Jump to content
Problems logging in? ×
Snow?
Local
Radar
Cold?

Bottesford

Members
  • Posts

    6,422
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    6

Everything posted by Bottesford

  1. March 2013 was quite snowy in Nottingham - got a good covering and it stayed extremely cold for ages. I can remember one evening a howling easterly was blowing and my old house's heating system could only get the place up to 18c on full power such was the heat sapping ability of that wind! This of course is extreme - it could just as easy be 20c... which at least would have treated the garden better. 2013 was dreadful for growing stuff that's for sure.
  2. 1635 sunset here now so gained a good 40 mins in the evening which is noticeable whereas barely 12 mins gained in the mornings (0802 today). Given how it is almost always cloudy in Berlin during winter its harder to notice however! I was flying in from Paris on Wednesday and clear skies dominated the whole way... then we landed into Berlin and it was the usual 1c and low cloud/drizzle. Seems like we're in a pool of murk most of the time - worse than that North Sea muck was back in Nottingham! And that's saying something... As for changing to BST in winter - I experienced it in Paris. Sunrise was 0835 and sunset 1730 which made for dreadful mornings when starting meetings at 0800 but was nice to still see sunshine still at 1700! Can't really win in winter but come mid Feb it'll be 1815 sunset in Paris whilst here (and the UK) limp on with it getting dark just after 1700 - far better in Paris!
  3. Sure its getting lighter but sooo slowly especially with the endless cloud & rain. January is a real uphill struggle for me (and many others too I'm sure) - just need more sleep, more food and are less active & definitely less happy. About mid Feb that spark from the upcoming spring appears and mood lifts! Ready for it especially as I'm off to Peru end of Feb!
  4. 12c this morning in Berlin - wonder how mild we'll get? I suspect not as a mild as the UK being so far downwind away from the warm ocean but still, very much above the 2c maximum average!
  5. Guess it depends where you draw the line between dark & light evenings... But true we use the clock move to favour light in the early evenings which makes perfect sense given more people are awake at that time then in early mornings. But it's still sunset at 7:30pm after the clock move in March - hardly a long light evening.. In my book sunset needs to be close to or beyond 9pm to be a true 'light' evening - so mid May to early August - about 3 months. As for a true dark evening - well pre 5pm sunset sounds about right so late October to early Feb - about 3.5 months. So in fact the dark is longer than the light in my book! But someone else might argue post 7:30pm is a light evening and only pre 4:30pm sunset is dark so.....
  6. Deffo noticed it getting darker later here today and for the first time. That is one thing January has over Nov/Dec - the vice slowly releasing again! Very slowly admittedly but still...
  7. Good article on the same here: http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/equation-of-time.html
  8. I'm aware of the usual wind up in some all of your posts but surely even you can't use the 'overwhelming' threat of being stung or getting heat stroke in the UK of all places as an argument against summer! Still it made me chuckle.
  9. January is a horrible month on the whole. A bit of snow cheers things up a bit but otherwise its generally a difficult time for many. At the moment its ok as its christmas and everyone is partying & getting ready for the holidays. In Jan you're spent up, partied out and looking at a minimum of 2-3 months of mostly cold & dark conditions. Certainly the days are getting longer but you don't notice it at all in Jan (well unless you watch the exact sun angle each day looking for that little move - much like laserguy in June/July!). By end of Feb (much like August) you notice change and in me, rapid increases in joy levels! Still you need contrast and if we didn't have this 'indoor' season when would you get your indoor projects/gaming/hobbies done?
  10. Perhaps the weather listened to my rant - we've got a clear sunny day today at last!
  11. In my old place I used to have mine on timer to come on about 1.5 hours before we got up then (during colder spells) it was just about comfortable (around 17-18c) to get ready in. Then it came on again an hour before getting home and would just about make it to 21c an hour or so before bed. Then lost it at a rate of about 1-2c per hour. Now I only have radiator taps to control it but good insulation with little heat loss so I just turn them down to minimum overnight and it's fine.
  12. Well we're definitely in the gloomy part of the year and boy is it driving me mad this year. I've never defined myself as a SAD sufferer bar what most of us get - less energy, need more sleep & food, etc - but this year it has been far worse. I think I was fooled by last winter in Berlin which was very sunny (and being on the top floor you catch all the sun) but so far late autumn and now into winter has been endlessly gloomy. Thick low cloud and low temperatures dominate with little day/night variation. Actually finding myself missing a good old Atlantic storm which along with rain in general are almost completely absent in the cold part of the year. Could just do with jumping into 2-3 days of July to charge up my batteries ready for Christmas! Or more realistically if this damn cloud would break up for a few days. Gladly the solstice isn't far off and we at last begin the long climb back to happy land...
