Heating - AIBU?

[Latara]

I'm lucky to have Gas Central Heating; i keep it on all night because i wake up if the air temperature gets cold. Also start to get achy joints if it's cold. Plus it's hard to want to get out of bed in the morning if the house takes a long time to heat up.

Problem is: i need to save money - i'm skint.

My Dad says to switch off the heating at night. He had ''ice on the inside of the windows when i was a nipper, & i was alright...'' !!!

I keep the heating at about 21c - optimum temp as recommended by drs for rooms you live in at night.
I have a digital thing which only switches the boiler on if the temperature drops below the 'set' temperature of 21c, therefore it saves money as the boiler isn't constantly on.
I was in credit by approx £50 on the Gas btw, which i managed to get back from British Gas. So i do save money.

So AIBU to have the heating on all night, or am i a money-wasting wuss??

That is very warm!! I sleep with a window open at night at all times of the year, so I might not be the best judge!!

I am in a lot of debt so that's the problem.

I've turned it down to 16c, have to wake up to take meds & eat snack at 6am so i'll go downstairs, turn it up then to eg. 20c for couple of hours to warm up house while having a shower.
Then put extra clothes on & turn it down! Problem is that i'm off sick so home & drowsy from meds. I'm trying to keep awake & warm by exercising doing housework.

I will see my GP soon anyway so may mention it then.

Best go to bed, night everyone!

21 degress is very warm, we would be bankrupt. We have heating at 15 during day, (and dh and I are at home) off at night and at about 20 for 2 hours in the morning so house is warm to get up in, and about 20 in evening. We wear slippers, and warm sweaters. dh always wears a vest in the winter.

You sound as if your house cools down quickly if the heating is off, so maybe look at windows and doors and see if you can draught proof, get thick warm curtains which keep the heat in etc (get them form freecycle)

Also you need to look at your duvet - we sleep under a 15 tog in the winter, but many duvets seem to be 9 tog.

I think some of it may be that you need to get used to it, turn it down slowly and then eventually turn it off.

Can you use an electric blanket, the ones that are safe to sleep on? Then you could switch that on when you wake at 4-5 am, they heat up pretty fast so you would be on a warm pad that would warm you up nicely, and be much cheaper than heating on all night

I have heard, and tested it once, recently, that if you have a pair of woolly/fleecy socks on, you will be as warm as toast in the nuddie, with an ordinary duvet. It works, and I'm a wuss.

Once you get out of bed it's a different story.:o

Keeping your house at a low constant temperature is cheaper than heating a house from cold every morning.

Lower the temp right down so the house isnt icy, wear fluffy socks in the daytime and take a hot water bottle to bed.

Can't you set it on a timer so th het comes on a while before you get up? Tats what .i do as I hte getting up if its freezing. when it's cold I sleep with warm pjs, vest, thick socks, hot water bottle,the works but I couldn't sleep with the heat on all night,it would make the room uncomfortable for me. Maybe once every couple if years during an exceptionally cold spell, but that's about it. Once or twice we've left the heat on accidentally, and both me and dh woke up during the night feeling stifled by it. We have Oil heating which costs a fortune, it would be a huge waste of money to run the heating all night.

How on earth do people afford to have the heating on all night? And it's just not true that it costs less to have it running all the time at a low temp.

They say that having warm blankets under you can help, so maybe a fleece blanket under your bottom sheet would help.

I think it's too hot too. A house should be approx 18 degrees. Thick socks, a high tog duvet 15+, blankets as well if needed, 2 hot water bottles (1for feet before you go to bed) and put the heating on a timer so it kicks in 2 hours before you get up.

if you're going to turn down the hearing do it gradually 1 degree every 3 days or something that way you can adjust to the temperature. If the main problem is the bedroom maybe you should get a plug in radiator. I bought one in university for around £50 and it cost 3p an hour to run.

You keep your heating at 21 deg 24 hours a day . Little wonder you are broke. I would be too. Mine is set at 15 deg, 5pm-10pm, and is off the rest of the time. I wouldn't be able to sleep if it was on at night. I live in a drafty old house as well, but I wear an extra jumper if it is cold.

you say you are sick, so I guess it would be different for you OP.

For healthy people that would be way too warm, and I would invest in a nice thick down duvet instead.

temperature in our bedroom drops to 13 degrees at night, but I have down duvet and hot water bottle, and in the morning slippers and robe.

