A man from Tonypandy has come up with an ingenious way of fooling is wife into thinking the heating is on, by recording the noise his heating makes and playing the recording back into the living room from a hidden speaker.

Arthur Sideboard, 48, from Kenry Street, Tonypandy told My Rhondda News how he has come up with his plan to save thousands on heating bills. “I’ll save thousands,” said Arthur, “she sits on the settee, I put a blanket over her and get her all cosy like, and turn on the recording noises.”

Mr Sideboard came up with the idea after he realised he started sweating every time he heard that low background hum of his boiler working, “It’s absolutely ridiculous really, as soon as I hear the noise, it doesn’t matter how cold I am, I start sweating. That’s when the idea came to me, she thinks I’m Rockefeller.”

Sideboard went on to tell us how he did it, “I bought a small dictaphone from the charity shop, put it next to the boiler and pressed record when the heating was on. I hid the thing behind the settee and turn it on whenever she gets cold.”

Mr Sideboard’s plan seems to be working, he hasn’t put the heating on for over a month. Mrs sideboard even asked him to turn the heating off when she was having one of her flushes, and he had to pretend turn down the thermostat while turning off the recording.

Mary Fringe from Blaenllechau wasn’t available for comment.