Advice on how to handle- dds housemates at uni want to out heating on overnight

[Thethingswedoforlove]

How can we convince them that it really isn’t cheaper to keep the house at a constant temperature?! They want to have it on at a ‘low’ temp of 17 degrees! It’s a huge house with 6 people and most students don’t even have it on during the day let alone at night. I’m at my wits end. How can we afford that bill? I told her that she should say that those that want it on overnight need to pay and she won’t pay a share of that but clearly that is a bit confrontational and doesn’t lend itself to harmonious living. How can we convince them?! It is utterly nuts. Some are saying things like my dad knows about heating bills and it is def cheaper etc.’

Rubbish! Fan heaters and oil filled radiators cost exactly the same to run if they are run for the same time and are the same power.

All electric heaters are 100% efficient and will convert whatever power they draw to heat. The running cost is determined by the power of the appliance in Kw and the run time.

Gas central heating is less than 100% efficient, but gas is cheaper than electricity, so it is normally more efficient to run the central heating. The possible exception would be if you want a quick blast of heat in just one small area of the house.

I think this is the issue, the variables are so great that there is no 'rule' on this. People often state this as a fact, but I suggest that this isn't the case.

Is there a way they can set a lower temperature for night time? Depending on the type of house, even at 17 degrees the boiler could be kicking in quite often. If it was set at, say, 15 degrees at night then increasing to 17 during the day, that might reduce wastage.

Independent heaters are great but you have to be disciplined and only put them on for short bursts. They rack up the bills if left on in the background, even when turned down low.

Interesting the landlord includes this in the rent up to a cap. That is quite unusual. I have had 5 children in private rentals from year 2 of university and never had the rent covering heating

You can buy packages these days. It's becoming more common.

It isn't unusual at all nowadays.

Interesting. When I was at uni 25+ years ago one of my housemates and I used to have a constant thermostat battle. I’d turn it up and he would turn it down. I was a skinny size 6 girl and he was a larger than average lad who did seem to get hot a lot!! He even comments now on fb posts if hearing is mentioned!! lol.

Now as a fully grown adult with children I have full control of my house’s heating - I’m also a single parent. I don’t have it on overnight ever. I slept at a friend’s house as a teen who’ mum was wheelchair user and paralysed from the waist down. They kept their hearing on overnight and it was stifling and I couldn’t sleep. I hadn’t realised at that time my family turned their’s off overnight. Personally I don’t think it’s needed on overnight if everyone is sleeping and has decent pyjamas and decent bedding. However from experience I know that many students stay up late or even all night socialising or doing work. If that was the case for me I’d need the heating on. I have mine on all day at the moment as timing it to go add after we leave for school and work and back on for when we get home wasn’t working and the house was taking ages to heat back up to a reasonable temperature. In the spring I’ll pop it onto twice a day then the summer it goes off. I find anything 19 or below is cold when I’m in during the day. Even now it’s 21
ams I’m in a jumper and might pop a blanket on whilst watching tv. My kids however have their bedroom radiators off and windows locked on air as they don’t seem to feel the cold!!

Can’t offer advice other than the majority tends to win and for a few months it shouldn’t be a massive extra cost. All head round it would be but most houses don’t need heating over the summer.

@WorriedRelative

No need to be cheeky and call my post rubbish.

If both a plug in oil filled heater and fan heater are the same wattage yes they will cost the same if you ran them for the same time.

However the problem is that fans deliver a constant direct heat and when you move away you feel cold. So you need to keep them on. Directed at you. All the time. You feel cools seconds after you switch one off. And you need to keep the area around clear.

An oil filled radiator has a thermostat so it clicks on and off by itself and heats the whole, say, bedroom effectively. Without being continually on.

There is less chance of fire with oil plug-in radiators as compared to fan heaters too. You can have clothes drying on a rack nearby. I wouldn't do that with a fan in case the element torched something.

Obviously gas central heating would be preferable though. But if not an oil filled plug in radiator would be my go to.

