"We don't have the heating on"

[Christonabike37]

Just reading another thread and seen this "we never have the heating on at night" and I've never really understood what it means, but now with energy prices I need to know if its really what people do.

Our thermostat is set at 15 always, in the evenings we up it to 20 for a few hours. I consider 15 off, and 20 on. Is this the same? Or do people just not have the heating on at all, like your house could be 0 degrees? How cold does it get at night? Surely it gets down to single figures most of the time?

Same as PPs who have commented about the energy efficiency of having the thermostat set to a constant low rather than off. Ours is set on timers - our default is 15°. We have anl 18° click on from 5:30am (ready for me to get up at 5:45/6) til 7am. By this time everyone is up and dressed. Click on to 18° again from 11am-1pm (mostly used to dry washing but also OH, toddler and now baby are home during this time frame). Our final 18° click on comes from 5-7pm to warm up bedrooms for the kids. During the summer months and even into Autumn the click on/off system is rarely activated as our house retains heat pretty well - dont think we have dropped lower than 22° since April. We have recently reinsulated our loft ready for winter in the hope that it might help keep some of those precious degrees inside.

it wouldn’t for us. We have it set to 16 and it’s usually only on 2-3 hours a day at most when cold. Yes those 2-3 hours probably are not as efficient as someone who has their system on the whole time but 21 hours extra won’t be better or cheaper for us

We live in a very old stone cottage which is prone to damp and takes days to become warm again if it’s ever allowed to become properly cold. Once the weather is colder we have the heating on constantly, but with the thermostat set to 16 degrees overnight which is just enough to stop pipes freezing and to ensure the house stays cool, rather then cold. We try to use the log burners and heated blankets on the sofa in the evenings and always turn off radiators in the rooms that aren’t in regular use.

I can get used to having no heating but need jumpers and blankets, hot food and hot water.

How on earth are you confused by thermostats? Are you joking or do you genuinely need them explaining to you?

Our heating is off totally between 10am and 4pm and then 11pm to 7am. The house doesn't cool to below 16 really. We can turn it on but we don't at night even in winter and we don't have a radiator in our bedroom anyway. We just snuggle up with blankets and hot water bottles if we get cold.

State pensioner here. Never had heating on overnight. Will have heating on in the day only if it becomes unbearable. I am slowly stocking up with jumpers, fleeces, thermal leggings and socks. I have lots of winter hats and will get some Turtle Dove wristwarmers. At sale prices at time of writing.

Lots of soups and stews!

Also, I am overweight so self insulating!

We turn the heating off and have it on timer to come on about 30 mins before we wake up. Then we just flick it on to boost for an hour as and when we need it over the evening

Mine is off completely at night. I never have it on low constantly either. I just turn it on when I need to and it’s never on for more than a couple of hours.

There’s only one occasion I can recall last winter when I was cold in the night. I just put some pyjamas on and I was fine.

The recommendation for minimal temps (day and night in winter) is 18 degrees - for health, i.e. to help reduced excess winter deaths.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/776497/Min_temp_threshold_for_homes_in_winter.pdf

Only for people over 65 - and that’s with minimal clothing.

Whilst I understand why some people may need the heating on at night, ours goes off at 9 and comes back on at 6.30, we live on a very old draughty house so yes it’s cold by the time we go to bed but we have hot water bottles, PJs and extra blankets if needed.
Unless they’re a very good reason for heating at night I just think it’s a complete waste of money.

Where are you getting that bit from? I can see the following but might be missing something

Daytime recommendations
 The 18°C (65F) threshold is particularly important for people over 65yrs or with pre- existing medical conditions. Having temperatures slightly above this threshold may be beneficial for health.
 The 18°C (65F) threshold also applies to healthy people (1 – 64)*. If they are wearing appropriate clothing and are active, they may wish to heat their homes to slightly less than 18°C (65F)
Overnight recommendations
 Maintaining the 18°C (65F) threshold overnight may be beneficial to protect the health of those over 65yrs or with pre-existing medical conditions. They should continue to use sufficient bedding, clothing and thermal blankets or heating aids as appropriate.
6

Minimum home temperature thresholds for health in winter: A systematic literature review
 Overnight, the 18°C (65F) threshold may be less important for healthy people (1 – 64)* if they have sufficient bedding, clothing and use thermal blankets or heating aids as appropriate.

*There is an existing recommendation to reduce Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Advice is that rooms in which infants sleep should be heated to between 16 – 20 °C (61 – 68F). www.lullabytrust.org.uk/roomtemperature

We've never had the heating on overnight.
There's no thermostat on our ancient heating system - it's either on or off. In winter, we have the timer set for an hour before we get up. In the evenings, we switch it on for a half hour blast if it's chilly.

And the recommendation is that healthy adults under 65 can use bedclothes and pyjamas to reach this temperature at night, and can move around and put on more clothes to achieve it during the day. The relevant study was of sedentary adults wearing light clothing, with no information on relevant health conditions. In general, as the study acknowledges, the evidence base is weak.

My house may be cold at night in winter, but that doesn't mean I'm cold.

@bellac11 it needs to be stored at 60 to avoid legionella growth

I agree. 18 is was too unnecessarily warm in times of need.

No, we usually have heating on timed during colder months, two or three hours in the morning and around 6- 10 pm, but override to constant during the day if we need it. We're in London and it's almost never very cold overnight; occasionally during a cold snap we keep it on low at night.

We don't switch it fully off but we do set the thermostat to 12 degrees so it would very, very rarely come on overnight, if ever.

Even if it's below zero outside it wouldn't get that cold overnight because of the heat already in the house from the day (we do keep the windows closed though).

Our combi-boiler doesn't have a thermostat and I have no idea what temp it's set at as the dial goes from 1-8 🤷

It's on a timer and comes on for an hour I the morning to dry towels etc but in the winter we've been pretty extravagant in the past having it on 24/7. We'll have it on timer for when we're at home morning and evening.

We haven't had heating on for months but we put it on occasionally to keep it all okay.

Downstairs is never below 25 and upstairs is currently at 27!!!

Wish it was 0 tbh (I love the cold)

Always off at night

Generally speaking I'd leave it on if I was away in the depths of winter, but I've had a water leak when the heating was on when I was at home and I don't want to think how bad that would have been if we'd not been there (it was at the beginning of the first covid lockdown so we were all at home). So now I am reluctant to have the heating on when I am not at home in case it happens again.

I remember how cold our house was in the winter when I was a child. My bedroom was over the garage too. No double glazing, I’ll fitting windows, no fitted carpets or insulation really.
i remember reaching a hand out from under the covers and snapping the icicles off from around the windows. You Couid see your breath too.
At least my house has double glazing and is well insulated being a new property so even without the central heating on, I’m reasonably confident it won’t be as bad as that!

Never have had the heating on at night. It’s toasty under a decent duvet. It goes off at 2230 in winter and back on at 0630 on a work day, stays off until 1800 at weekends but if really cold will have a couple of hours boost in the daytime. Won’t be having it in at all this winter! Will be wearing all my coats at the same time 😟