there's no telly in there! All sorts of craft and games being undertaken, often independently of the grown ups!
I think 2 weeks on a eurocamp with no TV or internet prepped for the transition ..
13.7°c in my living room at the moment.
10 day weather forecast is showing lots of predicted single figures towards the end of October so I think I'll be caving in at some point.
and taking the chill off with the wood burner
So you've got the heating on then!
Knocked the flow temp back, dropped the morning/evening temp back to 18 from 18.5, and replaced some draughtproofing in the porch. Other than that just letting the smart thermostat do its thing.
I grew up in cold houses with ice on the inside of the windows etc . It was shit.
Still not got my heating on. Thought about it this morning but by the afternoon it was lovely and warm again.
and taking the chill off with the wood burner
So you’ve got the heating on then!
The wood burner doesn't count as the heating. It really only warms one room and doesn't do radiators, underfloor heating etc. I do now wish I had got a boiler stove and had it set to do exactly that, but it would likely have doubled the installation cost.
What do you class it as then? Decoration? Entertainment?