know anyone in the mainstream suggesting 10C.>>>>>>>
I didnt know that and I doubt he does. He gets his ideasfrom that BBC
Spotlight presenter ( if anyone is in the SW) Justin ( cant recall the
surnname). he is always going on about not putting his heating on until
Christmas even when its really cold.
He seems to turn it off religiously in April too. My OH told me that " its
the middle of June, you dont have heating this time of year"
The house was 10 degrees. I have thermometers in every room ( because of
my chest, I know in winter I have to have the room at 20 degrees if I am
ill). I put the heating on and now the bedroom is 16 degrees and the
sitting room is 19 degrees - and after just two days the damp is going (
the bed clothes arent damp anymore) but I still have the smell,although its
less than it was.
The sitting room is dry and warm and I slept in there the other night when I
couldnt breathe
So,I am thinking you are right about the tempreture being a main problem
here.
Thanks.
Beg, borrow, or steal a 'desiccant wheel' dehumidifier; they work down
to about 2 deg C. They are more expensive to buy, though. I use one in
the garage, where we store documents and electronic gear that would be
damaged by excessive humidity, even then it struggles on windy wet
days.
I understood it was something like 20 deg C in the lounge, and 22 if
you're a wrinkly. SWMBO has suffered in the past with a 'chest', and
likes it at 23 - 24 degC. Out gas bill is ~£700 per annum, including
domestic hot water. We live in the next county to you, and have been
astonished how damp it is here all year round.
The sort of temperature numbers you are talking about are plainly
ridiculous.
Keep in mind that damp and mould damages the building fabric as well
as the human respiratory system. Cheese-paring on this scale is seeing
only part of the 'problem' (which was generated by econutcases for
their own reasons). This is essentially grounds for divorce; and I
sense that to solve your damp problem some sort of revolution is in
the offing.
Take the power monitor and throw it away; you're talking about
shortened life expectancy here.
You aren't eating properly either. With a house that cold you need a
high-fat diet, usually obtained from cooked meats. Living in 10 deg C
and eating salads, in a mouldy atmosphere, is going to lead to
shortened lives.
You're going to have to make big changes. They will be uncomfortable.
Terry Fields
Thank you. I understand what you are saying. I have put the heating on and
its now 21 in the sitting room and 18 in the bedroom. That has not been
easy by the way.
Those are not unreasonable figures, but 10 deg C certainly is.
I can well imagine.
My very elderly mother-in-law is the same, although she has plenty of
money, but against all advice she takes it down to the level of
personal hygiene, which was a strip-wash at the sink once a week. Then
cellulitis set in, and after three recurrences and three trips to
hospital (the sort of thing she did was to take the first three
antibiotic pills and then say 'I'm fed up with that', so it all came
back again) the big one came and she was unable to look after herself.
We live 250 miles away, and my wife had to spend seven weeks of
15-hour days getting her back on her feet and arranging a care
package. This of course costs far more than she ever saved through her
cheese-paring, and has severely reduced her already limited mobility.
However, the bills have now come in for that period, and she's been
ringing up what she calls 'the gas board' to get the meter checked, as
she refuses to believe that anyone could squander £500 on gas over the
six-month winter period.
But this is the sort of thing that happens when cheese-paring becomes
an end in itself: it's killing my mother-in-law. So I fully understand
the difficulties you are labouring under, but the bigger picture is
that unless you get rid of the damp, heat the rooms, and eat properly,
the money saved by watching the energy monitor will be an irrelevance.
Terry Fields
I think a lot of this is age related, and it creeps up on you if you're
not careful. I find myself being frugal to the point of silliness and I
have to force myself to spend money (well, it's a civic duty to aid the
recovery isn't it?)
I think the OP may now be going overboard with the temperatures. I find
17-18 deg comfortable and high enough to keep the place dry and warm. I
don't lounge about in my vest but nor do I wear more than one jumper in
the winter
My MiL always has been a highly neurotic hypochondriac. She
deliberately chose to make herself housebound because the outside
world is full of dog poo and dustcarts, two of her favourite neuroses.
Her house was dirty and had a rodent infestation, until my wife
cleaned it and got rid of the mice - seven weeks work including
looking after her bedridden mother. MiL couldn't care less about
things like these, but hoards kitchen paper and hand wash; she
currently has about 50 of each in stock that she won't use in case
they come in useful.
Did I tell you about the 20,000 Tesco bags she had stored away 'in
case they come in useful'? It took three months to clear them, because
random ones had the occasional cheque book or passbook in them, and
they all had to be turned inside out before being dumped to make sure
they were empty. This exercise caused a screaming match, and it wasn't
the first or the last.
The doctor has prescribed a medicated skin cream to kill the bacteria
that cause her skin infection. After asking for a double dose (two
canisters per month instead of one because she wanted a stockpile,
which was refused) she has now taken to stockpiling it by the simple
expedient of not using it. Guess what? Cellulitis Attack Number 5 is
now under way, and it seems like the antibiotics are having less
effect.
Horses for courses. If my lounge ran at 18 degC, I'd be shivering. But
then again, I don't eat red meat or high-fat foods so don't have
personal 'central heating' to the extent I could turn the CH down to
those sorts of figures.
Terry Fields
Carpets in the one room are about 15 years old. In the other ( the worst
room) I have taken up the carpet and its bare floorboards now.
How about the walls? Could it be the wallpaper? I havent changed that ( its
woodchip). I did re paint it though about six years ago
So you've got floorboards in a bungalow?
That means you've got suspended floors, which means the joists could be
rotting if there's not enough ventilation.
Check the outside airbricks underneath or very near the DPC and check them
all the way around the property - they all need to be working properly.
Check they go through OK by prodding a thin rod through about 2ft - a bamboo
cane will do and prod about 6 or 7 different holes in each one and make sure
they aren't blocked.
Also, check the floors in each room for 'bounce', especially near the
exterior wall side
Well, there has always been a bit of a problem in winter since we moved in
the house - 20 years ago.
There has always been condenstation with the windows. The wondwos and patio
doors in the sitting room were all wooden The bedrooms still are. My
predecessor had the house insulated and draught proofed ( its all sealed
everywhere) .
When I used to keep the heating on it was always fine. Then OH got eco and
economy conscious about four years ago ( with the recession) and started
forcing us to do the stuff the TV suggested - and then it all escallated and
its got worse and worse and worse. Now its unliveable in the bedroom ( for
me). The problem has really got far worse in the last month in there. It
now stinks. So I cleaned and moved everything and am still trying to find
it.
I got fed up, had a blazing row with him and started renewing all the wet
sopping condensation wringing windows this last winter when they collapsed
and I refused to take a Mr botch job and sent for the double glazing firm .
I have A rated planitherm windows in the sitting room and the kitchen and a
double glazed insulated door in the kitchen now. .
I didnt get as far as the bedrooms. They are still wooden and have thin
double glazed units in them. They do get sopping wet when it is cold . It
gets better if the weather improves. It gets worse when it rains and is
cold like now.
Without thermostatically controlled heating you might as well be living
in a garden shed. You're going to kill yourself if you carry on living
in those conditions
I wonder if your loft insulation needs upgrading as the standards 20
years ago were miserly. Of course, no point without heating though.
HomeOwnersHub.com is a website for homeowners and building and maintenance pros. It is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.