Was this an unusually cold winter?

BalboBiggins

I moved into a new house last summer and found this winter horrendous. The apartment I used to live in was in a poor state but I never felt this cold before. Maybe it's just aging or something wrong with the house, but I wanted to check with people here.

DOCARCH

What BER rating is your new house?

Gonzo

Must have very bad energy rating same as my old house. As for the winter we had a very mild winter overall, same as most other winters.

highdef

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120409810#Comment_120409810

That should reveal a lot.

I also see that the OP moved from an apartment to a house. My first home was an apartment. I rarely had the heating on, even in winter. In summer, it was very difficult to keep the place cool.

DOCARCH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120409904#Comment_120409904

I am seeing a lot of complaints recently (on the construction forum) from people living in what are supposed to be A2 rated houses that are freezing!

highdef

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120409925#Comment_120409925

Yes, I'm often a bit dubious as to how some homes get such a good rating!

DOCARCH

I also live in a (so called) A2 rated house and I really believe the A2 rating to be pure fantasy!!!

DownByTheGarden

This was the warmest winter i can remember in a long time in Dublin. Only 3 weeks of what you would call very cold weather during the whole winter.

monseiur

Winter was as usual mild and wet. February being the exception of course - it was exceptionally dry and very mild.

Was the house you moved into newly built or new to you. If newly built, it takes some time for a new building to heat up, the walls etc absorb a lot of heat as they dry out so it's advisable to turn up the heating a few degrees to compensate for this. On the other hand if you have air to water or similar heating system and the installation of insulation etc. is not up to standard you may have more serious long term issues with heating.

BalboBiggins

Thanks lads. It was fully renovated but the builders were poor. The house is A3 but I agree with many in here, BER ratings seem to be mostly fantasy.

batistuta9

BERs are more theoretical, don't account for the detailing quality of the work done or the real performance of the house.

Then there's the what you call mild, a lot on this forum will say it's mild etc. but it still feels cold & you need heating

compsys

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120413014#Comment_120413014

It was definitely a 'mild' winter compared to historical winters in Ireland and based on what the average temperature is supposed to be. That's irrefutable. Of course this changes by location. For example it could be 0º every day in the pit of winter in Moscow - which is at freezing - but that would be considered a mild winter for them as the max temp is supposed to be -5º or so. Similarly, a max winter temp of 3º or 4º here would be considered cold but almost Mediterranean like in Russia.

Also, our winters are getting so mild that many of us are loosing the ability to deal with any type of cold weather.

So it might feel cold to many. But when meteorologists analyse the data the stats often say otherwise.

batistuta9

That's what I mean, most on this forum probably use the term mild referring to long term averages etc. Which is fair enough & probably expected especially from the enthusiasts but in general talk I'd say most would class mild as not feeling cold at all.

Not sure about the ability to deal with the cold weather but I'd prefer a dry bright cooler day than overcast/raining in winter, as it doesn't feel as cold

windowcills

Your heating should turn on by a stat if room temperature drops below 19c or 20c

The "irish weather" is irrelevant as thats ouside the house, when it rains your telly doesnt get wet

Energy rating is irrelevent, that only reduces the cost of running the heating (vital but not the issue mentioned)

Get a stat fitted and set it correctly

Found it freezing in Tipperary some weeks, Thinking back since last October.

definitely felt like a very long winter

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120413619#Comment_120413619

Im in East Galway and definitely felt it was a long and cold winter.

Danzy

Very mild most of the time but with a few nasty drops, 9 degrees and a very damp day with a wind is often worse than 0 degrees here.

There were quite a few days like that.

techman1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120413619#Comment_120413619

Yes you are correct we had alot more cold spells this year compared to our usual mild and wet winters. We had a long cold spell lasting 10 days early December, then another bit of cold weather around Christmas. In general I would say it was alot drier than usual and a bit colder overall. February was unusually dry, I think we are still in deficit as regards rainfall compared to average Winters

Furze99

Mostly a mild winter, we certainly have burnt less fuel than previously. Few enough mornings of frozen roads.

