Ireland/Irish and the love of cold houses

Wertz

whatdoicare wrote: »

My home is only 10 years old and I'm roasting most days! Even now, I've no heating on and I hate fires (have bad asthma) so, no fire on either. If I turn on the dryer in the house, I have to wear a t-shirt it's so warm! I really hate the cold but since moving in here I'm never aware of it. I lived in an apartment before this and I was frozen all the time! I believe it 100% depends on how well insulated a house is.

Sounds like you have a timberframe house. They're definitely a lot, lot warmer than the traditional block/concrete/plaster built home...

whatdoicare

Wertz wrote: »

Sounds like you have a timberframe house. They're definitely a lot, lot warmer than the traditional block/concrete/plaster built home...

I assume it is warmer, my home place is concrete and even though we had CH, I remember being cold alot.

thereitisgone

I moved to Finland couple years ago bought a house 2 years ago. Oil for heating is little bit more than the price in Ireland, it was about 67 cent a litre a month ago when i refilled. Last year it cost about 1500 euros to heat the house and supply hot water and that was keeping the house at a constant 23, 24 degree heat all winter even when it was minus 15 outside, and this is a 1970`s house with no new fangled modern insulation. In Finland the heating is on very very low all the time which might sound expensive but it never has to heat a cold house which saves a lot.

I'm fairly freezin right now.. We're thinkin of movin at end of December so just gonna not get oil I'd say.

Duvets ftw.

Wertz

thereitisgone wrote: »

In Finland the heating is on very very low all the time which might sound expensive but it never has to heat a cold house which saves a lot.

Saves quite a bit on burst pipes too.

scottledeuce

Mousey- wrote: »

its too doo with humidity.......dampness in the air = cold.....

finland is freezing so you get no dampness ...

and they know how to build a fire properly

I got dug in on this and found a few facts. The below is relevant to me but I guess it says Ireland's climate isnt really all that damp in comparison

Finland

The average annual relative humidity is 79.9% and average monthly relative humidity ranges from 64% in May, June to 91% in December.

http://www.climatetemp.info/finland/

Ireland

The average annual relative humidity is 83.0% and average monthly relative humidity ranges from 76% in June to 87% in January, November & December.

http://www.climatetemp.info/ireland/

Although I definately do agree homes in Ireland are more damp but I think It's more to do with the style of heating...
"Throw the heat on for an hour in the morning and when I get home form work"

I lost the link but from what I read the best way to reduce dampness is to keep a home constantly heated to some degree...Geothermal ftw
so maybe it does come back to a badly built/insulated issue.



Also, apparently dampness in the home can double the risk of asthma.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1333688.stm

scottledeuce

thereitisgone wrote: »

I moved to Finland couple years ago bought a house 2 years ago. Oil for heating is little bit more than the price in Ireland, it was about 67 cent a litre a month ago when i refilled. Last year it cost about 1500 euros to heat the house and supply hot water and that was keeping the house at a constant 23, 24 degree heat all winter even when it was minus 15 outside, and this is a 1970`s house with no new fangled modern insulation. In Finland the heating is on very very low all the time which might sound expensive but it never has to heat a cold house which saves a lot.

+1 on the heating all day.

Was told by an Irish guy living here the only time he gets a cold of flu these days is when he goes home for a week or two..

Hopefully christmas turns out as fun as I hope does

LeoGilly

I was on a youth exchange in Norway a few years ago. We were staying in a school and we were of course constantly messing out in the snow. So in the evenings we'd put are wet clothes on the radiators like you'd do in ireland. However the next morning we found most of our tracksuit bottoms had melted the rads were so hot!

rubadub

scottledeuce wrote: »

Either way its 21.5 degrees in my bedroom at the moment and this is fairly constant day and night, also I just seen that room temperature is defined as being in the range of 20°c (68°F) to 25°C (77°F) so has it just been me living with people who love the cold all these years????

21.5 would be way too warm for me.

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_temperature

For human comfort, desirable room temperature greatly depends on individual needs and various other factors. According to the West Midlands Public Health Observatory (UK)[1], 21 °C (70 °F) is the recommended living room temperature, whereas 18 °C (64 °F) for bedroom temperature.

time42play

I once tried keeping the heating on all day (very cold Jan / Feb) a few years ago. The 400 euro bill that followed from Bord Gais convinced me that I can't afford comfort, which is why some days I'll spend a good bit of time tucked under the duvet trying to get warm. Then I visit relations in New England and they have such lovely warm (INSULATED) houses!!

