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Original poster

What do you set your heating at?

215 replies

amibeingaknob · 13/10/2025 15:16

Please settle an argument with me and my mother.

What do you set your heating at? Is it different in the day and the night?

Just trying to gauge what the 'norm' is here. We are South East (not that that makes any difference - temp is temp).

For me - 20 in the day, 17 at night. My boyfriend (who lives with me) is 22 day, 19 night so its gone up - I wouldn't want him feeling the cold.

My mother thinks a house that is 14 is perfectly reasonable, and not on at all at night. She rarely puts in on. This worries me desperately as father has had pneumonia and they are in their mid 70s. She is convinced I, and 'my generation' are wussies, and heating is bad for you, and they are normal and I 'feel the cold more than most'.

I guess I want to prove to her that that last line is inaccurate, and she puts her bloody heating on this winter, as I am super anxious about their health (particularly my dad). On a selfish note, I loathe going round there as I sit shivering, whilst being given a blanket and told 'oh dear, you do feel the cold don't you'. Like Im some sort of alien. The offer of heating is never there, and when it is put on, it is with much complaint, and mum performance huffing and fanning of brow. Ugh. Drives me nuts.

OP posts:
mummymissessunshine · 16/10/2025 12:58

i set it to 22 6am-9am and again 5-10pm.

overnight and during the day I set the base to 12 but I expect I will pop it on over the winter for a few hours at 22 during the middle of the day. As I hate to be cold!!!

14 is too low for elderly people for all of the time. There is some guidance on central heating via one of the elderly charities. Will see if I can find it.

SpaceRaccoon · 16/10/2025 12:55

Rexthesnail · 16/10/2025 12:53

23 all the time

My dream house (maybe not so much at night).

Rexthesnail · 16/10/2025 12:53

23 all the time

ainsleysanob · 16/10/2025 12:33

Never ever had the heating on over night! In fact, we don’t ’set’ our heating at all! We put it on for an hour if it gets a bit nippy and then turn it off. It’s nothing to do with cost but the fact that we’re all run hot!

Original poster
amibeingaknob · 16/10/2025 11:01

i guess the issue is two-fold isnt it.

  1. that i think they are putting their health at risk due to age, and dads health issues.
  2. that i think its bloody rude to not heat a guest.

The former I don't think i can do anything about. I tried, and failed.
The latter I can. I can simply refuse to go there and tell them why, or insist that the heating goes on before I come.

When i think back to the other day (and its like this every year), i stayed in my coat, i was shivering - and mum made lots of performative 'oh you do feel the cold don't you dear- heres a blanket' and lots of laughing and mocking me for being so fussy. I find that incredibly rude and disrespectful. I couldnt even imagine not putting heating on for someone else if they are sat there still in their coat!! Let alone shivering.

I think its rude for me to insist on heating and Id never do it normally, BUT, i think its far ruder what they are doing. And when I get pushed I will tell them so.

OP posts:
XenoBitch · 15/10/2025 17:59

I have not got it set to anything right now. It is 16 in my house and I have the back door open for my dog.
I feel fine, but obviously acknowledge other people would be very cold at that temp so have the heating on.
I just don't need it right now.

Jayne35 · 15/10/2025 17:55

20 between 6-9am, then 15 until 4pm when it’s 20 again until 10pm. If up late I will put it back on but generally set to 7 overnight, and it never comes on. Hate heating on at night. Though this wasn’t the case when I had babies/toddlers due to getting up in the night I left it on about 18.

Hollietree · 15/10/2025 17:03

Your house seems very warm to me, but you are paying the bills so up to you if you want high gas/electric bills 🤷🏼‍♀️

Your parents sounds a little in the cold side to me, but are they struggling to pay the bills? Is it a necessity?

HorrorAndHaagenDazs · 15/10/2025 16:59

18-19 during the day and off at night.
I hate a cold house.

Allmarbleslost · 15/10/2025 16:54

18 in the day and off at night.

Nannyfannybanny · 15/10/2025 12:56

Everyone is obsessed with damp, cold air,very dry. air is equally bad for you. Central heating dries your skin, sinuses,in hospital, you're given humidified 02, for bronchial conditions, Croup, humidifiers,steam inhalation.

FlubandSlub · 15/10/2025 00:20

I live in a modern well insulated flat. The temperature is currently 22°. It's 15 mins past midnight and 7° outside. My heating hasn't been on since March!

RunningJo · 14/10/2025 18:04

never have the heating on when we are asleep, we have it at 20 degrees on a timer during the day, in winter that’s around 1.5 hrs in a morning, then around 4.5 hours at night.
If it’s really cold, we’ll override the timer and put it on (after I’ve told everyone to put a jumper on first)

YourDandyPlumBeaker · 14/10/2025 18:01

Ours is set to 20°, but only when we're at home (16° if we're out all day or at work etc). Goes off every night at 9 or 10, depending on bedtime, even in middle of winter as house stays warm, and comes on early morning before we get up.

