Central Heating - on yet?

[Fnaar]

Was out walking in shorts and t-shirt yesterday ... wrapped up warm indoors yesterday evening ... heating on for an hour around 9pm .

 

[fossyant]

Still not on. House is surprisingly warm TBH. Popped the 'inherited' Dyson heater/fan doo dah on for a few minutes in the lounge this morning as we are both WFH - didn't need to heat the house.

Inherited - wouldn't buy one myself as they are hideously expensive for a fan heater - MIL had it as it was remote control, so could switch it on if she felt cold.

I'm currently in the conservatory in a t-shirt

 

[mjr]

When we were kids we didn’t have central heating or double glazing. You’d heat the one room, the living room, and the rest of house would be cold, in winter. Same as my Nannas house where the coal fire also heated the hot water. Beds had decent blankets to snuggle under.

But unless you had thick or insulated internal walls, heat would leak out to the other rooms anyway. Not great and pretty limiting life.

 

[mjr]

Still getting away with no heating.
I'm another jumper person. My wife is turn the thermostat up type.
Await some thermostat tension. Have thought of having a "secret" one actually running the system.

I have a robot that resets the main target temperatures overnight but that is as much because I forget as anyone else!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

But unless you had thick or insulated internal walls, heat would leak out to the other rooms anyway. Not great and pretty limiting life.

Why did you find your life limiting? Confused of Clapham.

 

[mjr]

After you’d said last two winters were mild and house wouldn’t have got cold. There was a decent cold snap that affected south as well last couple of winters. Overall yes mild but there were a couple of cold snaps both of last winters.

Not sure if Norfolk is "south" but Jan '22 had a week with almost no time above 0ºc IIRC.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Not sure if Norfolk is "south" but Jan '22 had a week with almost no time above 0ºc IIRC.

Exactly, that’s what you call a cold snap as I was pointing out

 

[Alex321]

Not sure if Norfolk is "south" but Jan '22 had a week with almost no time above 0ºc IIRC.

Now you mention it, I do remember thinking the East side of Britain was having it hard then.

Over on te West we were several degrees warmer.

 

[mjr]

Why did you find your life limiting? Confused of Clapham.

It wasn't my life. It was a few relatives in older houses. Of course, life was limited to the heated room most of the time. How is that not limited?

 

[fossyant]

OK, just shoved it on. All bedroom rads are off though, which means only 4 radiators are in use.

 

[lazybloke]

Damp in a house is often about poor ventilation. More of a problem since double glazing got rid of drafts of old.

Damp forms on cold surfaces.

Houses with poor insulation are cold.

People in cold houses don't want to increase ventilation as it makes the house even colder!

HAve got some experience of this, with my solid exterior walls that leak heat away very quickly in winter, and a cold external corner upstairs gets wet (not damp, wet) every winter.

Best way to manage this is to be very careful to control sources of moisture in the house (cooking, baths, showers, use extractors, ventilation etc) .

I also want to try a dehumidifier.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Damp forms on cold surfaces.

If below dew point which is also dependent on humidity, hence ventilation helps.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Damp forms on cold surfaces.

Houses with poor insulation are cold.

People in cold houses don't want to increase ventilation as it makes the house even colder!

HAve got some experience of this, with my solid exterior walls that leak heat away very quickly in winter, and a cold external corner upstairs gets wet (not damp, wet) every winter.

Best way to manage this is to be very careful to control sources of moisture in the house (cooking, baths, showers, use extractors, ventilation etc) .

I also want to try a dehumidifier.

Our daughter was concerned about mould in her flat ( there's none that I could see ) so we bought her a dehumidifier from Screwfix ( same model in B+ Q was £££ more expensive. )
It was ok-ish. We then discovered " Ebac " a company that makes dehumidifiers in the UK that are tailored for our climate. It's an amazing bit of kit, virtually silent and with an " intelligent " mode that constantly monitors the air quality . It has a HEPA filter plus the gentle outflow of air helps heat the house too.

 

[Jameshow]

When we were kids we didn’t have central heating or double glazing. You’d heat the one room, the living room, and the rest of house would be cold, in winter. Same as my Nannas house where the coal fire also heated the hot water. Beds had decent blankets to snuggle under.

Your parents had 12 kids, that's how they stayed warm....!!🤣🤣🤣

 

[KnittyNorah]

Damp forms on cold surfaces.

Houses with poor insulation are cold.

People in cold houses don't want to increase ventilation as it makes the house even colder!

HAve got some experience of this, with my solid exterior walls that leak heat away very quickly in winter, and a cold external corner upstairs gets wet (not damp, wet) every winter.

Best way to manage this is to be very careful to control sources of moisture in the house (cooking, baths, showers, use extractors, ventilation etc) .

I also want to try a dehumidifier.

I think you'll find a good dehumidifier life-changing.
I certainly did when I lived in New Zealand and found the relatively mild temperatures chilled me to the bone in my flimsily-built (but earthquake-safe, apparently), uninsulated, single-glazed (with metal windowframes) home, and my clothes grew blue mould after a mere week in the wardrobe. I invested in a good dehumidifier, ran it regularly and problem solved.

I recently persuaded a friend at a knitting group to get one - her little boy was starting with asthma, and she has had it forever. She mentioned that there was 'a bit' of black mould started up every winter but she 'kept it under control' with bleach. After my advice, she looked into dehumidifiers in some depth, bought a top-of-the-range one last month and has been running it 'hard' with the result that she's not needed her inhaler, her little boy has stopped wheezing and - without any more chlorine bleach - there has been no return of the mould. She's hoping to run it for a few hours less during periods of fine winter weather, but says she'll have no hesitation in ramping usage back up if and when necessary.

I'm debating whether or not to get one in my new flat. Inside the built-in storage cupboards it seems to be a little damp, but how much of that is just general a lack of use, un-aired feeling, I'm not sure, as it has been unoccupied for much of the year until I moved in last month.