Mumsnet Talk

No heat.

I miss being warm.

19 to 21 degrees. Though we often have the radiator turned off upstairs in our bedroom & is always turned off in the nursery and usually stays at around 18 degrees. Any warmer & I'm all too hot & bothered at night & can't sleep. Only time we had radiators turned on was when we had that really cold snap & temp went down to 12/15 in the rooms which was too cold, especially in the nursery. It's set to come on in the morning & evenings 5-10pm.

15, but not by choice.

No idea. We live in tied housing (a flat within a bigger building), and the only control we have on the heating is turning the knobs on the radiators and opening the windows.

But I'd say about 20.

14 overnight.
18 in the morning while we're getting showers etc. off then until about 3.
18-20 until kids in bed, down to 14 then.

I have an oil filled rad in the main room I switch on first thing and leave on all day.

I don't see the point of heating whole house. < plus I air the house every morning so we'd be heating the outdoors >

Ooh, we have an old oil-fired boiler which I think must be very inefficient given the amount we get through. Perhaps we should keep the heating on all the time then and just control with the thermostat? DH would be delighted.

Apparently with the older boilers it was more efficent to keep it on all the time, but the newer more efficient boilers can heat a house up a lot quicker so it's no longer true.

It's off now. Comes on twice a day at 18, in practice it is warmer than that in some rooms which we appreciate while we have it. Goes off during the day and at night.

18-19 usually, although DP will switch to plus 20 and wander around I'm shorts drives me mad!

At night and when the dc are at school or we're out of the house for a few hours It's set to 15. I turn it up to 17.5 just before I pick them up for school. For breakfast time/getting dressed I turn the fire on in the morning for 1/2 hour, it's in the dining room and the only room we really use in the morning.

The kitchen is always freezing though. it's an extension (built before we moved in) and isn't insulated properly. We really have to get it done before next winter, the snow didn't stick on the kitchen roof last month, even though it was 6 inches deep on the main roof!<brr>

BTW Im feeling really smug, I managed to cut over 200 pounds off my Mothers gas bill today for the next year

really worth looking at if anyone hasnt

(am I allowed to post that or is it too eco smug?)

Yeah but I bet ageuk guidelines are for really old people who live an 'old' lifestyle IYSWIM

not 65/70/75 year olds who go jogging, and run around and do what ever more for people who sit in a chair all day and struggle to get to the kitchen with their zimmer

18 degrees is nearly 70

a perfectly pleasant Summers day in most of the Uk that would have us all in t-shirts and light skirt/trousers

Ok, fair enough.

We must be atypical. Our bills reduced lots when we changed method, and it feels no cooler. I wonder if one can bear a lower target temperature if it is never totally freezing.

Our house is pretty well insulated; maybe that makes a difference too.

Interesting about northern Europe.

The standard of building in this country is shocking. There would be far less fuel poverty if our houses were properly insulated. I guess it's because we're not quite cold enough, but it's cold enough to be miserable in an unheated house.

Yes, it is a myth.

It may be cosy and convenient but it certainly wastes energy.

Uswitch are somewhat unhelpful and their site should read:

However, if you leave your heating on 24/7, you will typically necessarily end up using more fuel in a like-for-like situation

It's just physics, and as they point out you can just test for a week on each strategy and record energy usage.

I am sure that has proven to be a myth as surely it is cheaper to have it off and then on for short periods of time than to have it on and using energy all the time.

www.uswitch.com/energy-saving/guides/heating-on-all-the-time/

Yes, it's more efficient to have it permanently on, with a reasonable temperature on the thermostat, rather than heating it up from cold once or twice a day.

When we go away we leave it on 10 to protect the pipes and to make sure it never gets that cold. My ILs' house takes days to heat up when they've been away, so they have to get someone to go in and turn on the heating a few days before they're due home. Now that seems madly wasteful by comparison.

Yes my heating is always on. Well it's on thermostat, so comes on and off as necessary to keep a constant temperature. I prefer to keep the house at the same temperature as opposed to letting it cool down and heating up again several times per day.

But I'm from Northern Europe and we're used to warm houses, I can't even imagine 16 c, that's bloody freezing. According the health regulations back home, recommended temperature for homes is 20-22 and schools will be cancelled and kids sent home if the temperature in classroom is under 19 C..

no, mine is off overnight and when we are out, although it is on a timer so may go on while we are out so we come back to a warm house

So lots of people leave heating on overnight and even when out ?

17

0 at night/out.

SpringHare haha I tried to explain to DP that I know when he's turned the heating up because I start to get a bit breathless and red in the face, he told me I was being silly. I'm glad it's not just me!

How do people have it so hot at night? If its too hot at night I get all headachy and grumpy. I sleep with the window open too...

18 if I get my way, DH prefers 20. I had no idea 18 was below average. 20 gives me a dry red face and a mild sense of panic. DH must never see this thread...

18 here. I will switch on at 17