Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Cost of living

Stretching your budget? Share tips and advice to discuss budgeting and energy saving here. For the latest deals and discounts, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

What time of day (or night) do you put your heating on?

101 replies

LastNCof2022 · 15/12/2022 16:23

As the title says: curious as to when people turn their heating on, especially if they WFH. We are trying to do evening only because in the morning our cleaner opens all the windows (which is of course necessary to air the place and get some fresh air in) so any heating before then would only last until she arrives at 8:30. It seems like a waste of time since we get up, then immediately shower and get dressed. We then wrap up warm and use plug-in throws on our laps. In the evening we turn the heating on (up to 18 degrees) for an hour or two when we finish work so we can be more comfortable while having dinner and watching some TV. Curious as to when and how long for, others turn their heating on.

OP posts:
MidnightMeltdown · 15/12/2022 17:43

Mykittensmittens · 15/12/2022 16:56

I’m so jealous of people having their heating on for big spells - what a state this country is in.

45 mins in the morning (30 of that before alarms go off) to warm up bedrooms which will have dropped to 14c overnight, and warm clothes and towels during showers. It then comes on again at 3.30 for 1hr 30, while kids are home and in their rooms doing homework and changing etc.

I quietly freeze all day WFH wearing 4 layers and have a hot water bottle between me and my oodie. It was 11c in my kitchen at lunchtime.

we have a 4 bed detached and my gas, on this usage basis, was £190 between 12/11 and 12/12 - I don’t understand how anyone can have their heating on all day in a similar house. We are so cold. Doesn’t help the biggest room is north facing and doesn’t get sunlight help. Electricity is another £150 on top of that (no portable heaters, drier is banned, clueless cranky).

You might find that it costs you more to keep heating the house from cold than it does to just leave it on around 17 or 18 degrees during the day. Might be worth experimenting if you have a smart meter.

Unless absolutely destitute, there's no way that I would be willing to sit in a cold house.

amylou8 · 15/12/2022 17:46

2 hours in the morning 1 hour in the evening. House is cold, but takes the edge off it, especially getting out of bed.

Spliffle · 15/12/2022 17:46

I put mine on around 6pm until 10pm. Nothing at all in the morning. It's usually 7-8C in the house during the day but I've learnt to live with that by very careful dressing. That said, it's not been windy recently which I think would make it worse.

earsup · 15/12/2022 17:47

a few hours in morning....7 am to 9am....then off until about 4pm...flow turned down to 52c....my aunt just left me 27k....dont care if it goes on keeping warm....didnt need that new car to replace the 22 year old micra or a holiday...!!..also have 2 open fires on the go.

123woop · 15/12/2022 17:50

We have ours on a thermostat which I used to disagree with, but seeing how many people have had their indoor pipes freeze this week I'm grateful we do 🤣 we have ours set v low though, to 16*. I hate a hot house

Spliffle · 15/12/2022 17:57

When I think back to the 70s, my df couldn't bear a cold house. He had it heated enough that you could wear shorts & a t-shirt, it was toasty. But go to grannies house up north and it was polar. No heating, ice on the windows. Even with a hot water bottle you shivered under the old sheets & 1 blanket.

Celeryfavour · 15/12/2022 18:01

Since it snowed I've had mine set to 16 all the time, as I really don't want burst pipes. Before it snowed I had it on 3-6pm.

skyeisthelimit · 15/12/2022 18:01

Mine comes on at 20 degrees at 6.30am to warm the house a bit before DD gets up for school.

Now I WFH every day, it is on 21. If I still feel cold then I wear my Oodie.

In the evening I need to turn it up to around 23 or the room is still cold. Even then sometimes I am still cold so will use a blanket. It stays on til around midnight when I go to bed, or later if I'm up later.

I am in a small 2 bed bungalow with oil radiators. I don't live an extravagant life so if I'm cold I put the heating on.

ladyladyjane · 15/12/2022 18:02

We have ours on from 9am-11am and then From 6.30pm-9.30pm.
It doesn't make a difference in our house. The temp still only goes to 14 degrees.
Our house is very drafty no insulation. It's cold even if the heating is on for hours.

Natfrances · 15/12/2022 18:07

Mine is always set at 21.5 I don't turn it off

Natfrances · 15/12/2022 18:08

And set to 17 at night time

MouldyChristmasPud · 15/12/2022 18:13

Mine is set at 18 from 7am which is when DS gets up till 10pm at night.
Overnight the thermostat is set to about 12 to stop pipes freezing.

