Not putting the heating on – how’s it going…?

Bathroom towels weren’t drying between uses and started smelling, the house was permanently festooned with backed up washing that wasn’t drying before the rest came out of the machine, humidity at 90% indoors at 17.5 degrees.

We were actually pretty ok from the warmth perspective, but the whole admin of the house and living conditions were deteriorating.

Fans and open windows (little PC fans get stuck in shoe openings)

Things were getting desperate here as well, especially riding gear/shoes and bathroom towels and the leaking roof wasn’t helping.
Fixed the roof yesterday and today’s not raining so the washing has been in the garden and doors/windows all opened up but I suspect the plaster has taken almost as much as its going to.

Finally caved yesterday and popped the CH on – not because of the cold but because I was decorating and the sodding paint wouldn’t dry so I could give it a second coat.

Pretty much this: have had it on the last couple of days to dry the paint a bit faster.

Positive pressure ventilation Perhaps but pound for pound our condenser drier is still more efficient both in time and energy usage than our dehumidifier at getting things dry.

YMMV if you have a crap tumble drier.

The winds better still.

The dehumidifier gets used when I have low solar generation so I’m not exceeding the single point draw of what’s availible…..hence I know what it uses over a load Vs my tumble drier a load.

One of the few benefits of a new build is that the insulation is pretty amazing.
We’re South facing, so the house gets warm year round.
Dropped to 5’C last night, but our thermometer still said 18.3’C indoors at about 11pm! Heating has been off since April.
The only heat we get is from the kitchen (mainly slow cooker) and hot water tank in the airing cupboard which we dropped to 45’C too. We’re very comfortable, so still leaving the heating off.

Really feel for people in older houses, especially if you’re up North!

Below zero last night heating on. Chomped through £4.70 by 0630 this morning, just under £10 at 1300. Mind a few washes through the machine this am.

Because it’s been warmer than usual for the last 5 months and we live in the middle of a terrace, without really noticing I’m now hundreds of pounds in credit

I’m going to put the bloody heating on tonight though

Minus 6 here last night. I have no qualms about heating the house.

Not quite caved in yet, have decided that it’ll go on next week once I’ve built a loft hatch.

The rain the last 48h has been the killer, everything’s damp and it’s that shitty feeling of getting in from the commute, being slightly sweaty but cold, you kits damp, and then just not being able to warm up, then putting damp gloves on in the morning.

False economy. Would need more than one at £130 plus each, then running costs at a unit cost for electricity still more than triple that of gas even now.

In isolation yep.

But you get more heat out than you put in due to the condensed water. In addition to the energy saving of dry air being easier to warm, and not having to have airflow though the house to keep humidity low. And it’s cheaper than the tumble dryer, or having the heating on, but having to crack open a window to let the moisture escape and cold+dry air in.

Thick frost this morning here.

I feel sorry for folk who genuinely can’t afford their heating, but for folk who are just tight – remember, you’re a long time dead.

And it’s cheaper than the tumble dryer, or having the heating on,

Thats the bit I’m not convinced of TBH.

My experience with dehumidifiers is that without air flow in the house to promote air exchange they only have a limited radius of effect, and the heat contribution, even with latent heat of condensation seems pretty negligible.

This has become an obsession for me (much to the annoyance of the wife).

We’ve been doing really well with keeping the heating off, I went full in on smart TRVs so can heat the rooms we need (so bedroom just before we get up to take the chill off). The new TRVs also show me humidity and that just been getting higher and higher, its now really an issue as the windows are covered in condensation.

We do all the drying in the cellar/office/mancave with a dehumidifier and its ace but I’m thinking we are going to need another upstairs.

I’m liking the idea that dryer air will be cheaper to heat…it this actually translates into the cold hard cash remains to be seen.

but for folk who are just tight – remember, you’re a long time dead

Have you considered that many people reducing their usage even if they can afford it is beneficial for all by reducing demand and therefore price.

Back in the real world… Rich King hosts an alternative Cop27 (’cause a complete loon told him not to go to the real one that he would have liked to have gone to*) in his massive palace, and invites a bunch of braying, also rich sycophantic suits, who all drive there in luxury limos, most of whom also had a security detail, in their own V8 cars.

