The central heating is making us ill

[XmasIn24]

Does anyone else have this problem?

Are we doing something wrong?

We tend to have the heating on only for a few hours per evening but after it's been on for an hour or so we're all complaining of sore throat and our skin is red and dry.

We set it to 18°.

We basically have to suffer like this or be cold and wear blankets around the house.

For context this happens every winter but this year it's annoying me more!
I hate being cold and I hate feeling uncomfortable with the heating on.

Have you had the system /boiler checked and serviced? is it gas?

Definitely have it checked and get a carbon monoxide monitor or check the one you have. This could save your lives.

Then - how dry is the air? Would a humidifier help? Are you ventilating the room at all? Small crack of open window?

We have a carbon monoxide alarm fitted and the boiler recently serviced.

It does happen every year. Also if we were to visit someone (pre Covid) it would be the same.

The dc are ok with the school heating on during the school day,but as soon as they get in the car they want the windows open as they're too hot.

What makes their skin hot and red? Are you suggesting that it is something given off by the boiler , or the heat?

Either is resolvable, surely?

So it's not a problem limited to the house, but the car too? Have you always kept your house so cold? Could just be that they're generally not used to the artificial heating in rooms which are probably much smaller than a school has. We have the heating set to kick in if the temp drops below 18 during the day here and 20 at night, but I'm freezing at anything less than that in the winter.

Central heating always makes me feel rough. I have the radiator in my room switched off otherwise I feel like I can't breathe in the morning. It dries my skin too.

I wonder if it's the humidity levels? Generally, homes are warm and dry but that can make your skin itchy or your throat quite sore (also, scratchy eyes). I think some people are more susceptible to it than others, but generally everyone gets quite dry skin over winter when the heating is on all the time. Have you tried using a humidifier?

If our heating was on 18 it would be boiling. Turn it down a bit?

I hate it being too hot, it's the stuffiness. I keep my bedroom window open so I can sleep. It's the source of many arguments.

Our car heating goes from freezing to ridiculously hot in minutes, I take my coat off in the car, and have to crack the window.

I'd much rather sleep in a cold room with lovely cosy duvets than a stuffy room. As a kid living in the ME I used to crank up the a/c to sleep with a duvet. Not very environmentally friendly I now realise.

We have our central heating set to 12, but on all the time subject to the thermostat, and its perfect. 18 would be way too hot

Love the MN competitive coldness coming out on here as usual.

Set the heating to a nice warm temperature and find a skin cream for the eczema?

Central heating always makes me dehydrated but I hate being cold, so Im mindful to drink more and put up with it! I think it's just one of those things.

A humidifier might help. Depending on where your thermostat is, it might be warmer than 18 in the rooms you actually use (ours is in the hall so it gets over 21 in the living room when set to 18).

I find centrally heated houses very dry and too warm normally, we only have storage heaters but I put a cup of water on them and top it up when empty to keep the air moist otherwise it gets very dry and I get headaches and scratchy tickle throat, doesn't look great but does the trick, maybe try putting a cup of water in front of a radiator to see if it helps.

We have hearing on so we're not cold. We have the bathroom window open a lot of time, and sometimes the back and front doors to let out the smoke from burning toast, and I think that lets in enough humid air.

Open a window?

Do you have the same problem in other people's houses, OP? Is it central heating in general or yours in particular, do you know?
I agree about insufficient humidity. And 18 being a touch too warm, maybe.

Agreed it's probably the low humidity. Cold air holds less moisture, so when you warm it up it becomes very drying.

You could also check the temperature in the rooms. Rooms usually vary in temperature and thermostats aren't always accurate anyway.

Interesting - I had a dry throat recently for a few weeks - and it seems to have coincided with using the central heating most of the time (rather than the woodburner which we now have on instead). I hadn't thought about this until now.
I can't stand a heated bedroom - it is freezing getting in and out of bed though!

I don't like it either and last night had some kind of reaction to it as it had been on all day accidentally.

I found my excema was going nuts and I was wheezing with a scratchy throat.

So this morning I've had a mad cleaning sessions, wiped all the rads, hoovered and had the windows open. Poor DH is freezing.

Our thermostats are wireless and so they only place they work we have had to turn off the nearby rad as the rest of the house wouldn't get warm otherwise. (long old house).

Mine are set to 16 daytime and 8 at night. Cannot bear heating on in the night and I've been sneakily opening a window near our room this week even though it was - 4.

No solutions OP except to sympathise.

@CMOTDibbler

We have our central heating set to 12, but on all the time subject to the thermostat, and its perfect. 18 would be way too hot

Ours is set to 23! BUT, all the rooms radiators have themostats, so they are set to make each room comfortable. And it is only on during the day, early evening. 12 is just hilarious, you might as well just sit outside. We are a windows open family too though, so all bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen windows always cracked slightly open, and conservatory doors to the main house too, and that's well ventilated.

12!!!! 🤣🤯 My heating comes on automatically when it hits 16 degrees in my house. On a related note, since Ive been back at work in an airconditioned open plan office (after months of furlough) Ive noticed a significant difference in my skin - crows feet and lines around my eyes are more pronounced and the backs of my hands are like autumn leaves, despite slathering on lotion every time I wash them.

Mm the heating coming on does set my allergies off too. I am hoovering lots as I read it could be from dust mites as well as the dry air.

I'm not saying 12 is an accurate representation of the overall temperature in the house as the thermostat is in the hall, but its what works for us. DH is sitting around in shorts and t shirt, so is perfectly warm as is ds but I am a colder person so adjust with a blanket on the sofa
OTOH, I can't understand having the thermostat at 23 but having the windows open - the only room with the window open is our bedroom, and the radiator in there is turned off and the door kept shut so the rest of the house doesn't get blown through

@CMOTDibbler

We have our central heating set to 12, but on all the time subject to the thermostat, and its perfect. 18 would be way too hot

There's competitive heating / lack of ... and then there's this.

12 degrees isn't 'heating'

I'm in Italy and most people here have humidifiers (little vases full of water) hanging on their radiators as they complain that otherwise the air is too dry. I have never had that problem myself but maybe you could try it?