When did you get central heating?

[Blue]

Yeah yeah pikey!

Think about it - we did.

We don't heat the kitchen coz we are only in it when working - when the appliances supply enough heat, thanks.

We don't heat the bathroom coz we don't use it much and when we do we are often taking a hot shower which supplies enough heat, thanks.

We don't heat the hall coz we just walk through it so don't need it to be heated.

We don't heat the bedrooms as we only use one and when we are in it we are under the duvet which is plenty of heat, thanks. We appreciate fresh air so leave the window open, why not?

The only room we sit around in for long periods is the through lounge, which we heat.

I'm sure it helps to keep the carbon footprint down!!

 

[palinurus]

Never had it when I was younger- we had a coal fire. Since I've been renting all the places I've lived have had it.

Recently the heating broke down in the flat, normally I turn it off overnight anyway- i'm under the duvet so I don't need it- but after a couple of days of no heating I got used to the flat being 12 degrees (couldn't get used to not having hot water quite so easily), subsequently I only heat the flat to 15 or 16 in the evenings and I feel warm enough.

It's pretty warm for January so at the moment the flat is maintaining that temperature without the heating.

 

[Crackle]

Grew up with it I'm afraid - and I'm 38 - think we may not have had it as a young child, but can't remember. Over the last few years my CH has been on 24/7 in the winter - new(ish) house so it's just ticking over - radiators luke warm. Although, with the kids back at school and wife out at work, it's back on timed these days !!

Do you think it's better/cheaper to do it that way or mornings and evenings on a timer which is what I do?

 

[piedwagtail91]

Think about it - we did.

We don't heat the kitchen coz we are only in it when working - when the appliances supply enough heat, thanks.

We don't heat the bathroom coz we don't use it much and when we do we are often taking a hot shower which supplies enough heat, thanks.

We don't heat the hall coz we just walk through it so don't need it to be heated.

We don't heat the bedrooms as we only use one and when we are in it we are under the duvet which is plenty of heat, thanks. We appreciate fresh air so leave the window open, why not?

The only room we sit around in for long periods is the through lounge, which we heat.

I'm sure it helps to keep the carbon footprint down!!

ditto

 

[Charlotte_C+ :-)]

Think about it - we did.

We don't heat the kitchen coz we are only in it when working - when the appliances supply enough heat, thanks.

We don't heat the bathroom coz we don't use it much and when we do we are often taking a hot shower which supplies enough heat, thanks.

We don't heat the hall coz we just walk through it so don't need it to be heated.

We don't heat the bedrooms as we only use one and when we are in it we are under the duvet which is plenty of heat, thanks. We appreciate fresh air so leave the window open, why not?

The only room we sit around in for long periods is the through lounge, which we heat.

I'm sure it helps to keep the carbon footprint down!!

Totaly agree! as thats what our house is like to

 

[Morrisette]

One thing I really hate is being too cold. As a kid we did have central heating fitted but it was rationed out as it was heating oil driven so quite pricey. So there was still ice on the windows!

Now I make use of the timer, to make sure the house is only warm when we are there. However this policy did kill three plants (froze them to death!) while we were away over Christmas!

Re storage heaters, my mate's house has those (the type you can also turn on at night) and he saves £££££ by using an oil-filled electric heater in the living room when he's there and not touching the storage heating at all. It's a useless idea really unless you are at home all day.

 

[Aperitif]

We never had it when i was a kid/teenager (1960s/70s) ...coal fire which also did the hot water (immersion heater as back up) then storage heaters. The Mother had it fitted in 1986, after the old man shuffled off...
Was telling the kids the other day about ice on the inside of your bedroom window when you woke up, and realised I sounded like an old git!

