Reply With QuoteDreading my gas bill after this week. Might be time to get a that wood burner fitted
10c wow, I’m ok with the cold but wouldn’t have my house that cold.Originally Posted by jukeboxs
Dreading my gas bill after this week. Might be time to get a that wood burner fitted
Ours is in the utility too, but no discernible heat from outside the cupboard, works to dry the tea towels but not much more.
Our boiler is not in a cupboard so all emitted heat goes around the utility. The toilet is off the utility as well so its my go to place when need’s must, it’s really cozy in there.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63602501
Keep warm - as much as you can afford anyway!
It’s quite amazing how our bodies aren't that well equipped with dealing with just a few degrees in temperature. 37 is the perfect body temp yet go 2 or 3 degrees either way and we’re in trouble. Likewise back in September the bedroom temp was 20 degrees yesterday morning i woke up to 14. Almost freezing my nuts off.
Ours just in kitchen and doesn't give out much heat - don't think modern ones do. Commonly in lofts nowadays - wouldn't want heat wasted up there.
You would be surprised how warm it gets in a room 7’ x 5’ the casing around where the burner is gets quite hot. The boiler is a Potterton around 8 years old.
Do the sums first. We looked into a wood burner and went for gas fire instead as the numbers didn't add up for the wood burner.
Depends if you live near a ready source of wood and have no fuel restrictions in your area.
November bill came to £260 all in. Depending on how long we get the cold snap for, December will be similar I imagine.
Looks about the same as us £260ish with the Government giving me and the wife £250 each,we will be in warmer climes for the whole of January, so only Feb early March to think about.
Last edited by hilly10; 3rd December 2023 at 20:45.
Crazy that the Government gives money to help with heating costs, to people who can afford a month in the sun. Enjoy.
Not that crazy it’s a Tory government…….
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This is G&D…………………
Agree entirely, but you cannot refuse it,like your State Pension it’s paid in to your bank
Equally you can donate it to those less fortunate.
All our recent alleged perks with pricing and caps went to those that needed it more than we did, cannot sleep comfortably knowing I’m enjoying something I do not need / or require.
Without getting to involved, it should be means tested then people like myself would know we are not eligible so more to go round to people who need it. Did you know that a married pensioner living with his wife who is not pensionable age gets the full £500 that’s madness.
No it's logical. What is amazing is how finely tuned homeotherms are. Temperature is optimised for all the biochemical reactions that we need to maintain our bodies. We can swim in icy water for a short while, and cope with 50ºC+ temperatures while maintaining this internal temp, but of course the energy needed in the first case and the water in the second will become limiting factors.
But when our internal temp goes up or down it's not so much that we cannot cope, but that something is seriously wrong with our body to lose the capacity to regulate; and it is this wrong that kills us if the effect increases or persists, in other words the temperature is a symptom, not the cause of our being unwell.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
TRIPLE LOCK
I've been trying to turn on the heat, but my wife won't let me.
It’s supposedly less expensive to pay everyone than it would be to administer a means test.
First time last night, just for a couple of hours.
I'd love to, but the sound it made scared me into calling a plumber out.
Two weeks on...
...Still sounds like a kettle boiling with no water in it.
Hopefully, they'll fix it today.
I've used this company for years.
But I gotta say...
...This last experience has shaken my trust in them.
Oh well.
Fingers crossed =)
Bonkers isn’t it, I’ve read that previously.
I had that a while ago - I tracked the sound down to one of the thermostatic valves. I twisted it slightly, and it went away.
Been on for ages now…lol
Running at 8 to 10 quid a day atm
Tiny wee 2 bed as well
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I must admit - having had a fairly miserable/annoying winter last year in a house a little bit too cold, and running around switching off lights etc, turning off radiators in unused rooms etc, I’ve decided - given the minimal savings in the grand scheme of things - I’m back to normal this year and I’d rather have a warm house and do without a couple of meals out a month or a takeaway here and there instead. I know I’m lucky to be able to make the choice, and will still be more sensible - and all the led bulbs will obviously stay - but imho there’s nothing worse than being cold. Downstairs is at 20c, upstairs 19c so hardly the tropics, although reading some of the replies on here I’m clearly a southern softie! I should add we have a disabled son who tends to strip to his T shirt most days regardless of temperature, and he needs to keep warm for his health
This is pretty much my thinking this year.
I'm still wearing jumpers (and occasionally a fleece) around the house so haven't gone totally tropical, but I am caring less about the expenditure.
It helps that I've built up a healthy credit this year, which I didn't last year because we'd only just moved in to the current house.
It still smarts though when I remember how much it used to cost only three years ago.
I'm feeling the same. Was absolutely miserable last year. With energy prices having come down , coupled with a new boiler that supports opentherm with my Honeywell evo TRVs I have the house at 21 pretty much from 6:30 till 21:30 most days. My gas usage has come down to about £13 per day during the last few cold days , down from £30 plus last year. I can live with that. Last winter was not fun.
Last edited by eagletower; 4th December 2023 at 18:20.
It's -18 outside currently and 20,8 for indoor temperature, the radiators are very hot to touch. At these temperatures this old building starts to feel a bit cold in some of the corners.
Fair weather ahead!
Sensible post and the same as my philosophy.
Nothing worse than being cold so always 19c in the hall, it costs what it costs.
There does seem to be some folk who like to feel macho in their igloo homes and good luck to them.
Cheers,
Neil.
We haven’t had a full winter in our new flat yet apart from me doing a refurb starting in January while having no heating and fitting internally 75mm of insulated plasterboard to the external walls and the associated rewire/moving sockets.
