ShoreyM

Advice please. It's down to about 2 degrees at the moment and after saying we'll just have to rug up and wear an extra jumper, I've finally given in and am considering heating. We have a wall mounted split system but am petrified of using it after hearing some of the utility bills. Do you have it? How much does it cost ? Is gas better? Thanks in advance

Alfresco

I have a few convection/oil heaters on thermostat. Not that cold here yet, but my room is cozy.

I obviously keep the door and windows closed as much as possible to keep the warmth in.

Is the system you have aircon? We have those but don't use them unless its really cold just to warm the house up a bit.

renth

We use a pair of gas heaters. Cheaper than electricity.

bobbyftm

Even more so after todays hike !

Alfresco

Ignorance is bliss!

brits1

We had a few homes in Perth and tried all manner of heating, I think the best was a wood burner, just from the cost, we hated heating via our Air Con and it was expensive, tried expensive gas heaters, what worked for us was hotwater bottles in the beds and blankets when sat watching the tv (amazing how many people did this) we also had those electric heating lights in the bathrooms. After a few years you do get use to it though

roaringmouse

Just take a teaspoon of cement and harden up!

Alfresco

Might take more than a teaspoon!

neil248

2 yrs of tv blankies and we got a wood burner

very nice heat from a wood burner, make sure it has a fan

spouse of scouse

The heat in Perth will kill you before the cold does, if that's any consolation.... We have pretty good roof insulation, so just use a 25mj (or something like that) gas room heater for the big living/dining/kitchen area, and don't hang about before jumping into an icy cold bed :-) A small thing you can do, but quite effective to keep the heat in, is draw your curtains, it's amazing how much cold gets in through big expanses of glass.

As an aside, I'd never even heard of double glazing before visiting the UK - it's so effective that I wondered why it isn't used more in Australia. Then I checked out the cost!

Organicised

Reverse Cycle is about 30% cheaper than gas.

h2oskineil

Welcome to the Australian (Perth) winter!
We have been here nearly 8 years and im sorry to tell you, it doesn't get any warmer in the winter. With windows you wouldn't put in a European green house, the houses are so cold in winter, the good news is it will soon start to warm up and when it hit 40 degrees, you'll be saying then it's sooo hot in Perth.... Lol.

We bought (this week) an electric blanket for the sofa. It a big fluffy throw that goes over the sofa and you plug it in, loooovly! We have electric blankets on the beds and that's about it. Got it from Kmart, I think it was $40. Certainly makes watching TV more enjoyable.

Last winter our friends lent us a gas heater, which was good in the area your were sitting, but with no double glazing and insulation (plus larger living areas) the rest of the house remained cold. They are about $1000.00 which I always thought was expensive for a heater.

I think if you want to avoid larger fuel bills, an extra jumper will be the best option, plus socks, woolly hat, gloves.

renth

We've got 2 gas heaters. One from Cash Converters and one found on the roadside during bulk refuse collection!

irishbloo

An electric blanket on the sofa is a good idea.

spuddyo

Central Heating Anyone ? I reckon there's a market for it here, even if it only gets used for 4 months a year. If you could purchase radiaors and boilers as easy as you can in England, it would be the way of the future here !

Surely someone must have thought about it before now.