Kagsy Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 We are freezing our butts off in a rental and it's not even winter, and we're scottish! Currently using a small fan heater but dreading the leccy bill, was thinking about getting a calor gas portable heater like we had in the olden days, anybody know if they are available here and if so where to get them? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andromeda9 Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 not allowed in australia we were wanting one,wondered why we never saw them in the shops sorry we have a wood burner in the big lounge, when cold use the small lounge with oiled filled radiater with eleven fins and fan cosy as Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flybyknight Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 kagsy, do you have air con? some of them have a heat function. by their nature, an air conditioner on 'heat' will use aprox 8x less energy to heat the room, than a blow heater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jin77 Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Our house is draughty ! All the time. We put the heating on and as soon as we switch it off , the temperature drops by a degree after a couple mins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Yep. Oz house builders assume there is no winter in Oz. So, we freeze or run up a electric bill that resembles the national debt of a small country. I called my wife yesterday and she was sat there in gloves and hat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 kagsy, do you have air con? some of them have a heat function. by their nature, an air conditioner on 'heat' will use aprox 8x less energy to heat the room, than a blow heater. 8x? I think not. But yes, heat pumps (reverse cycle is an air source HP) have a multiplier effect so you get more heat energy out than electrical energy in, through the wonders of thermodynamics.....maybe 3x or so, depends on temperature of the heat sink (outside) and the particular system. So RC aircon will be cheaper than a direct electric heater (any sort of fan or convection heater). Don't know about Adelaide, here in Sydney a lot of houses have gas piped in and many have bayonet fittings for portable gas heaters...the heaters aren't cheap though (nor are they without issues, as they are unflued). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagsy Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 Thanks for the answers guys, we do have reverse cycle I kinda thought that having it on to heat the whole house was a waste so have been using the fan just in living room but maybe I should just put it on? verystormy- your poor wife, I feel for her! I'm nearly there too jin77- I agree with everything you've said! thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger2shirts Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Came as a shock to me too - Sunshine Coast of tropical Queensland gets damn cold in May, June, July and I'm from Yorkshire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incata Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 We have just improved the warmth of our house hugely (and cheaply). We did two things: 1. Bought a draught excluder. We have put it in front of the front door and it has stopped the draught. Ours is in the shape of an elephant (bought from a Reject Shop for $5 at the weekend) so we have called it "Nellie". Nellie is doing a fabulous job. 2. We bought draft excluding strips and put them round the edge of the front door. It took 10 minutes to put them on and we now do not have any draught around our front door. Final point: Make sure you are closing all the doors in the house. It will make a big difference to how warm the house is. We are also looking at doing the following (which you can only do if you own): 1. Putting up curtains in all the bedrooms. I read that this reduces heat loss in a room by 10%. 2. Installing double glazing. It keeps the cold in in summer and the warmth in in winter. 3. Putting in roof insulation. Apparently it is normal to not have it here. Hopefully once we have done all three, the house will be much warmer. Meanwhile, the wool blanket I bought for £165 from John Lewis a couple of years ago is proving to be worth its weight in gold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyman Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 you probs arrived here during the lovely summer and now a big shock to the system.....what are you living in? you have to have a heating system............you will get use to it ........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi69 Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Not feeling it yet thankfully, our rental has no heating, is an older style property but although I miss the warmth of summer at least I don't have to sleep with an electric fan whirring over me at night (air con just wasn't enough). i know it will come though, felt it cold last winter, but better prepared now. Have winter Woolies in the wardrobe, put extra duvet on bed, if needed will buy electric blanket. On the whole though don't feel the need for any sort of heating. At least we know that winter is going to be for v short period. i hate the cold, it was my no1 reason for leaving the UK, along with the rain of course. I've had month upon month of being able to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle, if the payback for that is a couple of months of nippier weather, then fine that is the price I will pay. more than worth it:wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyman Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Not feeling it yet thankfully, our rental has no heating, is an older style property but although I miss the warmth of summer at least I don't have to sleep with an electric fan whirring over me at night (air con just wasn't enough). i know it will come though, felt it cold last winter, but better prepared now. Have winter Woolies in the wardrobe, put extra duvet on bed, if needed will buy electric blanket. On the whole though don't feel the need for any sort of heating. At least we know that winter is going to be for v short period. i hate the cold, it was my no1 reason for leaving the UK, along with the rain of course. I've had month upon month of being able to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle, if the payback for that is a couple of months of nippier weather, then fine that is the price I will pay. more than worth it:wink: you need a good :hug:to keep you warm........x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fifi69 Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 you need a good :hug:to keep you warm........x[/quote c,mon then lets have a snuggle together:biggrin: nothing better to warm you up than a bit of body heat:wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacaranda Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 My sister who lives in the burbs of Adelaide was on Skype last year during mid winter.She was wearing a wooley hat,her jacket,and gloves!I asked her if she had just got in from somewhere and she replied she had'nt,but it was so cold she had to wear her outdoor clothes indoors!lol They have a woodburner so not sure why she was'nt firing it up!I used to have mine on 24/7!I'd probably go to bed early with a couple of hot water bots!lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmo Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 I remember when i lived in QLD reading about the increase in house fires in the winter. I wasn't aware that you still have unvented gas appliances there!! Please take care, get on amazon/ebay and get a carbon monoxide detector asap!