My heating just came on.
- Thread starter MikeG.
- Start date
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Now I'm confused. Why is an indoor temperature of 22 OK on a mild day, but not warm enough when it's colder outside? Apparently those that have air conditioning set the temperature lower when it's hot outside than the temperature they warm the house up to in the winter. Crazy!
Roger I think its because our body reacts to the rate at which it gives up heat. It is a bit like how you can feel colder when the wind blows then when the air is still. I could be talking garbage.
Roger I think its because our body reacts to the rate at which it gives up heat. It is a bit like how you can feel colder when the wind blows then when the air is still. I could be talking garbage.
mickthetree
Established Member
when are you going to publish your book (or blog) on how to build and run an efficient house Mike.
Seriously! some of us would be interested.
Seriously! some of us would be interested.
MikeG.
Established Member
....just after I publish "Mike's Guide to Building a Shed"!!!!!!!
ie maybe one day, but I can't picture having the time for a while.....
Mike
ie maybe one day, but I can't picture having the time for a while.....
Mike
Smudger
Established Member
You might like to have a look at this house - it's in French, I'm afraid, but I think there's a Google translation.
I stayed with Michel You a couple of times on exchange trips, he's quite an interesting guy. His setup is now very mature (dates back to 1981) and works very well. Everything from electric gates and doors to the underground garage to timer-restricted lighting.
I stayed with Michel You a couple of times on exchange trips, he's quite an interesting guy. His setup is now very mature (dates back to 1981) and works very well. Everything from electric gates and doors to the underground garage to timer-restricted lighting.
MikeG.
Established Member
Dick,
it is really important to realise the difference in insolation levels between France and the UK. There is so much embodied energy in photovoltaic cells that I, even as a very green greenie, do not advocate their general useage in the cloudy UK (where it can take up to 12 years for them to generate the same amount of energy as went into their initial construction). Solar hot water is a different matter altogether.....
Mike
it is really important to realise the difference in insolation levels between France and the UK. There is so much embodied energy in photovoltaic cells that I, even as a very green greenie, do not advocate their general useage in the cloudy UK (where it can take up to 12 years for them to generate the same amount of energy as went into their initial construction). Solar hot water is a different matter altogether.....
Mike
dedee
Established Member
France is a big country, I am sure that in the north and north west we see no more sun than the majority of southern england.
Anywhere south of the Loire is bound to get considerably more sunshine, or is that just a myth?
If it was not for the initial outlay coupled with an uncertainty of how long we will be living here I'd be very interested in the ground source heating technology. We have a large enough garden to make this possible but I just cannot guarantee living here long enough to see the payback. Not thinking of going back to blighty but closer to college/uni when the kids are older is a possibility.
Cheers
Andy
Anywhere south of the Loire is bound to get considerably more sunshine, or is that just a myth?
If it was not for the initial outlay coupled with an uncertainty of how long we will be living here I'd be very interested in the ground source heating technology. We have a large enough garden to make this possible but I just cannot guarantee living here long enough to see the payback. Not thinking of going back to blighty but closer to college/uni when the kids are older is a possibility.
Cheers
Andy
RogerM":16gmht5d said:
Roger I think its because our body reacts to the rate at which it gives up heat. It is a bit like how you can feel colder when the wind blows then when the air is still. I could be talking garbage.
Smudger
Established Member
To be fair to Michel You I think he is no more or less concerned about his carbon footprint than anyone else - or at least he wasn't when he started. He is/was a lecturer in electronics at the local Lycée, and for him the energy saving aspects were a sort of theoretical project. The house is self-sufficient in other ways, for example using pumped well water and last I saw him he was talking of replacing his fosse septique with a reed bed filtration system.
As far as sunshine goes, I suspect that in the summer months they get more than all but the south of England, winter much the same.
As far as sunshine goes, I suspect that in the summer months they get more than all but the south of England, winter much the same.
I use the Honeywell CM wireless programable stat Rog. No cables and easy to set. With the radio add on it will even switch automatically from GMT to Summer time.
Your rads should be controllable with an in line solenoid valve quite cheaply and easily.
Roy.
Your rads should be controllable with an in line solenoid valve quite cheaply and easily.
Roy.
Ours is set so low it hardly ever comes on. If anyone in house gets cold enough they can light the fire, it's an incentive scheme. My turn today as I've been sat around in front of the computer and I missed my redibrek this morning.
Digit":3obwt6re said:
Thanks Roy. We're using the Drayton RF1 wireless Digistats at the moment. The lounge is at the far end of the house and the pipes are buried in concrete so would be a nightmare to fit a valve in between. It's no real hassle to just turn the rads off when we've finished at night.
woodbloke
Established Member
We have a bog standard timer for the CH and hot water. The water is heated twice a day (as normal) but we only switch the heating on manually when it gets a bit nippy...never in the morning.
