Heating off /on in summer?

[Verbena17]

Can you clear something up for me?
So I turned off our central heating last week because the outside temp is much warmer than it has been.

Today DH moaning saying ‘it’s turned colder you’ve turned off the heating’.
I said yes - it’s nearly May and most days are warmer and we don’t need heating on.

He says if we keep the heating on and set at 20 degrees, it won’t cost us anything all summer unless it clicks on.

Is this right?
If yes, why do the majority of people turn off their heating spring & summer?
Surely it’s because for the majority of spring & summer, the outside temp is much closer to the inside temp and therefore we don’t feel as cold?

I reckon having it on will still mean we are paying to keep it kept at 20 degrees - because surely it will click on at night if it drops below that?

This is probs a really stupid question 😬

In the summer the outside temperature might be 10 but the inside temperature won't be - it takes time for a house to cool down and sun is coming in through windows can really heat your home up

The thermostat is in the inside

i think the difference may depend on whether you have a COMBI boiler or CONVENTIONAL boiler…if you have the latter like my mum has, I would do the same as you and turn the heating setting to off through the summer; if you have the former like me we use the thermostat instead so currently it’s set to only kick in at 17 C in the day or 15 at night.

Yes, because even though it's on, it's not on
So it's available to come on but it won't trigger unless it's below the temp it's set at

Why this obsession with turning heating permanently on or off for summer and winter? My in laws used to turn theirs off at Easter and then not put it on again till October, no matter what the actual weather was like, so you’d sit there absolutely freezing if there was a cold snap.
It takes about 2 minutes to adjust the timing and trigger temperatures on my thermostat, and I can press a button to make it come in or make it go off if it is too hot or cold.
You won’t get charged if you are not using energy for heating but you still have to pay a standing charge for having the supply.

For simplicity say it's 18c all day and night

My thermostat is set at
5c over night - so won't kick in
19c during the day - will kick in to bring it up to 19c then switch off once it's reached that

So the only time it's using anything is during the day to get it to 19c

It's available, the same as a plugged in phone charger is "on" but it's not pulling anything until you plug the phone in

Because we don't like a warm bedroom and have a log burner in the sitting room we can use all year round. The standing charge covers our hot water

So are we saying that having the heating on during the day in summer won’t be charging us ANY £££ amount as long as it doesn’t click on?

By 'on' people just mean the boiler and system is switched on - but the actual heating won't click on unless the room goes below your set temperature e.g. 18. So in the summer months unless there's a sudden very cold spell you won't be using any gas to heat the radiators. You will be though for hot water of course.

Sorry I’m being thick - is that ‘yes’ we will be charged or ‘yes’ we won’t be?

If yes, why do the majority of people turn off their heating spring & summer

Either they don't have a working thermostat or if they do, they don't understand how it works

We turn our boiler off in the summer. We have a working thermostat and know how it works.

It is turned off because we don’t need it for heating and, due to the boiler being situated in an outbuilding, it is cheaper to use the electric immersion heater for hot water in the summer. Plus, the pilot light uses a surprising amount of gas doing absolutely nothing useful.

Brilliant - thanks 😂 it gets to teatime and my brain had enough for the day …..hence my daft questions!

@Verbena17 no you will pay the standing charge so the charge for having heating
Then you pay per unit of what you use which is only when it is actively on

Thanks and yes - we have it for heating the water anyway

Cool thanks.

Ours is set to between 17 and 18 degrees morning and evening in the winter. It is lower during the day when we are moving around, and lower at night.

During the summer I keep it set at 5 degrees - too low for it to turn on, but if we do get a sharp drop in temperature come the autumn, I know my pipes won’t freeze.

So the outcome of my post is DH was right 😩

I don't know, it makes no sense.

We probably all remember the first lockdown where it was hot and sunny in March and that's far from unheard of. My FB memories often reminds me of another year when we went to the beach for ice creams on DPs birthday in late March, we've done that at least twice in the last 10 years.

Likewise I remember a year that 1 November was fairly warm and sunny, whereas August is often cold wet and windy and everyone moans about how autumnal it feels but people won't put their heating on 'because it's August'.

Our heating is on a thermostat and if it drops below the set temperature it comes on, whatever the calendar says.

“…whereas August is often cold wet and windy and everyone moans about how autumnal it feels but people won't put their heating on 'because it's August'.”

Yep, that’s me 😂

Exactly why is 10° in summer any more bearable than 10° in winter? I've worn a scarf in August before because it was cold - regardless that the calendar tells me it's summer! But we've also been to the beach in October because the weather was good.

We have the calendar v thermometer debate in our house every year!

Yes, your dh is right. We do tend to switch ours off though, from some time in May. Just a habit, I guess. From autumn to spring we have the thermostat set to 18, but with a timer, so it only clicks on at certain times.

I don't get this either. We have ours set to the same temps all year so it just comes on if it's cold enough

We always do our heating manually. I've just put it on tonight because it's bloody freezing. Having a set date to have it On or Off is just ridiculous.

The thermostat is always on and if it gets cold in the house (based on your preset levels) the heating comes on. This applies all year.

Or pop a jumper on

I think it probably depends on how reliable your thermostat is. My old was a piece of junk and I had to turn the heating on or off to make it do what I wanted because it just didn't function properly. Now I have a nest and it is 'on' all the time. It's set to 18 in daytime and 12 at night. In summer it just doesn't come on at all - but during spring and autumn I'm not doing the whole shiver through with a jumper thing.

That seems practical