What a difference outside temp makes!

[LostAtTheCrossRoad]

I mean I knew it had been bloody cold the past two weeks but good grief! So every night the past fortnight temperatures here have been around -4° to -7°, daytimes around 0° to -4°. With no heating overnight the living room temp has been around 13° or 14° by 6am and taking about three hours heating to hit 18° where it hovers for most of the day popping on and off as needed via the thermostat. But with the thaw last night the temp stayed around 10° outside and the living room is a massive 17° at 6.30! We'll hardly need even an hour to get the house to 18° and I imagine it will barely fire up to maintain. This should mean a real decrease in costs again, thank god! Anyone else noticed similar yet today?

I agree. I turn the heating off at night but have a lot of blankets. Last night I woke up so hot I thought I was having a hot flush. Living room is 16.5 this morning.

Wow, I hadn’t noticed but our lounge has a log fire which we have used a lot to warm downstairs.
This morning the heating kicked in but our lounge is 23.5 degrees and I am actually too hot after coming in here to check the temp!! Need to revise the heating timers!!!!

Same here. When I came downstairs in the mornings during the cold snap our in home device read about £2 for gas. This morning it said 43p.

Yes! I was so happy to come downstairs to a house that felt warm. It has made a huge difference. It is only 5 degrees outside here but that's still about 10 degrees warmer than it has been. Just hope it lasts!

Yes. I ditched the blanket on the bed last night in preparation for a much warmer night. It was lovely to go downstairs this morning to 17°C rather than 14°C it has been after the heating has been on for half an hour.

I woke up hot in the night too. Yay !

Ha. I thought it was the start of another hot flush. Have been wearing a T-shirt and a jumper to bed the last few weeks. Took one layer off last night.
Not got out of bed yet. But feel cold so have popped the heating on for an hour to warm the pipes though. Have to get up though.

Our heating wasn’t working over the cold spell. Luckily we have good insulation in a new build but the house got down to 9 degrees. It feels bloody tropical today. I dread to think how much it’s costing right. Can’t bring myself to check the smart meter 🤦‍♀️

Yes, my thermostat is set to 15.5C overnight and in the cold week that meant the boiler was working all night. This morning it was 16.5C downstairs and the heating hadn't come on at all during the night.

Yep - woke too hot in night and had to take off jumper I've been sleeping in. Gas is 26p right now!

Also the jam and chocolate spread which are kept in a cupboard have been much easier to use this morning instead of them practically carving the toast up! 😂

😂

And boy the condensation! The first day in three weeks I haven't had to mop off every upstairs window! I hope no one has any burst pipes either, this close to Christmas.

Grateful for the thaw.

I do love how MN makes 18 degrees sound reasonable in the place we call home.

Everyone’s body temperatures are different I accept that. But my DH couldn’t even do 20. I tried, I really did but he complained about the cold going through to his bones. And at 21 I’m wrapped in a blanket at my desk (not moving about makes it worse). Thank god for work where we ramp it up to 23 and have other bodies in.

Yep it’s great. We’ve had heating on nearly all day for last few days

I really like the cold normally but won’t miss the cost of it

I was tracking the weather forecast over the cold spell and counting down to the thaw. Never so pleased to see rain before. (Oh not quite true…was very pleased after the heat wave too in summer)

We usually have 1 hr heating in morning and 5 in evening. Had been aiming for 18 degrees when on. In cold spell it dropped so low that with those timings it never reached 18 degrees, so instead, if in, we had it at 15/16 in day and 17 in Eve and 13 overnight. Significantly more expensive. Last night, was pleased to turn it off again at 10 pm and not let it come on until 6.30 when it was already 15 degrees downstairs and 17 degrees by 7am.

Now is the time to claw back on the heating bills. People will have reset their timers and thermostats to reflect the cold, but it’s easy to forget and have it on longer than is needed in this mild phase. There will be more cold to come no doubt, so in my mind it’s about being vigilant and looking ahead and adjusting so usage isn’t beyond what’s needed and adjusting it regularly. Personally I wouldn’t in normal Dec temps be having the heating on all day and set to a temp of 17/18+ and certainly wouldn’t have it on overnight when we are cosy in our beds. That really was reserved for the shortest time possible over the last week when it’s been bitter.

Well, yes, this is a bit "no shit, Sherlock" but the steep change in temperature is quite instructive.

I woke in the night and thought I was having a hot flush or something, but switching off the electric blanket resolved it. The house feels tropical now with the heat on but I'm enjoying it because yesterday was SO miserable out - I don't remember a more unpleasant day.

I agree, I woke up in a panic that I'd left the heating on overnight as I was so warm. No wiping the windows either and my smart meter has only just reached £3 for today. The only downside is I am now very hot as I've been used to a house at around 15 degrees for the past couple of weeks!

I think you're right @ErrolTheDragon it's the speed of the change that makes you go wow, I really notice that! Normally temperatures change over the course of a week or so and I adjust the thermostat bit by bit, the old boiled frog analogy. But this is a 15° swing for our area in less than 24hrs and it all seems more visible because of that.

But this is a 15° swing for our area in less than 24hrs and it all seems more visible because of that.

it was -9 here on Friday, and Monday the temperature has climbed 23 degrees!

It’s not ‘just mumsnet’ though. We couldn’t get our heating above 17 last week or two after 3 hours of heating. It was -9 outside! 17 felt warm!

This week it on to 18 late morning then it’s set for 16.5 and it hasn’t gotten that low thanks to the warmer temps. It’s fine. Boost it again for just an hour or so later on thanks to the warmer temps.

My partner is actually fine at 16. We all like to be warm and cosy but we can’t afford to heat high at the costs they are, 19 is my preferred temp but 17/18 is actually fine. I’ve a jumper on and blanket on the couch. I’m not cold. I don’t want to have heating on 24/7 either.

Monday was weird. I went outside and it was warmer outside than inside my house. It felt really strange to go out of a cold house into a warm outside.

The temperature rose so rapidly the house took quite some time to catch up.

From 6/12 to 18/12 we used at least £10 gas a day, up to £15+ on the worst day.
yesterday was just over £5.
Phew!
And I can live in the house without 3 layers of clothes!