Your home while you're on the cut...

[sal garfi]

Hello All,

 

For the first time, I and my other half are going to take an extended trip on our little boat. For most of September we'll be moving it in a leisurely fashion from Sawley to the Monty, where it'll have a new home at Maesbury Mill. Now, our home is in the Cambrian mountains, it gets little Sun and it's old and very hard to heat, but since we'll be travelling in September, the weather in Wales could be dodgy, so we want to keep some kind of heat ticking over. I don't want to drain my CH oil tank, so I need to set my thermostat and radiators at just the right level, and of course, set the timer appropriately. So, with this being the case, what do you good folk do in similar situations?

 

Sal

[ditchcrawler]

The thermostat and program timer in my house is always set the same. There is always hot water and the heating comes on for an hour every day first thing in the morning summer and winter alike, if the temperature drops low enough during the day it also comes on whether I am there or not.

[Alan de Enfield]

15 minutes ago, sal garfi said:

So, with this being the case, what do you good folk do in similar situations?

Have the oil tank filled before you leave (presumably it normally lasts longer than a month)

[Tanglewood]

15 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

The thermostat and program timer in my house is always set the same. There is always hot water and the heating comes on for an hour every day first thing in the morning summer and winter alike, if the temperature drops low enough during the day it also comes on whether I am there or not.

In September we wouldn't normally bother, surely there won't be frost severe enough to freeze pipes, even in Wales?  However, to just keep the boiler muscles working and make sure they don't seize up as soon as you get back, I agree with the above - and first thing in the morning means about 5am, as that is often the coldest time.

[Peter X]

An unoccupied house only needs to be kept just above freezing, to prevent water pipes freezing up, getting split by expanding ice, then leaking when they thaw. The supply pipe is usually three feet below ground, so nicely insulated until it emerges somewhere under the house, and any pipes running through unheated areas such as under a suspended wooden ground floor, or in a loft, should be lagged to protect them. Likewise any tanks in such areas.

 

Being from nice warm south London I don't know how cold a bad September night in the Welsh mountains could be, but to be safe you might wish to leave the heating system on low to ensure your other pipes stay above freezing.

So I'd just set your thermostat at the low end of its range, ideally just a few degrees above zero, and then expect the system to burn little or no fuel to maintain such a low minimum temperature at this time of year. But as Alan says, filling the oil tank makes sense. That might save you a few bob too if the oil is cheaper at summer prices.

[mrsmelly]

2 hours ago, sal garfi said:

Hello All,

 

For the first time, I and my other half are going to take an extended trip on our little boat. For most of September we'll be moving it in a leisurely fashion from Sawley to the Monty, where it'll have a new home at Maesbury Mill. Now, our home is in the Cambrian mountains, it gets little Sun and it's old and very hard to heat, but since we'll be travelling in September, the weather in Wales could be dodgy, so we want to keep some kind of heat ticking over. I don't want to drain my CH oil tank, so I need to set my thermostat and radiators at just the right level, and of course, set the timer appropriately. So, with this being the case, what do you good folk do in similar situations?

 

Sal

When I owned a house that we used for days off in Cornwall we left our central heating on24/7 during the winter. We often didn't visit for a month or more and the heating bill was well worth the piece of mind it gave us and the damp it avoided in a Cornish harbour house. It's just part of the overall cost of boat/house ownership.

[GUMPY]

When we are not in the house in winter the stat is set at 7deg this ensures nothing will freeze whilst not burning to much fuel.

I use Hive ( an app on my phone) to increase the temperature 48hrs before we return so its cosy. 

Having said that in September I wouldn't bother as a long enough cold spell to freeze a house or a boat is highly unlikely.

Edited August 19, 2018 by Loddon

[Clodi]

We also live in the same area as you, we used to leave the oil-fired Rayburn on 24/7 all year round as it was an old farmhouse, stone walls slab floors etc. % years ago we moved into Town where we had Gas!. I'd never had gas before but was pretty ****ed off to find that , during the Beast from the East, which in my madness I spent doing the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (on the basis that it'll be quiet that time of year & no she's still not talking to me ) The Gas central heating cost more than the Rayburn. However no -burst pipes 

[Nev]

Similar circumstances to you ... we put a Nest controller on our oil fired system. This enabled us to monitor the house temp and turn the CH on if needed. It has an eco setting that basically does this for you....the benefit is that it can all be monitored and changed while away via the internet. Gave us peace of mind. When it was really cold earlier this year (remember that ?) we went to the boat as it was warmer there and it enables us to keep the boat burst free while the CH kept the house at a safe temp. 

[rgreg]

It's also best to turn the water off at the stop tap when leaving the house unattended, then if anything should go wrong it's not going to flood the property.

[70liveaboard]

We have a house in Wales, but that one is in a valley not on the tops, although still fairly high up. It has a 1000ltr tank we top up once a year (oil).

