Not putting the heating on - how's it going...?

@molgrips I'd fling a tap on that, the condensate drain is also a source of CO hence the tight regs about where they can drain to these days.

Bainbridges – just off Bigg Market; wow – decades ago.

Nothing like that now. Plenty of empty shops though and TJ Hughes.

Good to see that Fenwick are still going strong!

Yes, nice departmental store.

My home town was Wallsend…
Wallsend born, Wallsend bred, Strong in the arm, Thick in the head – but can be modified for any location.

Shipyard is no longer there and nothing wrong with being thick. No need to think too much and let the nature takes it course.

Educated and socialised in Newcastle.

Proper upbringing that.

Any memories of the Spit’n’Vomit opposite the Central?

No idea but now just plenty of takeaways.

Well, I find the Toon rather peaceful. Apart from my Marxist friend who is born and bred in North Shield constantly complaining about it being a dump but still live there LOL!, also occasionally my drug addict neighbour or some sort of addiction anyway who lives above me fought on the road, shouting at his friends at odd hours, door being kicked in and waking up at 4am in the morning chatting loudly to his friends (probably high or drunk), picking up cigarette end at the city centre sometime, things thrown at his flat landed on my windows (no damage just can of beer), stealing my small recycle bins (my own not council) but I just let them be. So long as they don't hassle me that's fine while I enjoy my cigarette. They can knock themselves out as much as they like while I watch. I did. They fought in the middle of the road and stopping the traffic. Generally, he just let me be and we greet each other from time to time. Other neighbours are all on benefits or in their retirements as I was told by my landlord who is a nice guy. That's the life of Toon. LOL! (oh ya the other retired neighbours (couples) love to sign karaoke at 3am in the morning with her friends (normally several of them ladies) but does not affect me at all. Generally, the toon is peaceful and I like it. LOL!

or adjust them properly

FFS! Thanks for posting that video, our front door leaks like a seive so I’ll have a go at that shortly, I wish I’d known before. Luckily ours is the outside of a small porch which means the porch acts as an airlock.

Counting the cost here, with my wife suffering from joint issues we can’t turn the heating any lower than 18/20 and even so our December bill looks to be in the region of £500. Luckily we have £725 credit, so with the the £218 monthly payment will be eating into half of that, let’s hope for a milder January.

Quite fortunate that by coincidence we had a leaking inlet pipe on the boiler that BG fixed - and justified the cost of the annual repair contract - the week before it snowed.

My home town was Wallsend…
Wallsend born, Wallsend bred, Strong in the arm, Thick in the head – but can be modified for any location.

My mum's family were from Walker and Wallsend, my Grandad lived in Walker and drank at the Wallsend Buffs, that was late 80's when i was at University. My auntie lived in the apartments just opposite the gates to Swan Hunter (Winifred Gdns, I think) and then moved into Grandad's house when he was in a care home and eventually died, so she's still there. So although as Chewk says I'm a softie southerner, I spent lots of happy times in the school holidays up there with my two cousins.

My grandad was a band leader, before and after the war, and we used to go to 'all' the clubs in the area where he was still recognised and known and rarely had to buy his own pint. I'll be damned if I can remember the names properly, because no-one calls them by their real name (at least didn't then.... but the three that stick in the mind are the top, middle and bottom clubs!)

our front door leaks like a seive so I’ll have a go at that shortly, I wish I’d known before. Luckily ours is the outside of a small porch which means the porch acts as an airlock.

Ours too and a near identical porch-wise set up. I tried following that 'fix' in the video but no luck. Unfortunately, the hinges are knackered on the external door, and it catches all year round anyway, but I can't afford to replace it at the moment.

“Crucially you need a high surface area to volume ratio”

Erm… like with an Ice cube tray? Which divides am already small body of water into about 16 even smaller bodies of water?

That would depend on the ice cube tray, they usually have a lot of surface area underneath them, and to achieve the effect you're referring to you need surface area for evaporation, not conduction.

I tried following that ‘fix’ in the video but no luck

Same, I just tried it but it didn’t cure the draft. I can however see that the guide for it on the frame has ovalised screw holes, with the screws centralised. Rather than stand with the door open now I’ll wait 48hrs for the temps to rise (South East) then loosen all of those and slide the guides inward to see if that helps.

