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Post by MikeMusic on Dec 10, 2017 16:53:38 GMT
Thinking about anyone with a heat problem, especially those with little dough.
Spending money on efficient heating and finding the best deals on gas and electricity : Good, but the wrong place to start.
Been fiddling around recently as the house was cold and draughty. Poor considering the house was gutted, refurbed and supposedly draught proofed and insulated to 2009 standards.
Closing doors, even leaving just wide enough for a trail of small dogs makes a difference. Closed is best of course.
Sausage against the leaky front door.
Patio doors with the handle pulled up (ready to be locked) makes a huge difference
Dark early so I pull curtains and blinds.
Makes a hell of a difference.
I'm sitting here with the thermostat down on last year and I'm warmer !
'Course I already knew this, had to connect the dots.
Duh
How many people are cold because they have badly fitting windows and outside doors ?
Too many will be tight for the money, maybe sitting in the cold or spending money they can't afford for the heat to go out of the house.
Notice some houses without snow on their roofs after a big snowfall. These people need a nudge to have their loft insulated for free and save a packet.
Then there's global warming. Reduce that by keeping the heat where it does most good.
We could save a few punters lives here, let alone the comfort and waste saving
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2017 17:03:51 GMT
Keeping a home warm is a nightmare. You have perfectly sealed windows. You get green mould growing in places, especially small rooms. This place has been a nightmare ever since we have UPVC windows fitted.
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Post by puffin on Dec 10, 2017 17:12:42 GMT
I change elec and gas supplier every year. They draw you in with "based on your usage your monthly payments will be"......it's ok at the start but of course they have a DD and take what they like. However, at the moment we are slightly down on last years costs, but we have the winter coming up. I spent 6 weeks in the summer labouring for our builder nest door neighbour changing all our windows (we had slim 5mm wood surround DG that was warped and some were blown) and putting scaffolding up and down, cladding the dormers and soffits and replacing all the doors. The place used to be freezing in the winter, but it is now at least worth having the heating on, and the drafts have gone.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2017 17:42:34 GMT
Electricity is cheaper here but we do have to use the heating function on the Aircon most evenings in Dec and Jan. Sometimes early Feb too. No cavity walls here, tiled floors and double-height vaulted ceilings throughout, so it cools down very quickly. It was 19 today and will fall to 10 overnight. Sounds warm, but the cold surfaces make it feel colder. Winter temps are usually 16-18 falling to 8-10. You need some form of heat.
Most permanent residents fit either electric radiators or log burners. If we move somewhere bigger, I will probably do both. Central heating is an option too, but you either put up with lots of conduit or massive upheaval to fit pipework. Neither are acceptable for me.
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Post by MartinT on Dec 10, 2017 18:14:40 GMT
Our barn is well insulated but it contains a large volume of air. We learned lessons from last year by closing more doors, tweaking thermostats down where we could stand it, narrowing the timer 'ON' windows, shutting down unnecessary radiators. It's all helped and I'm keeping a wary eye on the oil gauge. We're still looking at the greater part of two 1200l tank fills for the year.
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Post by MikeMusic on Dec 10, 2017 18:15:33 GMT
Keeping a home warm is a nightmare. You have perfectly sealed windows. You get green mould growing in places, especially small rooms. This place has been a nightmare ever since we have UPVC windows fitted. Oddly enough when I converted one of my places gradually to UPVC windows the condensation and damp went down. Still not sure why. Also had the loft topped up and cavity wall insulation |
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Post by MikeMusic on Dec 10, 2017 18:18:52 GMT
I change elec and gas supplier every year. They draw you in with "based on your usage your monthly payments will be"......it's ok at the start but of course they have a DD and take what they like. However, at the moment we are slightly down on last years costs, but we have the winter coming up. I spent 6 weeks in the summer labouring for our builder nest door neighbour changing all our windows (we had slim 5mm wood surround DG that was warped and some were blown) and putting scaffolding up and down, cladding the dormers and soffits and replacing all the doors. The place used to be freezing in the winter, but it is now at least worth having the heating on, and the drafts have gone. Sounds good and well worth the effort. After our refurb and finding it too cold I had a thermal survey which showed to place to be leaking like s sieve. Builders fixed some of it, in the summer, but nowhere near enough. We have a brand new front door, does all it should do except there is a massive draught at the bottom as it was installed so poorly |
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Post by MikeMusic on Dec 10, 2017 18:25:40 GMT
Electricity is cheaper here but we do have to use the heating function on the Aircon most evenings in Dec and Jan. Sometimes early Feb too. No cavity walls here, tiled floors and double-height vaulted ceilings throughout, so it cools down very quickly. It was 19 today and will fall to 10 overnight. Sounds warm, but the cold surfaces make it feel colder. Winter temps are usually 16-18 falling to 8-10. You need some form of heat. Most permanent residents fit either electric radiators or log burners. If we move somewhere bigger, I will probably do both. Central heating is an option too, but you either put up with lots of conduit or massive upheaval to fit pipework. Neither are acceptable for me. Warmer than the UK but still a need for heat ! Could you store the heat of the day in solid structures for release at night? Lateral thought opposite to that Classic episode of Renovation Nation (US) that had an apartment in a shopping area in LA I think. Felt hot just watching it. Fantastic idea they had a ground floor entrance that they put a metal door with bars in. Put in a skylight upstairs and the draught stopped them needing aircon on at all. Very clever. |
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Post by zippy on Dec 10, 2017 18:26:13 GMT
Doesn't sound at all healthy to me closing all the doors and windows as you won't be getting a decent supply of fresh air.
