Heating - Frugality v Health

[Richard]

There's been quite a lot on the radio lately on 'when do you switch some heating on'. Some people have certain dates set in their mind ie. not before 1st.October and others go along the lines of just wearing extra clothing and so on.

So my devils advocate situations are..

To those who say extra clothing does the trick, yes it does but the air going through your nose and into your lungs is cold so you're getting this warm on the outside but cold on the inside effect.
For younger people maybe this is OK but for those getting on a bit or have respiratory problems surely this is no good at all?

If it's too early for full central heating, a small convector heater on at 1000W setting will only only about 12p per hour.
By setting the thermostat the heater may only be in operation for 20 minutes of that hour, so say you use it or 4 1/2 hours in the evening, that's only 1 1/2 hours of fuel consumption = 18p.

To me 18p to keep the chill off in the evenings and keeping me in some comfort whilst we wait for winter to kick in isn't a lot and I'm sure to offset this there may be something else we can save that money on to pay for it.

Hope you're getting my drift, still frugal, but sensible and not just being frugal for the sake of being frugal.

There are those struggling to pay any bills, but surely heating is a priority and should be lower on the list on things to save on.

As long as your place is reasonably well insulated, costs can be fairly minimal.

Looking at electricity prices around the globe, we seem to be pretty cheap compared to most, especially in Europe, only the USA shows everyone up !!!

What's your view on it?

Richard

[mrs boodles]

Well Richard, I tend to wrap up and hold out for as long as possible without getting so cold that I end up with a cold and chest infection. I have to be pretty careful because of the COPD. We will probably go to daughter very soon for a week or so but it can get so cold where she is. She tries her hardest to keep the cottage warm for me and her dad but she has storage heaters and they eat up the old money in the bedrooms and a wood burner in sitting room.

I think personally that I you keep reasonably warm you are more inclined to move around and do things which is surely good for health.

[HedgeHugger]

OH reckons that it's around £3 a day for heating in the winter.
We do try to hold off turning it on if we can.

We have an electric blanket that we have started to use again this year. It's a good one, can heat either side or just the feet, or even just the feet on one side :) 9 heat settings. Not expensive to run, and it's lovely getting into a warm bed.

Base layers are great, we have also started to wear ours this year.
Prices can vary but when A!di and L!dl get them in they are worth getting a couple of sets (good quality and warm).

Last winter I had to resort to buying fingerless gloves to use indoors! ever tried typing in full gloves?
Even with the heating on I was still cold :(

We also bought a couple of those blanket things with sleeves.

[silverback]

Got the central heating on at the moment, we have three rads on downstairs, bathroom, kitchen/diner and living room, enough to keep the chill off, never worked out cost!.
Woodburner is a godsend, especially when the cold weather moves in, keep central heating on minimum (mainly for drying clothes), never have heating on in bedrooms, prefer a cold bedroom, easy to snuggle down in duvet! ..

[bmpsands]

We never turn our heating off. We set the thermostat to a lowish temperature and if the weather is cold enough it comes on. My nod to frugality is to have the settings organised so that the heating comes on for an hour in the morning (5.45 am to 6.45am) and again about 5pm until maybe 8.30pm. Just lately the boiler has come on in the morning but soon gets the house up to temperature and switches off. Also, the house is usually warm enough until about 6pm and so that's when the boiler strikes up. It goes off again within the hour. One thing about this house is that once it's warm, it stays warm. The cold spell in the worst of the winter last year was from about 1.30pm onwards. That's when we use the multi-fuel stove in the kitchen if OH is at home. If he's not, I either take the dogs out or wear an extra woolly pully.

I have a blanket with sleeves. It's marvellous but I keep it hidden when visitors come round. They already think I'm taking this frugality thing a bit far.

[rhubarb93]

I agree with Richard that as you get older you notice the cold more, and I think it's important to be comfortable as you can't relax properly otherwise.
My husband is of the "it isn't October yet" school, so we haven't got the central heating on yet, but we have a gas fire in the lounge I put on whenever I am feeling cold. I don't think it is something to be frugal about.

[KathJ]

I was always under the impression (don't know if I've read or heard it somewhere) that it costs more to have the central heating going on and off than have it on constantly but set really low when the weather is cold. Don't know if this is true or not but I'd love some clarification

[fabindia]

This is a problem I am grappling with at the moment. We have a big, older house that has been relatively expensive to heat. But now the kids are grown up and gone. We both still work, so are out of the house during in the week. But as retirement beckons I worry that we won't be able to heat the place 14 hours a day.

But like many older people I don't want to give up the house and garden which is not just a house but a family home with the most fondest of memories.

[p.penn]

Well, last year I 'gave in' and had the heating on for an hour in the mornings at getting up time, as well as in the evenings. It made a huge difference to the overall warmth of the house, although mine is still chilly. I had a log fire last night as I was soooo cold. In fact it was warmer outside than in!

Personally, I think it is important to be warm and yes, I think it is better for health. Mind you, I think the extremes of excessive central heating as well as our climate's damp type of cold aren't healthy.

[Meanqueen]

I think heating requirements depends on several things. Elderly, unwell, limited mobility, and young children require more heating. Physically fit, able to move about freely, spending a lot of time outdoors, and rarely ill, can get away with very little heating.

I am lucky that I fall into the second category, and I won't be putting my heating on until I am very cold. Before I do, I will layer up, yes, fingerless gloves, scarf and bobble hat. But, I won't be sitting on my bum shivering for hours, I will be moving about. A body can generate it's own heat by physical activity. A brisk walk outdoors, I'll get on the cross trainer, I'll go up and down the stairs a lot, I'll do a bit of tidying in the garden, I'll keep busy.

I actually believe too much heating is bad for you. Working in an office surrounded by sniffley people and you will catch a bug. Heat breeds bugs, best get out of the situation if you can.

Ilona

[Richard]

I agree Ilona in the sense of overheating, I don't like too much. At my house sitting place they have their CH on and I spent most of yesterday evening sitting on the sofa dozing off.
Mind you, no harm in that!

Helen makes a good point and one which is often overlooked and that's the effects of cold on your actual house.
I know when we have open fire and Rayburn on, the walls get warm and it kind of feels good.
Cold can lead to condensation and damp, so we have to be aware of that.

But for me 18p an evening to feel I don't need to dress up is good.

Everyone to their own ways, exactly what the radio programmes brought out of listeners.

Richard

[Stef]

I am a firm believer in the keep it low but constant. So when the weather turned we switched on with the thermostat at 16 degrees. We gave the house a quick blast when it was raining and cold, it gets damp and the walls take forever to warm up if they get really cold.

It gets tapped up to 17 every now and then over winter but we are happy to leave it at 16 forever - I think that was the temp the boiler man recommended. It seems to be cheap enough, just over a tank of oil a year for heating and hot water works out at just under £2 a day year round, most of that is probably in the winter.

I have no idea if it would be cheaper if we switched it on and off again.

[bmpsands]

Our old house had a heater that filled up a huge hot water tank. This was emptied during the day and so needed heating up again. With a combi boiler there's just hot water on demand or whenever heating is required. Presumably this is one reason why it's cheaper to run???