What to do about the heating...

[HiyaMeAgain]

Do you leave it on 24/7 so it sits at a comfortable temperature, or, have it on at set times through out the day?

@SuperLoudPoppingAction

There's a money saving expert page about this. From memory its usually best to turn it on when needed rather than leaving on all the time

This. The winter I left it on all the time resulted in a £600 gas bill. Now I use it sparingly, I can't ever afford that again.

Our appartement is well insulated and has under floor heating. It doesn’t get below 18 and we don’t have a programmable thermostat. I turn it up in DD’s room (which controls the heating in the bathroom and hall) at 6 am when I feed the cat. Turn it down when I leave for work. Whoever’s home first, turns it on in the evening and it stays on until 10 pm.

The plan is to get a smart thermostat but I.need two of those and currently only pay 50 Euros a month for heating and two thermostats would account for a years worth of heating. The heating is on for only five months of the year.

Out of interest and in relation to a pp. Does anyone know how much their heating bill was last year? I've just checked and mine was £556, and I do try to scrimp a bit without being too cold. For perspective I'm in a 3 bed 80yr old property, but 4yr old annual service boiler, less than 6yr roof, windows are sound, and standard insulation, semi. I genuinely didn't think that was high?

Large detached Victorian house.

Thermostat set to 19oC in the day, off at night (falls to approx 15oC overnight at the moment).

£150/month (no gas in our area btw)

I switch it on when I feel cold, off when I feel warm enough. I leave it off over night and off when we're out. My house is small and cosy. It heats up pretty quickly, and retains heat well. It's going to be more expensive this winter, because kids have had more time home schooling, and I've been off work.

I do exactly the same as the previous poster; turn the heating on for half an hour if we're cold, generally twice a day. We're working from home and wouldn't want it on all day so we wear dressing gowns and thick socks. And drink a lot of tea.

I have it off in the day and put on layers while I work. DH has been re-creating the Sahara in the room he has been working in with an oil filled radiator. It comes on about half an hour before the dc come home. It is off overnight just in case of fault with the boiler and carbon monoxide. We do have a detector and obviously not foolproof but I feel it would help.

Off overnight. It comes on at 6.30 and is set at 17 until 4pm. I often bump it up to about 18 at lunchtime. At 4pm it goes off for a couple of hours as we tend to be more active (doing jobs, doing workouts) early evening and the temperature drops slowly enough not to need it on. 6.30 (or earlier if we're cold) it comes back on again at 18 until 9pm (9.30 at weekends).

That's working from home. When we're in the office it is off during the day but comes on to start warming things up an hour or two before we get back. The house does seem to be holding heat better with the wfh routine though.

At the weekend it is set lower during the day as we're more likely to be out but I boost it to those temperatures if we're in or when we're on the way home. I have hive so it's fairly easy to control.

My heating is on a timer, but it doesn't come on in the morning as I'm retired so I switch it on when I get up for an hour. Its then on from 6:30 to 9:30 at night. But it was freezing yesterday so it went on earlier. Even yesterday the overnight temperature was 18°. I have 2' thick walls though and dg.

Mine is on all time now but it’s at 15C at night and when out and turn up to about 20C in when get up and in evening to warm it through. Our house is an older one so can get chilly without heating on.

I’m with @Lobsterquadrille2 and the other poster.

We turn it on when it’s particularly cold for an hour. Over this weekend when we have had snow as freezing iced fog since Friday, I think we had it on maybe four hours in total on Sunday? Normally in depths of winter it would be possibly an hour in the morning, if it’s really icy, then an hour around 7pm whilst doing kids bath so the bedrooms are warm. I might put it back on at 10pm but that’s rare. So 2 or 3 hours a day max.

Sunday, at -2/3 all day outside we had those 4 hours heating and it was the most we have had it on since beast from the east I think.

You're a hardy bunch!
Mind isn't on a timer but clicks on and off as needed and I turn it down as hate being hot overnight.
But during the day I can have it as high as 24 depending. I hate being cold.

The thermostat kicks in at 5am so it is warm for a 6am wake up. It goes to 20 degrees and will shut down if that's reached.

It stays on until 9.30pm and then goes down to 15 degrees overnight.

When both DH and I were working in an office it was out between 8am - 3.30pm.

Even if the thermostat is off it will automatically kick in if the temperature falls below 5 degrees to ensure nothing freezes.

On when needed.

I use an electric heater during the dayin the lounge while I work as the upstairs gets really hot (town house)and feels like a waste.

0600-0900 and then 1600-2300 - find it really annoying that we don’t have a thermostat and we are in a rented property so can’t install one. In between during the day I sit in two jumpers, a blanket and a hot water bottle doing my work. I definitely can’t afford to have the heating on all day every day as it is gas and expensive. Am looking forward to the Spring!

I turn the thermostat on when I wake up which keeps it at a comfortable temp all day. It turns itself on and off as needed to maintain temp. I turn it off at night as I don't sleep well if I get too warm.

I don't keep it on a timer as I don't have a consistent sleeping time so it's easier to just turn it on via an alexa command lying in bed.

Only put heating on when you need it. Wear more pullovers. It's healthier to sleep in lower temperatures as well, I sleep with a window open throughout the whole of winter.

Having previously lived in northern Scandinavia, I find it amusing how people in the UK complain about the temperature when it's perhaps 4 degrees outside. Try -25 !! And yes, we still went outside for walks and children played out quite happily, and we kept the heating low. Overheating indoors is why there are so many coughs and colds constantly during the winter in the UK as opposed to northern Scandinavia too.

15c at night 18c during the day if someone is in 15c if not. We boost it up a little higher when the kids go to bed or have a bath around 7. Thermostat controlled, I really feel the cold and sometimes put it slightly higher than 18c if I'm feeling particularly cold, after adding extra layers or a blanket etc if I'm sitting down.

i have just changed to to coming on 3 times a day

I just turn it on if it's cold and always turn off by around 7pm as can't sleep if the bedroom is too warm. Our house is generally a very warm house though especially if it's a cold but sunny day - no heating required!

I leave mine on 18, and turn up to 20 during evenings.

I would be very uncomfortable in many houses mentioned in this post.
I'm cold all the time. Even in summer my hands are icy cold and I have my arms covered.
My brothers house is often cool and thankfully we are related as I keep my coat on, if I had to take it off I'd be so uncomfortable I'd have to leave.
Mine cool is 18/19 overnight or when out 20/22 when in.

Turn it on when I get up and turn it off after I've showered and dressed. Turn it on early evening and off before I go to bed. May put on for a bit during the day if it feels cold. Work from home all the time.

Ours is on a timer, from 7-11am, then again from 3-4pm and 5-11pm. We all work from home.

I have an oil heater in DD's room that comes on for 15 minutes in every 45 between 1am-5pm, as otherwise it gets down to 15.6° and she wakes up cold.