Bottesford

An old article but an interesting one on this subject: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5372296.stm I know indoor temps <20c are only any good when doing a lot of physical activity or when you've just got in. Sitting around for several hours at 16c? Noooo... same goes when you sit in the pub garden on what was a nice day but it cools and you end up frozen at 17c!

Fire on when I got up then turned it off whilst I was out. Got in at 3pm and turned on the fire again on level 2 then throttled back as room settled at 20.5c. No way I'm letting it fall to 17c like some of you say you're doing - that'd be fine if I was running around decorating or cleaning none stop, but sitting on the pc for many hours at that temp would result in frozen hands, nose & feet - and no jumper will fix that! And with such a low temp when I went to bed the place would become intolerable by morning (it'll be pretty grim anyway if I don't set the heating which I don't intend to do yet - no doubt a lonnnnnng hot shower in the morning will follow!).

Gas fire was on from 5pm last night and now again this morning. Vital now it is or we'd soon settle to ambient temperature. But not yet run central heating. Hoping that can wait longer as I'd prefer to spend the money on more useful things, especially after needing so much gas all spring.

A short (2 month) but intense cold/snowy winter followed by a rapid warm up into a pleasant spring then a long & reliable summer period. A short autumn damp then takes us back into the freeze again. Months with mean min/max: Jan -7 / -1 Feb 4 / 9 Mar 7 / 14 May 10 / 20 Jun 13 / 23 Jul 16 / 25 Aug 16 / 25 Sep 14 / 22 Oct 11 / 17 Nov 4 / 8 Dec -5 / 0 Driest period: Jun-Aug Wettest period: Oct-Nov Really my main changes are a shorter but colder winter, a longer and hotter summer and steeper & shorter transition seasons. Most importantly - LOTS of sunshine!

Lets keep it friendly please folks! Although I will say those minima charts have thrown up frosts for some areas back in July (and I remember some people posting those charts gleefully too) so I'd argue they really exaggerate overnight lows and underdo daytime maxes. Of course you can cherry pick any data to prove any point really... but overall looks like some recovery in the weather for those of us not quite ready for autumn or who are desperately trying to ripen off crops - a loosing battle my end with the ever lowering sun but one tries!

Of course we shall do our very best to keep order and with everyones help (i.e. 'think before you post' and reporting bad posts) I'm sure we can manage it. Do remember we have lives/jobs too and in winter I know I for one simply can't keep up with reading everything in here... I'll be logging in from Berlin so will take first digs on the easterlies! And get to enjoy a longer and more reliable summer period - great stuff!

Rain was very concentrated into short hefty bursts - plus it quite often fell overnight I found. This meant very little interruption to outdoor stuff in general so felt drier than many of the previous summers. It's like if a particular summer it only rained weekends or weekday evenings lightly (but frequently) but never overnight/weekday daytimes the totals might be quite low but it'd seem an absolutely dire summer.

I guess there will be folk at either end of the spectrum but looks like the average is 21c. It seems a lot of modern trains seem to get air conditioned too much - a nice 23c day outside and you sit down in your summer gear then they freeze you to death for two hours - not fun at all! My ranges in my living room: >25c - damn near impossible to achieve in that room. 22c-24c - comfortable in shorts and t-shirt - the ideal range (but I'd never heat to this temp as that feels horrible & dry). Windows can be opened, door left open - everything free and easy. 21c-22c - comfortable in shorts/t-shirt for a while or normal clothes the whole time. The summer norm. Windows/door open if outdoor temp >21c. 20c-21c - generally comfortable in normal clothes (not shorts) especially if moving around, eating or having just got in. At low end of range after sitting for ages a chill will develop. Windows closed but no heating needed. 19c-20c - fine if moving around a lot and when you've just got home. Will chill after an hour or so when sitting around. Gas fire time if we're in all evening sitting especially at lower end of range. 18c-19c - fine for cleaning the house or briefly first thing in the morning before going to work. Time to heat if sitting around in for any length of time. 16c-18c - a real chill on the place. Central heating likely to go into use at this temp. <16c - cold - heating needed. Don't let it fall below this now otherwise damp problems kick in and it takes many many hours to heat up again.

Room temperature is 21c - or at least by most definitions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_temperature If you're sitting in it for many hours then that feels about right and seems to be the temperature most pubs/shops/businesses are heated to.

Gas fire was on all of last night - just too chilly now in our place. It took the edge off and put the place back to 20.5c which is in the comfort range.

Not bothered by spiders in the slightest - I just leave them to do their own thing. If a screaming person with spider fear is present I'll just grab it and carry it outside - or taunt them by letting said spider run up my arm. hehe. Slugs don't go in the house and they are true pests since they eat crops and make a right old mess - so yes spiders fine, slugs go. Wasps - again just leave 'em to it although I'll help them out a window if I find one. Not an issue now as all the windows are shut and suspect most have died off in the colder weather. It's definitely easier to lie in at weekends during the darker parts of the year - the place remains cold & dark for longer and our budgies stay quiet and dopey for more of the morning. But getting up for work has already become much harder. Gone is the waking up refreshed after a night of air drifting into the room, the house warm and with the sun blazing in - I've been waking up before the alarm clock most of summer. Now we're back to recycled CO2 all night, dull mornings and the house being a damn sight colder than my bed... net result - swearing at the alarm clock again every morning...

First world problems eh!

