• The leak maybe easier to fix than you think. Our boiler was leaking and I couldn't get a plumber. Youtube and a plumbing supplies place down the road had me replace a little diaphragm and have it all working flawlessly for about a tenner. That was over a year ago, and it's still going strong.

    It's really just a matter of how confident you are to shut it down and take it apart. Good luck anyhow!

  • I ended up getting the Meaco ABC 12L dehumidifier. Way quieter and much smaller than the previous dehumidifier I had.

    Seems to be extracting about 3 litres of water a day at the moment (not left on overnight) which feels like a lot.

  • Has anyone got a Karcher window vac? Getting terrible condensation on windows just now. Guess I really need to bite the bullet and get a dehumidifier

  • We used to use one before we installed PIV. They work really well.

  • Thanks. I may get one, it's a relatively cheap option I suppose

  • There are cheaper versions which have reasonable reviews. Considering the same.

  • Man’s greatest invention.

    We lived in an uninsulated unventilated wooden bungalow with massive single glazed aluminium windows for a 18 months. Over winter the little yellow dream machine would pull literal litres of water off the inside of the windows every morning in seconds and leave them streak-free.

    You’ll never look back.

    Obviously you’re treating the symptom rather than the cause, but for us it was the answer.

  • Yes, they're great and definitely worth getting, our sash windows used to get drenched and black mould would at the bottom part of the sash where the wood would get wet over time. This completely disappeared after using the vaccum on them. Takes about 10 seconds to do a window, great for using on the walls after a shower too.

    Even if you need a dehumidifier it'll work much better if you're getting rid of extra water that'll just end up in the air first.

  • Thanks all, just ordered one!

  • The Karcher vac works brilliantly! So pleased with it!

  • Stuck my heating on for the first time this year. Watching the gas smart meter, it’s about £1 an hour.. 3 bed terrace. Serious stuff

  • £1 an hour?!
    Fucking hell.

  • Heating is for wimps.

    The exception is when I burn £50s when visitors are over. #golfclubarubadub

  • It might be £1 for the first hour but if you have a thermostat it'll cost less once it gets up to temperature

  • A relief to have the heating on tonight; thermostat’s just been mended. Hat, fingerless gloves, down jacket etc indoors were getting a bit passé.

  • Mine is about £1 per hour and generally has turned back off again before the thermostat turns it off.

  • Which one did you get? There looks to be about 4 karcher models, they all look pretty much the same.

  • Any thoughts on the best way to heat an individual room for a few hours? No TRVs and can't find any that go with the radiators so central heating isn't really an option.

    Main criteria are low cost (purchase and running) and portable. Ideally to bring the room temperature up rather than just heat a specific person.

  • Oil heater? I've got one running for an hour or so in my studio/WFH office room and it does take the chill off

  • can't find any that go with the radiators

    How so? I can't imagine that some sort of adapter is impossible.

  • Cheers.Oil heaters seem a possible but most of them seem to be using a fair bit of power at 1,500-2,000W. I was hoping there might be some clever solution out there that I hadn't thought of that uses less power.

    @TW it isn't that they won't work, more they'll look weird. All my valves stick out into the room so I think a TRV would protrude a fair bit and look ugly (at least I can't find any that won't)


  • None of the smart TRVs are lookers, so it depends on what you value more, easy control of heat or looks. To me (at least) it makes sense to make what you have more efficient than add anything else.

  • https://www.onlyradiators.co.uk/p/dq-heating-trv-corner-valves-pv

    re electric heating a given spend on kWh will warm a room up just as much regardless of the specific gadget eg fan vs oil rad, just perhaps in less time with a higher power

  • All my valves stick out into the room

    That's a bit of an oops. Corner lockshield valves are a thing, and are relatively straight forward to fit.

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Keeping your home warm / heating / energy crisis / insulation etc

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