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

We have no insulation (or central heating) and very old single glazing so it gets absolutely freezing here overnight. We have an oil heater in DS bedroom which keeps it at about 12 degrees, and DH and I have an electric blanket which we put on low. Otherwise I wake up every time I roll over due to the bed being cold.

We turn it down to 17 at night, rarely comes on but it did last night. We're in central London in a drafty victorian mansion block.

@gano
I'm assuming you lead a completely carbon neutral life yourself?

Live off grid, get everywhere on a bicycle responsible manufactured by hand from recycled parts, don't have a fire, eat raw food you've grown yourself, make your own clothes from wool or flax you weave...

...never post online because you don't own a phone or laptop...

Exactly this.

@LetThereBeLove have you checked your entitlement to Pension Credit? Also, some local councils have their own schemes for help with fuel costs, so worth checking that too.

I don't intentionally put it on during the night, it's set at 13° so has kicked in a couple of times this week overnight. I have it on in a morning because it's so cold but try to avoid having it on during the day if I can as it's just too expensive to run. Today we've had it on a few times for short bursts though

Never left the heating on overnight. We have heated blankets, hot water bottles, duvets, fleecy pjs etc so are all warm in our beds.

Currently we are snuggled in the lounge watching a film with a fire going so the heating isn't on at all and won't be until the morning.

Exactly this.

Thanks for your kind thought but no, my pension income doesn't meet the pension credit criteria. I've tried.There are thousands of pensioners in the same situation. My council doesn't help either.

Always off at night. Hot water bottle if the bed is cold initially

Yes every poster who has said I just use a few hours here and a few there and top up an extra hour here. Are all using more heating than me personally with just a set temperature.

Yes I know some houses are different but there off overnight is using no less gas than some of us on constant because our houses just don’t get as cold to need so many hours.

Sorry to hear that. Labour needs to have a rethink on the threshold for WFA.

Always off at night.

Sometimes we can see our breath in our bedroom when we wake up but I love that when your tucked up in bed. We’ve got an electric blanket on our bed.

I can’t imagine sleeping in 20°. We stayed in a premier in recently and the lowest the room would go was 18° and the windows wouldn’t open. I felt like I was being tortured.

My boyfriend absolutely will not allow electric blankets for safety reasons! I know the hot water bottle risks, I've had a few failures in my childhood, but it seems he thinks that's a lot more tolerable than a house fire. To be fair, he only partially fills his and uses 70 degree water. I overfill mine and use boiling water because life is too short for such worries. But yeah, you can judge our attitudes to risk in life right there... i would be all over the electric blanket if I could.

Im another who would never have an electric blanket. I’m sure I even read something about dangers of heated throws in the paper the other day. Nothing against a hot water bottle apart from the short shelf life.

This really isn't true for the majority of UK homes. I bet Swedish homes ( that a previous poster mentioned) have far better insulation.
If you have underfloor heating, a newish boiler or a heat pump and really good insulation, then it could be true, otherwise it is cheaper to only have the heating come on when you need it. See the link to the Money Saving Expert discussion up thread!

A wheat pillow or similar that you heat in the microwave is as good as a hot water bottle but without the risks. I used one of those every night when electricity prices were sky high and we had to lower the temperature in the bedroom to save electricity (electric heaters only upstairs), and it was lovely.

No. I wake up with a sore, dry throat and a headache if I sleep with heating on. Bed's cosy and there's no need at all for heating.

I had a new boiler fitted and have been experimenting.

I have found that keeping the temperature at around 18 in the day, 14 at night (so hardly ever comes on) with a boost to 21 in the evenings for a couple of hours if it is chilly costs maybe £3-5 a week more than having it on at 21 for a couple of hours in the morning, then off then 21 in the evening for a couple of hours then off.

The house feels so much warmer and drier and a pesky damp patch we have battled with for a while is fading.

I love my new boiler and thermostat!

Very old house, new boiler. Did have the loft and cavities done.

Also it states having the heating on all day but that’s not actually what happens is it. Because the heating doesn’t fire up until it’s below the set temperature. Heating my house from 14c to 18.5c takes more energy if I let it drop than small top ups here or there.

21c would be boiling in our house it’s 18.9c and frankly I want to open a window 😅 children walking around in shorts

I do wonder how accurate some of these thermostats must be. Our old house 23c felt cold and it’s the same thermostat we use in this house as we moved it (hive)

Ours is 15 overnight, 17 during waking hours. Works out more efficient for us than having a greater temperature differential to heat, and we are all comfortable.

It is only 21 in the evenings for a couple of hours, not all day! I still have to wear a jumper.

We have an old and draughty house. I have spent the last 7 years freezing every winter due to very old heating system and am making the most of my fancy new one, especially as it is costing me much less to be much warmer.

Don’t blame you. We plan to open up the old chimneys and get some log burners installed and they will be lit the second it gets cold next year 😅

Love sitting around a campfire too

Nope. Depending on how cold it is the heating is one for 1 hour in the mornings then 2-3 in the evenings. It's not on a thermostat so wouldn't click on during the night. If it's a cold night we just wear warmer pj's. We do have an open fire that we light at weekends during the winter.