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Original poster

In thinking 17 degrees is a ridiculous house temp in almost November

101 replies

Fibilou · 27/10/2009 19:42

DH keeps turning the central heating down from 20 to 17 and opening every window in the house because he "thinks it's hot enough"
I am 6 months pregnant, freezing my tits off and getting increasingly annoyed with his stubborn refusal to accept that 20 is a perfectly reasonable temperature and a profligately ridiculous temperature.
He seems to think that most people have their heating on around 15 degrees !

OP posts:
oldraver · 27/10/2009 20:28

I was sorta thinking it was normal for the heating to go off at night as thats how it always wa swhen I ws growing up and I have continued to folloow that. Then I was confused by some posts and thinking ... shit, should I be having the heating on at night, am I being stingy

RustyBat · 27/10/2009 20:30

I have to put our thermostat at about 26° to get a reasonable temperature, but it's actually more like 18-19° in reality. Our thermostat is in the warmest part of the house, which seems daft to me. But we have thermostatic valves on all the bedroom radiators so we keep them cooler.

EdgarAllenPoo · 27/10/2009 20:32

i think we need to invoke a rule here -

don't mess with the pregnant woman.

you're pregnant OP, unless your DP is too, he shouldn't be trying to freeze your poor pregnancy-sensitised nipples off.

it's probs just because he wants to see you being all 'pointy' like.

Georgimama · 27/10/2009 20:33

If my thermostat told me it was 20 degrees in the house and my husband was wandering about in shorts and t shirt and I was putting on multiple layers of clothes, I'd go to the doctor. Seriously, that doesn't sound right.

pranma · 27/10/2009 20:34

I like 18-20 myself

oldraver · 27/10/2009 20:37

My thermostat is in the hall right by the French (glass) doors into the hall, so if you put the gas fire on the living room heats up quickly and tell the thermostat its cosy and warm... so the rest of the house gets cold as the radiators dont come on

If you want gas fire AND warm bedrooms/other rooms you have to set the thermostat to something ridiculous. As it is I haven't used the fire now for a couple of years

madusa · 27/10/2009 20:48

i like my house to be about 22 but turn it down to 20 for night time as my DH doesn't like being too warm.

I find that antthing less than 20 makes me shiver and gives me a headache

I am such a wimp

hatwoman · 27/10/2009 20:51

more people talking about the outside temp....I don't get it.

in theory, if thermostats were good we could all have our heating "on" all the time (well, all the time we're in), but set to a suitable temp (lower overnight) so that it only kicks in and actually comes on and heats up the radiators when the house temp drops below whatever temp it is we like. ie we should be able to use thermostats to decide when we need the radiators on - not clocks, and our perception of the outside temp.

fluffles · 27/10/2009 20:54

we don't have a thermostat but do have a thermometer in the living room. heating goes on when that goes down to 18deg if we're working on the computer or watching tv. otherwise i get very cold hands and nose despite jumpers and a blanket and i'm NOT wearing gloves or a balaclava in the house!

if up and about doing housework or cooking we usually don't need heating.

heating is off from 10pm to 7am though as i like cold air and a warm duvet overnight.

iwantitnow · 27/10/2009 20:54

I like the house at 20 degrees anything colder the heating comes on. In my second pregnancy I was cold all the time. I'm allergic to wool so I find cotton jumpers don't really keep me warm and I can't find many to buy.

herbietea · 27/10/2009 20:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Emprexia · 27/10/2009 20:58

ours varies from 19-25 depending on how cold it is.. i usually whack it up to 25 first thing in the morning then put it back to 19 for the rest of the day.

JoInScotland · 27/10/2009 21:00

We heat our house to 18C but we live in Scotland, in a 3-story Victorian house which is currently quite draughty and will continue to be so until we can get all the building work done which we want done before the baby arrives in January. The heat doesn't come on from between say, late April and late September because it's not cold enough to trigger it.

