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Post by shades on Nov 15, 2019 5:20:52 GMT
Had rusted pipes in the hallway water meter cupboard, so decided to go the whole hog and replace the underfloor heating valves as well before they started leaking too. It's not super hot yet, but it's nice to not feel the cool autumn air at home It's not unknown for me to wear a T-shirt in winter!
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Post by Bean on Nov 15, 2019 8:07:10 GMT
Oooh did you do that yourself? Very handy - let me know if you've got a spare afternoon as I have a list somewhere...
I've never lived anywhere with underfloor heating - do you prefer it to central heating or is it just what came with the property?
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Post by shades on Nov 15, 2019 12:24:28 GMT
I didn't do it myself. I shy away from everything but the most basic plumbing work. It took the guys a few hours to take out the rusty pipes and the old valves. I'd still have been faffing around trying to figure out what to do. I'm pleased that we can easily close a valve if necessary. At the end of winter, it's often too hot to have the heating on full blast. Underfloor heating is the modern standard. All new apartments have it. It's the most economical way of heating every apartment. Of course, you can choose not to use it. Once you've had underfloor heating, you'd never use any other system. There are no cold spots. You don't have to huddle up next to the radiator. You can lie on the bathroom floor if you're feeling a little chilly. Gotta get there before the cats, though
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Post by Bean on Nov 16, 2019 8:36:03 GMT
It sounds great, and no ugly radiators either. I think I always just imagined it spending ages heating up the space under the floor and all the flooring material before it got to the room, so being pretty inefficient, but there is no experience or science behind that idea! The ground floor of our house is concrete, so we'd probably have to have the floor raised to have it here.
Is it always gas, or could it be electric too? I'm thinking of it being powered by solar panels...
How are the cats by the way? And the pigs?
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Post by shades on Nov 16, 2019 12:14:09 GMT
It didn't take long to heat up: <24 hours. Once it's up and running, you don't switch it off. It's not uneconomical to do that. And the floor doesn't lose heat dramatically like a radiator. Now I'll be digging out my T-shirts.
The floor layer holding the pipes has a membrane under the pipes to stop downward heat loss, and the upper layer of the floor is made of different concrete to allow the heat to pass. The typical floor covering is special wooden floors or tiles. Both of these let the heat radiate through very well.
Gas is used to heat the water because it's the cheapest. Electricity is much more expensive. You can also have "dry" underfloor heating that doesn't use water pipes. But I've never seen it anywhere. You could use solar energy if it's reliable enough, I guess. That could be a problem in winter though.
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 16, 2019 20:57:00 GMT
We have propane, here, which is more expensive than gas, a bit less expensive than home heat oil, and definitely less expensive than electricity. Too bad we're not allowed to put solar panels on our roofs, or we would have done that. We have a perfect set up for it, too. Condo complexes have a lot of rules, and since this one is free-standing houses, it has a lot fewer rules, but no solar is one of them. I would love to have heated floors installed, but don't know what we'd do with the furniture, kitchen cabinets, etc., that are on the floors. In a new house, yes. I'd love to have warm floors underfoot, and hubby would love it even more
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Post by Bean on Nov 19, 2019 9:11:07 GMT
Shades, do you still have the underfloor heating turning down at night, even if it stays on at a low level?
Maybe you and hub could just get heated slippers, 3pigggles?!
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Post by shades on Nov 19, 2019 14:09:42 GMT
Well, it's much colder at night, so we don't want it to be chilly. I've lived in an apartment without underfloor heating. It was awful. So cold during the night, even with hundreds of bed covers!
It just works beautifully when it's running at the same constant temperature. You never have to suffer temperature drops like you do with an on/off radiator system. It's on now until mid-April and I won't be tinkering with it.
I've seen some modern systems where there is a thermostat for individual rooms but that must be quite expensive to install.
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 19, 2019 21:44:52 GMT
Bean, you may be kidding, but we can get them, lol There are heat pads to put in gloves, shoes, etc. that stay warm up to 8 hours. We really don't need those. The heated floors would be nice for getting out of a warm bed in the winter, and putting our nice warm feet on those really cold floors, to get to the bathroom. Even just getting up in the morning, between the bed and the slippers, it would be nice to have heated floors. I don't know if we can have them here, as the house has no basement or another floor under it. It's open to the outside, except for the skirt around the base. There is a very thick layer of insulation that keep the pipes from freezing, etc., but we have to replace the pipe insulation every few years. It may be time for that, actually. So we'd have to move all the furniture out of the house, tear up all the floors from the inside, lay the heating, replace the floors, and move the furniture back in, and it would be exorbitantly expensive. I don't know if there's special heating for under wall to wall carpet, but I really don't like wall to wall carpet, so wouldn't want to go that way, even in the bedrooms. I'm glad you have it installed, Shades, and enjoy it. Do you have it in the walls, too? I only ask because a friend from Belgium said they have heated walls and floors. Not something we have in the US.
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Post by shades on Nov 20, 2019 0:11:28 GMT
I'm glad you have it installed, Shades, and enjoy it. Do you have it in the walls, too? I only ask because a friend from Belgium said they have heated walls and floors. Not something we have in the US. Insulated walls make sense but heated walls seems a bit of an overkill. We all know heat rises... BTW, you don't have to tear up the floors. You can have raised floors throughout your home I agree about the furniture. We put new flooring down in our lounge/dining area (about 40m²). Have you ever tried to fit a sofa/dining table/coffee table/etc in already full bedrooms?