We have ours constantly set at 18.5c. My husband is 71 and I’m 65 though. I think 17c for young adults is reasonable.

It's insane that you are even involved in this conversation, she's a grown adult and needs to navigate this herself, it's part of the growing up that needs to happen at this age.

Just tell her the flat amount you're willing to pay towards her bills, she figures the rest out herself either by economising elsewhere or earning extra money.

I know that might sound harsh but she does need to figure this out for herself without an assumption that you'll just pay whatever it costs, and you really need to step back.

It's insane that you haven't bothered to read all of the OP's updates.

Her DD asked for her advice.

Don't you ever ask anyone for advice?

I always keep my heating over night at 18. During the day between 20-22.
I would say it is more economical to keep it persistent rather than taking ages to heat up. Especially how cold it’s been this week.

Thank you.

Why are you involved? Why is this a 'we' situation?

My girls have both been (one still is) at uni and they have always had a bills package. They pay a set amount each per month for the package and bills are unlimited (water, gas, elec etc). They have a fair usage policy written in but I think that is more for heating on when not needed. My girls have it in whenever they want.
Could be something to consider.

I don’t understand why having the heating on overnight is such a big issue in a student house where more energy intensive appliances might be used such as hair dryers, straighteners, irons and the cooker?

Are you going to insist on all of these appliances are regulated and enforce batch cooking to save money, and insist that all members of the household get a very short haircut cut to save money?

As a student I shared a house that was 50% male and 50% female- we used to cook for longer, wash our bedding and clothes more frequently and use hair appliances, and because we all had long hair, and shaved our armpits and legs we also showered for much longer! I don’t think that the males actually did any ironing either!

Not once did we have any interjections from their parents about this and our wasteful usage of electricity! Not once did they insist we pay more money towards bills.

We had a new combo boiler fitted about 7 years ago and read the instructions about ensuring it was energy efficient, we lowered the temperature of the hot water setting and set up a nest, when we are out of the house the heating goes into eco mode and maintains a lower temperature, as it does during the night when it hasn’t detected any movement but also powers up at 5 am to our ambient temperature ready for when I get up at 6am.

If their boiler doesn’t have a nest, it will also have a timer in it that you can manually set to power down during the night during inactive hours, you can do this with one hour on and one hour off if needed but allow it to warm up gradually for when people get up!

OP I would strongly recommend reading the manual and looking at the settings for hot water before advising your daughter to make demands about the heating being switched off! Also if she makes an issue of this area of energy usage she may find that other energy use by her comes under scrutiny!

I’d never have heating on overnight and only got double glazing recently!

I also don’t have a thermostat and the heating is either on or off. When we did have one it never really reached its target so it was on basically on a timer.
doing it manually makes it a more conscious decision when needed and I turn it off well before going to bed and no one notices!

I have responded to recent comments several times throughout the thread so probably won’t again. I’m not insisting on anything. Neither is dd. Dd asked for advice. We have learned how many different views and approaches there are and she and all her housemates are all now measuring the cost of overnight heating to see if it is affordable within the constraints of their bills cap included in the rent (or an affordable amount over and above that).

Dd has recognised that friendships matter more than this issue and she has to share all costs in the house (this thread helped us get there- thank you). I won’t be involved further as she has received the advice she was asking for. Thank you to so many for kind views and advice and guidance.

Why haven't you read all the OP's posts before blessing us with your opinion?

"How can we convince them that it really isn’t cheaper to keep the house at a constant temperature?! "

It absolutely is cheaper to keep the house at a steady low-ish temperature, and also keeps away damp and mould.

Sorry OP, your YABU because you're wrong.

its odd with that number in a house of students they are not using split the bills or similar company
my lot pay fixed amount for everything per month including internet
much cheaper and no squabbles

You are wrong. Your daughter is correct. Subject to them not leaving doors and windows open.

It absolutely isn't possible to know that, too many variables and without stating the obvious all houses are different. Do you know the specifics of the OPs daughters heating system?