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.

They need to look at their EPC and whatever it says is their estimated primary energy (multiple it by the space, which will also be on the certificate) and that will tell them what their heating costs are expecting to be.

As others have said they will have thermostatic radiator valves to control the temperature in each room. I wish I could say my new build is warm but it's not. We have draughts through the windows and as soon as the heating goes off the house cools very quickly

We moved from a 1940’s house, where the heating had to be on 24 hours a day to make if liveable, to a brand new house, last year.

Our house rarely drops below 18 degrees even with the heating off. If it’s very cold I put it on but it gets stuffy quickly because it’s so well insulated.

It’s a revelation after living on a house where we had the heating on constantly and it would still be 13 degrees in some rooms.

Our heating bills were astronomical then. I dread to think what they’d be now, and feel sorry for the new tenants!!

Their new build will be significantly better insulated than your house, and probably cheaper to heat. Our last house was a new build and was cheaper to heat than our current one.

We moved into a new build 4 years ago. So much easier to heat and costs less to heat than former home which was bigger but not by much. So well insulated that the house stays warm during the day. Both retired so at home a lot more during the day. We do have a wood burning stove but use it very rarely.

We moved into a new build 3 years ago. It is insulated to the gills and has a hybrid heating system that is very efficient. No fireplace.

It's 150% larger than the victorian terrace we moved out of and energy bills are about 1/3 of what we used to pay.

We have a new build and have a multi fuel stove fitted in the sitting room. Dh put extra insulation in the loft. We've never used the central heating as the heat from the stove drifts upstairs. The place is never truly cold and there are no drafts. We keep the window vents open for ventilation all year round.

@yellowsuninthesky

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.

Exactly the same way as having your own boiler. Main thermostat that you can set when the heating comes on / goes off and the temperature, and then each radiator has a TRV. Hot water always available on tap.

Add in lots of insulation and triple glazing and our bills are fairly low. Tend to only need the heating from the beginning of November to the end of March. In the summer it’s the standing charge that makes up most of the bill.

In my new build we barely ever had the heat in in 5 years it was so warm in there

And it was super eco - very cheap bills over all tbh

New builds are insulated to the hilt, usually have controls on the radiator and at least double glazing.

I live in a new build and it is baking. We've not needed the heating on much the last few days despite it being quite cold outside. Our house doesn't have gas though so it's still extortionate to heat.

I think it's such a shame so many new builds don't have a real fire. I couldn't live in a house without that, although I'm not personally keen on gas fires.

I put a stove into my new build? As did the majority in my row

Aside from overnight on bitter winter days, our new build rarely drops below 17-18 degrees. We have a different thermostat for upstairs - is your son certain their house doesn’t? We also have controls on all our radiators which really helps.

This is quite standard, we moved into a new build at the end of the 90s, no fireplace.

Usually the radiators will have thermostatic controls on the ends of them - big knobs with numbers 1-5. Not as accurate as a room thermostat but the same idea. 3 should be 20C and the other numbers +/- 4 degrees, so from 12C to 28C whatever they like.

We have a 1950s house. There is no fire in the living room. It's freezing (even with the heating on!)
I imagine new builds would be warmer due to improvements in insulation, double glazing etc,

Our new build had a chimney and a wall which was easily changed to accommodate a fire, which we did. People have fitted gas fires, wood burners or open fires. The radiators have thermostatic controls, so each one can be adjusted.

There’s plenty of insulation etc. The radiators in the bedrooms are turned off, except for one. Two bedrooms face south, so get warm if there’s any sun.

We have a new build and the insulation is really good, once it's warmed up it maintains its temperature for a long time.