Mrsfeckwittery · 14/10/2025 17:54

I’m in Scotland. Its set to come on at 18C about 4pm and go off at 10pm when it’s set about 8C, and only just been switched back on after a long summer break.
Radiators in bedroom are NEVER switched on and windows open in bedroom all year round.
im just back from staying in a hotel for weekend and feeling quite ill because it was so fecking hot everywhere, I’m sure I picked up the lurgy because of it.
why can’t you be in control of your own room temperature - such a waste of energy and dosh.
I know everyone is different but I feel like I can’t breathe in a warm, stuffy room.

CasperGutman · 14/10/2025 17:49

Ours is set to 18 in the mornings and evenings (all day at the weekend), which in practice means it's 19 or thereabouts in the kitchen and family room, 18 in the hallway and 17 in the front room which is used infrequently.

At night it's set to 14 but that's only theoretical. It hardly ever gets cold enough for it to do anything.

Ionlymakejokestodistractmyself · 14/10/2025 17:43

I think ours comes on if it drops below 16.5 at night and 18.5 in the day but we do sometimes crank it up as the thermostat is in the warmest part of the house.

Allseeingallknowing · 14/10/2025 17:38

iLife a hot water bottle , but not a dog or cat substituting as one! Warm they may be, but they’re also smelly!

Irenesortof · 14/10/2025 11:59

17 during the day in rooms we are using , no heating at night. Plus a blast of heat in the whole house for an hour or two a day in very cold wet weather to keep off the damp.

Nannyfannybanny · 14/10/2025 08:55

4.5 tog duvet here, our last house was cold,we have a couple of dogs,they keep you warm!

Nannyfannybanny · 14/10/2025 08:53

Pneumonia is usually caused by a virus, I had it once following flu, many years ago, but I was working ridiculously long night shifts and little sleep..I'm 75, also in the SE..I like less than double figures for sleeping, bedroom window open. The air cooler is still out..we ventilate ,air, when the heating does go on,18c in the day,off at night.. friends in their 50s, live in t shirts,I went into their south facing lounge, heating on 22c, wearing a jumper, I thought I would pass out.. I think a lot of it is, whether you are moving..if I vacuum,I get hot.. I've been busy making soup.. yesterday and hours dog walking,3 hours gardening..

soundsofthevalley · 14/10/2025 08:50

About 17 in the day, never at night! Good warm duvets!

thisishowloween · 14/10/2025 08:39

OutOfDateTreacle · 13/10/2025 21:14

21 degrees from 5:30am until 10:00pm
15 degrees during the night

We live in a really well-insulated terraced house with a new boiler and double-glazed units so our heating is good and affordable.

It always amazes me when very ‘comfortable’ friends of mine will waste £££ on over-priced clothes, holidays etc but it would kill them to put the heating on. They bang on about it too - it’s like it’s a massive part of their identity.

Aren’t you absolutely boiling?

SpidersAreShitheads · 14/10/2025 02:48

We keep our house really warm. I’m like a lizard and prefer a really warm house and DS is disabled and won’t keep any clothes on. He runs around just wearing a pull-up but no clothes (he’s 15 years old) but doesn’t notice hot or cold temperatures really. I make sure that the house is warm so he doesn’t get a chill - in the summer I also have to persuade him NOT to wear a fleeced onesie if we go out. I think his internal thermostat is broken 😂🤷‍♀️

Our heating is set to around 23 or 24 during the day but we only have one radiator downstairs, and that’s in the hall. It’s mainly to keep the DC’s bedrooms warm - DD’s room in particular gets freezing cold as she is double aspect and the windows need replacing.

We have a log burner downstairs and that really heats everywhere. It kicks out an amazing degree of heat and is perfect as I can sit close to it while DP can sit further away.

For that reason, the heating isn’t on that much really as the log fire does most of the work. We don’t have the heating on at night unless there’s an icy snap and it’s minus degrees outside.

Editing to add: we’re in the southwest and haven’t lit the fire or had the heating on yet this year but as soon as it starts to feel chilly we will. I’m always the coldest in the house and I’m just turning 50 (on Wednesday actually!) so I’m constantly running hot at the moment. Could be our cheapest winter ever 😂

ODFOx · 13/10/2025 22:58

Ours hasn’t gone on yet but once I start noticing the cold it’s set to 20 degrees from 6-7.30am and 6-9pm. We sleep with windows open all year round so absolutely no point in overnight heating.

The heating was on for 9.5 weeks last year: entirely due to excellent insulation: in my last house we were cold all the time and had an aga, a wood burner and central heating on most days from autumn to spring. In this house my computers in the daytime and the telly in the evening is enough until mid November at least.