BS: Central heating bust - am freezing

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: bubblyrat
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 12:26 PM

I wouldn"t think of living ANYWHERE that was cold in winter without having a wood-burning stove in the house. Relying on modern technology,and gas & electricity is sheer folly !!In the meantime ,use candles by all means,but try putting a candle on a plate or saucer,and then covering it with a "terra cotta" flower- pot,if you still have that kind of thing in America or Canada !!It will act like a small stove,and several of them in the same room will be quite effective. Also, if the candle falls over,it can"t set fire to anything. Be careful with space-heaters if they burn oil or gas---If you tape up your windows,as someone has suggested,you might get a build-up of CO,or CO 2, which could be most unpleasant !! Get a wood-stove next year,and spend your summers chopping logs !!

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 12:32 PM

wool socks with cotton over them

That's the wrong order. The cotton is for wicking any moisture and for keeping the wool socks from itching. Cotton by itself when it is wet won't keep you warm, but the wool remedies that (this applies in mountain climbing and hiking, etc. In the house you might deal with a little persperation). And like I said, the comfort of cotton versus wool against your skin is the reason for wearing layered socks.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Charley Noble
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 12:36 PM

Another quick fix would be if the chimney were stuffed up with soot, and just needs to be shoveled out. A dirty job but a clean chimney is essential.

Glad you're still hanging in there.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Bee
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 02:00 PM

Cotton socks make my feet cold even with wool over them. Wool-acrylic mixes are better, for me, anyway, next the skin, and not itchy. Did I mention it was -21C here this morning?

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Partridge
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 02:38 PM

Thanks again for your input. I'm lucky to work in a warm building so the days are fine. A good friend brought over a heater, I'll use it tomorrow to blow warm air into the bathroom - the morning shower will be less of an ordeal(plugged in outside the bathroom)

Kendall - the friend who checked out my heating is a corgi registered plumber and has offered me a good deal when the funds arrive - he is not in a position to do a freebie. I'm sure he checked everything and the age of the system goes against it. Its my own fault I've known for some time that it was on its way out.(hard lesson)

I'm sat here with silk thermals, tee-shirt, PJ's - cotton, big fluffy dressing gown, socks, and big furry slippers and a red hat.
We might have snow tonight - that might bring the temp up.

I think I've taken a basic need like warmth for granted in the past. I hope I will treasure it when I get it back.

Now today would have been my Dads birthday, I will warm up with the many happy memories and lots of Scottish folk music, luckily my house though cold is detatched, the volume will be on high!

Mild weather hopefully is on the way - monday a high of 10 - I'll get the bikini on then...........maybe not

love

Pat x

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: nutty
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 04:07 PM

Don't forget the carbohydrates Pat. Essential for Northern living and guarenteed to provide inner warmth.
I recommend Steak and Kidney Pie with a suet pastry crust or mince and dumplings, both served with lots of mashed potatoes and gravy and of course a good helping of fish and chips for supper.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Partridge
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 04:10 PM

Ooooh Hazel, that sounds great, mmmmmmmm

pat xx

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: wysiwyg
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 05:15 PM

And you're sure your pipes are not going to freeze?

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Scrump
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 05:54 PM

How do you centrally heat your bust - an electric bra?

...ah... sorry, wrong end of stick...

... I'll get me coat.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 06:07 PM

Whereabouts are you Pat?

Rhiannon

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: GUEST,meself
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 06:29 PM

"The worst thing is getting out of the shower, which I'm mentally gearing myself up for in about an hours time."

Let's see if I understand this: you're in the shower, you've got your computer in there and you're composing a message on the internet, and you're going to be in there for another hour? Please tell me you don't have the water thundering down over your head ... !