  13. Deffo worth it for sure. We did the same in our old house but the effect was not huge as the house was so old and didn't have a proper loft to install insulation into (and no cavity wall). In cold spells, it could be heated to almost 20c in the morning and be back to 11-12c by time I came home at 5:30pm then take another 4 hours to be comfortable again. Fighting a loosing battle really. Dread to think what energy efficiency category it fell in! Our apartment here is a new build on top of an old (circa 1900) building and feels very well insulated. Just as well really given the weather here at the moment.
  14. With temperature now below freezing day and night, no sunshine at all coupled with a strong biting easterly wind the heating is most certainly running now! Just so glad this flat is so easy to keep warm, just one or two radiators on and its cosy. If I'd have brought my old Nottingham house with me i'd be half frozen by now!
  15. Can't work at that temperature! Well unless you're doing some a lot of moving around anyway. Sadly tapping on a keyboard don't quite do it!
  16. Just put thermometers in a few rooms to see temps around the flat. 20c seems to be an average across the board going up to 21c when cooking/working in that room and 19c in the bedroom. That's just about comfortable in still air when wearing slippers but any lower it would need heating if you're sitting for any length of time. This is in dull mostly still outdoor conditions and temps ranging 4c to 6c outside.
  17. 7c here as it has been (or thereabouts) for 2 weeks now. Saw the sun for 10 mins earlier. That gives us a total of 4 hours in 2 weeks. I hate November - it's too dark and makes me incredibly lethargic/demotivated especially when there is no sunshine. It's also usually not that cold so snow etc limited but it sure as hell ain't warm either so you need to live in stuffy centrally heated rooms all the time. Christmas is coming but its still that bit too far off to do 'festive' stuff. For me it ranks equally with January as my least favourite months.
  18. Yeah my old place was a nightmare for condensation and damp. Both assist in the forming of mould which are very bad for your health. The ideal is to change the air daily (by opening windows for a time) and heat it enough to keep the damp off. Impossible in my old place as the heating could barely keep up with the windows closed never mind open! But I do open them daily here no matter what the weather, partly as its in the contract and partly since it so easy to keep the place warm. My internal temperature sensor logs produce fairly straight line graphs here whereas before there could be a 8-10c drop and rise across a 24 hour period.
  19. The warm water is circulating around the hot water pipes from the buildings hot water system, although no radiators are actually switched on yet. That keeps it 21-22c with windows open in the morning to clear condensation (as per my contract!). If we get any sun (1 day in the last 10- yuk) then few more windows open around lunchtime before all closing up as it drops. Meant to head towards freezing this weekend so things may change...
  20. We are certainly in the darkest quarter of the year now - November to January before improvement slowly makes its presence felt in February. Although I'm no fan of November the dark evenings are somewhat ok up to and including Christmas. It's January and early February that's the long painful slog in the dark. Christmas behind us and spring still so far off.. Tried to plan my belated honeymoon to Peru in that period but sadly have to wait until end of Feb. Really enjoyed going to Barbados in Jan 2011 - lovely escape!
  21. Warm pipes that circle the apartment are flowing to keep the chill off. Windows open during the day but tend to close them as the sun drops. No radiators on as yet but then its around 9c at night still.
  22. Blinds always open in my office (which this past year has been in my home). Like to be flooded in sunlight on those sunny days (like today). However when the sun is directly shining in your eyes you have little choice but to protect yourself from it. It's not about hating darkness - no I like it during the night otherwise sleeping is far from ideal, plus its nice to see stars and such. It's just tough when it takes over the daytime hours. When you're still in the office as it goes from crisp sunshine to pitch black your brain tends to slow right down as it really feels like the working day should be over. Gives me headaches it does. Also you should compare your personal safety for the following evening commutes: - a bright August afternoon with light traffic or, - a damp & dark November afternoon with very heavy traffic. Which do you think feels safer for cycling, driving or just walking? Also it just makes you feel like you have less time to do things in - get home in daylight and you might go for a walk/bike ride, work on the garden, etc. Not so in darkness. Still you get used to it as it does drag on for many months! And what is life if it didn't have contrast...
  23. I'd argue many notice it long before the clock move. In December it is dark at 4pm - a clear hour before work ends. By late Feb its light on leaving work at 5pm. Very noticeable and 'at last' the truth!
  24. Yes it should deffo be like that. The waste of light in March especially is just daft with it completely light when the majority are still asleep but dark in the evening rush hour when almost all are awake. I think that change would not upset anyone too much and would make a positive difference to saving energy (plus get that lovely "at last its light again!" feeling a few weeks earlier). Any other change (going to Euro time or sticking to GMT to BST all year) are likely to annoy some group of people or other despite some of the positives of the change (although sticking to GMT in summer would be ludicrous without major shifts in daily schedules in all sectors of the country).
  25. Temps hovering around 7-9c day & night with a chilly breeze and endless low cloud at the moment so the heating system is on. It is flowing round the apartment although I'm not using the radiators themselves as the warm pipe running around all rooms is enough.
×
×
  • Create New...