Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

[chrcoluk]

I don’t understand why people can’t just wear a jumper and drop the internal temp a couple of degrees. The need for a home to be borderline tropical is clearly a new thing as everyone I know who is in their late mid 50s or older are happy to sit in a house that’s 17-18c. It’s only in the homes of those younger that it seemingly is a requirement to leave an arse print on the seat when you get up.


I’m not sure no heating is viable mind..

Yeah this is what I meant, I think i came across a bit too strong before when I agreed with the no heating at all comment, there is people I know that when I walk in their home, it feels like i am walking into an oven, they put the heating on as early as September and they have it on before they get up etc so they getting out of bed into the "warmth". Looking at the its too hot thread does indicate some people are comfortable in extremely high 30+ temperatures and so more normal temps like mid to high teens are "cold" to them. Likewise if I go in their cars, the car is like an oven with the heating on and windows closed even on moderately hot days.

Personally I have gone a few winters with no or minimal levels of heating but I am accustomed to it so my body can accept it easier than others although I will use it when the weather gets quite extreme, e.g. snow, and my tolerance to cold is decreasing with my feet feeling cold in winters now even with my torso ok. So I know as my years roll on I will use it more.

 

[fez]

Based on this thread I am going to break it to the missus that this is going to be a 0 central heating winter. She can still have hot baths though. I'm not a complete monster. That being said, with the size of our bath and how much she likes to fill it we will probably still have to remortgage.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

strawman -
maybe people incrased house temperature over 30 years as a result of obesity and lower metabolic rate .. so you aren't as able to keep yourself warm

Yeah thats the opposite, fatter people run hotter as the fat acts like a blanket in effect.

Also over the last 30 years the vast majority of the old heating systems will be gone, coal fires etc
My parents had a 60s house and that had background heating only from the central heating, it was never designed to heat the house just top it up
So its no surprise that people have adjusted to higher, for the vast majority, more normalised heating

My grandad still had coal fires, bedrooms were freezing and you basically didnt go anywhere outside the lounge in his house when it was cold. They (inc my Nan) practically used to live in one room when it was cold.
Pre retirement they didnt normally light the fire in the morning, but weekends they would, light it first thing and keep it going till bedtime, if we stayed over I slept in the lounge on the sofa, luckily. My sister who didn't looked virtually blue in the mornings in winter lolz

WHO say 18 for healthy well dressed people. Anyone playing below that is just adding risk to their own health equation. Much like smoking many will get away with it, but many will not.

 

[Jokester]

That was the norm in the old days (1960s and earlier at a guess). My dad was telling me he was shocked when he went round to my grandmas house when he was dating my mum, to find frost on the inside of the windows first thing. They just lived in the room with the coal fire during winter and just wrapped up more to go to bed. It wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary.

 

[200sols]

That was the norm in the old days (1960s and earlier at a guess). My dad was telling me he was shocked when he went round to my grandmas house when he was dating my mum, to find frost on the inside of the windows first thing. They just lived in the room with the coal fire during winter and just wrapped up more to go to bed. It wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary.

These guys are claiming they use NO heating at all, no coal fire, no central heating. Nothing. I simply don't believe them.

 

[rchads89]

went from £125 to £280 think im paying for next doors as well

 

[Jokester]

These guys are claiming they use NO heating at all, no coal fire, no central heating. Nothing. I simply don't believe them.

I could believe it if they live down south in a modern well insulated house. Up here in old stone buildings with single pane glass and zero insulation would be a different story.

My brother barely has his heating on during winter (sits about 13-14 degC) in an old 60s council house. I think he’s nuts .

A lot of it is acclimatisation.

 

[chrcoluk]

Yeah bare in mind the part of the country will have an effect.

If I lived in Scotland near the sea I probably would be using the heating much more, as it is I live in Leicester which is sheltered from a lot of extreme weather and usually has southern temperatures.

The WHO suggest 16C as a minimum for indoor room temps, they have 18C as well quoted as a balanced temperature, that seems high to me as at 18C I can wear a t-shirt without feeling cold, and 20C for elderly and otherwise vulnerable people, babies etc. I assume that's when you not under a quilt, as a quilt is very good at keeping things warm. The HSE, suggest 16C for workplaces, or 13C if its a high activity workplace.

As jpaul said it seems over time we have become more accustomed to hotter homes.

a 1978 UK study found average indoor home temperatures to be 15.8 °C (60.4 °F)

I dont know what the average is now, but there is people on MSE who have admitted to setting thermostat to 20C or higher for at least 16 hours a day.

 

[Uther]

That was the norm in the old days (1960s and earlier at a guess). My dad was telling me he was shocked when he went round to my grandmas house when he was dating my mum, to find frost on the inside of the windows first thing. They just lived in the room with the coal fire during winter and just wrapped up more to go to bed. It wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary.