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 10:17 PM

How many ways can you think of to spend time in heated buildings?

visit friends
go to the library and read
become active in a church or similar organization
volunteer at the hospital
etc

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Wordsmith
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 12:41 AM

Yes, I'm sure of the order, for me at least; wool socks allow your feet to breathe, presuming you're not allergic or they're not too scratchy. The cotton then holds in the heat your feet give off. I used to cross-country ski with this combination and never had a problem with blisters or cold feet. Just trying to offer alternatives. ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: mg
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 01:02 AM

If it is that cold, wouldn't you want to be wearing heavy sweaters and jackets and leggings or pants instead of regular night clothes...mg

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 01:39 AM

I'd quite like to know
(a) location (within about 50 miles would do, 100 miles if USA)
(b) outside daytime temperature
(c) inside daytime temperature (with the gas fire on, and temperature stabilised)
(d) outside night temperature
(e) inside night temperature (without the gas fire on)
(f) inside night temperature (with the gas fire on and temperature stabilised).
(g) is there a chimney/grate other than the one the gas fire uses
(h) are there pets/children present (this affects the viability of various types of heating).
(i) what types of bedding are available - and are there additional sleeping bags available.


I do rather get the feeling that we are flapping around without essential facts here...

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Partridge
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 01:47 AM

mg - it all in the layers, thin layers are better than thick at keeping you warm.

zany mouse - I'm in Yorkshire

meself - LOL

leeneia - I only spend time in the house in the evenings, I'm out either at work or somewhere warm during the day

Its much warmer this morning, I don't think there was a frost last night. The forecast says we might have snow which will be nice.

warm thoughts to you all,

pat x

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Partridge
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 01:58 AM

I'd quite like to know
(a) location (within about 50 miles would do, 100 miles if USA)
Mirfield, West Yorkshire
(b) outside daytime temperature
Its not frosty this morning, so I think 1 or 2 degrees
(c) inside daytime temperature (with the gas fire on, and temperature stabilised)
well its warmer thatn outside
(d) outside night temperature
its been minus something for the past few nights
(e) inside night temperature (without the gas fire on)
no idea
(f) inside night temperature (with the gas fire on and temperature stabilised).
again no idea but warmwe than outside
(g) is there a chimney/grate other than the one the gas fire uses
no
(h) are there pets/children present (this affects the viability of various types of heating).
a cat
(i) what types of bedding are available - and are there additional sleeping bags available
13.5 tog duvet

I'm sorry I cant be precise as I dont have a thermometer.

Its definitely warmer, so i think I'm over the worst

cheers

pat x

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 02:47 AM

Well, like I said, the order doesn't make any sense if the wool is against the skin. Maybe you've been getting less result than possible with the way you've done it. I'm not just stating this as a random mountain climber, this was chapter and verse in the mountaineering basic climbing course offered by the Mountaineers, based in Seattle (I took the course and taught for several years with the Everett branch). Here's a citation for you: Mountaineering, Freedom of the Hills has been revised many times, so they probably recommend gortex sox by now, but for many years it was cotton on the inside, wool outside, all inside the climbing boots.

Pat, we have an "open concept" house in the living/kitchen/front room area, but the bedrooms can be closed off to conserve heat. And my closet it large enough that if I decided to evict my clothing and install a cot and a double mattress, they'd fill it but the room would stay warm for sleepers. I have one of those oil-filled radiators and it adds a few degrees to the garage for the dogs. If it got too cold here, the dogs would come in, along with their heater. The cats could hang out in one room, I'm sure the dogs would enjoy a night alongside the beds. (No dogs on the beds! No way! They're bed hogs! It'll be a really really cold night in Texas to be a "two dog night.")

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 03:33 AM

Would you like a couple of small fan heaters then?

Rhiannon (who has no idea where Mirfield is but we are on the South Yorks border.)

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: GUEST,jackfrost
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 03:59 AM

"I'm sat here with silk thermals, tee-shirt, PJ's-cotton,big fluffy dressing gown, socks, and big furry slippers and a red hat"

Sit in a folk club for warmth, you'll not look out of place there dressed like that.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: GUEST,Richard Bridge elsewhere
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 04:55 AM

Cat will be safe from gas fire so run gas fire 24/7 and worry about bill later. House should stabilise at at least 16 degrees which is not hazardous and indeed the minimum workplace temparature under the Shops Offices and Factories Act (or at least it was when I last looked).