@squirrelking yeah I'm working out what to do but I'll do it fast. I bought a CO alarm in the meantime.

I heard it as *born and *bred, thick in head and sh*t in bed. So even more modifications.

Blimey just looked at my Edf app for the first time. Av for last Jan £6.66pd, av for Dec so far £16pd plus about £6-8pd in smokeless fuel. I'm going to have to start giving up on life.

@molgrips if you have a nearby drain just tie it into that and cap the old line. As long as its on the smelly side after the trap it's safe. You can get a 22mm to 44mm boss from McAlpine, that's how I tied mine in.

Update on my first night sleep using the 600g Devon wool duvet I bought yesterday.

Room temp last night was 8c and the duvet was able to keep me comfortable. I cannot say that it gave me instant warm but it was alright. Not too cold or warm but I prefer it to be warmer. My left foot was very cold (poor blood circulation I guess) but it was fine after one or two hours.

Well, I shall give a few more nights to see how it goes. I just checked the label again and it is a super king size 600g instead of king size, but not sure why it manages to fit king size duvet cover.

Oh well as long as it last and keep me alive I am happy with it.

@squirrelking that's the easy part; the hard bit is routing the pipe behind the cupboard without having to remove the whole kitchen!

On a Smart heating note I'm a big fan, mostly as I can just turn it off/on from my phone if I work late or stay out one evening, I've had Tado and now Google nest systems

But for all the data it generates I bloody hate the limited amount they actually share back with you

E.g. this time last year my house didn't have a stitch of insulation in the loft, I've put 300mm down over the summer but temp to temp I've no idea what difference it's made, and if, say what happens if I cover the front door for a few days to see if it's drafty as, I get I'm living in a leaky old Victorian terrace and it's far from an exact science (wind direction, speed etc) but at least with some decent data you could learn a bit and make improvements where needed most. It's crap.

@chewkw,you'll need to bathe in this,

normal cylindrical insulation won’t fit.
Any ideas?

@mudfish

I've used wrap round silvered bubble wrap pipe insulation where gaps are all wrong or some pipe joins where chamfering the silver foam tubes doesn't work. The packet says it meets pipe insulation standards. It is a bit of a pain coiling it round and round though.
Like this from Toolstation but also Screwfix and most other DIY or plumbing shops:
https://www.toolstation.com/ybs-thermawrap-spiral-pipe-wrap/p42791

I reckon I'm now getting 25% more heat out of my boiler after all this.

I cut a load of little chunks of pipe insulation for my airing cupboard and taped them in place, then any bits that were too fiddly I used that bubble wrap strip as above. It looks like shit but it made a big difference in leaked heat and was especially useful keeping temps down in the summer.

Earlier on I saw a video that had clips that went around the pipe insulation and held that instead of the actual pipe itself, so the insulation could be uninterrupted. If you removed the existing clips is there enough give to move the pipe slightly away from the wall enough to do something like that?

I've had a quick look back and I can't find which video it was now, sorry. Was it a CondensatePro product though? Maybe...

Thanks for insulation tips. I’ll try the ‘silvered bubble wrap’ Toolstation wrap first.
Yes Phiiil I saw those clamps too somewhere
[ https://www.rockwool.com/uk/products-and-applications/product-overview/hvac/rocklap-pipe-supports/ ].
I don’t think my pipes can move that much though.
For now, covering the metres of exposed pipe between the clamps must help.
That wrap stuff is claimed to be as good as 35mm of rock wool. I’m sure the tubular foam stuff, especially the more expensive variety would be better but the wrap will be a first step.
One pal wanted me to use spray foam but in case of a leak that may be problematic.

Woken up to no snow and 11 degrees (London). Hallelujah.

Just come home last night from being away this weekend. We set the heating to come on for an hour in the morning and in the evening. New record low of 10.4 in my office over the weekend. This morning it is 11.5 outside and it was only 12 inside. Even now with the heating on for an hour it is not climbing much. Beginning to wonder if there is an issue with the house other than the leaking garage...

It’s all about thermal mass of your house.

It takes a lot of energy to change the temperature of such a large structure and having the heating on for an hour is going to make little difference.

Yeah I've switched to continuous heating and just knock the temperature back at night and during the day. But then, I'm home all day.