If I don't remember to open my bedroom window at night, I usually have a headache when I wake up.
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Post by MartinT on Dec 10, 2017 18:28:15 GMT
Can you not remove the door and install a draught excluder strip at the bottom?
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Post by MikeMusic on Dec 10, 2017 18:31:57 GMT
Our barn is well insulated but it contains a large volume of air. We learned lessons from last year by closing more doors, tweaking thermostats down where we could stand it, narrowing the timer 'ON' windows, shutting down unnecessary radiators. It's all helped and I'm keeping a wary eye on the oil gauge. We're still looking at the greater part of two 1200l tank fills for the year. Turned the rad valves right down in rooms we don't go in much. Persuaded the boss that we do *not* need upstairs as warm as living areas, took some doing. One thing I worked out all on my own. Heating on only when we get up, not before. Heating off 1.5 hours before bed. May be able to increase that time Managed to have windows closed when heating on. Heat and fresh air don't coexist efficiently in most houses ! |
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Post by MikeMusic on Dec 10, 2017 18:35:20 GMT
Doesn't sound at all healthy to me closing all the doors and windows as you won't be getting a decent supply of fresh air. If I don't remember to open my bedroom window at night, I usually have a headache when I wake up. Agreed on fresh air. Must have our window open in the bedroom at night. The modern way is to recycle the air, taking the heat out. Seems essential for fresh air in passive houses |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2017 18:40:48 GMT
Electricity is cheaper here but we do have to use the heating function on the Aircon most evenings in Dec and Jan. Sometimes early Feb too. No cavity walls here, tiled floors and double-height vaulted ceilings throughout, so it cools down very quickly. It was 19 today and will fall to 10 overnight. Sounds warm, but the cold surfaces make it feel colder. Winter temps are usually 16-18 falling to 8-10. You need some form of heat. Most permanent residents fit either electric radiators or log burners. If we move somewhere bigger, I will probably do both. Central heating is an option too, but you either put up with lots of conduit or massive upheaval to fit pipework. Neither are acceptable for me. Warmer than the UK but still a need for heat ! Could you store the heat of the day in solid structures for release at night? Lateral thought opposite to that Classic episode of Renovation Nation (US) that had an apartment in a shopping area in LA I think. Felt hot just watching it. Fantastic idea they had a ground floor entrance that they put a metal door with bars in. Put in a skylight upstairs and the draught stopped them needing aircon on at all. Very clever. It amazes me that everyone has solar panels for their hot water tanks, but virtually nobody has solar panels on their roof for their electricity. They could make money selling unused power back to the grid. At the very least it would power the Aircon in thecrazy heat of Summer. It will probably cone here all of a sudden and go viral in a few years. |
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Post by MikeMusic on Dec 10, 2017 18:47:23 GMT
Warmer than the UK but still a need for heat ! Could you store the heat of the day in solid structures for release at night? Lateral thought opposite to that Classic episode of Renovation Nation (US) that had an apartment in a shopping area in LA I think. Felt hot just watching it. Fantastic idea they had a ground floor entrance that they put a metal door with bars in. Put in a skylight upstairs and the draught stopped them needing aircon on at all. Very clever. It amazes me that everyone has solar panels for their hot water tanks, but virtually nobody has solar panels on their roof for their electricity. They could make money selling unused power back to the grid. At the very least it would power the Aircon in thecrazy heat of Summer. It will probably cone here all of a sudden and go viral in a few years. I looked at panels, ground source heat pumps and the like. Too much capital and too little coming back, in the UK. Break even was about 20 years. Kit lifespan - about 20 years. Should be a no brainer when the price drops as quickly as it has done over the past few years. People down the road not connected to the mains and close to a stream had a great system installed when they rebuilt ! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 10, 2017 19:42:49 GMT
I changed from a 1980's gas boiler to an air source heat pump, and considering the running costs, the payback is about 5 years.
Air source is so much easier to install than a ground source system.
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Post by Chris on Dec 11, 2017 7:04:46 GMT
Utter nightmare for me. Shit windows is the biggest culprit. If you ran a thermocamera over this place the heat loss would just make you cry.
Too expensive to replace though.
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Post by zippy on Dec 11, 2017 8:19:37 GMT
Utter nightmare for me. Shit windows is the biggest culprit. If you ran a thermocamera over this place the heat loss would just make you cry. Too expensive to replace though. I once lived next to a family that, every November, they'd seal all the windows with cling film, and not remove it until spring. They suffered from huge problems with condensation ! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2017 9:49:10 GMT
Putting aside crap windows & Loft insulation..The worse thing you can do is keep switching the heating on/off all the time. You think you are saving money but you are not, it cost more. Set the thermostat to a comfortable temp, ours is on 21/22 Degree.It will switch off when it reaches that temp, turn back on when it drops below.
Another crazy thing that OAP's tend to do is Turn the radiators off in all the rooms & just live in one room. As soon as you open the door to go out all the heat from the room will go out too.
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Post by MikeMusic on Dec 11, 2017 10:56:24 GMT
I changed from a 1980's gas boiler to an air source heat pump, and considering the running costs, the payback is about 5 years. Air source is so much easier to install than a ground source system. Thanks. Will remember that when te boiler goes. Payback seems nicely quick |
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Post by MikeMusic on Dec 11, 2017 10:58:09 GMT
Utter nightmare for me. Shit windows is the biggest culprit. If you ran a thermocamera over this place the heat loss would just make you cry. Too expensive to replace though. Various ways to fix. Tape over the edges, draught strip around, Atomic strip if they are wooded frames and you can find some. Cling film as Wonky says. Thick curtains at night |
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