Central heating, always on or not ?

[Cyclone 10]

the validity of this argument requires a figure for the time element

 

thanks to the properties of the inner skin of bricks, it takes about two days for such a house to equalise to outside temperatures - which is often four heating cycles

 

thank you serapis - glad to know I'm not banging my head against a brick wall

 

Surely that means that the thermal conductivity of the bricks is low (ie heat is only lost slowly). In which case it shouldn't matter if the heating is off for 8 hours during the day, you'll rapidly get the air temperature back up in an evening and the bricks will warm back up slowly.

It's not like you sit with your back pressed to the brickwork is it? Air temperature is what matters in a house, not wall temperature.

[missmode 10]

Is your loft insulated? are the radiators actually hot all the time when the thermometer is saying 14?

 

Yep the loft is insulated and the radiators are hot, its a mystery. We have had so many plumbers to check it out and had most of the work suggested but nothing has helped.

[Cyclone 10]

You should have popped out this morning after the snow.

If you're loosing heat through the roof then the snow will melt fast from your tiles.

It's a cheap way of checking how good your loft insulation is.

 

Are you sure you're not just nesh? Girls generally are, they want it to feel like your in the tropics and if it doesn't they're cold (although they won't put jumpers on).

[poppins 10]

Yep the loft is insulated and the radiators are hot, its a mystery. We have had so many plumbers to check it out and had most of the work suggested but nothing has helped.

 

Few years back they would insulate the roofs inside the lofts as well as the floor and sides, now-a-days they insulate all but the roof..

[laineyiow 10]

I have done it both ways. and I found that keeping the heating on a constant level of around 18 degrees in the winter months left me with lower bills overall.

 

Serapis I totally agree with your sentiments.

 

Before I moved to the Isle of Wight I lived in a modern house in Chapeltown and the heating was left on with various set temperatures during the day - but it never, ever went above 17 degrees even in the cold winter months as the heat in the house was constant. The heating bills also seemed quite low when compared to other people's heating bills. If the temperature dropped below a certain degree during the night then the heating would automatically switch on and warm the house. So the house never ever suffered with the "chill factor".

 

I now live in a 70's bungalow on the Isle of Wight (where it is actually a warmer climate than in Sheffield) and have that awful warm air heating and the house is constantly cold. The bungalow has cavity wall insulation and good quality loft insulation (which has been put in during the past few years) and is double glazed but never ever seems warm and, I know that the cost of heating has increased significantly but therm by therm it does seem dearer living in this house than in the previous one and very often the thermostat has to be turned up to about 25 degress just to get the house warm. I think the lowest temperature I have had it to is 20 degrees.

 

I appreciate that this is two different type of heating methods - one being radiators and one being warm air - but I am confident that if the bungalow I live in now had radiators and I ran it the same as I did the house in Chapeltown then I would be able to get cheaper heating bills.

[Cyclone 10]

I appreciate that it's different heating methods, but at 17 degrees most people would not be comfortable, which probably just meant that the thermostat labelling wasn't accurate and you actually had it set at 20.

[laineyiow 10]

I appreciate that it's different heating methods, but at 17 degrees most people would not be comfortable, which probably just meant that the thermostat labelling wasn't accurate and you actually had it set at 20.

 

 

No it wasn't - it was an electronical thermostat. There wasn't a dial to set, it was all done electronically. I can assure you that the overall ambience of the house was very pleasant. In fact when someone came to visit once they actually commented on how warm it was and couldn't believe (like you!) the actual temperature! They also thought it was at a higher setting!

[Cyclone 10]

It's not that I can't believe it, it's that 21 is a comfortable room temperature, 17 is definitely a little on the uncomfortable side. 16 is the legal minimum for normal office workplaces.

[banjodeano 31]

snap - us too

 

now if anybody else has actually tried it, and can state what type of house they live in...

 

I live in an old detached house, two single bricks with no cavity, it takes a lot of warming up, i understand what you say about leaving the heating on, if you turn it off completely then you have an hell of a job getting it warm, by the time it gets warm it is time to go to bed, but i think you are both right in what your saying, at the end of the day its no good heating it up when you just get in if it never gets warm, i generally turn it down to about12 then turn it up when i come in, i'm guessing a couple of hours and its warm. so the answer is...turn it as low as you can, but without going so low that you are waiting for hours for it to get warm again

[laineyiow 10]

It's not that I can't believe it, it's that 21 is a comfortable room temperature, 17 is definitely a little on the uncomfortable side. 16 is the legal minimum for normal office workplaces.

 

The difference being is that the heating was on all the time so it never got cold - offices turn off their heating and only have them running during working hours. Our heating was never off thereby keeping a constant heat and temperature and that is why it could be kept at a lower temperature.

[Berberis 10]

It's not that I can't believe it, it's that 21 is a comfortable room temperature, 17 is definitely a little on the uncomfortable side. 16 is the legal minimum for normal office workplaces.

 

I have mine at 18 and that is perfect. Not hot, not cold. And I didn’t think there was a legal limit on how cold the work place can be.

[olorin 10]

I think it has to reach 16C within an hour of starting work, except where impractical, like say a huge warehouse. I could be very wrong on that though