It takes a while to heat the house from cold if I turn the flow temp down. Kinda hard to tell if it's more efficient without decent instrumentation though.

re lagging pipework, apart the fit being tight is there any need to use anything other than foam tubes that you'd usually find in B&Q?

It’s all about thermal mass of your house.

Yep, I think once the fabric of the house has warmed up it's easier to keep it there.

Not heating the house until later in the year plus going almost straight into a very cold spell has made it harder to get the house up to a comfortable base temperature.
This mild weather will help.

Re: the perennial 'leave it on low all the time' vs 'fire it up just when you need it debate'. Has anyone ever reached an absolute conclusion on this - other than 'it depends'?

I usually get a bit bored with all the inevitable squabbling on here before the final reveal so probably miss out on any really useful conclusions.

<edit>

Not heating the house until later in the year plus going almost straight into a very cold spell has made it harder to get the house up to a comfortable base temperature

That's what we've found. We usually start end Oct/beginning of November and put that back nearly a month this year plus it's on for less time/1°C lower and it's been very cold (and damp) regardless of the cold snap.

Isn’t it more, temperature controlled rather than time?

Ie mine thermostat is set to 16deg between 9pm and 7am. It rarely drops that low but would fire if need be.

18 deg from 7am to 9pm.

So it’s ON all the time but heating for a fraction of that.

Isn’t it more, temperature controlled rather than time?

@Jambo I think one school of thought is it's 'on' 24/7 but at (say) 14°C (or whatever) vs timed at ~17°C (or whatever). I think Jambo's example is the latter which is what we do.

Has anyone ever reached an absolute conclusion on this – other than ‘it depends’?

It does depend though. Some households yes, others no.

In my case, I discovered through measuring temps that to get the house up to temp fast enough after being off all day required the flow temp to be set high, which means inefficient boiler temps because we don't have enough rads to shift that much heat, so it ended up back at the boiler. If I turned the temps down it took ages to heat up, and the boiler also ended up short cycling. But on the other hand, less heat is lost to the outside. Is it more efficient? I don't know, I didn't do a controlled experiment in the recent fairly consistent temps, I was too busy trying to fix the shonky system. However I have found that if the heating is off for long periods in the cold weather then it's not just the air that gets cold, everything in the house gets cold too - floors, furniture, walls, the lot - and even when the thermostat goes off the place still feels cold. So when the heating is on all the time with setback temperatures a couple of degrees behind the peak, the peak temp can be much lower for the same degree of comfort.

I usually get a bit bored with all the inevitable squabbling on here before the final reveal so probably miss out on any really useful conclusions.

You just have to do your own experiments. Make changes, take a meter reading every day if you don't have a smart meter.

Re: the perennial ‘leave it on low all the time’ vs ‘fire it up just when you need it debate’. Has anyone ever reached an absolute conclusion on this – other than ‘it depends’?

Have it on 24/7 but use the thermostat to regulate the temperature for when you need it the most.

So for me its 18-20c for the room in in.
~13-15c for the rooms in not in
10c overnight

As Jambo says, once at a temperature the heatings rarely on. Its just keeping it topped up.

Trying to heat the whole house up from 12c in an hour wont work, as its going to take a huge amount of energy to heat your house up 1c.

After being sceptical, having a smart meter fitted was the best thing i've ever done.
It allows you to play around with things and have the information available for what you have consumed.

No easy way to acurately measure consumption here as we're on oil. I can estimate to a couple 8f hundred litres but the potential error rate is high and might disguise/isn't granular enough to see what's really going on.

You could rig something up that listens for boiler noise using a Raspberry Pi or something if you really wanted to. There are lots of 'maker' people doing similar who don't have smart meters, apparently.

Re thermal mass - our Victorian Industrial building house lags ambients by 2days - noticeably warmer outside than indoors.

Re the pipe clamps above - Caddy clamps will be cheaper from here;
I use them for cryogenic piping.

https://www.valvestubesfittings.com/caddy-macrofix-epdm-rubber-lined-steel-pipe-clip-dn25

I read somewhere (Wiser website/forums or perhaps elsewhere) that recommended minimum temperature ideally shouldn't be more than 3c below your 'comfort' temperature.