Osgoodisgood

I'm surprised that the real culprit behind the mystery of the cold Irish house hasn't been named and shamed yet. So I'll be happy to do it now.

It's the Irish mammy running around behind us opening up the shagging windows in the middle of winter! Every time I see the Ma-in-law doing this and then announcing that we need "fresh" air it makes my goddam head explode. Yesterday I was lying in bed, smothering with a crappy cold I caught getting drenched while attempting to use the public transport system so inefficient that the Sudanese use CIE as an example of what not to do, when my wife opened up the bedroom windows and announced that the air was too "stale". So I killed her. And I think any right-minded judge is likely to rule in favour of my defence of justifiable homicide.

BraziliaNZ

I ran a thread like this before. Yeah Germans, Scandis etc have always had this complaint about Irish houses. I spent a winter in Alberta, Canada once, and even when it was -35c outside you could still walk around the house in your underwear. And that was in a crappy old house. Their heating systems are designed to keep it the same temp all the time.
It must be to do with how our houses are built. Those Scandihomes that someone mentioned before sound like the way forward.

BraziliaNZ

Osgoodisgood wrote: »

smothering with a crappy cold I caught getting drenched while attempting to use the public transport system

FYI - You don't catch the cold virus from getting wet or being cold, so leave our transport system alone

Osgoodisgood

Osgoodisgood wrote: »

I'm surprised that the real culprit behind the mystery of the cold Irish house hasn't been named and shamed yet. So I'll be happy to do it now.

It's the Irish mammy running around behind us opening up the shagging windows in the middle of winter! Every time I see the Ma-in-law doing this and then announcing that we need "fresh" air it makes my goddam head explode. Yesterday I was lying in bed, smothering with a crappy cold I caught getting drenched while attempting to use the public transport system so inefficient that the Sudanese use CIE as an example of what not to do, when my wife opened up the bedroom windows and announced that the air was too "stale". So I killed her. And I think any right-minded judge is likely to rule in favour of my defence of justifiable homicide.

I installed a MHRV (mechanical heat recovery ventillation) system, the missus still insists on "airing" the house. :mad: :mad:

It's the mentality that if the air doesn't have an icy blast behind it, it ain't fresh!
Same can be said for heating, We have underfloor heating (& good insulation) - perfect constant 20C day and night, but because there isn't a fire singing your hair! "it's cold!" :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

BraziliaNZ

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

FYI - You don't catch the cold virus from getting wet or being cold, so leave our transport system alone

But the rapid changes in temperature between inside and outside, make you more likely to catch one & sitting in a confined space with a load of sneezing prople doesn't help either!

Sofiztikated

Prolly to do with the fact Irish houses are very badly built, barely insulated, and desperate heating systems installed. It then costs an absolute fortune to retrofit all this.

And who said timberframe was warmer, my arse it is.

Lived in both, and looking at a new house now. The new house is just finished, completely bare, and when I walked into it, it was warmer than the last timberframe we lived in!

time42play

What about these lovely vents in every room so the cold air can keep coming in? I've been given out to many times for covering up the one in my bedroom. Sorry but it's freezing out there, the wind is blasting in through the feckin thing, and I'm already cold enough.

herya

time42play wrote: »

What about these lovely vents in every room so the cold air can keep coming in? I've been given out to many times for covering up the one in my bedroom. Sorry but it's freezing out there, the wind is blasting in through the feckin thing, and I'm already cold enough.

You can grow mold on the walls though if your flat/house is dampish

Fireplaces FTW!

time42play

time42play wrote: »

What about these lovely vents in every room so the cold air can keep coming in? I've been given out to many times for covering up the one in my bedroom. Sorry but it's freezing out there, the wind is blasting in through the feckin thing, and I'm already cold enough.

Fit a duffuser plate to the vent on the outside, get a plece of rigid material about 1 1/2 times the size of the vent and screw it to the outside of the vent but space it about 2-3cm away from the wall, this will stop the wind blasting through.

Mr.David

Heatings for pussies.

Sure we're hardy bucks like. Bitta shmokin', bitta fightin.........

......bitta shmokin'.....

......sur you'd be mad as a bag o shpiders with the heatin on.....:cool: