Vocal Voices

When will you turn your heating on on a regular basis this winter, not just for an hour or so during a cold snap?

A survey for USwitch says most of us will do it around the 6th of October. People also said that the thermostat would be at 20ºC. It all seems quite normal and not much to get excited about. I suppose that the big news is that 1.7 million households 'claim' that they will not turn the heating on at all over winter. I do not believe them.

I can usually go to early November before the heating is used daily - I just wear warmer clothes. I then turn it on and off as and when necessary rather than relying on the timer or thermostat. It all depends, day-by-day.

My office, lounge and bedroom face south and today they are still a 23ºC!!! We get these days in autumn and winter as well. I sometimes do not need heating till later in the evening. Lucky me.

I was looking at my van thermostat yesterday, 10c and 5c outside. But today it's currently 21c inside and 13c outside.

I guess the heating will go on regularly when the temp drops on average below what we find comfortable. We had the dining room stove on yesterday and it heated half the house and took the chill off. Today I hoovered out the pellet burner and filled it with pellets ready for Mrs S to use. It will go on manual for the first few weeks. I'm anticipating switching it to auto around the end of November but it may be before that. It all depends we often get Raspberries in November.

My office has been 17c both yesterday and today. Fan driven Paraffin heater was on both yesterday and today.

My flat has cavity wall insulation, 30cm loft insulation and double glazing - it is pretty standard - not unique by any stretch.

I am on very strong blood thinners, so I do need the heat in winter, but I am not one of those "heating or eating" advocates, that is just emotive stuff.

When I was young we often woke up to frost on the inside of the windows- coats on the bed, eiderdowns. That must be very rare nowadays. We knew how to keep warm.

It is still 22ºC indoors.

I was on Apixaban 5mg twice a day. Now I'm only taking them sporadically as my BP crashed too low. But, yes, I really feel the cold in a way I never did before. My hands were never cold and now they are freezing any time the weather is anything but hot.

I also grew up in unheated accommodation. Initially in a caravan my grandfather built which we lived in and later in RAF Quarters. I remember waking up to ice on the inside of the steel framed windows, only a coal fire in the living room and a single bar heater hanging from the ceiling in the bathroom. We also stayed warm.

My van has very limited insulation. I'm considering what to do about that but as I will only be using it alternate months and not at all in January I'm still jury out on that one. I see it is 19c outside and 22c in the van right now. Warmer than my office here in France which is 17C.

I grew up in a council house with just a coal fire (later gas fire) in the living room, and a paraffin heater for the bedrooms but only if we were poorly! So ice inside the bedroom windows was a common occurrence! I couldn’t go back to that now!

Our heating usually goes on when the colder weather starts, so Oct/Nov, and stays on until Spring.

I am the same generation. Coal fire in one room, the rest of the house unheated, Geyser in the kitchen which was the source of the hot water, no bathroom and the toilet in the back yard.

Those were the days.

Kaz wrote:I grew up in a council house with just a coal fire (later gas fire) in the living room, and a paraffin heater for the bedrooms but only if we were poorly! So ice inside the bedroom windows was a common occurrence! I couldn’t go back to that now!

Our heating usually goes on when the colder weather starts, so Oct/Nov, and stays on until Spring.

Same here. We had a gas fire installed in the mid 70s though but upstairs there was only a radiator and that was in the main bedroom, in my teens I had a fan heater in my room which I’d switch on when I woke up and leave to warm the room while I was in the bathroom. That was the plan anyway, but my Mom would go in and switch it off. The house is on a hillside and quite exposed so it’s open to the elements and my bedroom on the front was so cold.

For some obscure reason which makes no sense whatsoever, my parents had radiators installed in both of the other bedrooms and the bathroom once I’d left home.

As for us, we have our heating set to 17° and it clicks on as and when rather than having it on a timer and that works well for us as the house is well insulated.

JoM wrote:For some obscure reason which makes no sense whatsoever, my parents had radiators installed in both of the other bedrooms and the bathroom once I’d left home.

Jo, that made me giggle I can beat that, though - my parents actually moved house (last minute council rehousing offer) while I was away in London (aged 17) with friends They did leave me a note with details with the old neighbours though, so I suppose they wanted me to find them......

Oh lordy, Kaz!

We moved from the old (cold) 3 bed semi in 1970/71 to a nearly new 4 bed town house with central heating. I had just joined the RAF and mum had no idea how to set the CH so it was left "on" all the time. I came home on leave in the July to a sauna! Every window was open.

The old type manual thermostat and timer were turned off so the boiler was on 24/7. It took days for the walls to cool down and make things almost comfortable.