I've followed this since having Wiser installed - my rooms are set to heat up to 18-19c, but not to drop below 15c. Has generally worked well, apart from the coldest snaps where the kitchen (undersized radiator for the space) and bathroom (towel rail only, and the one zone without TRV as directed) struggle.

No easy way to acurately measure consumption here as we’re on oil.

fit an inline flow meter....

You could rig something up that listens for boiler noise using a Raspberry Pi or something if you really wanted

One way is to detect the flame or power to the pump.

fit an inline flow meter….

There are cheaper ways I think but it's a definite option.

I did what's been mentioned above, but with an Arduino. I measured the time the boiler was on with a microphone. It displayed how long it was on for each 24 hours. You should be able to find what jet is in your boiler, and from that a flow rate per minute, hence how much oil has been used. It agreed with my measurement from the sight glass before and after adding a known amount of oil.

But a pain compared to a smart meter .

Aye. I suspect this is one of those 'spend a fortune fitting measuring kit to save £50' situations...

You stand to save a fair bit more than the cost of a Pi and a mic with prices as high as they are, I reckon.

Earlier on I saw a video that had clips that went around the pipe insulation and held that instead of the actual pipe itself, so the insulation could be uninterrupted. If you removed the existing clips is there enough give to move the pipe slightly away from the wall enough to do something like that?

I wouldn't worry too much about it, covering 95% of the pipe in insulation is still going to save you very close to 95% of the heat loss.

On a Smart heating note I’m a big fan, mostly as I can just turn it off/on from my phone if I work late or stay out one evening, I’ve had Tado and now Google nest systems

But for all the data it generates I bloody hate the limited amount they actually share back with you

You stand to save a fair bit more than the cost of a Pi and a mic with prices as high as they are, I reckon.

That's right, if it wasn't for the failed attempts using different microphones that didn't work, and the switch that I couldn't fit to anything suitable, and the hours of my time writing the software.

Practically nothing really!

That’s right, if it wasn’t for the failed attempts using different microphones that didn’t work, and the switch that I couldn’t fit to anything suitable, and the hours of my time writing the software.

Practically nothing really!

Where do I send my £10? I have zero knowledge of and zero interest in farting around with fruit based computing.

All for saving £££'s but baulk at becoming a nerd to do so 🤣

I pooh poohed the idea of a smart thermostat butnow I think it would be handy to have for weather/humidity compensation.

I did what’s been mentioned above, but with an Arduino. I measured the time the boiler was on with a microphone. It displayed how long it was on for each 24 hours. You should be able to find what jet is in your boiler, and from that a flow rate per minute, hence how much oil has been used. It agreed with my measurement from the sight glass before and after adding a known amount of oil.

That sounds like exactly what ive considered doing - dont suppose youved open sourced it on Github or anything? <batts eyelids ingeek>

Hi Ewan,

Not on Github but happy to send you a copy, but I'm not a software engineer so don't assume the software is any good! I've just looked at it and I have put a few comments in it, so should be fairly understandable, and it uses a standard library to drive the OLED.

Scratch. I believe there are variances in the insulating ability of “foam” tubing.
I used that silver face bubble wrap 50mm wide strip stuff - it claims to be as efficient at preventing heat loss as 35mm of rock wool.
In testing though (is it stupid to expect a non contact thermometer to be accurate? IR / laser beam type) the outer if a lagged pipe is only measuring at most 2 degrees lower temp than a bare pipe.
Maybe that type of temperature sensor is flawed on a silvered surface? Or on a copper pipe.

Almost half done now, but a bit disappointed on the result (measured non-contact). Room warmth will be a better test. I’ll report back. That unoccupied room with the pipes was getting pretty warm.

<img src="http://[url= https://i.postimg.cc/RWzncqw9/4-A9-D9-D0-A-C888-43-A0-88-C6-41-BAB4-F9-D822.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.postimg.cc/RWzncqw9/4-A9-D9-D0-A-C888-43-A0-88-C6-41-BAB4-F9-D822.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

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You know that foil bubble wrap relys on an air gap to provide the quoted r value equivalency right ,?

You know that foil bubble wrap relys on an air gap to provide the quoted r value equivalency right ,?

That's exactly what I was going to post. That wrap is way too tight.

