Do you remember using a warm penny to make yourself a neat spy-hole through the ice, Dew?

R.

My thermostat has been set to come on at 21C since the 2nd week of August so the heating has been on and off since then!

Had to give in and switched it on yesterday for the first time this Autumn.

Whether our heating’s on or not, it’s never on in the bedroom and I always sleep with the window open, even in winter.  I like fresh air and a big snuggly duvet!  

I remember the days before central heating and double glazing, waking to icy leaf patterns on the inside of my bedroom window.  We had to breathe on the glass to thaw it and scratch at it to clear it so we could see if it had snowed outside!  I had the top bunk and slept with my clothes under the pillow so I could get dressed before I got out of bed!  It was cold!  

We had that in the 80s too. We had no central heating at all until my parents put electric storage heaters in when I was about 9 or 10. Single glazing, too, I remember scraping my fingernails in the fern patterns on the windows in the morning. 

No radiators on yet but I did put the underfloor heating on in the kitchen last night just to take the chill off. Starting to wish I had booked a chimney sweep a bit earlier, everyone will be doing it now! Won't be long before we're thinking of putting the woodburner on...

And of course the good old hot water bottle. Too warm in one part of the bed and freezing in other parts.  I miss the leaf patterns, but not very much. 

On very cold nights, my dad used to warm our beds with cast iron oven shelves wrapped in a pillow case.  They were removed immediately before we got in and if we curled into a foetal position we could almost fit into the warm bit! 

My daughter hardly ever uses her gas central heating and almost always heats her house with her log burner.  It’s a nicer, cosier heat and it isn’t nearly as stuffy as central heating.  I suppose that’s because the fire draws the fresher air in and circulates it better. 

I grew up in an old farmhouse on the edge of Leeds so I know all too well about cold houses. Double glazing and central heating is a blessing from above! 

British houses are so badly insulated though. Look at how many elderly people die in winter living in cold, damp houses - it's disgraceful for a modern country. Countries like Sweden, despite being far colder in winter, don't have loads of excessive winter deaths. I don't think it's mollycoddling but ensuring that people are living in comfortable, warm and dry houses - which ought to be a basic minimum for the 21st century.

Although the temp inside my house here pretty much remained a constant 20-21c since the end of the heatwave, it really fell back over the last 3 or 4 days to a more average 16 to 17c. A comfortable temp for me (not for others in the house though) but you would notice the difference even in those 3 or 4 degrees. 

An older women I once worked with always claimed that a draughty house is a much healthier environment to live in that one that is totally sealed up. This is something that I would instinctively agree with as even in the depths of winter, I insist on leaving a couple of windows open to keep air circulating through the house as much as possible (and as much as I can get away with!) 

I have checked the Boiler pressure gauge and turned on all the radiators to make sure the thermostats have not stuck. So just now the house is like yours, Arcus.

When they have cooled [= tomorrow] I will bleed the lot, starting downstairs and farthest away from the boiler.

I have found the radiator key in its safe place! Result!

Then it's a case of re-setting each thermostat to the needs of each room, and we are in business

R.

For the first time ever R I did the usual round of radiators over the weekend after the inaugural switch-on and found no bleeding problems...

The radiator key went back into the garage. Huzzah!

A transformer has gone in the loft though that has spiked the spots in the bathroom, so plus ca change etc.

A new house just outside St Andrews, Fife, almost to Passivhaus standards.  25ºC plus inside today, windows and doors open.  When I did the design calculations I looked to be comfortable at -5ºC using a 5kW output heatpump.  Like an idiot I forgot it would be overheated in the summer.  The house needs no heating until outside temperatures are below about 10ºC or so outside.

Heating on first thing in the morning for a while .Then back on after sunset. . 

Definitely heating on time tonight, for the first time since April.  But I suppose that's not entirely surprising...

Still no heating here. Both kids at uni now. So I am happy to sit here in layers and I'm lovely and warm. The winter quilt has gone on for tonight, as the girlfriend is staying over tomorrow. I have no doubt the "on" button will be pressed upon her arrival :)

On an off via thermostat during day times. Switch on around 06:00 and off at 22:00.