Friday, December 01, 2006

Thermostat Challenge Poll Results

The results of the November Thermostat Challenge Poll were as follows:

  • I've gone green! I have turned my thermostat down - 23%
  • I was already green! My thermostat is as low as I can stand - 62%
  • I don't accept your argument! I like wearing shorts at home in November - 0%
  • I'm greener than thou! I am self sufficient in heating fuel - 15%
And this was a clear-cut challenge. You can save significant fuel (and money) by not over-heating your home.

December's challenge is a fun one. I'm challenging you to find local ingredients for your Christmas dinner. You have 25 days to do it, so get hunting for the best local (maybe organic) sprouts, spuds, turkeys, or whatever else you're going to serve on Christmas day.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd find it more interesting to know what the thermostats were turned down to. Turning it down from 24C to 21C is a 12.5% saving and sounds impressive. It's still wasting a lot of energy, though.

We have our thermostats set to 17C - one degree below what's regarded as the temperature of a fine summer's day up here in NE Scotland.

We also run the central heating for just 90 minutes in the morning (60 minutes before I get up and 30 minutes after) to get the water temperature up and take the chill off the house.

It doesn't come on again until 5pm and only runs for two hours, again enough time to top off the water temperature (we get filthy on a croft) and take the chill off. We have solar hot water to warm the water up during the day.

If the house gets colder than we're comfortable with (throughout winter we wear thermal underwear, multiple layers and sweaters inside), we retire to the snug where we have a Victorian iron range and burn our own wood. It's very cosy in there with the fire going and a blanket over your knees.

That's usually in mid-winter when it's -15C outside and the toilet cistern freezes solid...

Melanie Rimmer said...

I take your point, Stoney, but everyone has their own comfort levels, and their own journey from "here" to "there". If one family make the decision to turn their thermostat down from 24C to 21C that's great and I hope it will be the first of many more small steps on the road to greater environmental responsibility. If another family decide to convert to heating their home from a methane digester fuelled by the waste from their herd of rare-breed cattle, that's super too.

Unknown said...

No problem. Goose from Glebe farm down the road - we're nearly out of goose fat - and our own potatoes, carrots, parsnips and mange tout peas (which are cropping in the tunnel now). Onion gravy from our own bulbs, thickened with wild mushroom powder. All that's left's the pudding, and I haven't even thought about that!

Anonymous said...

I'm not saying people should copy us (although it would be good if a few people thought it was worth doing the same), but 18C or a little more should be fine for most people. Most of the plumbing websites recommend 18C.

We just decided to take it down a notch further as both of us have lived in houses with no central heating and know that it is possible to be comfortable with a less heated house.

One of the attitudes we keeping coming across is "I couldn't cope without my..."

Whether it's central heating or mobile phones, TVs or multiple cars, MP3 players or dishwashers, people did very well without them until very recently.

But I'm not saying we should live in a draughty, leaky, cold houses either!

I think we need to be far more discerning between our genuine needs and our increasingly rapacious desire for trinkets and luxuries at the expense of both other people and the planet.

Linzk425 said...

Red cabbage, purple brussels sprouts and parsnips from the garden, duck from the local butcher (though he looked seriously unimpressed when I said 'boned' - sorry, mate, but if you want local people to use you, don't look too much like you're doing me a favour, it would cost me half the price to get one from the supermarket and don't think it didn't cross my mind!). I'll try to get the rest from the market.

Melanie Rimmer said...

Purple brussels sprouts? Do they stay purple when you cook them?

Anonymous said...

Our Christmas dinner is firming up as:

A large trout - caught by the OH's dad - grilled with brown sugar, salt and pepper. Served with pumpkin puree as the entree. (One of our pumplins.)

Rasputin - a deranged Scots Grey cockerel who selected himself for dinner thanks to his wickedness! Stuffing made from our own bread, onions, herbs and lard from our pigs.

Roast potatoes, parsnips, turnips, Jerusalem artichokes and carrots - all from the garden. Plus kale.

Home-made Christmas pudding with home-made egg custard (the hens have been warned - two eggs a day is acceptable, any less and there will be words).

Home-brewed cider and stout.

Home-made lemonade for the boys.

But, as usual with home-produced produce, subject to change at the last minute!

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