It's amazing how much difference the weather makes. It was 13C yesterday here and the heating was hardly on at all. Now it's 9C and it came on in the morning and hasn't been on since. At 13C the differential between the thermostat and outdoor temps is 4C, at -3C it's 20C, so five times the heat loss resulting in 5x the heating requirement from the boiler even without the heat added from occupants and appliances.

I think adjusting this is where a smart thermostat (even without TRVs) would make a significant difference.

is it stupid to expect a non contact thermometer to be accurate? IR / laser beam type

My cheapo eBay IR thermometer is pretty inaccurate in certain instances. It seems to under-read at times, compared with the thermocouple one, but it doesn't really work at all on pipes. Shiny surfaces seem to completely confuse it, but it's also got a fairly wide spread so you cannot measure a pipe without getting the surroundings in as well. The spread is specified on the side of the device to give you an idea.

At 13C the differential between the thermostat and outdoor temps is 4C, at -3C it’s 20C, so five times the heat loss

oh dear

Go on?

I did what’s been mentioned above, but with an Arduino. I measured the time the boiler was on with a microphone. It displayed how long it was on for each 24 hours.

I'm going to do this. I've got an spare Pi that's sat in a drawer (bit old but hopefully will work) and will grab a cheap USB microphone.
Hopefully I can get it to measure the sound level and when it goes above a certain level it will send a message to IFTTT which will add a row to a spreadsheet.
I'll then create a little app to gather that data and make it look pretty on my phone.

At 13C the differential between the thermostat and outdoor temps is 4C, at -3C it’s 20C, so five times the heat loss

is rate of heat loss linear with deltaT? I'd be suprised.

is rate of heat loss linear with deltaT? I’d be suprised.

Yes. The U value of insulation is a constant measured in Wm2/K where K is the differential; and m2 is the area of the insulation which is also fixed in this context so if K goes up then W heat loss has to go up proportionally.

Of course it's not that simple as always in the case of my house - the boiler has to put heat into all the rooms and they are all differently insulated because they have different window area and some of them border next door.

just wondering whether anyone had bought one of these yet..

^^ no, but it's an interesting idea.

is rate of heat loss linear with deltaT? I’d be suprised.

scientifically, not exactly but over the miniscule actual range of temperatures we're talking about compared to 'all the temperatures' where different processes would then become relevant, it's basically correct.

Newton's law of cooling states that the rate of heat loss of a body is proportional to the difference in temperatures between the body and its surroundings. As such, it is equivalent to a statement that the heat transfer coefficient, which mediates between heat losses and temperature differences, is a constant. This condition is generally true in thermal conduction (where it is guaranteed by Fourier's law), but it is often only approximately true in conditions of convective heat transfer, where a number of physical processes make effective heat transfer coefficients somewhat dependent on temperature differences. Finally, in the case of heat transfer by thermal radiation, Newton's law of cooling is not true.

Shiney surfaces reflect your own ir signature back at you. So you stand in front of the silver foil insulation and think itz hot. Its not, its your body heat being bounced off it and back at ya.. Possibly

Hmm. Wrap too tight?
How would you wrap the pipe so the tape is airtight where it overlaps I’d it’s not tight? Imagine taping a drop bar with the tape loose?

My application looks a lot like the manufacturers website https://ybsinsulation.com/diy-products-application/reflective-pipe-wrap-insulation-diy-product/

is rate of heat loss linear with deltaT? I’d be suprised.

Consider yourself surprised.

The only changes would be if you changed the mechanics by which the heat was transferred. e.g.

Gas - solid wall - gas, would have one rate of transfer
Condensing vapor onto the inside wall (aka condensation because you house is damp)- the same solid wall - boiling liquid on the other side (aka saturated brickwork exposed to wind), would have another.

So you could argue that rain and humidity affect it and those are related to temperature, as would snow or frost, but it's still linear with temperature when everything else is the same. You're probably considering single figure percentage changes for an average cavity wall insulated house in average weather, compared to Molgrips 500% figure.

It's also why lowering your thermostat by 1C makes a claimed 10-15% difference to the bill, because the average outside temp is probably ~10C and the average thermostat set point is ~19C, so 1C is that 10-15%.

You’re probably considering single figure percentage changes for an average cavity wall insulated house in average weather, compared to Molgrips 500% figure.

Show your working?