It was like that when I was growing up in the late 70's. Single glazing and ice on the inside.Even my first flat in 1988 only had a coal fire.

 

[SDK^]

I remember as a kid in the late 80's when we moved house - my single glazed bedroom window frames were made of metal and one of the windows was kinked at the bottom, meaning there was always a large gap and it never closed properly. I had that until I was about 16 when my Dad upgraded them to UPVC windows.

The computer in my room was right next to this and my mouse/joystick hand was always freezing cold

 

[adam cool dude]

That was the norm in the old days (1960s and earlier at a guess). My dad was telling me he was shocked when he went round to my grandmas house when he was dating my mum, to find frost on the inside of the windows first thing. They just lived in the room with the coal fire during winter and just wrapped up more to go to bed. It wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary.

When our boiler went down a couple of years ago we were without heating for two weeks while waiting for a replacement motherboard as it got fried by a leaking flow sensor. In the middle of February. Our house was built in 1970 but has cavity and roof insulation. It was a bit nippy in the morning but not bad at all. Had the electric fire on through the day and spent most time in the living room. Cold showers was the worst thing really but not life threatening even for someone older.

 

[krooton]

These guys are claiming they use NO heating at all, no coal fire, no central heating. Nothing. I simply don't believe them.

Monty Python's 4 Yorkshiremen sketch springs to mind.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

When our boiler went down a couple of years ago we were without heating for two weeks while waiting for a replacement motherboard as it got fried by a leaking flow sensor. In the middle of February. Our house was built in 1970 but has cavity and roof insulation. It was a bit nippy in the morning but not bad at all. Had the electric fire on through the day and spent most time in the living room. Cold showers was the worst thing really but not life threatening even for someone older.

An electric heater (I’m guessing it was probably 2kw) will take the edge off the whole house and fully heat the room you are in.

It’s not really equivalent to saying people should just not hear their homes over winter which is ludicrous for millions of people.

That said I don’t suggest the house need to be heated to tropical temperatures either).

Unless you have per room control, the main thermostat just controls the coolest place in the house where it’s typically located so it doesn’t really represent what’s going on in other rooms. All the other rooms should be on TRVs as a minimum. My main thermostat is set to 16 but it’s in a hallway what really doesn’t need to be heated, the rooms are all on TRVs and are around 18C.

Setting 2 on a typical TRV is about 18c and that is generally recommended for all rooms except for those in which you spend a lot of time not physically active, E.g. a lounge or home office. You may want those to be warmer.

 

[Joeyuk]

These guys are claiming they use NO heating at all, no coal fire, no central heating. Nothing. I simply don't believe them.

I don’t heat my maisonette at all. It’s gas central heating and I’ve not used any gas in the 2 years I’ve been here (gas company don’t believe it and have been to check it 3 times) I probably get some heat from down stairs but my back windows are open all year so it does get chilly in my bedroom and kitchen. People I’ve had over have said it’s a bit cold but for me I prefer to just put a extra layer on.

 

[TNA]

I could believe it if they live down south in a modern well insulated house. Up here in old stone buildings with single pane glass and zero insulation would be a different story.

My brother barely has his heating on during winter (sits about 13-14 degC) in an old 60s council house. I think he’s nuts .

A lot of it is acclimatisation.

Yep. I can deal with cold much better than my missus. She is always the one banging on about it starting to get cold and I am in a t-shirt and sometimes even shorts while she is saying this. I don’t like putting heating on any earlier than November, but if she had her way it would be earlier. I just get her to put a jumper on while I roam around in my t-shirt

If I was alone I would never need heating in this house as I would camp out in my office and the pc would keep me warm enough I reckon

 

[Puzzled]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1549305060320067585

A predicted further 65% increase expected in October, this is not sustainable and needs a new plan to help people.

 

[Robbo]

I watched the Martin Lewis video earlier.

The idea of mass non-payment is interesting. What could the energy providers do if that were to happen, take millions of people to court?

Could well happen the way things are going.

 

[413x]

I watched the Martin Lewis video earlier.

The idea of mass non-payment is interesting. What could the energy providers do if that were to happen, take millions of people to court?

Could well happen the way things are going.

Same. Watched it too.

I know of people bypassing thier meters too. But not completely. So it's an under read.

 

[Richie]

Working out a 65% increase puts my monthly DD bill at the £120 mark. The £400 will keep it roughly where it is for 10 months.

Bearing in mind that, until May, I was paying £33/month. Now the current SVR Standing Charge comes to almost that monthly!!

I am in a "B" EPC rated home so god knows how lower rated homes with bigger families will cope.

 

[LabR@t]

The old photograph negative trick or putting the gas meter on backwards