Borrow a sleeping bag. When not in bed, sit in sleeping bag near gas fire. When in bed, sleep in sleeping bag with duvet wrapped round the lot.

Wash sleeping bag before giving back.

Go to folk club, pick up heating engineer. He will keep you warm (nudge, nudge) until he is obligated enough to fix heating free!

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: GUEST,JTT
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 05:42 AM

I have a gadget sent from Japan called a kotatsu (search for kotatsu on wikipedia and you'll find an article about it). It's a table with a quilt over the frame and the leave set over that. Under the quilt there's a heater. And there's another padded quilt underneath to sit on.

It's incredibly warm - somehow, sitting under this, with your bottom half warmed, keeps all of you completely warm.

Only trouble is that I have to use a transformer to plug the heater into - I haven't got one that works for 220-240 volts, and don't know if you can get such a thing. So I'll often just put a hot water bottle in underneath and keep my tootsies on that.

There's a guy selling them on eBay, not too dear, sends them from Japan.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: GUEST, Grimmy
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 06:03 AM

Chuck a pile of banknotes into a bucket and set fire to them. Not only will it keep you warm but it's cheaper than paying for gas.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Charley Noble
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 08:52 AM

Errr, if the lady can't afford to buy a thermometer (which I think would be a high priority item, especially a minimum/maximum one) then she can't afford to buy much of anything.

I'm guessing that youre dwelling unit is a single floor unit flat rather than a townhouse unit, surrounded on each side by other units that are heated.

I would certainly advise keeping the gas fireplace on as long as possible.

There must be some emergency service agencies, charity or otherwise, that might be taped for help. That would require enough energy to focus on them and follow through on their application procedures. That may not be easy if you're working during the day and hunkered down for the rest of the time.

Keep us posted.

So far I've resisted dredging up appropriate topical songs, but I'm tempted to post some from my vast collection.

Warm regards,
Landlady's Daughter

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Partridge
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 01:07 PM

I've had the fire on all day and although I've not yet taken my coat off, its not too bad.

We have had a little snow, but nothing to shake a stick at. The outside temp has warmed up. Its those who live in the south that have had the worst of it this time.

Its not that I can't afford a thermometer, I just never thought of getting one.

I live in an open plan detached house. A new boiler will be quite an outlay, but it wont be long until I get one - its top priority at the moment

Thanks for the offer of some heaters, if its still cold here at the weekend I'm going to stay with a friend - who has a very warm house and lots of red wine!

I dont feel cold when I'm in bed - quite toasty, so I'll leave the heating engineer on the sofa thanks!

Just off to put my PF's and dressing gown into the tumble drier.
I've got a pork chop in the oven and am going to treat myself to some chips.
I'm counting my blessings
Thanks for all your input.........bloody hell a power surge - I'm too hot!!!

Pat xx

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 02:21 PM

When you go away for the weekend at least leave the gas fire on low - a flood from frozen pipes you don't need right now....

Have you got insurance? Can your friendly plumber construct a believable "accident" scenario with the boiler?

Does your friendly plumber know of (or can he find out) people who are upgrading central heatings? When my late wife insisted on "upgrading" ours (it's never been right since) we had trouble getting rid of an old old boiler that was built like a tank and the only thing that was dysfunctional was the clock (or was it the thermostat) - but it worked fine if you just turned it on and off by hand.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Ebbie
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 02:47 PM

Last winter when I moved into a drafty, previously-unheated, cement-floored apartment I was cold, as I said. I brought in four heaters- two of them were the oil-filled radiators, one was a small ceramic heater that blew heat around and one was an oscillating tower that used radiant heat. The tower put out the most heat, by the way.

I wore a coat and hat indoors. But I was still cold. Friends offered me haven but I had a dog and a cat and didn't feel free to leave them. I was fine overnight but the daytime was a misery. The temperature outdoors was in the teens (F) with a strong wind.

The apartment is one level, flat-roofed, attached only by one wall to a small apartment house. No heat reaches the apartment from the outside.

