Topic: Heating on or off?

[scrapvalue]

Get yourself a big woman! Like 300 to 400lbs.
She will keep the house warm in the winter, and will give you shade in the summer.

[Retro Rocket]

Get yourself a big woman! Like 300 to 400lbs.
She will keep the house warm in the winter, and will give you shade in the summer.

Only problem with that is you have to roll them in flour to find the wet spot.....

Mick

[Stev-o]

I'd install a fireplace!

[Damfino]

I have 4 of them, all unusable.    All of them need to be inspected and repaired. I don't think they are sized for wood burning. Coal was king when this house was built and I don't think wood can be burned in them. They're beautiful though! 

[Stev-o]

I have 4 of them, all unusable.    All of them need to be inspected and repaired. I don't think they are sized for wood burning. Coal was king when this house was built and I don't think wood can be burned in them. They're beautiful though! 

Schmt - Sounds like you've got some projects waiting for you!

Here, I'll help:

http://www.doityourself.com/scat/fireplaceshearthsand

[Alan F.]

Only problem with that is you have to roll them in flour to find the wet spot.....

That trick works for finding oil leaks on your bike too.   

[Damfino]

I have 4 of them, all unusable.   All of them need to be inspected and repaired. I don't think they are sized for wood burning. Coal was king when this house was built and I don't think wood can be burned in them. They're beautiful though!  

Schmt - Sounds like you've got some projects waiting for you!

Here, I'll help:

http://www.doityourself.com/scat/fireplaceshearthsand

Man Stev-o, I've got about every home repair forum ever put on the internet saved in my favorites!
What I really need is the crew from This Old House to show up on my doorstep some morning!

Tommy! Richard! Norm! Roger! Kevin! Come right in! Just throw your tools down anywhere and get started! 

[BobbyR]

I know what you mean, though not sure the small amount of heat in this application would make much use of this property. I've read, even considered it for my garage, a box of some sort with black back/sides and glass, and a transparent cover facing south to absorb the solar energy from the sun. A small fan circulates the hot air over rocks which store it, then give off the heat at night. Opted for an electric heater considering the limited use during the winter months... and a lot easier.   Besides, I'm not sure how much sunlight you have in merry England, let alone in the winter.

It think kilns use a different sort of brick, firebrick, which is lighter and more porous. We have it in the firebox of our fireplace. They at least got that right 70 years ago.

My friend built a unit like that with Beer cans painted flat black and a fan. It works really well.

[Spanner 1]

No central heating, which a lot of us posters here grew up with builds character !!.... freezing bedrooms and only a livingroom fireplace for heat in the house was commonplace/ is commonplace  in the U.K., Ireland... only the 'posh' folks had central heating ( gas/oil/ coal boiler with waterfilled radiators circulated by a pump ).. and were lacking in testosterone as a result compared to us commoners...... ( but they did stay warm ! ).

[rhos1355]

I spent some time in Ireland in the '60s and at that time heating meant all the kids (usually about 6 per family plus cousins and friends) jumping into grandma's bed to stay warm. With Grandma still in it........sure, never mind she'd been dead for the last 3 years!!

[rhos1355]

On a more serious note I'd like to share my un-scientific findings with you. When I left the cottage yesterday morning I set the boiler on minimum, just ticking over. I got back about 10.5 hours later and the place was nice and cosy, with an outside temp of -6°C. The interior was not boiling hot, but I could sit in there comfortably with a jumper on. The thermometer on my clock said 17°C which is fine. Went to bed and about half-way thru had to chuck the covers off. So I guess I'll just keep it there, chuntering away on minimum.
Just wish I was clever enough to do all the calcs to prove what you guys are saying is right.

[dave500]

please explain heating?we have to heat a cold pie but not beer,umm?what is a jumper?

[Sam Green Racing]

Get yourself a big woman! Like 300 to 400lbs.
She will keep the house warm in the winter, and will give you shade in the summer.