I meant to point out that going between the extremes of temperatures where I live has a huge effect on gas consumption for heating.

The heating just popped on for the first time since 7am, and only for about 5-7 mins. Compared to how long it was burning this time last week my figures seem like they are in the ballpark.

Change of subject - anyone tried a terracotta pot candle heater? Internet suggests that a candle produces about 80W and an idle human 100W or so. I reckon people in a room have a noticeable effect on the temperature so I might try it. Probably not cost effective nor ideal in terms of air quality...

If the 80W figure is accurate and the 3hr burn time for a tealight is accurate then tea light heating is abot 20p/kWh which is about half that of an electric heater in my house.

Change of subject – anyone tried a terracotta pot candle heater?

Sometimes they explode.
Have done it outside in the garden when it cools down in the evening, wouldn't do it inside.

I would get a big pot I think, that should help keep the temps down.

How would you wrap the pipe so the tape is airtight where it overlaps I’d it’s not tight? Imagine taping a drop bar with the tape loose?

You can't

But you'll find their claim to be equivalent to loads of rockwool to be only under certain air gap constraints - it's buried on their site.

How would you wrap the pipe so the tape is airtight where it overlaps I’d it’s not tight? Imagine taping a drop bar with the tape loose?

You can't

But you'll find their claim to be equivalent to loads of rockwool to be only under certain air gap constraints - it's buried on their site.

https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/stay-away-from-foil-faced-bubble-wrap

Terracotta indoor heaters

Re the pipe lagging, you can get lagging strips of felt or similar, given that situation I'd have wrapped in the felt first then the tape on the outside.

@trail_rat that person was clearly taking the piss.

Also, for the record, I did not hear about this on TikTok. I probably heard about it 25 years ago.

@trail_rat that person was clearly taking the piss

I believe the correct defence here is

Show your working ?

14 tea lights in that picture. Ok, some may have been used to prop up the pot, as in some designs, but that one appears to have been supported by the central rod. So it could have got very hot indeed. If I were to do it I'd use a large pot and a single tea light.

However, This has got me thinking that there's got to be a much better way to re-emit the heat from a tea light or three. But what is more effective than just letting the candles burn anyway? Sure, the heat goes to the top of the room, but it would still basically do that anyway.

This has got me thinking that there’s got to be a much better way to re-emit the heat from a tea light or three

heat a chamber of water, and then pump it around to other chambers of water where you want the heat...

Huh all my comments were related to foil bubble wrap ....

Is the forum not letting me post an answer because maths ends up looking like code?

I just get error 403

jam-bo, great idea but it'll never catch-on...

But what is more effective than just letting the candles burn anyway?

It's almost all convective heat which is subject to a high degree of transportation to the top of the room. The purpose of the pots is to convert at least a portion into radiant heat which is not subject to the effects of convection and will be felt more readily at the level of the pot - i.e. where people are.

The problem with radiant heat sources is for it to extend a distance from the source you need higher temperatures, hence the exploding pots.

My thermostat is an old bimetallic strip affair, which seems to have a degree of error.
Is the a digital version that isn't eyewateringly expensive or needs a monthly payment. Looking for something that might have less of a range for click on click off.

Change of subject – anyone tried a terracotta pot candle heater?

A friend is heating his office with them this winter....

[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52575431481_e88f67d1b5_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52575431481_e88f67d1b5_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2o6UQ5z ]Tea light heater[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr

My thermostat is an old bimetallic strip affair, which seems to have a degree of error.
Is the a digital version that isn’t eyewateringly expensive

There is, yes. We have one and it's very useful as you can set the gap between of and on, and you can move it around closer to or further from the rad in that room to fine tune the response. The wall box just replaces the existing stat wire-for-wire.

Ours is like this:

https://www.heatingcontrolsonline.co.uk/horstmann-hrfs1-programmable-wireless-thermostat.html

Re lagging, I have figured out that the reason the kitchen rad is always the coolest one is that the pipes cross the kitchen in the ceiling void in the same section as the extractor fan duct which is known to be shit and there's an open vent at one end. I haven't taken it off to look but I suspect the pipe from the cooker hood just goes straight into the ceiling void and there's a grille at the other end to the outside.

Re tealight terracotta heaters:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-63880157

Edit
Sorry, just realised that that BBC article is already posted further up this page.