*surely being a King means you get to do King things? Like go places without being told what to do.

Heating comes on for a couple of hours in the morning and evening, all rads off except the towel rail just to dry the otherwise stinking, damp towels.
Once a week, all the rads go on to get the washing dry or at least finish it off if we’ve been able to get it on the line.
Wood burner on every night heating the rest of the house.

Scienceofficer

False economy. Would need more than one at £130 plus each, then running costs at a unit cost for electricity still more than triple that of gas even now.

May as well just use the gas get all the same benefits and be a bit warmer too.

We’re fortunate that we have a fairly well insulated house and big radiators so my experiment with 47 degrees flow temperatures is going well so far boiler is actually barely firing presently.

Do you not just have warm wet air then though? Before we started using a dehumidifier we had terrible problems with condensation on any vaguely cold surface (outdoor walls for example)

My wife doesn’t quite get the concept or the impact of this cost of living crisis. Whereas i see turning the heating on as a last resort, she sees it as the opposite. Quite disappointing really.

literally jsut been talking about this in the office
my colleague, ina 50’s hosue ,with draughty windows having his on periodically at times for past few weeks
im i na 600’s terrace without draughty double glazing, but theres usually a window open slightly somewhere… have only put hte heating on to quickly dry clothes maybe the once since beofre spring
Almost.. wanted it o nthe other night.. late.. went to bed instead
i dont care about it being on, i just dont need it on
this morning was chilly out of bed.. that may be the first thing to alter, Nest thermostat is pretty good stuff and i let it do its thing

My experience with dehumidifiers is that without air flow in the house to promote air exchange they only have a limited radius of effect, and the heat contribution, even with latent heat of condensation seems pretty negligible.

always breathing in damp air is not good for you! Made a massive difference to my asthma when I learnt about dehumidifiers. Most have a fan I guess to help promote said airflow.

Mine has clicked on this week, must have got below 17°C. I almost rushed here to post this exciting news but couldn’t be arsed.
Don’t understand the post above where the heating was on all night, mines on a bit in morning and a bit in evening it would have to be properly Baltic before I considered having it on al night!!

Why is the air damp though that’s what needs addressed.

Your house should be no more damp than outside unless your purposefully making it damp….ie not using extraction and drying clothes in it.

We use our dehumidifier in a small drying room and it’s still more expensive than the condenser drier for drying washing . Admittedly I’m not trying to dry the whole house/world

Still haven’t put mine on yet, the heat from the oven cooking my food and a fan pushing it round the flat is more than enough to keep things comfy. Don’t have a tumble dryer but running a fan on low overnight easily dries everything, open the window for 20-30 mins while having my breakfast and the moisture gets out with the heat returning from the walls while I’m in work.

Really notice it if I don’t cook though, takes a while day to get the temps back up.

Do you not just have warm wet air then though?

Well, yes, but no, because of relative humidity effects and ventilation.

We don’t have many cold surfaces due to the aforementioned insulation, and, uh, you know, the heating.

I also run a passive ventilation stack via the bathroom ceiling and trickle vents to admit cooler air with a lower water vapour burden.

Everything is a compromise. I’d rather have better air quality than a slightly smaller fuel bill. Ideally, I’d run MHVR which I view as the best of all worlds, but my chances of achieving acceptable air tightness in a 1980 build with a suspended timber floor without a high level of disruptive and expensive retrofit is bugger all.

Still no ch but over the past week have had to use the tumble dryer for about 4 complete loads straight from washer and and about 4 half dry loads.

Your house should be no more damp than outside

Well, there are people in here respiring, perspiring, cooking and drying themselves and their hands in towels; but it’s absolutely wringing wet outside too. The woods are sodden, it’s been raining loads and there are piles of wet leaves everywhere. Humidity is forecast to be 92% day and night here.

What size of dehumidifier for Cardiff then?

