To wonder how long the no heating brigade will last when it turns cold?

[womaninatightspot]

I’ve been contemplating how much I can reduce the heating and electric throws. It’s chilly here today, sixteen degrees, but grey and drizzly. I’ve lit the wood stove, I do have a cold so maybe I feel more susceptible to chills.

I feel like I’ve fallen at first hurdle. Definitely going to be keeping one warm room in the house so it’s not just really unpleasant for the dc. I’ve recently paid 365 for four cubic metres kiln dried wood but it’s going to cost 1K to fill the oil tank for 1000 litres. Was a third of that last year.

I don’t seem to get condensation on the windows either and it’s usually around 60% plus humidity and 16 or 17 degrees overnight in my flat (heating comes on at 6.30 to get it up to 18 first thing).

We seemingly get the condensation when it’s been raining on dry days it’s fine but so much as a drizzle and the windows are streaming. Just found some mould by the patio doors ahh downstairs none of our radiators are by the windows or doors, these doors are rather old the only ones not replaced in the whole house and it seems to be by the floor so Im going to actually check the seal and treat it. No mould anywhere else in the whole house though.

these houses just where not built for being so sealed up. We are meant to have two full open fire place, a proper cold pantry and old boiler system that has its own stack but obviously it’s now a modernised house.

where is all the condensation coming from? my house was 13 degrees this morning, it was up to 14 degrees when I got back from the gym but Im not getting condensation.

My house is the same but there are only two of us in it, and then not all the time. It’s also old with old single glazed windows and unblocked fireplaces in the main rooms so it isn’t a sealed box like many more modern homes.

It’s also old with old single glazed windows and unblocked fireplaces in the main rooms so it isn’t a sealed box like many more modern homes.

mine is early 1970s late 1960s with double glazing and insulated well

there is only 2/3 of us here

Old house. Doubled glazed fire places blocked up five of us. Plus cats and a snake. Semi if that makes a difference

First frosty morning here! 4C outside and ice on car. House was ok, just chilly inside the bathroom (we keep the window slightly open), but I managed it getting into my oodie after my shower till I got dressed.
We are lucky this house is quite warm. In the meantime we get some sun during the day, the rooms warm up and it is liveable.
We still get condensation, on the north facing windows. I got the little dehumidifiers everywhere, but at this time of the year we still get some.
I turned the central heating on for around 4 hours the previous weekend, mainly to dry the house itself. Oh my! That was hefty! It is a lot of money.

I’m still working in my outside shed/garden office with no heating on yet. I suspect it might be switched on this week.

Stupid question here. Just bought a dehumidifier. I thought it sucked in air but it blows cold air out. I'm.hoping this is what its supposed to do?

My neighbour went away for two weeks, switched her hearing off to save money. When she returned her house was like an igloo- and smells so damp, she has had to put the heating on high for 24 hours to warn it up. She said it really was a false economy. Can’t help thinking about those who really cannot afford to put their heating on at all.

(We’re in the south, but pretty rural so dependant on oil).

Yes @dementedma . Keep the doors shut too.

If you think about it logically, the job of a dehumidifier is to suck in wet air and blow out dry air, with the water dripping into the collector. If it didn't blow out any air, it would just expand like a ballon until it exploded .

You then heat your house to the required temperature - which is cheaper now because it is requires less energy to heat dry air than to heat damp air.

This is why those who can afford their heating should just pay it - there is no point damaging a house to save a couple of hundred pounds in the short term.

Where heating can't be afforded at all is an entirely different issue

Dehumidifiers -I’m thinking of getting one for helping dry washing particularly. I’m not sure where best to put it. They seem to work best in small rooms with the door shut. But I tend to dry washing downstairs, where it’s open plan. I don’t have a utility room and I really think the bathroom is too small. I don’t think a rack would even fit on the floor, never mind anyone getting in to use the loo etc. Is it still worth getting one? I don’t have a garage or a shed.

If you get one to use in an open plan area, you will probably need a larger, more powerful one which is likely to be more expensive. I get away with a small one in the family bathroom, but as you say, that may not work if you actually want to use said bathroom.

Put it in a bedroom? That's what I do. Works well.

For cold bathrooms, if you turn the shower cold after you've finished washing, the cold bathroom air feels warm in comparison (and the cold shower really wakes you up!) so its no trouble getting out. That's what I have to do because my shower is in the basement which is freezing cold (have to psych myself up to even go down there in the first place to shower but come out feeling quite warm because of the cold shower)

Man, you're hard as nails 😳

I feel like I need to try this as bathroom is freezing but at the same time I just don’t want too. Right now I wrap myself in towelling dressing gown and hop back into bed with electric blanket on till I stop shivering.

Cold showers just set me off shivering, can only do it with a warm house. Going out for a walk means 13 inside feels warm though. I just shower every second day if it gets too cold and wash at the sink in between.

Give it a go, it really does help (just don't turn it straight away to the coldest setting, turn it gradually down so you don't shock yourself with the cold when you're not used to it). I can't rush off into warmth because I have to scrape the water on the floor to the drain (wet room) and that takes a while because my stupid shower suddenly starts dripping half a minute after its switched off so have to wait for that then scrape.

Cold shower was in what will be December tomorrow

no bloody way !!

Shouldn’t the water run to the drain in a wet room
without needing to be scraped

I've tried a cold shower, but I still need my usual two minutes to wash, then I'm wasting hot water while slowly turning the temperature down, only to get it to cold, quickly turn it off and jump out shivering! I don't think it's for me.

My layers are ramping up steadily. Tonight is fleece PJ'S, fluffy socks, fleece zip up and dressing gown. Heavy duvet, a thick bedspread on top and hot water bottle.

No, you're always supposed to scrape a wet room floor if its not got underfloor heating (even then its better to scrape the floor so that it dries quicker), but especially so in a completely unheated room. I usually stick a fan there afterwards as well to help it dry quicker.