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Original poster

When do you put your central heating on?

131 replies

daytripper28 · 30/09/2021 12:33

If you have it that is. I'm curious whether people wait for a certain date or just see how cold it gets?

It was 5 degrees here yesterday - and we lit a fire, but didn't put central heating on. I don't think it's been on since March.

OP posts:
Fairyliz · 30/09/2021 13:10

My thermostat is set at 18 degrees in the daytime and it came on several times until mid June then clicked on again a couple of days ago.
Dread to think what the bills are going to be like for the winter.

BrieAndChilli · 30/09/2021 13:15

we try and last as long as we can into october. Just because I always think once you start putting it on, you never go back to not putting it on!

I'm really excited this year as we moved house and had a log burner put in! I expect we will start lighting that occasionally soon before needing to put the central heating on. We never have it on at night anyway so the fire should be enough to take the chill off for a bit

loopylindi · 30/09/2021 13:17

when Jack Frost leaves a pattern on the inside of bedroom windows!! (not!) Anyone else remember that? When 'eiderdowns' weighed a ton because it was filled with common-or-garden chicken feathers, when utility standard blankets also weighed and were as itchy as hell. Oh and what about breathing out fog in the bedrooms ....coal fires that scorched your front but left backs freezing cold. And when you got into bed you stayed curled up like a baby in the one spot that the hot water bottle had warmed - no stretching out then!

LucyGrey · 30/09/2021 13:17

@NovemberWitch I certainly can. However DH thinks it's a mans job and would have a go at me if I did it because it'd be wrong.

LucyGrey · 30/09/2021 13:18

@loopylindi

when Jack Frost leaves a pattern on the inside of bedroom windows!! (not!) Anyone else remember that? When 'eiderdowns' weighed a ton because it was filled with common-or-garden chicken feathers, when utility standard blankets also weighed and were as itchy as hell. Oh and what about breathing out fog in the bedrooms ....coal fires that scorched your front but left backs freezing cold. And when you got into bed you stayed curled up like a baby in the one spot that the hot water bottle had warmed - no stretching out then!
My mum went to boarding school and regularly tells me about the ice on the inside of the windows Shock
Brokenrecord3006 · 30/09/2021 13:20

We don't have central heating and our house is freezing, so we usually bite the bullet and start lighting the fire from October.

emmathedilemma · 30/09/2021 13:21

When it's cold!! I've had mine on the last couple of evenings and this morning as it was less than 16 degrees and I'm working from home today!

Georgyporky · 30/09/2021 13:21

I rely on the timer and thermostat - don't change either year round.

Comefromaway · 30/09/2021 13:23

Ours is on all year round. There is a thermostat in the hall and when it goes below 20 degrees when we are in or 14 degrees overnight/when we are out it comes on whether it be January or June. It has just started coming on these last couple of days. 19 degrees feels cool but we just put an extra jumper on.

Quickchangeartiste · 30/09/2021 13:25

@VanCleefArpels

15 minutes ago 🤣
Me too. Thermostat was reading 14.5 in the hall. Heating currently set to 18c.
Sonarl · 30/09/2021 13:26

Yesterday!

Have a Nest though so it is fairly well controlled.

Pascha · 30/09/2021 13:27

Mines set to 18.5° and its currently 19 in the house so not cold enough yet but its on the cusp. I would be surprised if it pops on now and then sometime this week or next.

I definitely fwlt the need for my dressing gown at 6am so it's on its way...

LadyDanburysCane · 30/09/2021 13:34

I never turn my heating “on” or “off”. We have the times we want to be warm programmed (so mornings and evenings) and if the temperature drops below 18 degrees then the heating come on.

Before we had the heating installed about 30 years ago we just wore lots of clothes if we got cold and only lit the fire at weekends (we were pretty poor back then).

BogRollBOGOF · 30/09/2021 13:34

When my nose drips. It doesn't matter how many clothes I wear, there comes a point when nothing but warm air stops the sniffing and dripping.

I've bought a heated throw today. Been toying with the idea for a while as the last two winters were fucking miserable.

Girlintheframe · 30/09/2021 13:37

I put ours on last night, was so cold.

Just bought a small heater for the office as I'm WFH at the moment and it's so cold in here.

Currently sporting my dressing gown over my 3 layers of clothing! Refuse to put on the heating during the day. No point heating the whole house when I'm only in one room 🥶

MydogWillow · 30/09/2021 13:37

Broke our 1st October "rule" and put it on this morning. It's the 1st October somewhere, right? Wink

lubeybooby · 30/09/2021 13:38

It's on a thermostat so if the house temp drops below 20c, it comes on

Whether that be July or December I don't care

I can't stand a cold house - making room for heating bills is a very high priority for me (though they are super reasonable here thankfully as energy B rated house and we get a lot of solar gain)

limitedperiodonly · 30/09/2021 13:43

I wait until it gets cold and because DH and I grew up in cold houses we're both quite hardy! I didn't put the heating on until the last few days of November last year and then we had a warm spell so I had to turn it off. We wrap up but we're not masochists - today I have a sweatshirt, trousers and socks on which is normal, isn't it? I also love watching TV snuggled under a blanket and never have heating on a night because it's just horrible.

It's a warm house. We live mid-terrace so are insulated by the neighbours who I'm sure have their heating on now - I have the back door open at the moment because it's too warm and stuffy.

DH tells horror stories about night storage heaters - I'm not sure what they are but he's scarred! He talks about chipping ice off the inside of windows. But he grew up in an exposed hilly part of the country.

My parents' house was end of terrace and it could get very cold and on some winter mornings I didn't want to get out of bed. My mum would come round here and say how warm it was and be amazed I hadn't got the heating on.

MancMum2000 · 30/09/2021 13:45

When I feel cold. I turned my heating on a couple of times in August this year!

Nitgel · 30/09/2021 13:45

Today as it's cold and I cant type

teaandpastries · 30/09/2021 13:51

Surprised no one has mentioned that massively rising energy costs. This is definitely going to affect when we switch on and how high or low the thermostat goes

DialsMavis · 30/09/2021 13:51

When its too cold to sit around in a jumper and thick socks. I agree about putting it off as long as possible though as once it's on. It stays on for so many months, May was freezing this year...

We usually put the heating on for guests even if we wouldn't bother yet for ourselves.

I am the heating controller in this house, DH has no idea how to program it, but as I pay for it I am happy with the power imbalance Wink

Yerra · 30/09/2021 13:52

Mainly use a stove - lit it 2 evenings ago just to start it up - usually smells for a few days when it has been idle for a few months so just to start it off.
Rarely use our CH - if it drops to minus, we may put it on in bedrooms for a little bit but it would be rare. used to having no heat in bedrooms.

AlfonsoTheDinosaur · 30/09/2021 13:52

I wait until my fingers are too cold to type. Last winter I had the heating on for a total of about 10 hours.

Lightningrain · 30/09/2021 13:56

Ours is always on but doesn’t kick in unless the temperature drops below the thermostat level.

I understand putting on a thicker jumper when working from home and it’s a bit chilly but it’s my hands and feet that get cold. I wear slippers but can’t use a keyboard and mouse with cold hands.

It seems like it’s a competition with some people over who can last it out the longest. I had three colleagues that used to do this every winter. I don’t understand it. If you’re cold and can afford to heat the house, why suffer just because we haven’t reached a specific date on the calendar yet?