It FELT like it was freezing but the indoor temperature was actually in the mid-50s- I DO have a thermometer. I know the difference- years ago I shared a mountain cabin one winter with two brothers, Until my brother mended it, we could see the outdoors through the one-wall construction and every morning the water bucket was skimmed over - or worse - with ice.

Not to downplay feeling cold- hypothermia can set in at lower than optimum temperatures.

All this to say that when one does NOT have a thermometer, the chances are qute good that the temperature is not freezing. Last winter it was irritating but also oddly comforting to me every time I saw that the thermometer read 50 degrees.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: GUEST,burninglove
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 10:57 AM

Central heating "bust"

Must get one of those myself.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 01:43 PM

If you're going to be burning a gas heater all of this time, you MUST spend about $50 to get yourself a good Carbon Monoxide detector. You don't want us arguing over the poorly worded title on the "Obit: Partridge - Pushing up the Daisies" thread!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 01:45 PM

SRS - I like that one!

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: GUEST,Seiri Omaar
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 01:59 PM

If you have a window facing east, leave the curtains WIDE open. I get quite a nice natural heating blast every morning...
And cook stuff like a mad fiend.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: GUEST,Dickey
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 02:11 PM

I like those oil filled electric heaters that look like and old fashioned steam radiator. They can heat a fairly large room using a 15 amp receptacle.

You can buy them for a little as $15 here in the US

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: GUEST,Dickey
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 02:12 PM

Oops that $35, not $15

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 02:14 PM

Guest, Dickey - I've got a couple (I'm in the UK) and they are a reasonable price here and very effective and cheap to run.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Ebbie
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 02:23 PM

They cost more in some places, like in Alaska. I paid $65 for mine.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 02:39 PM

I have one of the oil filled radiators that was about $50 at Home Depot a year or two ago. I use it in the dogs' stall in the garage in really cold weather. I chose it because it doesn't have any moving parts or glowing wires or flame. Put one of those in the smallest room in the house and you'll sleep toasty.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: robomatic
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 06:31 PM

Well, I had a boiler failure over the past few months that led to a busted pipe and a flooded kitchen. It is being replaced as I write this.

In the interim I'm hanging drop lights in the below-sink cupboards where the vulnerable pipes are. I purchased an electric fire that will provide 'some' local relief.

I still have to crawl into a frigid little space to fix one last leak and determine if the heating loop has any busts in it.

Meanwhile, in a normal set of clothing one loses about 10% of heat out the hands (due to high surface area) and up to 25% out your neck and head (because the human body maintains blood to the brain until the end).

Turtlenecks, scarves, and headcoverings work great. My sis sent me a sock full of rice, you warm it in the microwave and wear it around your neck. (In extremus, boil and eat).

Alcohol may make you feel warm, but it dilates the blood vessels and your body gives up heat to the atmosphere.

Caffeine may make you feel cold, but it is constricting blood vessels and making your fingers and toes cold, but your body as a hole is not losing heat.

I drink lots of soup and I get it down hot! In the evening some green tea.

Supposedly the new boiler is over 90% efficient, much better than the old one, so hopefully I can recoup some portion of this major investment in the coming seasons not that our gas rates have gone up.


Good luck to you Partridge!

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Bill D
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 09:28 PM

I have an oil-filled electric radiator right next to me in the 'office'...it keeps me quite warm when at Mudcat, even on low, and I can put my hand on one end of it (away from actual oil-filled parts) after being in the 'other' parts of the house that we don't heat as much now that gas prices are up.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: GUEST,Dickey
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 11:55 PM

So the oil filled radiators are a hit eh?

I once had an 1885 vintage, non insulated house with 5 efficiency type rental units in it. Each one was fitted with a window AC with integral gas heat. After 2 years the heating part quit so I bought the oil filled radiators and they actually worked better even with no fan. I think they were cheaper to operate too.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 04:39 AM

If you have access to a land-rover or tough van, keep an eye out on local free-ads for electric storage heaters that people are taking out and throwing away - charge the bricks with heat overnight on cheap rate electricity. They are F*** heavy to move though.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: autolycus
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 02:50 PM

I agree about the layers of clothing and a hat. Worked form me when I had an outdoor bookstall that I ran through winters of 86 - 91 in East Anglia till c.8p.m. I think it was the hat.

