• It’s not solar control (reflective) glass. It lets the heat in but also reflects the heat back into the room but cuts UV out to stop stuff fading/yellowing.something to do with long waves coming through and short waves bounced back.
    We are not fully south facing so in the summer the sunset is further round so at some point in the afternoon so will be spared overheating in the summer plus we have a shaded side and get good airflow through.
    Foil backed thermal blinds also help keep heat in/out.
    It’s Pilkington K glass.
    Figured that if it’s unbearable in the lounge with a 40° summer the savings over the rest off the year will pay for a portable aircon unit.

  • Just throwing out some numbers re a few comments above relating to temps.

    Currently wfh in a 1930's suburban semi - presently 14C where I'm sat right now, 9C in bedroom, 3C in attic (turbo/basic gym setup there), 12C in kitchen... Costs me a tenner a day to keep the place close to comfortable, so yeah fuck that, it's extra hoodys/base layers time.

    Mix of original single pane windows (stained glass), and dodgy white upvc double glazing (at least a few decades old). No way do I have the £££ needed to address the situation.

    I did a wee lol at the comment above that houses should be kept above 15C. I can dream... But yeah fuck the cold, damp UK and it's shitty old housing lol I can see my own breath at the mo, and barely feel my finger tips typing.

  • Can I do a boast-post or is that insensitive in times of fuel poverty? Think I answered my own question actually.

  • Go for it. I see Brun showing off up there with a toasty 15.8C in the kitchen :-)

  • Unbearable in summer, toasty in winter. New builds 👌🏻


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  • ha i was dreaming of new build toastyness the other day and was scanning new build projects in SW london one in tooting.... a coool 800k for 2 bed! not a chance !!!! draughty solid brick for a while i think

  • Nice and toasty in my living room. Seven hours of non-stop central heating gets it all the way to 16 (if you're lucky).


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  • Currently chugging through £10 a day to keep bits of the house that we are in at around 18.

    Seems expensive - it is - but then it's only for a few weeks then we are back to £3 / day. Can't get too fixated on it.

    Draughty 1930s terrace.

  • This. It's going to be 14 deg C next week.

  • I'm yet to see how much it costs to heat this house now we've replaced the central heating system. Before running the boiler a couple of hours a day put £100 on the energy bill.

  • Have worked out we might hit £7.50 a day if it was well below freezing outside and cloudy with somebody who wanted to do a hot wash/dishwash/use the oven for an hour/overfill the kettle for cups of tea/have a massive piping hot bath to leave it for half an hour to cool before getting in and heat each room to 21.5º from 8am-11pm in case they might want to go in it to get something.
    Normal practice of heating the office room to 6 and keeping the bedroom tepid until an hour before going to bed and it’s between £5-£6.50 depending on the sunshine and washing machine use. 1960 built 80sqm flat with 3 external sides.

    would love to be paying nothing or very little by ferrying back into the grid but no solar space and no heat pump battery allowed here.

  • Something that crossed my mind the other day is it’s those who can’t afford their bills who don’t have the means or the property to make their bills cheaper.
    #brokenbritain

  • Ours is a 1949 mid terrace. 80mm cavity that we've filled with polystyrene balls out of a space-age beanbag, 300mm+ loft insulation (including 50% area covered by scavenged 150mm PIR boards), new triple glazing, ASHP, underfloor in the extension and rads in existing house.

    £6/day during the last couple of coldest days, but that's all electricity usage not just heating. Around 19ºc

  • My thoughts exactly. I'm reminded of the Withnail & I quote -

    "... free to those who can afford it, very expensive to those who can't."

  • Have you thought about using that "double glazing" stuff to cover the windows?

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B09JM8DCYL/

    I've been looking at this after someone mentioned using it for tent footprints instead of Tyvek. I thought it was stuck to the windows but it actually goes over the whole thing to create a window box/air gap. Seems like it could be useful in single-glazed window houses.

    Anyone tried it for windows? (I might still buy some for the tent so maybe I can donate the rest of the packet to @dicki) :)

  • How do you get your daily costs? Is it your energy supplier providing it or do you have some kind of funky meter?

  • I've got some currently covering the single glazed panes in the back door and the crap double glazed window in the bathroom. It's a bit fiddly, it's like a slightly thicker, less stretchy cling film and the double sided tape struggles with anything other than flat window frames. I think it works a bit and it's fairly unobtrusive.

  • Yep. The subsidies for things like heat pumps are probably mainly going to those who could afford to get them anyway.

  • Possibly, but the cost of means testing those grants would probably be more expensive than just handing them out to anyone that applies...

  • Smart meter I think

  • Exactly, same with solar, batteries and heat pumps, you'd think the government could run a interest free loan scheme where its paid back from the savings delivered

  • Plus if you want to encourage take up then it's probably best to get those with higher energy use.

  • I've recently been getting into fleeces. Big oversized fleece over whatever you're wearing helps massively. Also, never staying still is also helpful.

  • Getting people out of damp and cold homes you would hope would improve health outcomes, drive down treatment costs and staff pressure but guess that's too joined up.

  • Isn't this what we all paid our share of the eyewatering cost of smart meters for?

    But yeah, the smart meter tells us.

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

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