I guess I'm one of those rare people who gets chilled during pregnancy rather than over-heated. I always have on a long-sleeved turtleneck and a huge jumper and at 7 months pregnant, I'm still freezing with cold hands.

What I do is have a warm bath in the evening, and that pumps up my circulation until bedtime... helps me get to sleep a bit better too, since I'm an insomniac now.

As an aside, I was told my veins would improve during pregnancy, as I am known as "The Stone" at my GP since it is nearly impossible to draw blood from me. That didn't happen either. Oh well. Everyone's pregnancy is different. I know the phlebotomist well.

Twit · 27/10/2009 21:02

mine is usually at 17, unless I some-one is ill, then it might go to 20 for a bit. I tend to turn it to 15 at night. [although I always have my window open and radiator off]
It has been at 15 all day today.

Emprexia · 27/10/2009 21:03

re the kid thermometer thing.

When we have our heating on DS's monitor temp reads about 19/20 and the heating was on 24 today.

oldraver · 27/10/2009 21:03

hatwoman you can get programable thermostats that enable you to have lots of different temperatures during the day. So you could have a decent temp for when you got up, then drop down to a lower temp while you may be at work etc etc

We replaced ours with one but it kept blowing the boiler fuse so whipped it out quick as th house was still under guarantee but in theory they are a good idea

francaghostohollywood · 27/10/2009 21:05

YANBU, I wouldn't be able to resist in a house with 17 degrees. But I'm Italian, I like to be very warm.

VulpusinaWilfsuit · 27/10/2009 21:05

Good god. Who'd have thought people could be all moral about others' heating preferences. And not for environmental reasons. Have it as hot/cold as you like/prefer. If we had ours below 19-20 in winter, DS2 would be having asthma attacks...

duckyfuzz · 27/10/2009 21:06

our sitting room is north facing, the thermostat is in the hall which is quite warm, so we do need to turn it up when its particularly cold, but we have individual radiator controls so the rest of the house doesn't get too warm

FleeBee · 27/10/2009 21:31

Haven't put the heating on yet and I am a Northern. That said I'd not put it on at all and DH has got 5 jumpers 6 pairs of socks and a tartan travel blanket and is still cold. We're just made for each other

Arsed · 27/10/2009 21:37

Ours isn't even on yet !

NotmallY on the 17 for a couple of hours a day. Off completly at night even when it's freezing. Nothing more horrible than being hot in bed.

fledtoscotland · 27/10/2009 21:38

ours is usually at 20 during the day and down to 15 at night. I leave my heating on constant with just the thermostat. Sounds daft but the house never becomes freezing and I then have to put it up high to get it warm. My gas bills are far lower than my friend's in the same house who doesn't have it on during the day and just puts it on mornings & evenings.

Original poster
Fibilou · 27/10/2009 21:43

Fledtoscotland, to put you in the picture my Dad is a cental heating engineer. He says it's far more efficient to have the house heated at a moderate temperature all day then off at night rather than hot in short bursts then off. He has told hubs this but obviously hubs knows better than a professional
Our house gets 2 hours at 18 in the morning, off all day then 1 hour at 18 in the early evening. Furthermore our house is open plan on three floors so the heat dissipates quickly. To be honest I'm beginning to wonder what the point of the radiators is. Perhaps we could use them as an unusual design feature.

OP posts:
Meglet · 27/10/2009 21:48

Mine is 24 . I know it's dreadful but I do wear cosy clothes (slippers nearly all year round, thick duvet, fleecy pj's), but unless the air is warm I tend to freeze and end up stiff with blue lips.

fledtoscotland · 27/10/2009 21:48

Thanks Fibilou - I seem to be the only person I know who heats my house like this. I hate it being either very cold or very hot. With two toddlers, I don't want them getting cold. Dont get me wrong, we all wear jumpers, socks and slippers but at the end of the day, why shiver?

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