I was in a friends house at the weekend and they sparingly use their central heating for fear of getting a big bill at the end of the month. So you sit there in their house and it's cold. They have these tiny little heaters running in the room they are sitting in and go around the house all day in a big jumper. Anyone else know people like this?
People who won't turn on the heating
- Thread starter Jim Davis
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truthseeker
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Yep - I know someone who has the heating on a timer, 1 hour in the morning, 1 hour in the evening. Woe betide if you feel cold in his house between those two times - he will not allow the heating to be on other than the assigned times.
Its his partner I feel sorry for, shivering with a toddler in the house in the daytime!
Its his partner I feel sorry for, shivering with a toddler in the house in the daytime!
truthseeker
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Im not sure if my friend has financial problems - but they have always been like this with the heating, and I know for sure a few years ago they didnt have financial problems. The guy is a bit OCD though - he has these funny ideas about a number of areas of life - not just his heating!
Ceist Beag
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Or you could have those at the other extreme - the house is like an oven all day! Sure everyone is different.
What is it with people who have to leave the heating on all the time.... its like walking into a brick oven !!! If I feel a little cold i'll put on a jumper, if the house is cold i'll heat it up but I couldnt leave the heating on all day long, while walking around in a t-shirt and shorts... Madness.
truthseeker
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Actually Ive a friend who is always freezing, and if in your house she asks for the heating to be turned up/window closed etc.. even when the weather isnt cold!!
We (in a good natured way) blame it on her upbringing, her mother always has the house like an oven, its very uncomfortable to sit in - youd be sweating buckets.
Get new friends Truthseeker!
Obviously she’s not his partner then; She’s his subordinate.
If she was his partner she’s just tell him to get stuffed and turn on the heat.
truthseeker
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Forgive me for the gross generalisation I'm about to make but is it a "country" thing not to turn on the heating. Anyone I know who does this is either from outside Dublin or their parents are and it's been bred into them.
Reminds me of the sketch that Des Bishop did on leaving the immersion on.
Reminds me of the sketch that Des Bishop did on leaving the immersion on.
Great sketch, funny because it's true
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52bna-tn_dY
I've been housemates with lots of people.
But for a bit of a generalization, most Irish people have some concept on the price of electricity.
French and German people that I shared with would think nothing of leaving heating and the immersion all day. You'd want to see the bills we got
Maybe electricity and heating oil is dirt cheap over there, good for them.
We don't turn the heat on during the week.
We live in an apartment and have storage heaters - I'll be damned if I'm going to keep an empty apartment heated for the cat during the day!
In the evenings I'll put on an extra jumper or go to bed early where we have an electric matress cover, on the weeeknds we turn on the heat if we're going to be home.
just another side and yes, I want to save money....
We live in an apartment and have storage heaters - I'll be damned if I'm going to keep an empty apartment heated for the cat during the day!
In the evenings I'll put on an extra jumper or go to bed early where we have an electric matress cover, on the weeeknds we turn on the heat if we're going to be home.
just another side and yes, I want to save money....
Might be. But not through stinginess I would say, just through hardiness.
Seriously though, even this weather, our heating wouldn't be on all the time. We had a bit of a lie-in on Saturday (10:30 ish) and after working outside for about an hour an a half (1- 2:30 maybe?) left the house for the evening at about 4. The heating didn't go on at all that day.
Maybe it was the result of the physical work but we didn't feel that we needed the heating.
Also, quite often I feel way too warm in other people's houses so just used to a cooler ambient temperature I suppose.
truthseeker
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How do you manage for hot water or is that seperate to your heating?
What are storage heaters?
I think it's a country thing too. My Dad goes on if there are too many lights on in an empty room. I know people who think the tumble dryer is a luxury.
I turn my heating on for about 1 to 1.5 hours before I get up. I set it again for the evenings and just before I go to bed. At weekends it left on longer depending on what I'm doing.
I turn my heating on for about 1 to 1.5 hours before I get up. I set it again for the evenings and just before I go to bed. At weekends it left on longer depending on what I'm doing.
Big units, full of fire bricks. They are heated up overnight, using off-peak rate electricity, then heat can be 'released' from them during the day.
truthseeker
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Are they more or less expensive than ordinary radiators?
A radiator is fed by a central heating system, so you would need to compare the overall cost of such a system, against the cost of storage heaters.
AFAIK, they're best suited to places where central heating is not an option. We had one in an apartment in a building that did not have CH.
With a night-rate meter, they should, over time, be less costly than the alternative, i.e. an electric bar heater. That saving might take more than one Winter to be realised.