Hot houses

[Flibble]

Vandenberg said:

I would love to meet the person who designed dual heating controls for cars and buy them many pints.

My wife "feels the cold" which if we are in the car, she is "just right" at the point my face feels like its going to melt off.

The house is set at 23c and topped up with a heated blanket set ta few degrees below the surface of the sun.

Heated seats are good for that too - mine is usually off, hers is usually on full blast!

[RizzoTheRat]

Flibble said:

Heated seats are good for that too - mine is usually off, hers is usually on full blast!

As are dual control electric blankets

[Hard-Drive]

I work from home, sat at my desk. I'm more comfortable sat in jeans and a shirt, perhaps a t shirt and fleece in winter. I don't like the place tooooo warm, but there is an enormous difference in the heat the body produces depending on whether you are just sat there shuffling a mouse around, or doing even the most basic of physical task/DIY task.

It's a modern, very well insulated house, and the 'stats are set for my comfortable working temperature, however any addiitonal heat created (sun on large expanses of glass, cooking etc) soon brings the temp up as it has nowhere to go.

I know our cleaner can find it too warm, and she's a girl...

[Ahonen]

I was visiting our HQ in Milan in December and the thermostat in every meeting room was set to 25 or 26. It was all I could do to stay awake yet my Italian colleagues were all sitting around with jumpers and scarves on.

At home we have it set to 19 - naturally my beloved is wrapped up in blankets at that temperature...

[anonymous-user]

Denis O said:

Mine is continuous 23c.............and it's SWMBO who wants it there.

Mine too in most rooms, but 25c in the lounge.

And to be fair you can't expect people to change the heating in the house for a random tradesman.

When the carpet fitters changed our lounge carpet last year they were dripping in sweat, we have underfloor heating and when they pulled the old carpet up it was like a whole new level of heat hitting them. Poor sods

[Toltec]

Flibble said:

Ours is usually about 18-19C and Mrs Flibble sits in a blanket in the evening while I'm a t-shirt.

Nearly the same here, occasionally it is a blanket, but normally she is wearing 2 or three layers and a fleece.

[Hayek]

Ours is on a moderate 21 during the day. It's set to 15 overnight but it never gets down to that, rarely below 19, maybe 18.5 very occasionally.

Fortunately when we're both out (2 days a week) the heating goes off because we have a Nest.

[dvs_dave]

The root cause of people cranking up the central heating because it “feels” chilly is almost certainly because the relative humidity inside the house is too low. For typical UK winter weather you should try and keep the relative humidity (Rh) around 40-45%.

At that level the “chilly” feel won’t be present, and you can turn down the thermostat setting to a more sensible temperature.

Some decent summary info here as to why humidity control is a good idea.

[Du1point8]

I wish that my house was cold... OH complains when its below 26 degrees as she is used to the heat in Sydney.

I start melting at 24 degrees.

[Zoobeef]

Mines currently set at 16c. I knock it up to 17 if the washing needs drying. I always have a jumper on, they are comfortable so if it's too hot for a jumper then your heatings set too high.

[cheddar]

Currently 27 in here but that's because the sun's blasting in and I've got a tin roof.

Forecast is for possible 40 degrees next two days, God knows how I'll keep it cool indoors.

[iphonedyou]

Our miniature dachshund likes the house warm. So warm it shall be.

[PositronicRay]

dvs_dave said:

The root cause of people cranking up the central heating because it “feels” chilly is almost certainly because the relative humidity inside the house is too low. For typical UK winter weather you should try and keep the relative humidity (Rh) around 40-45%.

At that level the “chilly” feel won’t be present, and you can turn down the thermostat setting to a more sensible temperature.

Some decent summary info here as to why humidity control is a good idea.

I'm not sure about this "dry air makes you feel cold" thing, willing to be educated though.

[p1esk]

PositronicRay said:

dvs_dave said:

The root cause of people cranking up the central heating because it “feels” chilly is almost certainly because the relative humidity inside the house is too low. For typical UK winter weather you should try and keep the relative humidity (Rh) around 40-45%.

At that level the “chilly” feel won’t be present, and you can turn down the thermostat setting to a more sensible temperature.

Some decent summary info here as to why humidity control is a good idea.

I'm not sure about this "dry air makes you feel cold" thing, willing to be educated though.

Me too, I shall read the link with interest. I know that comfort conditions are not simply a matter of temperature, the amount and nature of air movement can also affect the issue, and humidity also seems likely to play a part.

Thanks to dvs_dave for the link.

