For those who can't afford to use central heating this year - How are you going to cope?

[mama2moo]

We have 2 dd's - 3yo and 20mo and already owe money to our suppliers. We are going to have to be careful with not using the heating too much but our house is feeling cold already!

We have bought thermal vests, fleece pjs, fleece tops and extra duvets.

What else can we do?

TBH Im dreading it. By the 3rd week of every month we are skint at the moment.

[TheHumancatapult]

Ty Debs

I'm only one going to be using the lift ,mind nor helped as do not know what the lift is like yet but Shall get me nagging close the door on replay

[Tianc]

Hmm, "Smart Meter" is the only name I've heard for them, and it wouldn't occur to them to conceal this as most people don't understand it's potentially a Bad Thing.

(There were also some early experimental meters which also got called Smart Meters, also with big displays and a detailed record of your usage throughout the day, but no remote programming.)

The call centre bod may be able to tell you if it's a Smart Meter, but won't know anything about the problems with them.

In fact, the official line from Ofgem and everyone else involved seems to be:
a) smile, it's all wonderful for you, and besides
b) STFU, we're going to do it anyway.

If you want some time to find out more and regroup, perhaps you could claim the appointment is no longer convenient and let them make a new date in a month.

We really need to know the legal procedure here. It might be that if every householder refused entry and they had to obtain individual court warrants for every house, the cost would seriously derail the rollout.

I should start a thread about Smart Meters, shouldn't I? The whole subject gives me high blood pressure...

[brokenwingedflier]

Tianc, I am having a smart meter put in this week. Please start a thread.
I had no idea.

[Tianc]

OK, new thread: Anyone having a gas/leccy meter replaced with a Smart Meter? Something you need to know.

I will try to put some useful links on that thread. I'm afraid it's a huge amount of reading, tho I will try to précis the issues ? anyone please feel free to do the same.

[gaelicsheep]

karmabeliever - sounds like our older Dimplex one. Yes this is the output dial. 1 is the setting for minimal output (there is always some output, and you want there to be). By late boost (2) it basically means that the output stays nearly closed most of the day meaning that late on there will be more heat available. Early boost (9) means that the output is opened then and there letting out more heat which will then run out by later in the day.

I used to think there was something intelligent going on in the heater, but effectively all this dial is controlling is how open the flap is. It is exactly the same as an output dial like ours that simply goes from 0 to 6, just sounds more complicated. The fundamental principle with all storage heaters is simply that the earlier you let out the stored heat, the less heat there will be later on.

[fedupofnamechanging]

Thank you gaelicsheep

[oksonowwhat]

gaelic, would you recognise my storage heaters? They are a yucky beige/creamy colour and are the make 'Creda' I'm sure they are ancient! I'm just interested if they are one of the first ones, they are really deep aswell so i couldn't cover them with storage heaters which at one stage i wanted to do as they are so ugly.

[gaelicsheep]

Lol at being the storage heater guru

Yes Creda is the other well known make of storage heater. They sound like the ones that were in our old rented house - the coldest house in the world. They are an old style for sure, but essentially storage heaters are low tech and age on it's own shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as there's nothing wrong with the element, the thermostat or the wiring.

A modern manual storage heater is pretty much the same as an old one. They might be a little better insulated but that's all. So if they're working it shouldn't matter too much if they're old. The trouble is that lots of old storage heaters have gone wrong and, because everyone expects them to be crap, no one has actually realised! In hindsight I don't think the heaters in our old place were working properly. I wish I knew then what I know now!

[gaelicsheep]

more info

[HeresTheScaryThingBooyhoo]

sorry if this has been covered already in the thread but is there a commercial name for the secondary glazing film and where can i get it from?

also, WRT dehumidifiers, i had a quick look on argos and the cheapest one that wasn't a mini dehumidifier was £95. i just dont have that money to fork out on one. are there places i could get one cheaper?

lots of great tips on this thread BTW, will be spending this week fleecing up my house and children!

[oksonowwhat]

gaelic, i did laugh to myself abit when i messaged asking if you knew about the Creda ones but i knew you would The links brilliant. thanks

[HeresTheScaryThingBooyhoo]

bit of a nosy question, sorry, but WRT this secondary glazing film, if it means you cant open your windows, dont your houses start to smell afetr a couple of days? i've always been the 'windows open all day long' kind of person and i know if it's ever too cold the house can get a bit whiffy. (i have a dog, 3 cats and two very messy children). how do you all ventilate enough to freshen the house everyday?

[spiggy]

thehumancatapult My parents have a lift for my brother. It is designed so that when on the ground floor there is a "lid" that forms a floor for the upstairs room which is strong enough to walk on and keeps the heat in the room. As the lift rises the floor lifts up out of the way. There are control buttons in the lift and at the side of it and mum usually keeps the lift on the ground floor even when he is upstairs. Obviously you do lose a bit of heat when you go up and down but it isn't draughty. (lift goes straight to my brother's bedroom so wouldn't be much good if it was)

This thread has given me loads of ideas for dealing with our house and I can't wait for our woodburner to arrive. What I mainly seem to be doing at the moment is shouting "Shut the door" ever time someone goes out of the living room and lets a blast of cold air in. It is only October and I'm sick of saying it already...

[cerealqueen]

Heresthescary - you can get it in Homebase, Amazon, Ebay, any DIY. A few different makes, just ask for double glazing film in the shop and they will know what you mean.

[cerealqueen]

Oh, and I wouldn't put it on all the windows if you like to open a few for fresh air, even a few will make a difference.

[HeresTheScaryThingBooyhoo]

thanks cereal queen i think i'll put it on all except the bathroom and kitchen.

[AblativeAbsolute]

Incidentally, why can't you open the windows after you've put it on? Can't you just stick it to the inside bit of the frames ?

[HeresTheScaryThingBooyhoo]

i put my heating on yesterday (first time since moving in) and i have discovered that i can't have my heating on without having the hot water on too. i dont want the hot water on. we have an electric shower and i am happy to boil the kettle for dishes and cleaning. i am really annoyed with it. the water is constantly hot and it's being wasted. i need the heating on to dry my washing and take the chill off the house but i really can't be heating water constantly. why on earth would anybody invent a system like this??

[gingeroots]

Mine is the same - really annoying .

[HeresTheScaryThingBooyhoo]

i know ginger. does it cost you a fortune? i've yet to see how much mine will use in oil.

[gaelicsheep]

But of course if you have a wet central heating system (ie radiators) you will be heating the water. The additional bit of water in the hot water tank won't be making much difference surely? (I do question the logic of heating the whole house to dry washing, when you could probably use a tumble dryer much more cheaply...)

[Debs75]

Well I bought some draught proofer. Went to do the front door but it already has some, we still get draughts though so should I put some more on and if so should it be on the door butting upto the tape already on the frame?
Have also noticed that where the frame was put in there is a very raggedy gap so getting something to fill that up.
Did the back door and even with the wind last night it didn't rattle

Gaelic my dsis's old flat used to need the radiators on to heat the water. She burned through gas as the system was also pumping out enough heat for 10 radiators and she only had 5

[Tianc]

Debs65 yep, you can stick it on the door. I suppose it might come off quicker if it gets rubbed by traffic, or it might look less nice, but should get you through the winter.

But think about exactly what routes the air is taking. Someone outside with a bright torch might give a hint ? we had cracks we discovered when the sun was shining in a particular direction. But obviously air can flow in at the top, down the side of the door and out the bottom, for example.

[Debs75]

Thanks Tianc Will give the torch a go. I don't really care about the look I just want a warmer house.