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

Insulation.

Also I believe it's a lot less humid, the damp causes more issues than the cold here.

Also cheap oil/gas and different heating systems, forced air removes what damp air there is in the building.

I saw some new dwellings being built in northern Finland and the walls were incredibly thick with insulation, the windows are often triple glazed as well.

lets not compare first world countries with england

lot less humid, the damp causes more issues than the cold here.

This is a big factor.

I remember a Swedish mate who did a year abroad in Dublin. They said they'd never been so constantly cold and ill in their life.

Likewise I worked in London with a Belarusian who never stopped complaining of the cold.

Friend of a friend built a house in Germany, >300mm thick solid timber walls. Nice place, not cheap.

I reckon the walls I saw were at least double that (but it can get down to -40 or lower there). The houses I stayed in over there were incredibly warm with no drafts.

What do they do about condensation?

House gets knocked down and rebuilt before that becomes a problem.

Isn't it basically

• poured concrete basement
  
• timber construction on top with big voids between the inner and outer
  
• lots of insulation between the voids and on the exterior
  
• oil / forced air heating - which is very dry
  

• interior of the house is constantly heated, all surfaces warm, nothing to condensate against

• house has a life expectancy of about 50 years before its knocked down and something even more cutting edge is plonked on top

Never noticed it to be a problem despite having a large wet room with an integrated sauna.

Dr. Cake's parent's Canada house has a fucking spring in the basement, zero damp.

I worked in Davos, Switzerland for a couple of weeks once, and was staying in a rented family chalet.

It was minus 25degC the whole time, but I was going outside to have a spliff in T-shirt and pants comfortably. The house was thicc af, with a big fuck off oil burner constantly on in the basement. Toasty.

Obvs I much prefer my 100 year-old, draughty, cold, crumbly bricked and expensive af victorian bollocks building.

They are fine if you just have four coal fires roaring away, eighteen hours a day.

Is damp still a thing if everything is frozen?

Can recommend this draught excluder if you’ve got a wooden front door with a manky old wooden frame like mine. Apologies for not posting a £200 option with remote TRV control instead of this. Loft hatch next.

2 Attachments

Added bonus is how much quieter it is!

^^ we use that stuff too.

We now have a functioning thermostat for the first time in 5+ years. Already feels going to be amazing for keeping things warm and comfy, maybe not so much for my energy bills...

What's the deal with radiators?

We have one of these cheap ones in our dinning room that's quite big

I'd like something smaller, but not thicker.

It's in a Dining room/WFH room and you sit next to the rad when WFH. B&q BTU calculator says I need something with 4356BTU. Do you take these figure with a pinch of salt or what?

Similarly we need a rad for our sitting room which currently just has a gas fire and blankets. That rad would go behind a sofa and could only be 1m long, but fairly tubby.

All gas boiler central heating with no plan to change as we've just had a new boiler.

Cheers

Wow. Two bed flat. Thermostat set to 16 at night and 19 during the day...just got a bill for £380 for December.

We're not terribly insulated either, considering the age of the building.

size up where you can - a gas boiler will still benefit as you can lower the flow temps which makes your boiler work more efficiently

Blimey, that is high.

My bill for December was £200 (£102 gas, £98 electricity) three bed 1960's detached house with 4 people living here (my wife and my son's girlfriend stay in the shower for ages). I maxed out the loft insulation a few years ago but the windows are shite.

Our heating only comes on for a couple of hours in the morning and then comes back on when I get home from work around 4.30pm (thermostat is set to 21 Deg C when heating is on). My son works from home but just has a small convector heater going in his room during the day.

Edit: I think I may still be on a lower tariff than most:

Electricity
Unit rate per kWh: 21.448p
Standing charge: 31.52p per day
Gas
Unit rate per kWh: 5.068p
Standing charge: 14.70p per day

That rad would go behind a sofa

As far as I understand the rad needs an air gap otherwise you won't get as much/any convection. Similar logic for putting new rads beneath windows; gives a large temperature gradient adjacent to the rad and thus more convection so the room is better heated.

I would put as much radiator into every room as you can fit/afford. If you have too much rad then you can run them cooler - possibly more energy efficient, and more comfortable if you're right next to the radiator. Conversely if you have too little rad then you'll run them hot, possibly be uncomfortable when right next to them, and still have cold spots in the room.

Based on actual or estimated readings?

Did you leave the fridge open?