OldRio

The prolonged cold in December put pay to my Cordyline plants. Reading gardening forums in Ireland it seems a lot of people also suffered the same.

We've had some of the plants for nearly 20 years. Alas.

DownByTheGarden

There have been 3 cold weeks in the whole winter. There has hardly been any frost outside of those 3 weeks. Apart from the day before yesterday.

AnFearCeart

I agree it felt a cool winter overall, however the stats will say otherwise with the exception of December as that was a quite cold month even allowing for the mild up before Christmas.

A few things to consider though:

• The average temperature for a given day will be calculated from the max temperature and the min temperature achieved over a twenty four hour period.

So, let's say an early January day maxed at 6c and minned at 0c, that gives a daily mean of 3c. However, what often happens is temperatures in early January will hover between 0c and 3c or 4c for much of that twenty four hours and then peak at between 5c and 6c for a few hours during the afternoon. Technically you could be having around twenty out of the twenty four hours below 4c and four hours above. This means alot of heating!

• The change between cool and mild will increase humidity and the energy that normally goes into heating the air will now be needed to dry it out.
• Breezy conditions will make it feel cooler

I think it was one of those winters with some of the above points to consider!

John_Rambo

Damp & windy winter. While we didn't have plummeting temperatures it certainly felt cold.

highdef

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120415465#Comment_120415465

But they got through the severe cold of 2010 ok?

OldRio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120418089#Comment_120418089

Indeed they did. Its unusual. Talking and corresponding with other gardeners it seems a lot of old and well established plants died this year.

I wonder if the wet conditions followed by the hard Frost followed by more wet contributed.

pad199207

Yeah cordylines will end up getting severely damaged or killed. Especially the red variety.

It’s the ice days that does it to them. Temperatures going down to -5 or -6c at night would be okayish for them but they need the warm up during the day.

Cornerstonelad

Cold and prolonged damp can often do more harm to plants than severe cold. Temps in Med countries and deserts can get very low but it's that damn cold dampness that can cause root rots and fungi to thrive and lower immunity among plants from warmer climes.

MayoForSam

Yes, we had 2 red cordylines die also, they were both large specimens at the side of the house that is sheltered but doesn't get much sun especially during mid-winter.

Two other smaller cordylines in pots out the front of the house which gets more sun survived not bother.

mikeecho

BER A1 or F1 , you still need to heat your home.

As for a harsh or mild winter.

Where I am, it didn't seem particularly bad.

average_runner

From a Dublin view and a runner view it was a pretty good winter. Didn't need the winter running tights at all this year and a few days required a base layer!

bazlers

https://www.irishtimes.com/environment/2023/05/04/marine-institute-says-ireland-to-face-cooling-as-gulf-stream-weakens-while-wider-world-warms/

Interesting for winters ahead maybe...

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120447670#Comment_120447670

Athletes view! Fit, strong & healthy and your dead right, it was a warm winter, probably suitable conditions for people like you that build up lots of heat in the core when running & appreciate a bit of cold! (I'm East Coast Dublin too)

However last spring/winter I had to drive the kids to creche/school four times because of dreadful weather, this spring/winter it was a shocking 13 times, lots of heavy rain, night dampness, rain & wind chill. As astute, observant gardeners like @MayoForSam, @Cornerstonelad, @pad199207 & @OldRio have attested, it's not been good for regular crops that can normally survive deep cold. My herb garden is a disaster this year, normally I'd be reaping the benefits but our amateur herb garden is very slow to start this year & the sunflowers all died after introduction to the garden.

Along with that, myself and the kids would normally be in the sea a lot earlier than this time of the year, we're only starting our surf season now with their lack of body fat, even with the best wetsuits, hoodies, booties, gloves etc... unlike you, no matter how hard we limber & warm up, there's a good bit of floating around in the water or standing on the beach waiting for conditions.

Jpmarn

I don’t think this winter just past was particularly cold. It was one of the quietist winters with no named storms by Met Eireann along with their UK and Dutch counterparts.