Excessive Electric Bill

Spot on! 14°C inside a house is freezing for either day or night.

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You know, I have my lowest temp set at 14C. It’s set at that now but I’m sitting in my living room currently ant it’s 16.8. I’m not wrapped up. I’ve got on pj bottoms, long sleeve tee shirt and a cardi. We have it set to 14 because below that it’s cold cold and the heating will automatically switch on. Each to their own I say. But obs a sitter should be comfortably warm enough to sit without a hat and scarf!

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Public Health England has published a paper that recommends a minimum of 18 deg C

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Guidelines and recommendations from the Swedish Health Authorities
16 deg - minimum acceptable floor temperature
18 deg - minimum acceptable room temperature
20-23 deg - recommended temperature
22-24 deg minimum acceptable temperature for sensitive groups

Public Health England recommends pretty much the same thresholds temperature for health in winter

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Does the wood burning stove heat water which feeds radiators? Only ones i have seen really just heat the room they are in. I presume they may have evolved by now though

Almost $1000 in credit? Ask for it back and get interest on it

Our home is pretty small, so it heats the whole house fairly well within about an hour. We have an electric hot water heater, thank goodness.

On a couple of sits, the homeowners have learnt the weather back home was cold so they have contacted us and asked us to put the heating on but we said we were fine (and so were the pets).
At home, we dress for the seasons and temperatures so do exactly the same on a housesit.
Be prepared (for the British weather) :grin:

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If these are your expectations regarding heating then please set them out in your advert, so that anyone considering the sit know how you feel about the heating.

I for one, would never apply for a sit where owners want to decide how warm we will be.

We dog sit commercially as well as THS. Have you checked how much money you have SAVED by having THS look after your home and pet for you?

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I am an HO in the UK, I want my sitters to be comfortable and to feel wanted in my home.
Our central heating and hot water is provided by LPG (gas) and we have electric for all the other “stuff”.
Our sitters have the use of my home and also have their own space in the annex that forms part of the house. We additionally have a wood burning stove in our sitting room and I have a dyson heater for the annex if needed, as I worry that it is sometimes cooler in there.
We have two miniature poodles that we will not put in kennels, if we did, it would cost at least £35 per day where we are.
We had sitters in December and at that time our electricity company was running a scheme called Beat the Peak, so if you used less electricity at a certain time of the day(5.30pm to 6.30pm)they would pay you. It was only offered a couple of times a week.
We didn’t tell our sitters as I didn’t want them worrying about it. The scheme ran for several weeks and we never succeeded. In the 10 days our sitters were there we got a £4.63 refund.
Not only did I save the kennel fees, but my sitters earned me money on my electricity. I made sure I thanked them and we laughed about it.
Sitters, you give me my freedom to go away and I thank you all :blush:

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That is an absolutely brilliant answer. We have been lucky enough to sit for homeowners like you in the past. I would absolutely hate to be asked to save energy, because obviously we do everything we can to take care of the house and the animal, of course we are very considerate with energy, but that is something that is absolutely normal for us. If a homeowner asked me to save energy, I would be so disappointed that I wouldn’t take the job. I also include this question in the checklist I have prepared for the first interview call.

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Hello everyone,

The OP has requested this post be closed as they have got enough helpful feedback and have reached a resolution for their question.

Thank you to everyone who contributed! :smiling_face: