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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be pissed off with bizarre centrall heating arrangements in holiday cottage?.

63 replies

CocktailQueen · 12/08/2014 21:01

Gah! Staying in Skye thus week in lovely holiday cottage 15 feet from the sea. House advertised central heating and wood burner.

It has been pissing down for 48 hours on and off, and so we have got boots, waterproofs, clothes to dry - the outside line won't do it!! Searched for thermostat for heating and couldn't find it. Eventually asked owner who lives next door. It's in the garage - which we have no access to. The owner switched on the heating, grudgingly, but we were surprised when it went off again after an hour. Not enough to dry anything! We don't need the heating for long, and the cottage is not cold, but we do need it to dry clothes!

Went back to owner. He said he'd put it on for longer. But it didn't come on at all today - got back at 6 and it came on for an hour then went off. Dh went to ask owner to out it on again. Owner came round to say that the heating had been in for ages - no, it hadn't. And asked us to use the wood burner to dry clothes. Well, we tried that last night and it dried diddly squat. So I asked him politely and firmly to switch it on for longer. One hour a day of heating!! So he said he would, but clearly didn't want to.

So, am I being unreasonable to want central heating in a holiday cottage when I want it, not when the owner wants it??

Gah. Am pissed off enough about the weather without arguing about frigging heating.

OP posts:
HibiscusIsland · 13/08/2014 00:37

If it's any consolation it's rainy and miserable down South too (although not that cold,) which brings me on to a rant that I have every year. Why are the school summer holidays in August when it is often grey, overcast and miserable instead of July when it is often boiling hot and sunny? Every year around the time of sports day it is sweltering and then they break up and we have about a week of nice weather before it goes grey.

ChelsyHandy · 13/08/2014 00:38

Not acceptable on the owner's part. Its been the tail end of the hurricaine with freezing rain which drenches you the skin. If the price includes heating (which I assume it does) its really not on to not provide enough heating when its needed. I take it that it doesn't even have a tumble dryer?

KoalaDownUnder · 13/08/2014 05:40

YANBU!!

He can't advertise it as having central heating and then refuse to put it on! Shock I'd be v annoyed if I were you, too.

CocktailQueen · 13/08/2014 09:34

Thanks, hibiscus - part of me is meanly glad it's not roasting down south, as we left when it was boiling!!

OP posts:
echt · 13/08/2014 09:42

I'm not getting why the OP should have to have racks of clothes around the wood burner. They should be kicking back and basking in the glow, not looking at steaming clothes. The central heating should be on and under the control of the OP.

I had something like this up in the snow in Victoria, where the owners would come round once a day to put logs outside the cabin, a small delivery - entirely inadequate for keeping the cabin warm.

Wonc · 13/08/2014 09:44

Yanbu!

What an arse. I would be fuming!

florascotia · 13/08/2014 17:39

I live in the N of Scotland and it has indeed been cold and wet. Am not defending the owner - he should supply facilities as advertised. In an ideal world, he would also have mentioned the caravans. We can all be wise after the event, but, it's a good idea to check Google Earth so as to see overall situation, if you can, before booking.

Am just trying to help with situation you find yourself in. PLEASE forgive me if you know all this already, but:

Stuffing wet boots with newspapers for a couple of hours does help. As does leaving them close to - but not right next to - a source of heat, if possible. Renew newspaper treatment a couple of times, if you can. Then leave them fairly close to wood burner overnight.

I quite agree with earlier poster that one room with doors and windows closed (very important!) should dry clothes and boots overnight. Put them on clothes hangers and hang them as high up as possible before you go to bed - from (open) curtain rails or picture hooks if need be. Or drape them over a clothes rack, or even over the backs of wooden dining chairs, in the warm room, before you go to bed. Make sure that they can't fall on top of the wood-burner.

Get the woodburner is going properly. The owner should have left you a users' manual. This does not necessarily mean a pretty blaze, alas - it rather depends on the design. What you need to do is make sure that plenty of air gets in at the bottom, so that the fire burns briskly, but also to make sure that all the heat does NOT escape straight up the chimney. This means adjusting both the top and bottom air inlet/smoke outlet (damper) controls. The aim is to have a well-filled, glowing firebox, with the wood burning cleanly and heat radiating from the ironwork of the stove. A properly burning wood fire should not spit or smoke. (To avoid this happening when putting fresh wood on the fire, open the top smoke outlet (damper) for a few seconds when you open the fire door, then partially close it . NEVER, EVER close the top damper completely; the smoke and combustion gases need somewhere to escape.) Again, depending on design, you might have to clean out the ash at the bottom of the fire every day or every other day, to make sure it does not clog the bottom air inlet.
Put an appropriate amount of wood into the fire before you go to bed, make sure that the top smoke outlet/damper is adjusted to let smoke and gases escape and the bottom air inlet adjusted to let the fire burn gently, not roar away. Close the doors and retire, and your clothes/boots left in the room should be much drier in the morning. And you'll have a warm room to sit in.

To earlier poster, I'm afraid that wet clothes and boots draped around the place are a feature of Highland country cottage life, even for people who live up here. It's very normal, when visiting a friend's house, to take off outdoor boots and ask 'where shall I hang my wet coat?'. Most people have somewhere set aside for this - we have a pole over the bath so clothes can drip and dry out in our (warm) bathroom. A friend of mine has a drying cupboard - a big cupboard with a plug-in dehumidifier inside, etc etc.
Perhaps the cottage owner might consider that sort of thing for the future? Heated towel-rails and dehumidifiers both cost very little to run.

2rebecca · 13/08/2014 17:45

I usually dry my clothes on an airer in the room but some cottages don't have airers and as they charge more for cottages in the summer than the winter there should be enough money in the cottage fee to pay for heating if needed.
I get annoyed by holiday cottages with no instructions on how to work heaters and thermostats, especially those with storage heaters.

WipsGlitter · 13/08/2014 17:54

I'd be really pissed off. The last place we went to you had to tell the owner the times you wanted it on, ie we want it on from 7-9am and 6-8pm or whatever. And pay extra. Which was fine but tree were a few nights it was chilly and if we had been in charge of the controls we would have kept it on longer.

He's being a dick and a tightwad.

ICanSeeTheSun · 13/08/2014 18:01

Regardless of what some one does in their homes, if I'm paying for CH while on hoilday I should be free to use it as I wish.

SuperScrimper · 13/08/2014 18:07

Thats terrible! Basically he doesn't want to soend the money so would rather you wore wet clothes to save him a few bob. Not on at all.

littledrummergirl · 13/08/2014 18:20

Trading standards. You are not getting what you paid for.
Not much help for this week other than to tell the owner this is what you plan to do and hope it brings the required result.
In my opinion the heating should be on 24hrs a day so that when you turn each radiator on then heat comed out, otherwise he has falsely advertised.

CocktailQueen · 13/08/2014 21:00

Thanks everyone. Today was dry, hurrah, so have managed to dry the rest of the wash in the two hours the heating was on today. No wet boots!

Thanks, flora scotia, for your drying help, but I don't really want to spend my holiday getting to grips with a wood burner! Sorry. Don't mean to sound ungrateful. Will bear in mind for future ;)

Btw, there are NO instructions for anything at cottage - wood burner, heating, recycling, anything - which is unusual. Hey ho.

Never mind! Went out on boat trip today and saw sea eagles and seals - lovely. Great fun.

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