Do you keep your heating on at night?

[EatTrout]

We were poor growing up and didn't have heating till I was quite old. I suspect that has rubbed off on me a bit and even though I've got a good job and am doing ok, I always turn the heating off at night. My dc never complained. They are now adults themselves and also don't leave the heating on overnight.

Dp, however, thinks we are all total heathens. He claims to be freezing at night, his kids can't believe we turn it off. DD's boyfriend is also horrified by this. They argue that we are unusual in this respect.

Do people leave their heating on all night? Surely it's quite expensive to do so? I can understand if you're in a very cold house and you have a baby who you need to keep warm but barring that, are we the odd ones out here? If you are all leaving your heating on I may contemplate turning ours on at night when we have visitors

100%

We have the heating off at night, any heating on at night tends to give me a headache and I quite like a cool bedroom and being all tucked up nice and warm. I guess everyone is different.

Wow! - it had never entered my head that ANYONE might leave the heating on at night, even at a lower temperature! What a waste of fuel and what a planet-wrecking idea!

What's wrong with warm PJs, bed socks, high Tog duvet ......?

I am always surprised when people have their heating on high during the day and swan around in T-shirts - but heating on at night really does take the biscuit!

I have a vague memory of Martin Lewis investigating this and I think he said it wasn't true but I might be misremembering. I'll go and see if I can find what he said.
From MSE site . Is it cheaper to leave the heating on low all day or only turn it on when I need it?We wish we could give you a definitive answer, but this question is far more complex than it first seems and we're not heating engineers or physicists. So please ignore clickbait publications erroneously crediting Martin with an answer – he knows a lot (too much) about energy bills, but this one isn't his or our bag.
Ultimately, there are arguments for and against it, and it'll likely depend on the type of heating system, your usage pattern, and what type of home and insulation you have.They do go on explaining more so this is the link https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/energy-saving-myths/

I only ever have the heating on in a room I am in for any period of time - for instance I flick the radiator on in the living room when I go in to watch TV, but if I am not in there the radiator is not on.

My house is very well insulated with an efficient boiler so rooms heat up quickly.

my dad (who was a heating engineer) said it's more cost effective to keep a house at a similar temperature, rather than keep turning it right down and then whacking it up again

This!

More efficient to leave it always on

Mine is set to a much lower thermostat temp overnight. I'm in a "middle" flat so I don't think it has ever actually come on. So that's effectively the same as being switched off. I hear it click on in the mornings when it is cold.

I walk around in shorts and vest tops, our house, our rules, our money. We have a very large very old property that needs a lot of heating. Everyone is different and how people choose to heat their homes is absolutely nothing to do with anyone else. Having grown up in a draughty old farmhouse with ice on the inside of windows and cold flagstone floors because my parents were too miserly to heat it, I’ll continue to live the way I do rather then feel cold. It’s a very shortsighted view that others choose to heat their homes at night tbh.

I don't think it is cheaper to do this. I think Money saving expert have looked at this. Maybe modern boilers are more efficient and get up to temperature more quickly than they used to in your dad's day?

No, we never have (including when DDs were babies.) The heating is on from 6am-8am and then 4pm-10pm. This time of year we have blankets on every bed and fluffy pyjamas when any of us want them. When it gets really cold I'll put a hot water bottle in the beds.

But I grew up in a house with no heating and so it's natural instinct to wear a vest under my jumper in the winter, or put a cardigan on if I'm cold when working from home.

Nonsense. He probably said that cos a machine running longer breaks more often giving him more work!

The boiler would end up firing on and off all its life to maintain a set temperature.

I used to switch it off at night and then back on in the morning, but the last couple of years I have the day time set to 18 and the night time set to 17 so it kicks in when required. It stopped that reheating the house from freezing situation and the whole house just feels aired all winter long. Made no difference to my heating bills at all from when I switched it off then put it on at 20 to warm the house up.

Same here.

Nope no need plus Dw is menopausal and she would simply roast.

Not exactly. The house thermostat is set to come on if the temperature drops - downstairs and a separate one upstairs.

The downstairs one usually comes on at about 17 degrees at night and the upstairs one ..probably never but if it drops below 15.

We drop heating to 15 degrees from 9pm til 5.30am then it sits at 18.5/19.5.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/energy-saving-myths/#heatallday

For most it is cheaper to only have it on when you need it.

Those with newer boilers, heat pumps, under floor heating and really good insulation may be better off having it set at about 19°C all the time.

Another benefit of leaving it on all the time is that it reduces condensation.

Good God no. I have the heating on 22-23 during the day in winter. But I couldn’t bear to sleep in a hot room.

It’s actually better for your health and sleep to sleep in a colder room.

I have a thick duvet though.

I think this depends on so many factors.

I think the aim is to have a cooler temperature at night and most of the time that can be achieved by having heating on during the day and off at night.

But if it’s really cold at night or the heating had not been on at all during the day then it may come on during the night to maintain a bearable temperature.

i know that on mumsnet you get people who claim to get hot unless the temperature is down to 10 degrees in their bedroom. But for most people that’s not comfortable or healthy.

in the “good old days” when people in the uk had no central heating it was common for people to develop chest problems, chilblains and other health issues.

If it is really cold (I'm talking about less than 5 degrees C during the daytime) I do keep it on 18 C at night. I have various health issues and if my flat gets too cold,my muscles go into a spasm.

LOL my day temperature is 16C. Night is 13C.

The thermostat is set to 13 so sometimes (like this week) it comes on by itself at night. I should really set it lower though as it feels like a waste of money.

Mine is on a timer, it comes on at 0500 to warm the house for dh getting up at 0530. It then cone on at 1700 for about an hour to warm through for everyone getting home.

If it is exceptionally cold I tend tp put it on about 2030 tp warm through before we go to bed.

Dd has a 13.5 tog duvet and prefers to snuggle in blankets than have the heating on in her room.

We have a feather duvet and if it's particularly cold I use a thermal throw over it.

Mine is on timer twice a day. 6:30am -8:30am, 6pm-8pm. If kids are home during the day and a gets a bit cold i just hit extra hour when needed, same if i wake during the night and it freezing

Never ever have heating overnight here. I can’t sleep in a stuffy room and we all have cosy duvets.
I previously rented and as typical of rented houses there was little to no insulation so house would get cold as soon as the heating went off and even then I would have heating off while in bed. Our house is properly insulated so doesn’t get too cold overnight