Yes - ice!
My Mum and Dad's council house had two teensy electric fires, built into the wall; one in the 'dining room' one in their bedroom upstairs. The kitchen was heated by an Ideal boiler, along with all the hot water. A big cupboard out in the yard contained 'Furnod' - little nuggets of pressed coal IIRC...
The 'front room' had another coal fire that took the big, glossy lumps and one of my regular jobs was chop wood as prep for lighting these fires.
My bedroom throughout my teens was heated with a Valor stove - incredibly popular paraffin heaters - Mmmmm stylish! - but they did warm, if not intoxicate...I spent a few years drawing/studying up there, encased in woolies and shivering along to Led Zep etc... At least twice, after we returned from a night out with the relatives or whatever, my Dad cursed at finding that the wick had thrown a wobbly and the whole room was covered in a black sooty film! That was a trait of the Valor heater too!
In 1984, when my Dad died, central heating was installed but my Mum, who is now 88 is still grunting and muttering that it is 'too warm to have the heating on' and keeps turning the 'stat down, whereas my nephew who lives there is always ramping it up as he always feels cold. He's 29, 2 metres tall and built like the original coalhouse! I detest all the overheated rooms that are fast becoming the norm - get on a bike to work! (Sorry - mini rant mode off )

 

[ColinJ]

Blimey, what's up with you guys, it's not that cold!

I'm sitting here in West Yorkshire without any heating on in the house. In fact, there has been no heating on for 12 hours. I do not have double glazing. I am wearing a long-sleeved base layer, a short-sleeved cycling jersey and a big woolly jumper, a pair of boxer shorts, Zimbabalooba Verts, and the long woolly socks I got for Christmas and I'm fine! It was damn cold here a week or so back, but the wind direction has changed now.

Oh, and my boiler has packed up so I'm washing in cold water until I can afford to get it fixed. You're all going soft

PS I haven't got central heating. It is a two bedroom house and I have 2 gas fires (only one of which is ever used) and a gas wall heater.

 

[Plax]

Well, I don't have central heating OR double glazing. My house is heated soley through a coal fire in the living room. I have a portable halogen heater that I use in the computer room, and that is all.

 

[Jaded]

we don't have central heating, or double glazing, or even a house.

 

[Charlotte_C+ :-)]

We are all starting to sound like the monty pythons Four Yorkshiremen sketch!

 

[Arch]

My apologies, Arch, if I am "teaching my grandmother to suck eggs" but has your storage heater got two controls on the top. You should be able to lower the Output for during the day, and then put it on something called "late boost" to increase the heat put out in the evening. I am sure one of our more technologicallly minded boys might be able to clarify this further - Mickle springs to mind, followed closely by Spandex.

Oh, no, thankyou, but I have tried all the various combinations of the dials, and it does increase the heat in the evening a little, but it's still leaking heat out all day, which is wasted. Also, my flat is one big room, not efficient to heat, and my sofa is in the corner furthest from the heater (and next to two outside walls), so it really doesn't feel the benefit - hence just getting into bed in the evening and swivelling the telly round to the TV. While I'm eating my supper at the table, the fan heater keeps me warm enough, just with local heat.

In the summer of course, the two southfacing windows soak up the sun, and when I get home I frequently have to open the windows and lie panting on the sofa in my undies...

(someone give Patrick a glass of water)

 

[Crackle]

We are all starting to sound like the monty pythons Four Yorkshiremen sketch!

When I started the thread I wondered how long it would be before it got to that

 

[summerdays]

I grew up with central heating, and now live in a fairly warm house - south facing double glazed windows help a lot. Its a rule in our house that the heating is never switched on before 1st Nov, and this year I think we lasted to mid November. And even if I'm in during the day its not automatically on ... only if I realise I am feeling cool having already got on jumpers.
What drives me mad is people who want their rooms really hot (ie over 18 deg C), and also want fresh air so have the window wide open. Some of my mates who are hot house plants in their spare time, put on multiple jumpers to come round and visit me (mind you they think 25 deg is normal... I have to remove clothes to go and visit them).

 

[Fnaar]

I went to Russia once on a work trip...heating was switched on centrally (ie by local authority) once it went below 8 deg C. Individual apartments could not turn it off, and "regulated" heat by opening windows if it got too hot! They called it "heating the sky". How very true, and rather depressing!!!