New builds don't have a fire in the living room.

[Yoohoo778611]

Our Ds has moved into a lovely new build heating is by central heating.
As they have only just moved in they don't know how much it will cost
to heat the house.
They have 2 teenagers so the whole house needs to be warmish.
They can't alter the temperature for different rooms.
We live in a 1970's bungalow and have a gas fire in the living room.
This is the warmest room in the home.
We only have the central heating on for an hour or so in the morning and
late afternoon.
Do you think it's cheaper to warm one room or are the new builds more
economical.

I think new builds are TONS more economical, they have to be now with the legislation. Also where you said “They can't alter the temperature for different rooms.” - are you sure? I think the radiators have to have individual controls on them now.

They can't alter the temperature for different rooms.
I find that very hard to believe! Are you sure there aren't any hidden thermostats somewhere? Ours are behind a panel by the front door.

New builds are super toasty

I’d rather be living in a new build than my freezing 1930s semi with sod all insulation and double glazing from the 80s.

Fire places that were here originally must have been ripped out and plastered over years ago.

I’d be shocked if the new build wasn’t more economical by a good lead due to insulation, modern boiler etc.

There may not be thermostats in every room but each radiator should have its own controls and you can turn them up or down.

If it's run on a district heating system as some new builds are I am not sure how those work with changing temperatures.

I have lived in 2 new builds, both with fire places and radiators. Both very economical too.

There will be TRVs fitted on all the radiators.

I live in a new build and it's always ridiculously warm. Summers are awful!

Do their radiators not have controls?

Are you sure there aren't thermostatic valves on the radiators?

I never thought about controls on the radiators. Ours don't so I presumed theirs wouldn't.
It was only last week they moved in so it's still a learning curve.

I've been in my 4 bed new build for a year and my energy bill has just increased to 75 pound a month. Its very energy efficient and I turned the heating off in February.

It gets ridiculously warm in the summer aswell.

It won’t cost nearly as much as yours. We are in a 4 bed new building, our winter hill increased from £70 pm to £85pm for gas and electric (I’m aware this is reasonable compared to others) it’s still cheaper than my parents two bed 1970s home.

I believe that radiators have to be fitted with thermostat valves now.

Gas fires are not efficient or cheap

@tackling yes! Whilst bills are minimum sleeping is fun 🤣

@1MillionSelfiesTakenByMyKids

New builds are super toasty

And , frequently, with shocking build quality.

New builds also tend to have lower ceilings so not as much area to heat. Ours was a New build 30 years ago (I still call it new😁) the upstairs gets boiling hot and we never have the radiators on in the bedrooms, except if we get a very cold snap, and I'm talking absolutely baltic!!

We are in a new build and previously in a house built early 90s. By far the new build house is warmer and efficient even though it’s bigger.

New builds have much better insulation so for instance our house is toasty warm on 2 hours heating per day on all but the coldest days (I'll boost it for an hour mid pm if needed but only needed to a few times this year) you don't need a separate heater plus ours is set up to run from an air source heat pump though the developer did go as far as installing one (cheap gas boiler instead!)

If your radiators haven't got thermostatic valves, they are very cheap ot install. my gas fire is capped and I'd like to get it removed and the wall made good but it costs too much to afford at the present.

"Do you think it's cheaper to warm one room or are the new builds more
economical."

There's probably a few factors at play so it's difficult to answer.

I don't think it can be good for example if the rest of the house feels really cold.

I would have thought central heating on for background heat & fire for a boost.

Op as said on here new houses much more efficient it will be lovely and warm much warmer than your house with the gas fire and no heating on . Just because it’s what you know doesn’t mean how it should be .I’ve got rid of my fire years ago central heating all the way for me .

Our new build holds the heat really well. Also we have a separate thermostat for living room so we can heat only that room if we want.