Leaving it for long periods empty, we leave the heating set to 12c. But in September we haven't ever really had very cold weather in there, apart from nights which could go down to 4-5c.

Our boiler is a commercial boiler though and in a seperate part from the main house itself, so not really any problem if something goes wrong boiler side  (thinking more water wise)..

 

We love it there, when we go.

Edited August 19, 2018 by 70liveaboard

[sal garfi]

Thanks All,

 

I'm probably worrying too much. We're doing without CH right now, but the increased, and recent, rain is starting to get things damp which is why I've started to have a mild concern (we're exceedingly frugal with the heating at best of times!). Anyway, it's good to see that some people keep their temps as low as 7 degrees. We'd consider something like Hive, but we get no mobile signal here (we're in a deep cut valley), but if there's something else similar, we'd look into it.

[GUMPY]

10 hours ago, sal garfi said:

Thanks All,

 

I'm probably worrying too much. We're doing without CH right now, but the increased, and recent, rain is starting to get things damp which is why I've started to have a mild concern (we're exceedingly frugal with the heating at best of times!). Anyway, it's good to see that some people keep their temps as low as 7 degrees. We'd consider something like Hive, but we get no mobile signal here (we're in a deep cut valley), but if there's something else similar, we'd look into it.

Hive only needs mobile signal for the app when you are away from home, the hive home hub uses your normal home broadband so unless you never leave the valley........it should work.

Edited August 20, 2018 by Loddon

[Sea Dog]

What he said ^^^^!  Hive works really well for monitoring and controlling your heating from the boat.  As well as the 7c safety net you can keep an eye on the actual temperature at home any time of the day or night and can program alarms to inform you when it drops below or rises above any value you like. All programmed timings and temperatures are adjustable from your boat.

[sal garfi]

Well.., I'll look into Hive further, but I'm a bit old fashioned and I still have a dumb phone. But I'll catch up with the world one day. Then again...?

 

Thanks!

[Clodi]

17 hours ago, Loddon said:

Hive only needs mobile signal for the app when you are away from home, the hive home hub uses your normal home broadband so unless you never leave the valley........it should work.

Believe it or not there are some areas around here where there's no mobile and no broadband, or, when there is it rely's on 3 miles of very exposed telephone line, that's why we moved to 'Town'

[dor]

Another vote for Hive.  As we are often on the boat for three or four days a week, all year round, it is good to know that the house stat is set to 7 deg with heating effectively off and we can turn the heating and hot water on a few hours before we get home.  And turn it off if we forget to do it before we leave the house!

[Neil2]

We're up in the Cairngorms which is generally considerably colder than Wales but I wouldn't dream of leaving the heating on in September, there certainly isn't a risk of anything freezing up.

 

But, for a significant part of my working life I have had to deal with the fallout from frost damage and, forget the expense, the stress and aggravation this can cause really isn't worth the risk of saving a few quid.  And I wouldn't rely on "modern technology" either.   You can bet anything you like that technology will let you down when you absolutely rely on it.  

 

It never ceases to amaze me how many houses there are with insufficiently lagged pipes when in many cases this is all it takes to prevent frost damage.  It astonishes me how many intelligent people I know don't turn off their water supply when they are away from home in the winter.  Of course before everyone had central heating it was normal to drain down the system in these circumstances, but no-one seems to do that these days.  But many of us do it with our boats..?  

 

 

 

[sal garfi]

Clodi and Neil.., we don't have mobile reception here near Devil's Bridge which is why we don't have a smart phone, especially since (until next month when I retire), I've been working mainly from home. Also, with all that's been said, I and the missus remember well the days before we had CH in this house, and we went away for long periods of time, even during the winter, and we didn't worry about low temps - we just turned the water off, and that'll be what we'll do this time. In truth, my main concern was keeping damp at bay as opposed to heat for its own sake, or even the pipes - especially in September - and this is only because this homestead of ours never gets much Sun at the best of times!

[X Alan W]

I don't know if it works the same in the UK but here some insurance company's require notification if your property is normally lived in but you leave it  empty for a period of more than 30  days at one time a guy I know went away for the winter in his Camping Car leaving his house for a 5 month period  he had a problem & was refused cover/claim payment by his insurance company on the unattended house grounds worth a read of the small print

[sal garfi]

Yes.., this is the same in the UK, but the terms might vary from insurer to insurer.

[robtheplod]

Whilst we're not in the same position re spend time on the cut away from home I'm always of the opinion if you leave your house then leave the heating as it would be if you were there. If you change/reduce it then it may cause other problems and you wont be there to correct them. If it stays the same why would it give any trouble? - better for peace of mind.....

[Peter X]

If your house has a damp problem then I think it may be necessary to set the minimum temperature of the heating higher than the few degrees above zero that you need to prevent burst pipes, in order to help dry it out. But that should be seen as a temporary bodge, as the real solution is to fix the source of the damp. That means good roofing, windows, gutters and drainage, plumbing that doesn't leak, and dealing with any rising damp the house may suffer from.