I would find 21 in the day excessive, let alone at night. But you are sick, so do what you must!

21 in the day sounds entirely reasonable to me, especially if you are in and are quite inactive. These people who have their heating at 18 or 15 must run a lot hotter than I do!

I turn my heating off at night and am fine, have a lovely warm feather duvet. If your thermostat will so it, could you have the heating at 15 overnight and 21 in the day.

Agree about looking at insulation, draught-proofing, etc to retain the heat once you have gone to the trouble and expense of producing it.

We saved a lot of money by spending some. We bought a very good programmable thermostat that is extremely clever and can be programmed to do all sorts of things. Ours is programmed off in the day when we're out and on very low over night (off until house reaches certain temp then it'll switch on if it drops below and bring it back up to that temp I think it's currently set at 10 degrees), it's toasty at all other times. Even when off ours is set for frost cover so if it drops below freezing it'll trip in and tick over for a bit to ensure house isn't freezing.

We also bought decent duvets - I'm not just talking high tog rating - I'm talking duck/goose feather - warm and toasty but light and airy enough to not feel sweaty and smothered.
Both have cut our energy bills whilst keeping us comfortable.

Keeping your house at a low constant temperature is cheaper than heating a house from cold every morning

This is correct - our central heating engineer told us this many years ago and we tested the theory - he was right, bills did not increase

You do need an effective thermostat though

21C?! I would be having hot sweats all night at that temperature, underneath a duvet with pjs on I don't have my heating on at night. I'd say your dad is right!

Do try an electric blanket, OP, it's a revelation. I love mine. Do get one big enough though.

Turn your heating off at night, 21 is boilling!

Get an electric blanket for when you wake up cold - they are amazing - in fact you can leave them on low all night now iirc on a low setting.

I have to sleep with a window open even when it's cold - I can't bear a bedroom to be even warm!

What's the nature of your illness? Are you able to do any exercise? IME, the more sedentary you are, aka rooted to the sofa, the more you need the heating on, as you're not generating your own energy.

Can you go outside for a walk, perhaps?

At night, definitely agree you should turn the heating down - but not off. You say you're waking up in a cold sweat - are you sure you're not actually waking up because you're too hot? Sweat is a mechanism designed to cool us down. It could be that by the time you're fully awake, your body has been cooled down because of the sweat. Therefore, if you were in a cooler room, perhaps this wouldn't happen?

I have my heating on all night. I hate being cold. I grew up in a freezing house as my mother never felt the cold. I used to wear gloves to bed. I never want to feel that cold again

Apparently putting a quilt on the mattress under your sheet keeps you warm

Can't you set the timer to come on at say 5am so it's warm for you getting up

I have the heating on constantly, but low. (on the boiler on eco), and have all the rads down low too (only on 2 but that's plenty), this way boiler is working on a constant so it doesn't use lots of gas every time it fires up to bring everything up to temperature. It actually costs us less to run this way and keeps the chill off, without being stifling - guess it holds the temp at about 18 degrees. Means that house is warm through day when/if I work from home. Also, v old draughty house with no double glazing but v thick stone walls.
Should have log burners fitted next week for when it gets really cold !

Oh and also I have a blanket round me in the evenings and wear pjs to bed if it's too cold rather than turning up rads.

When I was a student my grotty digs had no heating in the bedroom, and just a 2 bar eletric fire in the living room. It was freezing!! However, I spent an entire winter living there, including 3 weeks in January when the electric heater broke and LL took ages to get it fixed. Although it was not pleasant, I can honestly say I did not get a single cold or snuffle all winter long. I can't say that has happened since, but then I have always had heated bedrooms since. I think that unheated rooms at night seem to beef up your immune system. But admittedly I was young & strong then so maybe that was it?? Still would find 21 degrees unbearable at night, even now in my dotage.

BTW we tested the theory of having the heating on low all the time to save money- it absolutely did not, it costs us loads more!

Hearing goes off here when the kids go to bed.

On my bed I have fleece blanket under the sheet, then one under duvet, then duvet, then wool blanket. I wear tracksuit bottoms, tt-shirt and socks.

I've been known to wear a hat in the depths of winter!

Heat goes on for an hour before we get up, total of about 6 hours a day (massive extravagance according to DM). That costs me about £25 a week in oil. So expensive!