More hints for staying warm when working from home
Lots of you have already shared tips on keeping warm while working from home, from hats, bodywarmers and hot water bottles to copious cups of tea and staying close to your heat-generating computer! I’ve just been given some advice from an expert in damp-proofing about heating your house during the winter to stay both warm and dry and I think it’s worth passing on.
I know from your comments that home workers tend not to keep the heating on all day, especially if they work alone. It just seems too extravagant when the family’s out, and with energy prices constantly rising, the cost is becoming prohibitive. So your heating is probably timed to come on first thing in the morning while everyone gets up and has breakfast, and then again in the evening when it gets dark and people arrive home.
My expert tells me it’s much more effective and cheaper to keep the heating on very low all the time, yes even during the night, because then the fabric of the building heats up and stays warm. You’ll also minimise condensation, when the warm air generated by the heating and all your daily activities like cooking, bathing and showering etc hits cold walls and windows.
We’re giving the low and constant method a go and keeping a close eye on both condensation and the gas meter. Oh, and I mustn’t forget to mention that the oil-filled radiators recommended by San Sharma of home business site Bitsy for home office use apparently only cost about 3p a day to run and are very effective.
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In January when we had weeks of snow, I had the heating on 24-7, but couldn’t believe the gas bill at the end of winter. This winter my attitude is put another jumper on first. I have the heating on for a few hours in the morning and then on again mid afternoon and into the evening. There have been days that I have decided that my body temperature has dropped to below productive working conditions and I have put the heating on early.
Hi Nicky
Yes, this is an interesting experiment and I’ll let you know the results. Certainly I’ve been warm enough today, but of course the temperature has risen noticeably and I haven’t shed any of my layers!
Have a lovely toasty Christmas and I look forward to exchanging more tweets and comments in 2011 🙂
I just typed into Google tips to keep warm and you were top Judy with this article. I am so cold today.
Did it work out better to have heating on all the time? I tend to go around turning radiators up and down depending on what rooms we are using.
Wow, that’s nice to hear, Emma!
No, we didn’t think having the heating on low all the time made enough difference to justify the cost. Have you seen the reviews on keeping warm when you work from home? I’ve got an intriguing little gadget to review and will be adding it soon.