And she'll eat you out of house and home

Sam.

[Sam Green Racing]

Get yourself a big woman! Like 300 to 400lbs.
She will keep the house warm in the winter, and will give you shade in the summer.

Only problem with that is you have to roll them in flour to find the wet spot.....

Mick

 

[dave500]

one crumbed fat lady please.

[rhos1355]

please explain heating?we have to heat a cold pie but not beer,umm?what is a jumper?

Don't you geezers get bored with brilliant hot sunshine every fcuken day??

[Retro Rocket]

please explain heating?we have to heat a cold pie but not beer,umm?what is a jumper?

Don't you geezers get bored with brilliant hot sunshine every fcuken day??

NO.......

Mick

[andy750]

Get yourself some wall tapestries and insulate your walls like the Scottish castles used to do.

Sounds like you are having too much fun there...no snow in Boston 

[Sam Green Racing]

No central heating, which a lot of us posters here grew up with builds character !!.... freezing bedrooms and only a livingroom fireplace for heat in the house was commonplace/ is commonplace  in the U.K., Ireland... only the 'posh' folks had central heating ( gas/oil/ coal boiler with waterfilled radiators circulated by a pump ).. and were lacking in testosterone as a result compared to us commoners...... ( but they did stay warm ! ).

Still is like that in my house. I'm coal fired (plus logs) but use electric heaters during the week.
I leave an oil filled radiator on low during the day. When I get home around 6pm the temp is around 11c. I turn it on full and bring in a convector heater as well. About 2 hours later it's gone up to about 15c. I then take the convector into the bathroom for 15mins before taking a bath.
When I'm done, the convector goes into the bedroom and I fill two hot water bottles and place in bed.
After a few cans of Boddingtons, turn down the oil filled rad and turn off the convector and before you know it it's 6.30 am and bloody freezing again ....go to work very quickley where it's warm and don't cost me anything.

Sam.

[rhos1355]

Sam, no wonder you don't want to retire; no more free heat if you do.

[Bob Wessner]

After a few cans of Boddingtons..
Sam.

Not to derail the thread, but Sam, recently tried my first Boddingtons.. nice beer for sure. Plan to pick-up more. 

[BobbyR]

Get yourself a big woman! Like 300 to 400lbs.
She will keep the house warm in the winter, and will give you shade in the summer.

Only problem with that is you have to roll them in flour to find the wet spot.....

Mick

 

That is my fat sister in law. We went to the beach and every time she tried to come out of the water a bunch of people from Greenpeace would push her back in yelling, go back, go back.

[Retro Rocket]

Get yourself a big woman! Like 300 to 400lbs.
She will keep the house warm in the winter, and will give you shade in the summer.

Only problem with that is you have to roll them in flour to find the wet spot.....

Mick

 

That is my sister in law. We went to the beach and everything she tried to some out of the water a bunch of people from Greenpeace would push her back in yelling, go back, go back.

I would like it to go on the record that i was "told" about this method....never actually had to do it myself.....

Mick

[BobbyR]

At one time I was going to buy my Father in Laws a solid brick home with plaster walls. There was no insulation and due to the wood lath under plaster walls, no air space to blow in insulation. The place burned up oil at a furious rate. He had put in thermal windows with helped a bit.

I did some research and old school Masonry has almost no R value, you get it warm on one side and it migrates outside. The only fixes were:

 To tear out all the walls, put in studs, with normal fiberglass insulation and sheet rock over it. Which is a big messy and expensive job.

The other option was to place insulation over the brick and put up a brick veneer to retain the original look. This also had a big plus. The brick would heat up and could not migrate outside due to the insulation. This brick became a huge thermal mass which would retain heat and release the heat back into the house. It was elegant but again too expensive.

The neighborhood did not support that type of investment.       

[dave500]

we have to sit around a giant ice block to keep cool,throw some more ice cubes on will ya retro