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incata Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 I remember when i lived in QLD reading about the increase in house fires in the winter. I wasn't aware that you still have unvented gas appliances there!! Please take care, get on amazon/ebay and get a carbon monoxide detector asap!!! Or go to Bunnings. They are about £$35. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyman Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 you need a good :hug:to keep you warm........x[/quote c,mon then lets have a snuggle together:biggrin: nothing better to warm you up than a bit of body heat:wink: Too true ....and the bigger the boby the better the body heat .......:wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Wow! This topic has just been very useful to me! Until I read some of the posts above, I just assumed that running our reverse cycle A/C in heating mode would cost similar to cooling, i.e. too much to contemplate. We've been messing around with little 2kW fan heaters and such. However, after some digging inspired by earlier posts, it turns out that reverse cycle/inverter units DO routinely put out the equivalent to 6 or 7kW of heating for an energy input of around 2kW (i.e. the same as the small bits of rubbish we've been playing with). FYI, my source on this is the Whirlpool Forums, useful guru on all matters technical. So...instead of shivering in front of a small convection or fan heater, we may as well run the proper unit and by comfy! (Now, just to teach the 8 year old NOT to leave the patio door wide open and just close the curtain so we can't see it....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northshorepom Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Wow! This topic has just been very useful to me! Until I read some of the posts above, I just assumed that running our reverse cycle A/C in heating mode would cost similar to cooling, i.e. too much to contemplate. We've been messing around with little 2kW fan heaters and such. However, after some digging inspired by earlier posts, it turns out that reverse cycle/inverter units DO routinely put out the equivalent to 6 or 7kW of heating for an energy input of around 2kW (i.e. the same as the small bits of rubbish we've been playing with). FYI, my source on this is the Whirlpool Forums, useful guru on all matters technical. So...instead of shivering in front of a small convection or fan heater, we may as well run the proper unit and by comfy! (Now, just to teach the 8 year old NOT to leave the patio door wide open and just close the curtain so we can't see it....) Yep, more efficient than direct electric heating.......it is for cooling, too, though. So the bills might still be substantial Has to be said, the biggest driver of heating costs is how well your house holds on to the heat. That's usually the biggest problem in this country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Yep. Oz house builders assume there is no winter in Oz. So, we freeze or run up a electric bill that resembles the national debt of a small country. I called my wife yesterday and she was sat there in gloves and hat How bizarre: (from what you've posted) one of the forums highest earners makes his wife wear a hat indoors. Am sure I earn less, yet we stay warm and pay the bill (don't like the amount, but still pay it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambethlad Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 We had such a long, beautiful summer it has been a shock to feel cold again. Wood heaters are the best and cheapest if you are prepared to get a chainsaw and a trailer to collect wood. I haven't had a heating bill for 30 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 We are freezing our butts off in a rental and it's not even winter, and we're scottish! Currently using a small fan heater but dreading the leccy bill, was thinking about getting a calor gas portable heater like we had in the olden days, anybody know if they are available here and if so where to get them? Thanks Do you have a gas bayonet in the house? We had a fan forced gas heater for a few years and it worked really well. We have quite a big open plan 4x2 and it heated the living area up fine. We have reverse cycle aircon now and that works really well. Not been close to using it yet though, just got to the point of wearing long trousers and a jumper at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Yep. Oz house builders assume there is no winter in Oz. So, we freeze or run up a electric bill that resembles the national debt of a small country. I called my wife yesterday and she was sat there in gloves and hat Come on VS, can't be that much colder down in Mandurah can it? The minimum it's got to so far at night is around 10 degrees and yesterday was the coldest it's been for some time, 17-18 degrees. I've only just moved out of shorts and started wearing long trousers in the house at night. Still wear shorts and a T-shirt for work though. We are weeks away from even thinking about turning on the reverse cycle and when we do it's on for a few hours a day on really cold days. The bill here wouldn't come close to our heating bill for a really small end terrace back in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisleylass Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 It was a little chilly in the evenings here last week so my little cat kept sitting on my lap to get warm. As a bonus he warmed me up too. Cost nowt and made us both happy *purrrr* =^..^= Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 aarrgh just put on a jumper you big girls. My place is cold as well but it wont kill you. just get up and do some press ups or something every 10 minutes. Its warm when your in bed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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