Saturday 18 February 2017

An Update on Heating and Fashion

A week ago, I told you about our problems with the boiler and the resulting lack of heating and hot water. We thought we had a temporary solution and were all set to discuss which way to go next, when my upstairs neighbour's son suggested he let someone else look at the boiler, so that we could choose between at least two offers.

This sounded reasonable to me, and so on Wednesday, another expert checked out our boiler. 
He said the repairwork so far had been done well. He also said that he was not of the opinion that the whole boiler needed to be replaced - it is not that old, after all (around 15 years).  He suggested we make a little adjustment in the setting of the boiler as well as in the way we use our radiators. 
Apparently, it is much better for the boiler to just leave the radiators on at all times (not on full blast, of course), so that water can circulate. What we had been doing - turning the radiators completely off when we weren't at home, and then cranking them all up more or less at the same time, giving the boiler a sort of "shock" reaction - was not good, it seems, and did not save us any money. If the radiators are slightly open to circulation, pressure inside the boiler is at a constant level all the time, which makes for a much healthier boiler and better regulation of room temperature.

Again, it all sounded reasonable enough to me. I am glad we do not need to fork out a lot of money for a new boiler or extensive repair work. Actually, it is less about the money and more about the upheaval; installing a new boiler would mean work on the roof as well, since the pipe goes through there, and possibly days without hot water.

So, we are sorted, and I have instantly put the new "heating policy" in action in my flat. It feels odd to leave the house with the radiators slightly on, but I suppose it is better on the long run.

In the meantime, I have been keeping warm wearing wintry outfits.

One is a padded Barbour coat in a nice dark shade of olive green. It is a hand-me-down from my sister's colleague. She has given me items from her wardrobe before, and they are always expensive brands which I probably would not buy for myself, and in excellent condition. Thank you, Andrea!
I apologise for the dark picture. You probably can't make out the rest of the outfit; it is a pair of charcoal grey tweed winter shorts, warm pair of tights and the boots I nearly always wear in winter.



The other outfit is a very soft woolly jumper I bought back in September - at Aldi, my local supermarket, of all places! I really like the softness, the colour and the pattern, and there happened to be already  a pair of trousers in exactly the same colour in my wardrobe.


That's it from me for today - an update on the heating situation as well as a fashion post, something I have not done in a long time.

13 comments:

  1. I like both outfits on you but the purple is my favorite. Such a pretty pattern and I like how it is at your neckline and continues across the shoulders. Pretty!
    Glad your boiler problem has been straightened out, not fun being cold!

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    1. Thank you, Kay!
      Oh, I'm glad the heating trouble is sorted, too. I hated the thought of possibly going through another chilly spell and not being able to use my own shower in the mornings!

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  2. I'm glad there is an idea which can help you not need to purchase a new boiler. It sounds reasonable to me, too, and I hope it will work. What nice new fashion statements. I like them both. I've always wanted a Barbour jacket but wouldn't buy one myself. I'm happy this one decided it wanted to come and live with you.

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    1. So far, we've had no more trouble, so I hope our new heating policy works!
      I used to have a Barbour coat about 20 years ago, the classical waxed one, but at some stage I got rid of it. This one is different and I it is just right with the kind of weather we are having at the moment.

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  3. It would never enter my head to turn radiators off in winter... But then where I live now we have distant-controlled heating and even if there is a knob on each radiator I don't think it makes much difference what I do with those :)

    I like the sweater and purple trousers, purple is a colour I wear a lot too.

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    1. Remotely controlled heating would probably be a little too cold for my liking most of the time :-)
      Thank you, Monica! You have a very good eye for colours and combining them, judging from the few pictures of your clothes I have seen so far, and especially from how you have furnished and decorated your flat.

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  4. Your heating is probably like our cooling, it takes more to cool the house down from HOT so we leave it going 24 hours. More efficient in the long run.
    Love the outfits!

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    1. We have been getting more and more hot summers here over the past decade or so, but I don't know anybody who has a cooling system in their house - not even our office building has one, except for the rooms where the computer servers are, of course.
      Thank you, glad you like the outfits!

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  5. I hate to be cold or damp, so you have BIG sympathy from me!

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    1. Thank you! I hate it, too - it takes me AGES to feel warm again when I've been exposed to the cold for too long.

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  6. Sorry to be late in commenting: I missed your post. I'm glad to read that your boiler problems have been solved. For the ten years I lived in New Zealand during the Scottish winter my radiators were never switched off completely although the boiler operated on a timer as it does when I'm living in the house.

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    1. No need to apologise, Graham, I know how busy you are!
      The radiators here have a frost-protection setting, and when I am not here over the weekend in winter, I set them to that. The radiators are then supposed to turn themselves up when temperature drops below a certain point, to prevent ice forming in the pipes and bursting them.

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    2. Yes mine have frost protection too but, thinking about it, it's a bit different when the house is vacant for a long period. It would get damp and musty if it wasn't heated properly. Of course my boiler is only heating my house and is outside so has automatic frost protection built in. Extreme temperatures are few and far between here on the coast on a relatively small island. Frost is rare as are temperatures above 20℃ (unfortunately).

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