Given as per the other threads you have airtightness issues your pissing in the wind. (Literally natch)

Dehumidifier

False economy. Would need more than one at £130 plus each, then running costs at a unit cost for electricity still more than triple that of gas even now.

Except you’re not trying to heat the house with one, just manage condensation – we just use it to dry washing when it’s too wet outside. Ours is around 200W, so run for a few hours and we’ve still not used 1 kWh.

The only dehumidifier I’ve had that would dry a full load of washing in less than 5 hours was a 1600w industrial unit used for drying out the dining room after the mains flooded.

Our 300w dehumidifier seems to take 15-20hrs to dry anything other than thin synthetics – such as the mostly jeans and heavy flannel and padded shirts I wear at this time of year.

Aaaannnd, still in shorts and no heating (obv) in Cambs… 🙃

The Ayatollah did insist on the gas fire being on for an hour last night tho. It passed through the fun filter test as a special treat…

Oh and towels. We just stick them in the airing cupboard between showers. No problem. 👍

such as the mostly jeans and heavy flannel and padded shirts I wear at this time of year.

I just assumed it was hair shirts.

Given as per the other threads you have airtightness issues your pissing in the wind.

Dunno. The heatings on so that’s decreasing the relative humidity enough. We don’t have any damp issues and towels and washing are now drying out quite well.

We’ll see what the bills are like soon enough.

I just assumed it was hair shirts.

Only at weekends these days the office didn’t approve

A dehumidifier is better than electric radiators because:

The latent heat from the condensation warms the air. I did some sums on the latent heat for the volume of water recovered for a running time at x watts and found I was getting about 1.3 kW for 1 kW consumed.

Dry air doesn’t feel as cold

You aren’t heating just to prevent condensation.

As for airtightness issues you can have alternative strategies:

Completely airtight and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery.

Natural ventilation based on trickle vents hot air rising and relatively low air change rates

Mechanical ventilation without heat recovery.

Open windows

If you have a shower and then leave the bathroom the most energy efficient way of getting the humidity back down and drying it out is a dehumidifier assuming that heat recovery is around 75% efficient, mechanical ventilation without heat recovery is 100% inefficient and opening windows will cost you more than running a dehumidifier. It isn’t a substitute for ventilation, it specifically for dehumidifying.

Its on today….

We have extractor fans fitted in our bathrooms but they are shit and noisy. I’m considering replacing them and also fixing the cooker hood ducting. I think if we use these it should help with humidity.

15C in my flat now but not putting on the heater unless temp has gone down to 12c.
The max temp I set is 18c. I want to feel the Siberian freeze LOL!
Last year my bedroom temperature was 4C and could only managed for a week LOL!
I want to tell me mates in Borneo the experience of feeling the frozen hell.

p/s: oh ya I was contemplating buying some Inuit fur clothing at one point.

We have extractor fans fitted in our bathrooms

Been looking at MVHR . Standalone single room units look a bit shit in the reviews -happy to be directed otherwise mind. Whole house units look better value if you can get the access.

I can get my kitchen , bathroom , all three bedrooms and the living room all hooked up to a central unit without too much intrusion. It’s tempting given the cost of a single unit Vs a whole house system. The dining room and annoyingly the utility/drying room can’t be got at 🙁

Came home after five days away to find son grumbling (only slightly) as downstairs temp had dropped to 13. Caved in, heating on for an hour, rads bled. Not put it on timed yet though, we’ll see how it feels tomorrow evening, I’m thinking turn the stat down to 16 and try half hour in the mornings and an hour in the evenings unless it get proper cold.

Our Google smart thermostat has been doing it’s thing since the end of September,it’s set to reach and hold 19c from 7am until 8.30, then back down to13c until 5pm where it tries to reach 20c until 9pm, it usually results in firing the boiler for an hour in the morning and an hour or more in the evening, cost of doing that for October was £185.

Plus the usual electricity costs of £141.

… cost of doing that for October was £185.
Plus the usual electricity costs of £141.

Crikey! That’s a lot of energy bill.

Crikey! That’s a lot of energy bill

If prices stay at current levels I think it will work out at just under £5k for 12 months.