We have just had low-E secondary glazing fitted as the Crittall windows cannot be changed and one of them is 5m long and 1.8m tall so a massive heat loss.
We also fitted bigger bore pipework and new bigger rads plus Tado smart TRV’s (think it modulates our Valiant) It cost us £7 a day (gas and electricity) in the recent cold snap with both of us home and my partner wanting it at least 22º to feel comfortable and an overfilled piping hot bath. it was half that if the sun came out as the solar gain through the lounge window meant the heating was hardly on during the middle of the day.
How people live in these flats without modernising them i’ll never know!? some still have the warm air boilers with vents in the corner of each room, quite impressed with how long it takes to cool down, the Tado software gives you a detailed graph and when it was below freezing outside it took over 2 hours to drop 2 degrees once the heating went off, this isn’t exceptional but a lot better than most homes and puts us close to a new build before the regs changed recently.
The lounge with the big window is single skin brick but only one external wall, bedrooms have 2 external walls but are brick cavity (no insulation)
Probably will not recoup the cost of these improvements for many years but being warm and comfortable with no draughts is difficult to put a price on. will certainly help with the EPC when we eventually move.
Think doing these upgrades to crappy uk housing is something all but the very wealthy are going to have to consider.
Bugger off P
Just decided in light of Jan increases to go fixed with Octopus
I FEEL LIKE I'M DIAGONALLY PARKED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE
I was looking at the fixed but just think if the fixed is that good a price then they sort of know prices are coming down next year.Just decided in light of Jan increases to go fixed with Octopus
Maybe, but only after they go up again up in January.
I fixed as well, thinking the Ukraine situation isn't going away, war in the middle east, OPEC mofos making everyone dance to their tune, Sunak holding the reins… I just don't trust any of it.
I think it's the first ever time I've fixed an energy deal.
Last edited by Onelasttime; 9th December 2023 at 22:52.
You forgot the ongoing monumental costs of decarbonising the energy industry. The numbers are truly eye watering and while there will be fluctuations, energy in the long term will never be cheap again.
Am with you on this view, rather ride the wave / risk vs fix currently, don't trust them as far as I could throw them - or those invested in energy companies for dividends; both seem morally corrupt to me tbh.
Lots of heat today, as landed back this morning from 32C in St Lucia, and despite warm clothes / cat / blanket I am freezing - and if I am cold, god knows what my wife is feeling!
Ever since the cold weather moved on around 3 weeks ago, I have barely had the heating on for the whole Christmas period.
Maybe one hour per day or less to keep the core of the house around 16 degC, with a fire in the living room to keep it at 20 degC in the evening.
Can’t wait for the direct debit.
Worth taking and registering readings tomorrow, as the energy thieves are upping the rate on 2nd, I think - and will apply the new rate to your entire month unless you give them a reading tomorrow.
I'm going to be (hive) 107hrs for gas CH this month (plus a few hours on HW)
Not heating the entire house and generally keeping the 'using rooms' between 17c and 19c during day.
16, wow. I don’t feel the cold and that’s the low point mine will trigger.
Your poor wife. You give her heating vouchers or thermals for Xmas you tight git?
Our Smart meters showing a small increase as of 9am this morning so I suppose it's gone up again. We generally use about £8.50 all in each day. Four bed which is extended on the ground floor, hot water on constant and heating on 18c all day. Going away for a month on the 6th to Maldives first then South Asia so not going to use much during Jan
Toying with playing with my heating & lowering all of the rad TRVs apart from the one in the dining room which is open plan to a solid roof conservatory.
Will then increase the temperature on the nest thermostat. Theory being other rooms will be less warm due to the lowering of the TRVs but boiler will continue to fire in the dining area.
It’s always a cooler part of the house in winter, but equally hate shutting the door to the dining area to maintain warmth.
Just need to dig the smart meter out and plug it back in to see what it does to the daily cost in achieving it & decide if it’s worth it.
Our smart meters are great for detailing the amount of leccy usage, but woeful at working out the cost.
The meter doesn’t even recognise we have cheap rate overnight leccy, a doesn’t keep up with changes in unit rates
I wouldn’t trust the £££ amount on the meter, unless you have independently validated it by converting the kWh usage to a cost based on your unit rate, and then seeing if they match.
If you use a smart meter - just run a simple spreadsheet that you can update every few days - which totals the standing charges and the KWH readings - to get your running 'bill'.
When I submit my meter readings for days I choose, I then divide the total cost to the days used. On this morning’s totals it showed £103.80 divide by 15 days circa £7.50 per day. On checking the daily usage ie Xmas day £12.20 other days £4.85 there were two days we were away which were £3.60 each day, so on average it’s pretty accurate.
I did work out the unit costs last year when my two year fixed rate deal finished I was surprised how accurate they were. We only use cheap rate leccy for the washing machine and dishwasher, and as both are newish green appliances the readings look good
Last edited by hilly10; 2nd January 2024 at 11:58.
It's now -20 outside and 20,5 inside, but it must cost 20-30e per day to keep the house warm.
Last edited by china; 17th January 2024 at 12:30.
Those are our overnight temps with the heating off! during the day it’s 21-21.5º in lounge and bedroom, the office room a bit lower as i don’t need it that warm but having a home below 18º is real hair shirt territory.
I guess it helps having internally insulated/secondary glazed-Low-E a chilly 1960’s flat. with this warmer weather our daily spend is just over £4 a day rising to £7 when it’s freezing outside.
we mostly work from home so home all day, the tado system helps save a fair bit too.
You or templogin caved in yet and turned the central heating on yet?
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