Re: The energy crisis
 

When one has thin blood one feels the cold a lot more.

Re: The energy crisis
 

I remember before central heating became the norm, we had ice on the inside of the windows in the winter, and we relied on parafin stoves to keep the house warm. We've got too soft.

Yesterday our energy supplier surprisingly lowered our monthly payments from £150 to £136, and we had the central heating on for the first time too.

Re: The energy crisis
 

We also had much higher infant mortality rates, so you know, swings/roundabouts…

I remember waking up in the 60s and early 70s (we lived in Glasgow tenements) with ice inside the windows, and having to boil water for washing as the water heating system was a gas-fired water heater on the wall that took ages to heat up - I do not wish to revisit that life, and would not want anyone else to endure it…

https://www.statista.com/statistics/...ortality-rate/

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...6&d=1664614158

Re: The energy crisis
 

Back in the day paraffin was about 30-50p per gallon now it's circa £12 for 4 ltrs

Re: The energy crisis
 

So I've got a conventional boiler with a Megaflow storage tank for hot water, my timer is set to heat that tank for up to 2hrs early morning and if my central heating was on it would heat the radiators as well.

Seeing that the same gas heats the hot water as the central heating I may as well have the radiators come on too in that time period, what do you guys think as it may only use a little more gas?

Re: The energy crisis
 

I remember that as a kid, only heating apart from the paraffin stove was an open coal fire in the front room but I don't remember the house being cold.

We used our hands to melt holes in the ice on the bedroom window to see if it had snowed overnight.

Re: The energy crisis
 

I remember as a kid even though we had central heating we all took a hot water bottle to bed, I guess that was because of no double glazing or wall insulation.

Re: The energy crisis
 

Well you can only use each unit of energy once - if you are heating rads as well as the cylinder your boiler is working harder and longer to reach target temperature. You will find that your radiators and your cylinder just take longer to get as hot as you want them.

Re: The energy crisis
 

I don't know if it is a stupid question....

I only have a ground floor 1 bed flat. Our combi boiler is very good. Due to my health (and weight) I usually need it be around 23-24c. To get this up to temperature would take our boiler 20-25 mins (from around 20c). This would last 3-4 hours till it drops down to around 21-20c on a very cold winters day.

The question is would it better to just put it on when it gets to the lower temperature for 20-25mins or set the thermostat to 23c as a constant all of the time during the day?

Re: The energy crisis
 

You'll use more energy by setting the thermostat to 23'C, but you'll be more comfortable. Depends whether you can tolerate the temperature dropping intermittently, and the faff of turning it on an off.

Re: The energy crisis
 

Heating is more efficient when maintaining rather than lifting temperature but to be honest the amount you’re lifting it isn’t a lot, just 3-4 degrees. It might be more effective to see if there are any measures you can take to reduce heat loss. In your circumstances you’re limited in what you can do to the fabric of the building but you can check that your external door and windows close tightly.

Re: The energy crisis
 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ut...refore%20money.

According to experts at the Energy Saving Trust, the idea it's cheaper to leave the heating on low all day is a myth. They're clear that having the heating on only when you need it is, in the long run, the best way to save energy, and therefore money

Re: The energy crisis
 

Quite correct - the boiler operates more efficiently when the temperature change is small but at the end of the day you’re still running it more; in a poorly insulated house you’re running it a *lot* more because a chunk of the heat you generate is going straight through the walls. This is why home efficiency measures like insulation and draught proofing are so important.

Re: The energy crisis
 

Expect a big announcement on Monday from Truss

Re: The energy crisis
 

I've pretty much done all I can to insulate our place. The bedroom doesn't get heated as much as prefer it to be a lot cooler, so I've isolated the bedroom from the rest of the flat as best as possible.

So basically, it'll cost a bit more to keep it at 23c. We're not going to freeze at 20c so can put up with a bit of a temp difference for an hour or so and can put the boiler on a timer anyway.

Thanks for all the helpful advice.