Oh I do have some hardened outdoor shoes right next to the door - so yes good for outdoors but no good for the kitchen unless you want a muddy kitchen. I know its easy to slip off one set of shoes and put on another but do it five times during post dinner clear up you soon get fed up of it! Or as I do - say 'bugger it' and run to the bin one last time in your slippers... oh **** they're wet! Another creeping annoyance - the front gate is now beginning to stiffen up making it harder & harder to open and close. In summer it opens with zero effort, back last winter we practically had to throw our entire weight against it to open it. I know all these things (and the many more to come) are tiny in the grand scheme of things but they just stack up and make the winter period require a lot more effort and indeed money coupled with a lot less comfort & ease.

The missus has put the gas fire on for 20 mins this morning to help her thaw out a bit before heading to work. Only warmed it by about 0.4c in here but certainly helps! Sandals now exchanged for slippers as my feet were freezing - annoying as sandals are outdoor/damp kitchen floor suited unlike the slippers... Back to frequently changing footwear/ruining slippers due to laziness again... Another step towards the awkwardness of winter!

19.5c in here and no heating on yet (although we both just had hot showers to compensate!). I normally heat to 21c but that's only when its colder outside. I've always found temps 19-20c in the house actually feels better when naturally occurring than they do if you choose to heat to that level. If it were 0c out and I heated to 19.5c it'd still feel chilly whereas it doesn't feel too bad at the moment. Think its to do with draughts being created by rapid heat loss from the house vs the heat from the radiators. Also the variance of the heating system - I mean it doesn't hold 21c bang on - it goes up and down, and on the cooling part of the cycle your body picks up the incoming chill...

As long as we can say the same to them complaining once it gets above room temperature outside :lol: 12.6c outside now - feels very chilly and no desire whatsoever to linger outside unlike just only half a week ago. House is 19.6c after cooking dinner but think once we've been sat here an hour we're going to feel chilly. Hot tea helps albeit briefly!

July-August was mostly comfortable... with outdoor temps matching or exceeding desired indoor temps... the other 10 months less so! In my book anyway.

Yes our system is switched off and all radiator's taps are turned off (otherwise they come when I heat water for washing no matter what the thermostat says!). My missus is heading off to Berlin on Saturday (I follow in a month or so) so I'll be switching to jumpers during her absence although once my feet begin to freeze despite being in thick socks & slippers then the heat goes on!

It's funny we have a guy at work who always goes on about heating thermostat set at 12c, the wife always cold but "I earn the money so I decide when we can heat" (despite her being at home raising his kids) and all this bravado about 'manning' up to cold (although he wears a fleece/jumper *all* the time inc in hot weather - but then doesn't like it too warm outside). Sometimes I get the feeling people like to make it up about having windows open at 3c and not heating their homes till it ices up on the inside of the windows... and especially think some make it up about much their spouse will really tolerate! :lol:

Believe it or not - no we've not had any heating on in our house just yet. Last year it was 3rd June off to late August switch on whereas this year it was second week June off and still not on yet so we're doing well. The combination of being out most of Saturday and yesterday morning being so very sunny (so heated the place up to 20.5c by lunchtime then we did cooking in afternoon so it held it for quite some time) has meant we've not had an issue yet. However it was cold getting up this morning as the sun hadn't made it to the house yet. But we'll see tonight - its now 19.8c in the house and now starting to cool so by later it may turn chilly. Certainly opening windows is now a big no-no so no more fresh air at night (plus waking up in bed chilly again returns) and popping to garden I have to be careful to close the door behind me every time. Got window open ajar in office and my hands were cold this morning from the breeze- sun coming round now so can open up a bit. Dreading this room closed up again - really airless it is. Sigh... - the easy & free life of summer recedes and the constant battle with outdoor conditions that differ vastly to indoor conditions commences its ever intensifying battle...

Even in my city location I can smell the muck spreading going on! Certainly autumn smells tend to be associated with decomposition. And decomposition is certainly the thing now - just looking round my garden I can see it as I slowly hack away at the decaying/spent tomato plants and other summer crops now starting to finish with plants looking tired and ragged. Autumn is nice to begin with as its still fairly summerlike and much like August you're harvesting plenty of crops. October can be pleasant to begin with too - still enough light to do things but that first taste of cold (which I do like to begin with) but by November everything is dead or dying, there's next to no light anymore and its cold all the time. I tend to categorise November as a winter month in the way it feels darkness wise. As a season I'll always prefer spring even if it is colder than autumn as it improves as it goes along, everything is growing with fresh healthy looking plants and there's plenty of light available to get outside again - most welcomed after the many months spent under electrical lighting almost all the time.

Yes but its only 4 hours for 3 (or is it 4?) weeks of the year and you'd probably not be amazed how many people get caught out by that! It'd def be easier 4 hours all the time but that doesn't make sense given the distance here to the east coast of the US.

We have to move our clocks when Europe does so not up to our government. Really thought it should move in line with the US if nothing else to help business - I've certainly felt the confusion of it at work before! But really it'd help loads with energy saving as it would take daylight away from 6am-7am and put it 6pm-7pm when the majority of people are awake.

The low light levels today really cloud your head up I find. This morning especially my pc monitor was blazing bright with outside so dull it was giving me a headache - reminds me exactly of things to come when 4pm headaches return - the combo of an airless office + darkness mid way through the day really makes you feel rotten. Of course I shall be working elsewhere this time so hopefully I can get some air in more easily!

Yeah 'lovely' with such low light levels, rain falling (albeit lightly for now) and the shorts have gone away. The cover up and hide away season is upon us... well for now anyway.