At which point do you put the heating on?

Exactly the same here!
We have a digital thermostat which can be moved around the house, so generally in a central warm part, and I assume reasonably accurate, but not thermometer-accurate IYSWIM. Set to 19c when heating is timed to be on (morning and evening) and 5c the rest of the time.

Normally I only heat the one room the family are in (electric heater). Have the heating set at 10 degrees (thermostat) to prevent pipes freezing (hopefully)

We have windows open until the heating goes on. If it was on year round and the temperature dropped unexpectedly then the heating could come on when a window was open. That could be expensive!

Yes

I never get the "when do you turn heating on" threads.

Surely that's what the thermostat is for? I have on year round with the thermostat. Not overnight though as I don't like it bring stuffy.

It will always try to maintain the temp at which it is set at 24/7

If my thermostat is set to 17.5 and my central heating timer is set to come on from 5-6pm, it will only come on at this time if the temp drops below 17.5?
Does that mean I could not use a timer and just leave the CH switched on all the time, and it would only come on once the temperature was below 17.5?
😨

etulosba

Thats all very well unless you’re married and it causes all out war!!! Roll on spring.

We haven't put ours on yet, we are just wearing layers and using blankets while watching TV.

Ugh! Oh for an edit button.

I do think…

I have maybe worked out why so many of you can cope with sub-18 degrees and we can't.

I don’t think it is just down to an individual’s temperature tolerance. Everybody is different and it doesn’t matter where they live. You can see this every summer with the inevitable “It’s 20 degrees outside and I can’t function in this unbearable heat” threads start.

Some individuals are lucky and can remain comfortable within a much wider temperature range than others. I would include myself in this group. I only start to feel a bit chilly when it gets below 14 indoors and a bit warm in the mid 30s.

Spurred on by this thread and comments about Scotland, I have been doing some mini experiments in my house and think I have maybe worked out why so many of you can cope with sub-18 degrees and we can't.

We live in a somewhat wet part of England, and it turns out the humidity in our home is high. So the issue is that our environment is not just cold, but cold and wet, and that is probably why it feels colder than the temperature.

It’s hard to compare house temps based on thermostat as it depends where your thermostat is. So someone in a poorly insulated house with an upstairs thermostat might have the heating on 21 but the temp in the living room may only be 18. Where as someone with a downstairs thermostat might have a living room at 19 and it feel warmer than the other house. It’s helpful to have a thermometer in your house to really keep track.

I mean... yes, we have carpets and curtains. Windows can lose a lot of heat. I'm not one of the heroically subarctic but I have resisted turning the thermostat above 18.5 this year, where previously we've have set it at 20 and/or had the woodburner cranked up in the evenings. 18.5 now feels ok, after a few chilly evenings. I do think your body adjusts over time. But we'll see what the colder weather brings.

Well you really should have looked into the coal storage there. In my days, our coal was never wet. Tsk

All I’m saying is the range heated one room that was it upstairs was freezing every day,

you had to prepare the range ever day & of it had been snowing then most of the coal was damp. Most of the residents in the street lived to a grand age, now 18 degrees is cold.

Well you did heat your houses somehow...
"Heating" doesn't just mean central heating.

Do you know what we also did a while ago? Smoked on public transport. Now look at all them wimps moaning about smoking in buildings. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

That's how these "but back in my day" sound

No experience of no heating that’s my point, I lived with out it as did the rest of the street. Didn’t have any of it till almost 30yrs of age. I grew up with it. Why is it dangerous? If you ain’t got it that’s it.

Well, more people died? People die of cold and damp, especially children and the elderly.

But you wouldn't know - you've no experience of not having heating, have you? I know of people who had no heating, and if you know anything about that, you would know it is dangerous.

This is like a friend of mine, who heard someone say smugly 'oh yes, we've had no heating on ... except the wood burners'.

how Did we all manage without the luxury of heating etc? my old house where I grew up had just a range in the dining room. every room upstairs had Lino, all the houses in the street had outside toilets & bathroom in deepest winter there would be ice on everyone’s windows inside & yet no one complained because everyone had the same issues, now I’m reading anything belo 18 is heating time. How times have changed

House temp dropped to 14 last night, and my fingers were chilled to the bone.
Held out anyway.
I used to have the heating come on when it got below 18

No carpet here, laminate flooring. Also in the SE, I put it on one day, because of health issues, sacroiliitus, ended up in a tepid bath at 4am,then using an ice pack. It would be 18c. Same duvet all year,4.5 tog. I wouldn't be able to move in a 13 tog owing to arthritis, wouldn't be able to lift it. Never had heating on over night in my life. DD has a new baby, went round in a cotton shirt,it was 25c, I couldn't breath, felt I was going to pass out.

We have carpets, curtains in the sitting room and over the front door, blinds elsewhere. Duvets are 7.5 tog with weighed blanket on top. We wear pyjamas.

Crikey, at 18°, I feel cold and already have fleece joggers and a Teddy fleece on over a thermal top. My feet are feeling cold underneath thick socks and slippers with a thick sole. At 17°, my fingers turn to ice and I realise the heating has to go on for a bit.

So how the heck are people managing at below 16°? It falls to that and maybe 15° degrees at night, but we've already got 13 tog duvets on and blanket bedspreads. In fact, I just raided my dad's linen closet for old wool blankets from the 70s because I know we won't manage much longer at night.

Is it because you all have carpets and curtains? I can't understand how you are dealing with sub 17°?!

We haven’t had it on yet- we’re in the south east. It’s been an incredibly mild autumn. We are trying to hold out for as long as possible because of the bills.

I won’t let DS get cold, so if it goes a few degrees lower then we’ll put it on for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening, but we’re holding off for now. Will keep going with thermals, blankets and hot water bottles until DS’s gro egg is on the verge of going blue. (He’s nearly 4, by the way, and always dressed very warmly; I wouldn’t let it get chilly if I had a baby).