    Also something that's barely been touched on - food. Food creates heat,as anyone whose gone a long period without eating will know.

    So eat.






       Ivor

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Alice
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 05:15 PM

Pat, you can make a tent to sleep in by draping sheets over your kitchen table. Put a mattress or pillows
on the floor under the table, heat near the opening of the "tent" but not close enough to catch the sheets on
fire. Sleeping in a small, curtained space will keep you warmer.

Alice in Montana

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Alba
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 05:22 PM

Pat...Just wanted to send you some virtual {{ WARM HUGS}}} and to say I hope you are spending the weekend with some good Freinds in front of a roaring fire and sleeping in a bedroom with the central heating cranking and getting spoiled rotten...**smile**
Love and warmest Wishes
Jude

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: GUEST,Sparticus
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 07:22 PM

Pat, wear a vest
If your boiler's gone west,
You don't want the cold
To get on your chest.
Your friends have suggested,
If you're interested,
Useful ideas
That are well tried and tested.
Eat lots of food,
Don't sleep in the nude,
The last thing you want
Is to be a cool dude.
Get dressed for bed,
Wear a hat on your head
Forget the PJ's
Put a coat on instead.
A sock full of rice,
If warmed, can be nice,
Worn round your neck
To ward off the ice.
If you're of that bent
Your nights could be spent
As snug as a bug,
Upstairs in a tent.
Thanks, Richard Bridge,
For advising partridge
In her hour of need,
When her home's like a fridge.

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: katlaughing
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 07:55 PM

Well done, poet!

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 08:34 PM

I'm glad you didn't need our heaters because - guess what - our heating packed in tonight! Hopefully we can get it fixed soon and the REALLY cold spell seems to have passed.

Rhiannon

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Partridge
Date: 13 Feb 07 - 01:36 PM

Hello, Im back. That poem is brill - thanks.
I've spent a few days with a good friend with good central heating. The temperature has risen considerably and I'm not cold anymore. I've taken lots of your advice, and I think the warmth of your concern has helped most of all.

I have a new boiler in the pipeline, so hopefully some time in march I'll be sorted.

Its valentines day tomorrow, I send my love to you all, thanks,

pat

PS no one has ever writ me a poem before............big thanks!

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Feb 07 - 01:48 PM

Glad to hear that there's a plan in the works.

Good luck!

I'll post an appropriate song from my collection when we all are ready to laugh about this situation. I and my feller tenants once spent two months in a five-unit building with a dead furnace that the landlord refused to fix. The month it broke down was late October and the location was central Michigan. We used our rent to buy space heaters and plastic for the windows but a judge ordered us out in December. The judge was right. By that time it was a dangerous building and most of us had time to find somewhere else to go. The landlord didn't get the back rent and subsequently tore down the building.

Warm regards,
Landlady's Daughter

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: John J
Date: 13 Feb 07 - 04:37 PM

Partridge, has your Corgi person said precicely what the boiler fault is? If so, please tell. What is the make & model of the boiler? You say it doesn't fire up and also that it is quite old. It will almost certainly have a pilot light, can you see if it's 'on'? Has your Corgi person disconnected / disabled the boiler? If he has, do you remember if the pilot light was 'on' before? If he hasn't it would suggest that it is still safe (he is legally obliged to disconnect the boiler if it is dangerous). Did the boiler make any funny noises before stopping working? Could you describe these noises?

Lots of questions I know, but they may help with a diagnosis that will find a cure until your new boiler is fitted.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Central heating bust - am freezing
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 13 Feb 07 - 04:46 PM

We had our heating fixed today! Pat, British Gas fixed it for a set price of £146. It's a guaranteed price covering all parts and labour. I'm not sure if it would cover something like a new boiler but it might be worth checking.

I was very impressed with both the price and the service.

Keep warm

Rhiannon