What temperature do you set your thermostat to?

[Tawdrylocalbrouhaha]

As the colder weather kicks in, I'm wondering if I should go wild and set the thermostat to 20 (when we're home and awake), or stick to a conservative 18.

This has got me wondering whether people in the north set a lower home temperature, and how much depends on your childhood heating situation (chilly in my case).

What is everyone else going for this winter?

18 from 5pm-9pm to cover children's bath and me sitting about. 16 the rest of the time. I sometimes boost it if it's chilly but don't have it on in the mornings as we're all rushing about getting ready, and it's only me who showers in the morning.

18 morning and evening, 12 overnight (it virtually never comes on) and during the day, although sometimes I put it on during the day if I'm working at home and a bit chilly. Sometimes 19 in the evening if 18 isn't quite enough to make it come on.

20 degrees day and night! DD's room somehow is always very much cooler than the rest of the house so in the winter the heating is on almost 24/7

I'm quite worried that lots of people are leaving their heating on for no good reason overnight.

My thermostat lets me set a minimum temperature so that I can be sure nothing freezes if I go away for a few days in the winter and turn it to "off". So my minimum temp for inside the house is 5 degrees. I do live in a city in a mid terraced house in the south of England but I know we'd be ok if the temp went down to 5.

Are the people who are leaving their heating on all night living in places where the temp might drop so severely that they'd go below freezing in 8 hours or so?

Usually 18-20 in the evening for a couple of hours... not enough time in the morning to worry about the cold. Yes do have a heated throw which I use on the sofa and just bought an electric blanket for my bed and have a wood burner which chucks out loads of heat

22!

Eesh I feel cold reading some of these replies. I know cold, we had no heating at home as a kid, there was a coal fire in the living room but that was only lit on a Sunday afternoon (to help dry the week's school uniform) and so we didn't actually freeze post weekly bath (I'm only in early 30s in case anyone thinks I'm harping back centuries ).

The thing I don't get is my house now at a constant 19/20 degrees feels significantly cooler than most houses we visit. The majority of friends and family have houses I find overbearing and stuffy whenever we are there, I often get too hot and the kids start stripping layers etc. On these kinds of threads though people always claim to have theirs so much lower - so do people whack it up for guests or is there a certain amount of competetive coolness going on ?

18 during the day but we switch it off at night unless it’s exceptionally cold, in which case it’s set to 12.

21, but the temp usually ends up at 21.5. I sometimes tweak it up to 22 (I feel the cold!)
At night set not to kick in until down to 15, but it never does. My house is B band energy efficiency and doesn't usually go below 18 at night.

MN loves a bit of competitive thermostat limbo (how low can you go...).

18 has me happy most days but I don't like the heating on at night as the boiler wakes me up.

I really should follow your under-bath-insulation plan Butterfly56. I'm not one for DIY but it sounds doable, and I would love a copy bathroom.

Mine depends on the time of year - this time of year the house feels chilly and damp even if it's about 19C but the heating isn't on - so I may set it to 20-21C to have heating on. In the winter though it only needs to be set at about 18-19C and heating still comes on.

Usually set to about 15-16 overnight and heating stays off.

We also have no fire. House already down to 13 and it's still October. Badly insulated so cools down quickly. Stupid pellet biomass heating so already spending £25 a week.

18 morning and evening, off over night. I sometimes turn it up to 19-20 but never higher.

@MrsLettuce

Years ago I was told by someone that it uses more energy if you consistently let the house drop under 15 degrees, I've a vauge idea that that was based on having the heating on at 20 when it is on. It was the sort of person you'd believe on such matters IYSWIM (maybe a plumber, I wish I could remember).

Anyone know if there's a formula for what's most economical in terms of differential between 'day' and 'night' temperatures?

Martin Lewis covered this in MSE iirc. I think the consensus was that it’s swings & roundabouts. I’ll have a look...

18 for a couple hours in the morning. 15 while we are out during day so this time of year it does not come on. Then back to 18 from 4 to 10 then 5 overnight so it only comes on if very very cold outside. In any case we switch the radiator off in our bedroom most of the time. I turn it back on first thing then off again and back on again when if I have a bath and want to potter in the bedroom. I would rather have a cold bedroom and big duvet. We always keep the window open during the night as well or we can't sleep.

20'C Mon-Fri 05:45-08:00 and 16:00-21:00. Sat & Sun 07:00-21:00

@MrsLettuce

It’s the first question here

21.5 if it's on. We usually don't bother in the morning as we're up and out within an hour and it's usually about 16-17 when we wake up. It tends to go on 4-8pm and off overnight.

Can I ask a possibly daft question?
Why/how do people put the heating down or off overnight? Is that not a recipe for everyone, especially children, being awake all night?? I can’t imagine the baby being able to sleep in a cold bedroom and I know that I can’t get comfy in a room under 18. The night feels to me like the exact time when the heating needs to be on!

18 degrees for a couple of hours in the morning and for the late afternoon to evening. 10 degrees the rest of the time (which I doubt it ever really drops to). If I’m home during the day I sometimes “advance “ it to the next on period but not often, I usually just put on a jumper.

I set the thermostat to 17.5 during the day and down to 13 at night. Far too hot at night otherwise and end up all sweaty and uncomfortable.
DH and I are in t shirts, it's toasty!

25

And it stays on 25 day and night while it's cold, obviously turns itself off once it gets toasty

Plus I think the cats would murder me if I dared turn it down 1 degree