Economising on heating: miserly scrooge or just plain common sense?

[Ismene2]

11 centigrade? You are getting SOFT laddie.

 

[LoginNotSecure]

11 centigrade? You are getting SOFT laddie.

A chap from Newcastle wouldn't even consider a coat until there's a minus symbol next to that 11.

 

[Bleaney]

In the UK almost NOBODY has a solid fuel fire and you can only burn smokeless fuel in them.

I think it used to be a local by law in my area that you cannot burn solid fuels. Not sure if it still is, but I don't think it's enforced.

The major supermarket chains sell loads of fire kindling wood and I know people who do burn solid fuels. I went through a pretty mental period myself at one point where I'd started picking up scrap wood and big branches etc for storing in the shed to dry out and then burn, thinking I was Bear Grylls.

There is something very primal and deeply satisfying about heating using open fires. It would be nice to do this again, in a sane and proper way, at some point in the future.

Like you say, the key point is probably that you're only supposed to burn smokeless fuels. But where's the fun in that.

 

[Jackal]

In the UK almost NOBODY has a solid fuel fire and you can only burn smokeless fuel in them.

I'm doing the same as Bleaney. Nice thermal clothing for now but then I can afford to heat my home properly when it gets REALLY cold. I mean, Todays maximum temperature is 11C, minimum 4C so ones room can get reasonably warm with a BIT of heating - then I just set it so that if the room get's below 10C, the heating kicked it. It kicked in last night, but only for 10-15 minutes... but that made a difference.

I rented in eight different houses in the UK while I lived there.

Five had functioning fireplaces and I remember coal and wood being burnt commonly and sold at shops

 

[Fertile]

I appreciate that this isn't a wonderful source, but others give very similar figures (2.5 million UK homes have open fires - out of 27 million homes).

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/property/new-rules-around-fireplaces-log-22122436

So it's a small minority. But they do check, or rather they will follow up complaints. But coal and 'wet wood' are explicitly banned from next year:

House coal and wet wood to be phased out by 2023 to cut pollution

Wood burning stoves and coal fires are the single largest sources of PM2.5

www.theguardian.com

I might add that if I had an open fire, I would have 1 bag of coke (for the look of the thing) and then 'obtain' wood. I note it takes 12-18 months to dry wood for use in open fire (I'm presuming the amount of heat 'wet' wood provides is marginal.

 

[CFC]

I pressed every button I could find on my BG account and ended up getting a refund lol. Gonna keep that to one side to help pay a future bill. How I miss Neon Reef - they were a great little supplier with superb customer service and a website that worked.

 

[acieed_ed]

I have a small oil filled radiator. I wonder if they are safe to use lying down? If so, I can put in next to me in bed. After all, isn't that the deal? Heat the person, not the space?

Well I got a timer adapter so it cuts out after an hour. The way I set it. Timer cheap af

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

I appreciate that this isn't a wonderful source, but others give very similar figures (2.5 million UK homes have open fires - out of 27 million homes).

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/property/new-rules-around-fireplaces-log-22122436

So it's a small minority. But they do check, or rather they will follow up complaints. But coal and 'wet wood' are explicitly banned from next year:

House coal and wet wood to be phased out by 2023 to cut pollution

Wood burning stoves and coal fires are the single largest sources of PM2.5

www.theguardian.com

I might add that if I had an open fire, I would have 1 bag of coke (for the look of the thing) and then 'obtain' wood. I note it takes 12-18 months to dry wood for use in open fire (I'm presuming the amount of heat 'wet' wood provides is marginal.

The issue with wet wood is the smoke as much as anything else.

 

[Fertile]

The issue with wet wood is the smoke as much as anything else.

I'm just saying what I was told. The UK want 'smokeless' in the 1950s after a huge smog in London killed 3000 people in 3 weeks. So it's not a new law.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

I'm actually paying a lot less for energy now than I have done for fuckin years.


Recently moved into a new build property and paying for gas & leccy by direct debit. Bills are currently half of what they were when we lived in a pre war poorly insulated house with prepayment meters.


Hardly had the heating on at all yet. When we do, it's for literally 10 minutes once or twice a day just to take the edge off.


Where they get these 'average household' figures from is beyond me. Either we are decidedly sub average, or there's a lot of nesh cunts out there...

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

Yeah I'm in a two bed on the top floor of a 60s council block (not that new but will have had all the insulation upgraded because it's a council property) atm and it's so much cheaper than I was paying before in my pre-war four bed.

I have it on set to 20.5 degrees in the day time because I'm home days at the moment but I think it actually does very little work to get it to that temp.

 

[Fertile]

Well my heating switched on when the room gets below 12C. So it's layers, layer & layers. But I'm using maybe £1/day of gas at the moment. It's those damned standing charges. For 6 months of the year I pay more in standing charges than in energy - what a rip off.

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

Yeah I'm in a two bed on the top floor of a 60s council block (not that new but will have had all the insulation upgraded because it's a council property) atm and it's so much cheaper than I was paying before in my pre-war four bed.

I have it on set to 20.5 degrees in the day time because I'm home days at the moment but I think it actually does very little work to get it to that temp.

Top tip: a single lit match in the external cladding will save you a fortune in heating bills...

 

[THECATINTHEHAT]

Nah it's a low rise brick building, older than the type that are tinderboxes thank fuck.

 

[Tranced]

Just whack my PC on. I used to run that foldingathomeapp representing bluelight to decode covid proteins just because it was the fastest way to warm up.

Edit: I think it fucked my ten year old PSU

 

[CFC]

I'm actually paying a lot less for energy now than I have done for fuckin years.


Recently moved into a new build property and paying for gas & leccy by direct debit. Bills are currently half of what they were when we lived in a pre war poorly insulated house with prepayment meters.


Hardly had the heating on at all yet. When we do, it's for literally 10 minutes once or twice a day just to take the edge off.


Where they get these 'average household' figures from is beyond me. Either we are decidedly sub average, or there's a lot of nesh cunts out there...

Nice! Glad you managed to get out of that place mate.

I hope everyone with a condensing boiler is remembering to set their flow temperature (for the central heating) as low as possible to ensure maximum boiler efficiency. It can make a huge difference to bills.

 

[CFC]

Well my heating switched on when the room gets below 12C. So it's layers, layer & layers. But I'm using maybe £1/day of gas at the moment. It's those damned standing charges. For 6 months of the year I pay more in standing charges than in energy - what a rip off.

Yes fuck the fucking standing charge. I used to have a contract with no standing charge and my monthly electric bill was a tiny £7.

 

[Fertile]

NICE trick. I'm only using 2 radiators an I E-mailed the boiler maker and they suggested the same.... but they weren't very forceful.... it was more of a 'maybe you should do this'.

 

[Forever Changes]

Nice! Glad you managed to get out of that place mate.

I hope everyone with a condensing boiler is remembering to set their flow temperature (for the central heating) as low as possible to ensure maximum boiler efficiency. It can make a huge difference to bills.

What about combi boilers? Should I turn the heating and hot water dials down?

 

[CFC]

What about combi boilers? Should I turn the heating and hot water dials down?

Yeah, however low you can handle. A lower CH temp (like under 50 but as low as you can manage - even 40C) will be more efficient. For combi hot water (ie not those with tanks, who need to worry about legionnaires) probably 50C is as low as you're gonna want. But the CH uses most of the gas so that's the best one to get low.