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Post by bazookagoof on Nov 20, 2019 1:24:21 GMT
Bean, you may be kidding, but we can get them, lol There are heat pads to put in gloves, shoes, etc. that stay warm up to 8 hours. My mother gave me a pack of those last year, as she was concerned about how much time I was spending outdoors in winter. (Also, wearing steel-capped boots in snow is not a pleasant experience.) I never really needed them, but just last week my daughter attended a girl scout camp where she would likely be outdoors frequently, so I gave her the whole box and told her to share with her friends if she felt like increasing her popularity.
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 20, 2019 17:40:28 GMT
Shades. We downsized, and still have way too much stuff and furniture. Probably wouldn't need as much furniture, if we got rid of more stuff. I'm not physically able to do a whole lot of that, and it's frustrating, as hubby isn't very interested in going through the stuff and making decisions. Otherwise, we might actually be able to fit two rooms of furniture into one, but not now. We may get there someday, but it's usually when we're getting ready to sell 😢
Yes, I thought the heated walls were a bit much, but heat rises and tries to go to the coldest spot. That creates a current that moves the heat down the opposite wall, across the floor, and back up. Having heated walls should have the same effect as baseboard or radiator heat, which is always on the outside walls.
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Post by Bean on Nov 28, 2019 8:13:41 GMT
I've said it in another thread, but Happy Thankgiving to our US members, or anyone else celebrating it! Hope you all have a great holiday.
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 28, 2019 18:02:17 GMT
Thank you
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Post by amber89 on Nov 28, 2019 18:06:33 GMT
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 28, 2019 18:15:32 GMT
Thank you For those who don't know, while the first Thanksgiving officially celebrated wasn't until long after the Plymouth settlers held the famous one, it is based on that one. My ancestor was at the very first Thanksgiving, in Plymouth, probably around Fall of 1622-3. They had almost starved to death over the first winter, and only survived because the natives taught them how to fish, how to plant, and basically how to do what they had done back in England, over here in our soil and climate. That first harvest, when the settlers knew they were going to survive, thanks to the natives, was actually one with the natives included. That group of settlers also signed a treaty with the natives, giving equal access to all land and water, to both settlers and natives. It worked for about 10 years, before the king learned there were natural resources to plunder over here, sent his troops and governors, and took over. Descendants of that first group of settlers, who governed themselves with no monarchical interference, went on to be the thorn in the monarchy's side, the cause of the witch trials, the Boston Tea Party, and the revolution. A lot of natives have what's basically a funeral for all the landing of the English cost them, but it wasn't always that way. Even if for only a few years, we showed we could be human and understanding enough to work with the local natives, rather than drive them off their land. That's what I celebrate, what my ancestor did, not what Thanksgiving became.
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Post by Bean on Nov 30, 2019 8:23:19 GMT
It's certainly a holiday with a difficult history and lots of glossing over. I'm glad you have something in your family history of which you can be proud anyway.
Essentially all the festivals around this time of year tend to relate to harvest - giving thanks for the food etc and sharing that with family and friends. It'd be nice if we all learned from the mistakes of the past too. And didn't make everything commercial. But hey ho, it needs a heck a lot more of us to feel that way before it has any chance of happening!
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 30, 2019 21:32:50 GMT
It is nice to have something about Thanksgiving to celebrate. Most native tribes feel, if we'd never come over, they'd still own the place. I doubt that would be true, as the Spanish were here before we were. But of all the settlements, Plymouth was the only one with a treaty of equality with the locals. So I celebrate those first years, and what my ancestor and his co-settlers did The next hol is one I don't celebrate religiously, but love the secular aspects of it, the tree, lights, gift giving, etc. There are a lot of religious holidays around it, so I'll be wishing a lot of people Happy Holidays, and some of my Christian friends will get all bent out of shape that I included anyone other than them. Too bad. Everyone gets wished a happy holiday, equally, at least by me. I can't believe it's almost 2020, the next presidential primary elections, and the big day in November, when I'll either be celebrating or feeling crushed and abandoned for another 4 years. I've come to truly hate presidential elections. It used to be a time of hope for change, etc. Now, it's just a sad, morally and ethically broken span of time Sadly, Canada is following in our footsteps Apparently, hatred is contagious Hey, tomorrow is December Fool's Day
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Post by amber89 on Nov 30, 2019 22:30:13 GMT
I think that i have leaned in school about Thanksgiving and the origins of it and back then, since we were still young children we have heard only the nice part. I still remember the picture in the book, showing the natives and the English together. Only much later i have got to know about the many controversies regarding the celebration and how the natives see it. Sometimes i am surprised how easily people can get offended. I still consider it a Christian wishing to say "Happy Holidays"...but then again, maybe i am more open-minded. We have today done the advent wreath and filled the advent calendar. The wreath itself was bought (I know, we cheated a bit, but i had zero time for it), but the decorations was 100% self-made. Only this evening we have finally put some christmas decor up, which will stay until 7th of January. We are still thinking if we will buy a tree this year...With the pigs in the living room we have no space for a tree. I can totally understand the disillusionment regarding presidential elections. It feels somehow that most of the countries are slipping away from democracy. It is scary That was the wreath two years ago, done 100% by us And this one we did this year...a bit more simple
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Post by Bean on Dec 1, 2019 7:57:33 GMT
They're lovely, Amber. I shall have to create a wreath we can hang as pretty much every surface is accounted for!
3piggles, I can't believe we've got a general election this month, and can't even bury our heads in the sand for the festive season - pah!
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