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

Interested in cheap tips for renters. We have office style blinds,
walls the thickness of windows, an open plan downstairs that only has
underfloor heating, no doors to upstairs and a nice 4m high useless
space at the top of the stairs. Also the underfloor heating can't be
properly switched off - I can turn off the pump but there still seems
to be some gentle circulation of water from the boiler through the
floor when I'm trying to heat a room.

UF heating is one of the most efficient ways to heat your flat tbh. The system will never not have hot water in it and radiate, bc it takes awhile for it to completely cool down. also be aware, that shutting it off completely and letting it cool too much, can destroy the pipes.

I would definitely look into those films to "double glaze" the windows and also make sure the windows are nice and tightly sealed.

Does that actually save any power though? Boiling a kettle is pretty efficient I imagine and you're losing heat all day

Single mug of water in the microwave might be most efficient

Good to hear. It just feels like it heats that area at the top of the stairs and takes a very long time for the heat to propagate to the room the floor is in.

Most of tbe time I just use the hot water with a green tea. But if I boil ill stuck tbe hot back in. Microwave might be better though 👍

Big thick curtain between the room downstairs and the upstairs?

Unfortunately the whole staircase is open

So with prices about to go up, Householders urged to read meters before October price rise.

I have just read my meter, and accidentally read it waaaaay higher than it actually is.

Oops...

Also -it doesn't help that it's so chilly at the moment - we're managing without CH at the moment, but I can see a time soon that we're going to need to turn it back on.

It's been really chilly in Edinburgh the past few days. I've ordered a USB heated gilet and some Heattech stuff from Uniqlo

There were a couple of videos doing the rounds about adjusting your condensing boiler to make it run as efficiently as possible. Can’t find them, but the jist of it was to check the pressure in the water system and to reduce the temperature of the central heating system to about the bottom third of the dial. I checked mine this morning, topped the pressure up and reduced the central heating temperature which was up near the top.

Annoyingly, this also happened when I bled the radiators.

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I'm a complete idiot, read my meter last month and didn't check the recent estimates. Put my usage into negative 🤦‍♀️

I'm a moron too. I added a reading last week when they'd overestimated my usage. Should have waited til the prices went up

I entered the meter reading, then thought I'd check what the estimates were. FFS.

Can't you put another reading in today, but massively inflate the numbers? Assuming your tariff hasn't gone up yet, of course.

they’ll never suspect that

I've got all our sleeping bags out and left them in the front room in case anyone feels cold. I'm not putting that heating on for as long as possible!

Lovely warm sardines

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I might treat myself to a warm house tomorrow evening while it's still affordable...

My house is already getting down to 15 degrees in the day. This winter could be a bit of an issue.

blimey!? is it stone built or wattle and daub?

15deg? Wow, my lounge has been 17 for the past week and it never gets any sun

It's been as low as 9 degrees here in the mid morning this week , it's literally warmer to be outside than it is in my place

13 in the front bedroom this morning.

Victorian semis and their awesome insulation.

Old semis are the worst

I should be so lucky etc...

Really not enjoying this warmer-outside-than-in phase of the year. Our house is a thermal nightmare. The combination of a heated airer and a dehumidifier puts a decent amount of heat into our living room. It's not efficient, but it does serve double-duty.