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Original poster

heating on while away in winter?

30 replies

hotandwanttoswim · 05/12/2023 17:03

We're going away for 2 weeks in December/Jan, leaving our house empty, which we've never done before at this time of year.
Should we set the heating to come on at all and if so what temperature/time of day?
House usually gets lots of condensation on the windows which I wipe and air each morning, but I think that's mostly from us being in the house (showers, kettle, breathing etc). Is that going to be a problem if all windows are locked for 2 weeks and is there anything I can do about it?

Sorry for the boring topic!

OP posts:
Koalaslippers · 05/12/2023 17:06

We leave it on low. Its not good to turn it off completely in case pipes freeze. We used to leave it on the frost setting but the house was so cold when we got back that we now put it on about 13 twice a day so that doesn't take as long to warm back up.

Roussette · 05/12/2023 17:08

We go away a lot, we don't leave heating on, but it depends on the house?

We have a Nest so we can put it to come on, in advance before we get home because it takes forever to get it back to normal !

Original poster
hotandwanttoswim · 05/12/2023 17:10

we have a nest, great idea to set it to come on a few hours before we get back

OP posts:
Rocknrollstar · 05/12/2023 17:10

Leave it on low and if you have an insulated loft leave the hatch open so the warm air can warm the pipes.

InTheRainOnATrain · 05/12/2023 17:12

Nest has a safety temperature designed to stop your pipes freezing. Maybe check your settings? Then definitely turn it back on a several hours before you’re due home.

Polis · 05/12/2023 17:12

We leave ours set to come on if the temperature inside drops below 7. It never has.

stepintochristmas1 · 05/12/2023 17:13

Yeah leave the heating and hot water on a bit . We used to go away every Hogmanay and I used to really grudge the cost of it 😏.

TarantinoIsAMisogynist · 05/12/2023 17:15

I just set the thermostat low enough to stop things freezing (like 7 degrees). It doesn't need to be warmer than that.

Wuman · 05/12/2023 17:16

I read that the house, to be healthy, should be on at 15. We go away a lot (and going away over Dec, Jan) and will leave it at that during the day (or maybe over night). House is v well insulated so won't come on too often I imagine.

We tried it a few years ago at 12 over winter when we were away and it was cold and miserable when our friend visited to check our house. It also took a few days to warm up when we came back.

GMsAWinner · 05/12/2023 17:16

We leave ours on for an hour or two am and pm, set at 17c. If a very cold spell is forecast, then I'd set it for a longer time at a slightly lower temperature. Personally, I wouldn't leave it off totally, when I lived at home with my parents we had a burst radiator during cold weather conditions, and that's with us living in the house and having heating on in day.

TarantinoIsAMisogynist · 05/12/2023 17:17

Rocknrollstar · 05/12/2023 17:10

Leave it on low and if you have an insulated loft leave the hatch open so the warm air can warm the pipes.

Most modern central heating systems won't have pipes or tanks in the loft, so leaving the hatch open would just waste warmth unless you have an old system with a tank.

AllrightNowBaby · 05/12/2023 17:20

We have been away in Winter for many years and my advise would be to leave the central heating on a low setting, we also used to leave the kitchen cold water tap dripping, as we were told this stops the pipes freezing.
I would never leave the house in Winter without heat after coming home one year to burst pipes and flooded house, which could have been avoided for a few pounds in heat.

Missmillymollymandy · 05/12/2023 17:27

A lot depends on the age of your house. Our house is old and the whole fabric of the house becomes very cold if we go away and leave the boiler off. It then seems to take days to get back to a comfortable temperature.
Personally I would leave the heat on with the thermostat set to a low temperature.
Our plumber advised against turning the hot water off completely as he said prolonged periods switched off can cause valves to stick shut.
I now programme the hot water to come on very briefly every day when we are away.

If you live in a well insulated new build with a new heating system you might get away with switching it all off. Especially if a neighbour or relative has keys to come in and switch the heating on if we have a big freeze while you are away.

GasPanic · 05/12/2023 17:40

Dunno what the best strategy is.

First, where you have pipes that are likely to freeze, put plenty of pipe insulation on them. Find out where the pipes get coldest and consider putting remote thermal monitoring close to them. I have an outside cupboard where all the pipework goes. It gets very cold in winter, so I have insulated all the pipes heavily and am soon going to install a low power greenhouse heater than I can flick on remotely too. I have thermal monitoring in that cupboard and have seen sometimes it doesn't get above freezing for days - in the cold snap last year it didn't get above -3.5 for several days.

I don't know whether it makes sense to shut off the cold water if you are away - it probably does but someone on here may have a reason why not.

I normally set my heating to come on remotely at 10C inside, but put the stat in the coldest place in the house. Boilers normally have frost protection on them anyway.

If you have pipework in the loft I would take special measures with that because if it bursts then water can cascade down wrecking your house. Avoiding that misery is well worth spending a few quid on heating.

Rightsraptor · 05/12/2023 17:43

OP, also turn your water off at the stop tap/stop cock. This doesn't affect your central heating. It'll just stop water damage to your house if something should fail.

user628468523532453 · 05/12/2023 17:45

Unless you want to come back to damage from frozen pipes etc then yes, leave it to come on whenever the temperature drops below 15 degrees.

Your house insurance might actually specify as such.

user628468523532453 · 05/12/2023 17:49

Rightsraptor · 05/12/2023 17:43

OP, also turn your water off at the stop tap/stop cock. This doesn't affect your central heating. It'll just stop water damage to your house if something should fail.

FYI, that's the opposite of the advice insurers would give if you're leaving property vacant.

And it would only achieve what you're saying if you also drained the system after turning the water off.

Doing that for a two week holiday seems daft, at best.

user628468523532453 · 05/12/2023 17:50

Rocknrollstar · 05/12/2023 17:10

Leave it on low and if you have an insulated loft leave the hatch open so the warm air can warm the pipes.

And mice can get into the main house.

frozendaisy · 05/12/2023 17:52

Our home insurance says they won't pay out unless we leave on 15c

So that's what we do.

I would leave at 10 ish if it was left to me but if, IF, anything went bust would rather the insurance paid out.

So renting or home owner you need to read the small print

TravellingT · 05/12/2023 18:15

user628468523532453 · 05/12/2023 17:50

And mice can get into the main house.

Show quote history

Why do you have mice in your loft? You should get that sorted x

Thatsitfirtiday · 05/12/2023 19:07

I would always always leave it on low, absolute no brainer tbh

Thatsitfirtiday · 05/12/2023 19:08

user628468523532453 · 05/12/2023 17:50

And mice can get into the main house.

Show quote history

I'm laughing at the notion that mice only climb down the loft ladder if you leave it open 🤣

WoolyMammoth55 · 05/12/2023 19:11

Our friends went away last winter with the heating off (to save money).

They came back to flooded house, everything ruined, because there was a cold snap and the pipes burst in the roof.

They are STILL in temporary accomodation with their kids because the insurance dithered for so long that they got huge mushroom-y mould on every item and surface and the clean up operation is taking forever (and costing a fortune).

NEVER be tempted to turn the heating off for a winter break!

Rightsraptor · 05/12/2023 20:05

Well, @user628468523532453, all the advice I have just seen when I Googled it says to turn water off at the mains when leaving the house empty.

Any water still in the system will still come out but at least there'll be no more once that's gone.

Original poster
hotandwanttoswim · 05/12/2023 21:19

ok good advice, sounds a bit risky to turn the heating completely off, i will set the thermostat to somewhere around 15 degrees and hope for the best - was hoping to save money on heating bills but seems unwise based on some of these horror stories

OP posts:
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