We've found that we can save quite a bit doing this way, stat set to about 17 deg or so and just tweak it up a tad if we feel a bit cool watching telly. The heating is switched to 'off' just before the wooden hill time (unless we forget
in which case it stays on all night) - Rob
We've found that we can save quite a bit doing this way, stat set to about 17 deg or so and just tweak it up a tad if we feel a bit cool watching telly. The heating is switched to 'off' just before the wooden hill time (unless we forget
in which case it stays on all night) - Rob
Paul Chapman
Established Member
I find a thermal vest and three pullovers the most cost-effective option. And when it's time to go to bed, I send the wife up first to warm it up
Cheers :wink:
Paul
Cheers :wink:
Paul
woodbloke
Established Member
...don't forget the duvet as well on the sofa when the telly's on :lol: - RobPaul Chapman":t36rz4vu said:I find a thermal vest and three pullovers the most cost-effective option. And when it's time to go to bed, I send the wife up first to warm it up
Cheers :wink:
Paul
A modern timer would do all that for you Woodbloke and more.
Ours holds a level during the day that allows for us being active, followed by a rise later for when we are relaxing, followed by a drop to a 'back up' position during the night to cover dealing grandchildren, visits to the bathroom etc then a back up to the day time level in the morning.
All automatically.
Roy.
Ours holds a level during the day that allows for us being active, followed by a rise later for when we are relaxing, followed by a drop to a 'back up' position during the night to cover dealing grandchildren, visits to the bathroom etc then a back up to the day time level in the morning.
All automatically.
Roy.
For a quick upgrade to a normal room stat, giving different temperatures at different times of day and at the weekend I've used these.
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/17585/Plu ... Thermostat[/url]
Easy to fit on the existing two wires.
Reffering to previous post we have them on 18 and then 14 degrees at night and during the day.
Bar Humbug g g g.
Time to light the fire.
http://www.screwfix.com/prods/17585/Plu ... Thermostat[/url]
Easy to fit on the existing two wires.
Reffering to previous post we have them on 18 and then 14 degrees at night and during the day.
Bar Humbug g g g.
Time to light the fire.
MikeG.
Established Member
........and just to add to the thermostat settings conversation: Mine is set to 19.8, never turned off between seasons, and has almost never come on two days in a row. It would need to be a freezing blizzard for the house to lose 1 degree in 24 hours, so to all intents and purposes, it remains at a constant temperature, day and night, summer and winter, and in all parts of the house.
Because of the time lag associated with underfloor heating and the heavyweight construction of the house, the timer for the thermostat is set for 2pm to 4.30pm. Max internal temperature is reached approx. 6 hours after the heating comes on. If our mid-life-crisis resolution of moving to an old place with an acre or two becomes reality, living in a normal house is going to take a bit of getting used to!
Mike
Because of the time lag associated with underfloor heating and the heavyweight construction of the house, the timer for the thermostat is set for 2pm to 4.30pm. Max internal temperature is reached approx. 6 hours after the heating comes on. If our mid-life-crisis resolution of moving to an old place with an acre or two becomes reality, living in a normal house is going to take a bit of getting used to!
Mike
woodbloke":2h6pse8q said:We have a bog standard timer for the CH and hot water. The water is heated twice a day (as normal) but we only switch the heating on manually when it gets a bit nippy...never in the morning.
We've found that we can save quite a bit doing this way, stat set to about 17 deg or so and just tweak it up a tad if we feel a bit cool watching telly. The heating is switched to 'off' just before the wooden hill time (unless we forget
Rob some companies send people home around that temp
Steve Maskery
Established Member
Mike
Do you have a "House that Mike Built" thread? I'm sure many of us would find it fascinating (I can't write that word without thinking of the National Theatre of Brent bloke - Digby, was it? But I digress. Edit - Raymond Box).
Have you built it entirely out of polystyrene and a defunct refrigerator wired backwards? It really does sound too good to be true, but we know you well enough here to know that what you claim must have a reasonable correlation in fact. So how did you do it? Remember, if there on no pictures, it didn't happen
S
Do you have a "House that Mike Built" thread? I'm sure many of us would find it fascinating (I can't write that word without thinking of the National Theatre of Brent bloke - Digby, was it? But I digress. Edit - Raymond Box).
Have you built it entirely out of polystyrene and a defunct refrigerator wired backwards? It really does sound too good to be true, but we know you well enough here to know that what you claim must have a reasonable correlation in fact. So how did you do it? Remember, if there on no pictures, it didn't happen
S