Edited by p1esk on Monday 29th January 11:35

[Flibble]

dvs_dave said:

The root cause of people cranking up the central heating because it “feels” chilly is almost certainly because the relative humidity inside the house is too low. For typical UK winter weather you should try and keep the relative humidity (Rh) around 40-45%.

At that level the “chilly” feel won’t be present, and you can turn down the thermostat setting to a more sensible temperature.

Some decent summary info here as to why humidity control is a good idea.

My old place used to sit at around 65-75% RH. I was running a dehumidifier at times to keep it that low...

[Matt_N]

25c

We have our wireless stat set to 20c in the nipper's room to maintain the temp there, downstairs is normally a degree or two cooler, I can't stand hot centrally heated houses.

We do have a woodburner in the lounge though, I'll quite often crack the windows so that it doesn't get too hot in there though.

[RizzoTheRat]

p1esk said:

PositronicRay said:

dvs_dave said:

The root cause of people cranking up the central heating because it “feels” chilly is almost certainly because the relative humidity inside the house is too low. For typical UK winter weather you should try and keep the relative humidity (Rh) around 40-45%.

At that level the “chilly” feel won’t be present, and you can turn down the thermostat setting to a more sensible temperature.

Some decent summary info here as to why humidity control is a good idea.

I'm not sure about this "dry air makes you feel cold" thing, willing to be educated though.

Me too, I shall read the link with interest. I know that comfort conditions are not simply a matter of temperature, the amount and nature of air movement can also affect the issue, and humidity also sems likely to play a part.

Thanks to dvs_dave for the link.

Interesting. I get that high temperatures and high humidity feels hotter as your sweat doesn't evaporate as well, but what's the mechanism at low humidity? Does the skin dry out causing your body to sweat a bit, which in turn evaporates and cools you? Heat Index tables only seem to look at higher humidity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_index

[fastbikes76]

My garage is warmer than most peoples houses

[dvs_dave]

RizzoTheRat said:

p1esk said:

PositronicRay said:

dvs_dave said:

The root cause of people cranking up the central heating because it “feels” chilly is almost certainly because the relative humidity inside the house is too low. For typical UK winter weather you should try and keep the relative humidity (Rh) around 40-45%.

At that level the “chilly” feel won’t be present, and you can turn down the thermostat setting to a more sensible temperature.

Some decent summary info here as to why humidity control is a good idea.

I'm not sure about this "dry air makes you feel cold" thing, willing to be educated though.

Me too, I shall read the link with interest. I know that comfort conditions are not simply a matter of temperature, the amount and nature of air movement can also affect the issue, and humidity also sems likely to play a part.

Thanks to dvs_dave for the link.

Interesting. I get that high temperatures and high humidity feels hotter as your sweat doesn't evaporate as well, but what's the mechanism at low humidity? Does the skin dry out causing your body to sweat a bit, which in turn evaporates and cools you? Heat Index tables only seem to look at higher humidity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_index

Basically, dryer air means that moisture from your skin evaporates much more readily, cooling your skin in the process. Your skin is always perspiring to some extent, even if you don’t feel as though you’re sweating.

Having the Rh set correctly absolutely improves comfort levels, and it fells a lot less chilly. Too much humidity though is bad and comes with its own set of problems. So if you have high humidity you should try and get it down to the optimal range.

In the US (where I’m currently based) virtually all homes have a whole home humidifier running during the heating season. Granted, the weather is much more extreme so the effects are more pronounced, but the principles are the same and applicable anywhere where you have a heating season.

Edited by dvs_dave on Monday 29th January 19:24

[mickmcpaddy]

Coin Slot. said:

Mine too in most rooms, but 25c in the lounge.

And to be fair you can't expect people to change the heating in the house for a random tradesman.

When the carpet fitters changed our lounge carpet last year they were dripping in sweat, we have underfloor heating and when they pulled the old carpet up it was like a whole new level of heat hitting them. Poor sods

Why would you not expect to change the heating setting for them, it can't have been nice to have heavily sweating tradesmen in your house. If anyone has ever got up on a Sunday morning when its quite chilly, cranked the heating up and then gone out in the afternoon and done something strenuous like gardening etc. I'll bet the first thing you say when you go back in is fk me its hot in here and turn the boiler off.

I understand that people who sit around doing nothing will feel quite chilly but someone who has to move a solid oak double bed and a full wardrobe across the bedroom, rip floors up and start chiseling a rock solid brick out isn't going to be as chilly as you, its called a bit of consideration.