What is the 'thing' with putting the heating on?

[CatchersAndDreams]

Surely just because you put it on doesn't mean you have to keep it on. I've never understood this thing that people have about not putting or putting on the heating as if you're stuck with it on once you put it on!

I just put it on when I’m cold and that’s that.

That’s what people mean isn’t it?

Most people have it set on timer for the same times each day so no need to turn on or off.

I find I get used to it being warmer with the heating on and it’s much harder to turn it off to save money. So I always hold out as long as possible before turning it on, then I can have it on in December January and February without worrying too much

I know! I genuinely thought most heating systems used thermostats...

Putting the heating on is a sign that the weather has become cold enough to require it. Usually this is then pretty much a one way street until the next spring. The longer people can stave it off the better it feels psychologically.

I don’t think that’s what people are talking about. They’re trying to keep it off completely until it’s bloody intolerable and then when it’s ‘on’ it’s in every day on a timer until Spring.

Once I put my heating "on" , I consider it on even when the thermostat clicks it off.
My heating is off when I switch it off on the control panel .

Yes it isn’t like once you put it on you can’t turn it off again. Ours is set at 18 and hasn’t come on of its own accord yet but i have popped it up to 19 or 19.5 for an hour when it has felt chilly enough.

i also don’t follow the no heating until 01/10 or no heating during BST. It is about temperature not dates (tho I realise people are trying to save money).

I don't get the weirdness on MN about it. If you live in the Highlands of Scotland in an old stone cottage you are probably going to have a very different view about when it's time to put the heating on compared to someone in London in a well insulated flat. People get fixated on the date as though we're all experiencing the same temperature at any given moment.

I put it on and then it's on a thermostat.

Because once we’ve set it on we get too used to it. Ours is on a timer, but yes also a thermostat. It’s chilly now but not cold enough for the heating.

I haven't put mine on yet except for a trial run the other day. Once it's 'on' then it will probably stay on a timer and thermostat until spring. I will turn it off only when I am going out. I waited until end of October last year.

I think it’s just that once it’s on you enjoy the nice warm cosy house and don’t want to put it back off (completely) till Spring so people put that off as long as possible.

Technically ours hasn’t been “off” all summer, we just dropped the thermostat down to 12 or something, so it never came on. Now we’ve moved it to 17 and it’s coming on the odd morning for half an hour - which is lower than it would have been this time last year

It's accepted the heating will be turned on and off. 'Putting the heating on ' is a term for the start of having to use it. The acknowledgement that it's going to be on at some point every day from now until well, the weather is warmer and it can be turned off.

It's like tights. Once they're on, they don't come off. It's officially end of summer.

Once I give in, I want to be warm all time. My self control is all in or all out. I am the same with food, complete saint or rotten little sinner

@TheOtherBoleynGirls same here. I don't think I've ever done anything to my panel, I just turn the thermostat down in summer and up when it's cold. I am going to be much more sensible with my heating though.

I have to go through the yearly transition of remembering to shut windows and reminding DS to before the heating can be switched on. In summer there are windows open all the time.

DS feels the cold less than me so still opens his bedroom window when he gets in after school and is hot from walking then coming into a warmer-than-outside house. I'm also now reminding him to shut the bathroom window before he leaves the house in the morning.

Once on, it's on a thermostat and timer so will only come on when needed but I can't afford to have it click on with a window open.

I assume when people say they’re turning the heating on it means what time of the year they start using it.

But you’re absolutely right that people can just turn it off and on and I would expect most people to have it on every other day or something if they’re trying to save on their bills.

There's also the cost this year, I am planning on keeping October usage to as near as a summer bill as possible. Heating is the only energy usage I can still reasonably reduce.

There's nothing weird about it. Once you start putting it on you're going to be paying for it. Pretty sure that's what everyone is referring to. The longer they hold out, the cheaper the bills are.

I switch mine on at the control panel . It's not kept on as it's oil and I can't afford to run it all the time. So far it's been on twice this week for two hours in the evening when I've come home too late to light the fire.

Disregarding the current energy crisis many mumsnetters think it is a badge of honour to not put the heating on unless it is -25 degrees outside. Threads tend to descend into "The Four Yorkshiremen" competitiveness into who is the most "well 'ard" poster.

Meanwhile, everyone else puts their heating on according to the temperature rather than the calendar.

I have been buying more warmer clothes to keep warm, but DH who is severely underweight due to ill health can't cope when it is too cold, so we will just have higher heating bills.

Thank goodness we installed solar panel before the FIT nosedived.