At which point do you put the heating on?

[MakeItADouble2]

Just went into my bedroom and the temperature is 17 5° C
I think I will be OK but wondering about rest of house with kids in it who are asleep now.
Are you holding out for a bit longer or is it on now?

I was making a point of keeping ours off and my asthma went absolutely mental. So now I’ve been popping it on here and there when we’re really cold.

I’ve put it on for short bursts just to help dry the washing and the bathroom was starting to get a bit damp and the bath mat wouldn’t dry out and the towels weren’t drying out. I’ve found an hours boost in the morning and sometimes at night helps. I’m trying not to use the tumble dryer but then when it’s raining the clothes take too long to dry I’ve noticed the last few days have been cooler and damp so it needs a little heat.

14C is fine without heating. I'll put it on if it goes much below that. To be honest anything in single figure degrees celsius is too cold for me.

I will not be putting mine on at all.. ALL WINTER. So I'm enjoying the current luxury of 16C indoors because under 10C it feels really bitter.

I've got two small kids and will put it on for half an hour if our living room thermometer is reading about 16, a maximum of twice a day. It's never on overnight though, we've got lovely thick duvets and plenty of blankets to keep us cosy. It's more for getting ready in the morning or shower time and to help dry some washing because that's a real issue. We put it on very sporadically during October and are definitely using it less than we did last year. Our house is quite susceptible to damp so I'm trying to get a happy balance.

14C is fine without heating. I'll put it on if it goes much below that. To be honest anything in single figure degrees celsius is too cold for me.

Pre-covid we regularly left our heating off for a month or more over the winter. Monitoring the temperature with the Hive app, it never dropped to single figures even with snow outside.

Mine went on for an hour yesterday evening, but more because the house was feeling damp with all the torrential rain we've had and I've got an ongoing issue with slight mould in one spot. It's holding a steady 17-19 Celsius inside so we are all plenty warm enough.

Our living room was 16.5 last night and DS was wearing his dad's hoodie to keep warm. I'd have loved to put the heating on in the last few days where it's been damp but we're trying to avoid the cost so the heating is set at 15.5 on our thermostat, so likely kicks in at 14.5 degrees. We have extra blankets on the sofa and the beds to wrap up in for now.

I am amazed how many people don’t seem to have thermostats when they are cheap and can save so much money. Also a lot of people seem to be storing up damp and condensation issues, you need to keep the humidity down both for the good of your house and the efficiency of your heating.

17c in a house with high humidity will feel cold and be hard to heat. 17c with low humidity will be comfortable for most people.

we have a hive stat retro fitted to a system that had no thermostat last month. Cost £130 and I fitted it myself. Different minimum temps for different part of the day to keep the chill off and the damp at bay, then if we are cold we just ask Alexa to raise the temp.

All charted on an app so you can see exactly when it’s on and work out the best usage pattern.

Mines been on for several weeks. Since the temp dropped below 14C

It's 7c today

But how do you keep the humidity down except by using a dehumidifier (costs as much to run as heating) or putting the heating on?
We have had days of torrential rain. We do not have a damp problem but the air inside and out feels damp when you have so much rain and do not put the heating on.

We have a Hive. If you are thinking of getting one, they often have them reduced in the Amazon “Black Friday” sales.

My husband fitted ours. It took him about twenty minutes.

I have a programmable thermostat, it does not stop the feeling of damp. It just turns the heating on or off depending on the settings.

Everyone is different:

Some people feel the cold more
Some houses are more draughty
Some people WFH and so are less active

For me, I used to keep the house at 21 degrees in the day as that's where I am most comfortable. With energy prices now, we have turned it down to 19, which is just about ok for me with 3 layers (thermal under layer, thin jumper, thick jumper or fleece). I would be miserable with it any lower.

Feeling so annoyed that it's come to people having to put up with damp and cold in their own houses they work hard to run ! I've got two little kids and am not going to make them feel the cold, of course it's cut way back but if it's cold in the morning I'm putting the heating on for abit to take the chill off.
In the day I have hot water bottles and wear a cardigan, it hasn't been to bad in the evening so far

I never have it on overnight as makes my asthma a lot worse. During day I just don't look at numbers but put it on if we are feeling a bit cold. It has been on 4 days in October but only for a couple of hours to take chill off rooms.

Still don’t get this ‘turning the heating on’. I turned mine on in May 2016 when I moved into my house.
It has been on ever since. But I use a thermostat set for different temperatures through the day & night. 18C when I’m in. Doesn’t everybody do this?

I don’t have it on overnight ever. Then it’s on a timer to come on twice a day. Thermostat set to 19 I think. Any colder than that and I’m uncomfortable even with a big jumper on.

It’s not on permanently as I don’t want it coming on at night. But comes on at 5am if cold enough.

I wouldn’t wait until a certain date - if I’m cold it goes on. But I hate being cold.

Do you sruggle in general with the concept that not everyone is the same as you?

You must live in some kind of out of touch bubble if you think that everyone has sophisticated heating controls

I mean you don't even need to RTFT, just a few replies, to realise that no, everyone does not do this.

When I am cold and exhausted all other options such as extra jumper/socks.

At the moment I am wfh. The living room is at about 16 degrees. But my small home office upstairs is at about 18 degrees. This is because I have my PC on which generates about 80W of heat, plus the room has me in it. I have a small cheap 2kW heater I bought from amazon which I will use to heat up the home office if it gets really cold.

At night I normally heat up the living room with the gas fire for a bit (much cheaper than the CH) and stay in there to watch telly. No need to heat the rest of the house, as can tolerate super low temperatures when in bed under the quilt.

Still don’t get this ‘turning the heating on’. I turned mine on in May 2016 when I moved into my house.

Good for you, but not everybody’s heating system is the same.

Our boiler uses a pilot light for ignition. The pilot light uses a surprising amount of gas for no purpose during the warmer months, so it make sense to turn the boiler completely off so the pilot light goes out.

Because it has been turned off, when it gets colder it has to be turned on.

Get it now?

I've never even thought about having the heating on at night. Also generally have a small window ajar in the bedroom all year at night. We've been having fires some evenings, and are fortunate in having a garden and a boiler cupboard to dry stuff in. I have had to use the tumble dryer once this year for some bedding. It would be much harder if we didn't have a garden or airing cupboard.

Mine is never on in the night.

It comes on for an hour in the morning from 6.30 so people can be warm getting up.

Then I just put I on if I feel really cold. At the moment I’m working from home with a jumper and a fleece on and am fine without heating. BUT I’m in the privileged position of being able to put it on if I do really want to, and in fact keep it relatively cool because I prefer it. Whilst making sure to put it on enough to avoid damp, which is another issue for many.

I read something on here about the optimum level to set your boiler to, but have forgotten it now (mines set to whatever that was)