WomBat55 · 15/12/2022 18:13

Don’t have it on in the morning. I have a plug in radiator in my home office and I keep that on low through the day, plus wear extra layers. Heating for whole house comes on 5.30-8.30pm. And I will have a fire in the stove in the living room in the evenings too.

Leela2 · 15/12/2022 18:20

1930's terrace with big bay windows, on a hill by the coast.
Six til seven AM so my nips don't drop off when I get showered and dressed.
Eight til nine pm ish on a night, and on for the odd hour or so I get too fed up of being cold.
House is freezing, my nose is cold, I'm disabled so don't move around much.

JaninaDuszejko · 15/12/2022 18:24

If I'm WFH I put the heaters off in the bedrooms once the kids are at school and keep the rooms we work in warm. If DH is WFH he has the heating on low but leaves it on in the rooms he's not working it. Currently MIL is staying with us so the whole house is kept warm all day because she feels the cold.

RaininSummer · 15/12/2022 18:24

Putting it on for about 2 hours when I get home at 5.30 pm. Hasn't got above about 15 degrees generally this week.

melonraspberry · 15/12/2022 18:30

Mines on all the time at the moment, including at 17 overnight so it chugs along and the frigging condenser doesn't freeze again .
I'll have to cut down quite a bit in Jan!!

melonraspberry · 15/12/2022 18:32

I'm resigned to possibly no holiday next year - but I'd rather have a comfortable winter than a week's holiday in the summer

Hugasauras · 15/12/2022 18:34

Ours is set to 15 overnight and 18 during day from 7am-8pm, which is perfect for us and I'm grateful we can afford it as it's almost a tenner a day at the moment.

user1483387154 · 15/12/2022 18:35

at the moment it's not on at all as hasn't gone below 18 degrees inside and mostly between 12 and 20, still open al the windows every day for minimum 1 hour to freshen the air and help with condensation. we are very lucky with our new build flat

Hugasauras · 15/12/2022 18:36

Although the price seems awful (and it is) remember that this is what you've been building credit up for all year assuming you pay via DD. You use about 80% of your gas usage over winter so you just need to use up all that credit so it can start building again in spring/summer. So if you have the credit sitting there, use it. This is what it's here for.

Ilovetocrochet · 15/12/2022 18:37

If I only heated my house for a couple of hours a day, it would be far too cold for me! In this cold spell, I have my heating set at 19° from 7 am to 10 pm and sometimes boost it to 21° in the evening. The other day, I did not boost it so it went off as usual at 10.00 pm. At 3 am when I woke up I was freezing and after I went to the toilet, I checked the temperature on the thermostat and it had dropped to 12°. I thought about switching it back on but left it and put my dressing gown on in bed.

This pattern of heating is the same as last year although I think I boosted it more last year, I am thinking twice before doing it now. I’ve worked out how much my bills will be on the current tariff and taking into account the £66 monthly rebate, I reckon my winter bills will go up by around £90 a month. I’m OK with that, I’ve made savings in other ways this winter, cut my food shopping and am not spending as much this Christmas. I am also lucky in that I don’t have a mortgage any more.

Loobyloo68 · 15/12/2022 18:38

Electric fire on for half hour in the kitchen in a morning, heating on from dinner time till 8pm, woodburner lit 3pm ish til I go to bed. Two days on the trot my oil boiler hasn't worked until I've tipped hot water on the fuel pipe and the condenser pipe, so tonight I will turn it right down and leave it running. Never had this problem before but we've had over a week of minus temperatures

ohioriver · 15/12/2022 18:47

Hugasauras · 15/12/2022 18:36

Although the price seems awful (and it is) remember that this is what you've been building credit up for all year assuming you pay via DD. You use about 80% of your gas usage over winter so you just need to use up all that credit so it can start building again in spring/summer. So if you have the credit sitting there, use it. This is what it's here for.

Not every one has that option though.

Seasider2017 · 15/12/2022 18:56
  1. Bed detached
retired, heating comes on 8am set @ 20* goes up to 22* at 5pm til 10.30pm

on smart meter today it’s says we’ve used
£10.38 gas £3.41 electric that’s from
8am till now 18.56