Calling Cher and others from the UK

IME, it's the closet that the water heater is kept in in British houses. It's always rather warm there so that's where you hang your hand-washables to dry (since the UK is rather a damp place, you find you need such a thing). You can also raise dough in it. ;) It's also called the hot cupboard.

Aaaah.... that makes sense. For some reason though, I thought most people in the UK had those tiny individual hot water heaters that look like a box, usually hanging on the wall in the bathroom and kitchen. They seem to work something like a coffee maker. To me they make a lot more sense than having a large tank of water that has to be kept hot, and are in use in probably

I adore "Selling Houses" and "Hot Property" that show on HGTV here in Canada. I'm always amazed at how much smaller the homes seem to be than what is the norm in North America. I guess it's because everything over the pond has been around much longer than homes here. And the prices! Yow - I don't know how you can afford to buy a home in the UK! But, I guess that's what makes it so interesting to me.... just to see how others live. :>)

Shelagh

That's exactly what an airing cupboard is. We have ours filled with towels and bedding, as well as the hot water tank nicely lagged to keep the heat in! My Mum always used to put clean clothes in there to "air" when it was just about dry. Oh the delights of a clean vest straight from the airing cupboard when I was little! And as for house prices, well both our "youngsters" who are in a situation to want to buy are renting while they save, which might take a while, since the places they live are expensive even for UK. If you can move to places like East Anglia, or some parts of northern England, Scotland or Wales it's much cheaper. Difficult if your work is in London or on the south coast Love & higs Christine

Shelagh, as you know, I am not from the Uk, and we do not have airing cupboards as such here but I for one use the little area the water heater is in to dry damp things. Our heater is not large( about three ft high I would think) and is in a separate compartment of the wardrobe in the guest bedroom and there are two shelves above it. DH has a special use for it if it gets a bit cold in the winter - he puts his home brew in there to keep the right temperature !!!'

Another excellent thing is to have the back of the refrigerator into a large built in cupboard with rack in it, I had my fridge built into one of these when we had holiday falts and I was able to dry all the linen for three flats in there in a day , thus saving on running the dryer so much.

God Bless Gwen

Oh Gwen, that's an airing cupboard even if it's not called that. So you see it's not just we Brits who have airing cupboards (and very useful they are too!!)

Love & higs Christine

I wish I had one! My water heater is in the basement and is just used to heat water.

Higs, Kather> Oh Gwen, that's an airing cupboard even if it's not called that. So

How boring, and what a waste of a resource. Can you build a cupboard around it so you can use the heat for drying clothes?

Probably not. But in my next house, I can think about it.

Higs, Katherine

Christ> How boring, and what a waste of a resource. Can you build a cupboard

But Katherine, isn't your hot water tank insulated? If so, it wouldn't give off much heat - the insulation keeps it in the tank where it should be. My hot water tank is in our bedroom closet and I've never noticed any heat coming off it.

Shelagh

Yes, it is insulated. But wouldn't they be insulated everywhere? And, now that you mention it, I have never noticed any heat coming off it when I have been near it. So maybe an airing cupboard wouldn't work here at all.

Higs, Katherine

Just make sure its not gas fired first (they need a good supply of air)!!! Roger.

Kather> Probably not. But in my next house, I can think about it.

As I recall, the insulation on the British water heaters tended to be wrapped around the tank after installation, so was not as efficient as the North American tanks (which, for the information of our UK friends, come in a metal cylinder with a thick layer of insulation inside, and then the tank inside the insulation - all sealed up tight). I just felt the outside of my water heater, and it is cold, so the idea probably would not work here.

Roger.

My husband the building contractor, says that it is gas heaters that put off extra heat, and that the electric kind do not. So the practicality of it probably depends on your fuel. I do like the fridge idea. An open back would also make it easier to clean those darned coils that raise you bill when they get clogged and dusty. Just my 2 cents/pence.... Hazel

So do fridges. If they get to hot at the back they won't run properly, which means repair or replacement.

Shelagh

This is true!

Higs, Kather> Just make sure its not gas fired first (they need a good supply of > air)!!! Roger. >

Yeah, that is what I thought.

Higs, Katherine

Katherine,I always feel heaters like that are such a waste of power , as indeed I always feel the backs of refrigerators are, but that is the way it is with almost all buildings God Bless Gwen

Shelagh, my heater is also in the guest bedroom closet and we never notice any heat coming off it at all but somehow it still drys things - not to mention the home brew keeping the right temp!! God Bless gwen