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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Am I being unreasonable to only have the heating on twice a day?

69 replies

SantasHat · 07/12/2011 15:36

I only have the heating on twice a day: 6.30am to 9am then 4.30 to 10.30.
Friends now tell me it is cheaper to run it all day as it costs more to heat the system up once it gets cold.
What do you all do?

OP posts:
valiumredhead · 07/12/2011 16:30

My MIF and Dad have SUCH hot houses I wilt when we stay there indith! My idea of hell is to wake up with the CH having already been on for an hour or so!

duchesse · 07/12/2011 16:31

You have it on more than we do. We run it 6-8:30, then 4-9:30. Even running it that little costs £3-400 a month in LPG. We need a radical overhaul of the ch system which we're about to undertake. I am at home all day as I work from here and it's frankly barely above hypothermia temps sometimes in the daytime. I loathe it.

Bunbaker · 07/12/2011 16:34

We don't heat the house at night. I can't sleep when it is hot.

I don't find our central heating aprticularly drying. Perhaps it is because it is on so low, I always have the thermostats on the upstairs radiators turned down and I keep all internal doors open to keep the house aired. Our house doesn't feel stuffy at all.

OriginalChristmasPoster · 07/12/2011 16:37

We have it on 6.30-8 and 4-9.30. It does get cold in the day, but I wear a vest, fleece and hat in the house when I'm in, and keep moving most of the time. I drink lots of tea, too.

I hate spending money on heating, I'd rather buy a new fleece Grin

OriginalChristmasPoster · 07/12/2011 16:39

I. Always know when dh is feeling amorous because he clicks the heating to stay on later. Then someone has to get out of a warm bed to click the heating off again later Grin

SummerRain · 07/12/2011 16:43

I tried it last year and went through a months oil in less than 2 weeks Sad

Definitely doesn't work in this fridge house

Rollergirl1 · 07/12/2011 16:43

This thread has made me feel much better. We have it on quite little compared to a lot of you.

It comes on 6am to 8am and then 6pm till 10pm. On days like today when I am working from home I managed to last till about half an hour ago before putting the heating on. But I will probably turn it off earlier than 10pm as it gets too hot and stuffy.

aldiwhore · 07/12/2011 16:48

I think it depends on the house and the heating system.

We have oil powered somethingor other and our oil lasts longer if its off a lot. Its only on for two hours in the morning and evening, the kids have thick duvets, and I hate a warm bedroom. If we get chilly in the day we put on jumpers. If we get chilly at night, we light a fire.

Our house is small, cosy, thick walled. So we're lucky in many ways. If its really truly bloody freezing we'll put the heating on for longer, but mostly 4 hours a day takes the edge off.

Groovee · 07/12/2011 17:15

hubby is a gas engineer, he says it's cheaper to run on a lower heat 24 hours. Also stops your pipes from freezing. It's because it doesn't use as much gas as it's not firing up as often as it switching on and off. Our bills prove it as we often do this when very cold.

Dirtydishesmakemesad · 07/12/2011 17:18

We have ours on most of the day in the cold weather. We dont have a fire and i would rather be warm and comfy than shivering!. My sister keeps hers off an her house is like a fridge and yet her gas bill is only £10 a month less than ours which just doesnt make any sense.

Bunbaker · 07/12/2011 17:21

"hubby is a gas engineer, he says it's cheaper to run on a lower heat 24 hours. Also stops your pipes from freezing. It's because it doesn't use as much gas as it's not firing up as often as it switching on and off. Our bills prove it as we often do this when very cold."

Oh good. I knew I was right! It looks like it makes a difference as to what fuel you have though.

nativitywreck · 07/12/2011 17:24

If you have it on 24/7 at 15 or 16 in the day, and turn it down to 12 at night it will cost you less than having it on for 6 hours at 22.

So you can have it on 24/7 but you have to be really strict and never turn the thermostat up.

I am cold ALL the time at the mo, and can't stop myself turning up the thermostat if I am in, so I have the heating on 6.30-8.00 and 5.00-9.30.
I work in bed if I am working from home as its the only warm place!

Bunbaker · 07/12/2011 17:26

"If you have it on 24/7 at 15 or 16 in the day, and turn it down to 12 at night it will cost you less than having it on for 6 hours at 22."

If it is really cold here I have it on constant with it turned down to 10 degrees at night and at about 17 degrees during the day.

Almostfifty · 07/12/2011 17:31

If it's cold, it's on.

Never at night though, it goes off at 8pm and that's it. None of us like warm bedrooms.

Tianc · 07/12/2011 17:32

The money-saving aspect is that people are putting it on a lower temperature when they leave the heating on all the time. Because heat loss is proportional to difference between indoor and outdoor temp.

It would usually save even more money to put it on only when needed on the lower temperature (using a timer so the house reaches that temp just as you're getting up or expected home).

Original poster
SantasHat · 07/12/2011 17:34

Yes, I don't like it coming on during the night when it is minus 6 or 7 because the pipes in the bedroom click and clank and keep waking me up.
For the same reason I make sure the whole system is off when I get a lie-in (which is rare)

OP posts:
Bunbaker · 07/12/2011 17:38

I always put it on at minus 6 or 7 because I don't want a burst pipe. I turn the bedroom radiator thermoststs right down so the rooms aren't too warm. Can the clanking be sorted out?

Original poster
SantasHat · 07/12/2011 17:44

Well, Bunbaker we are hard pressed to get the local plumber to turn out even to service the boiler tbh. I only use him in a dire emergency.

OP posts:
Bunbaker · 07/12/2011 17:56

We have a service contract with British Gas and it has been worth every penny. They even came out on the snowiest day last winter and walked half a mile up the hill to our house in 15 inches of snow. We had a crap boiler in our old house that kept breaking down and they came out whenever we needed them - one occasion being Easter Sunday. We have certainly had our money's worth from them.

(And I let them use the loo, but that's another thread Wink)

Tianc · 07/12/2011 18:01

My radiators clank when they have air in, and need to be bled.

SmellslikeSANTAScatspee · 07/12/2011 20:18

Bleeding the rads is easy once you have a rad key a bowl and an old towel? Should be able to find a guide on you tube etc. makes a big difference

donteatyourteawithnoknickerson · 07/12/2011 21:06

I only have mine on twice a day - 6-7am and then 4-7pm; thermostat on 22deg. Keeps our house toasty (more or less).

I might flick the hour button if it's really cold (I love the hour button).

I agree with everyone who said no heating at night - just a waste of money if you have decent bedding lol! I learned how to bleed radiators only yesterday [smug face]. It really is dead easy Xmas Smile

smokinaces · 07/12/2011 21:34

My thermostat is on 18-19, and comes on 5.30am until 7.30am and then 5pm to 10pm. Costs me about £6-£7 a week at the moment.

My big cost is my hot water. That literally sucks the life out my meter, so we only put it on 3 times a week or so for half an hour. Luckily theres only me and 2 young boys in the house so we dont go through a lot of hot water.

SadlyNo · 08/12/2011 10:57

Tip for reduced heating bills: move to an upper floor flat with downstairs neighbours who keep their heating cranked way up all the time. Works for us Grin

ToldYaSo · 08/12/2011 11:17

we barely have the heating on for an hour every day

just dont need it unless it is really really bitter

I have put it on about twice this year