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Original poster

Length of time to have heating on?

54 replies

Bluebell66 · 27/10/2015 07:56

I just wondered if anyone has any thoughts or information on how best to run your heating. Is it better to keep it on low (21C) all the day, or just put it on for a couple of hours as and when you need it, ie morning and evening as I do at the moment. Sometimes the house is so cold, I end up putting it on for longer, or an hour in the middle of the day too. I keep being told by British Gas my bills are higher than the average house my size. However, this could be due to ongoing problems with my boiler (long story, it was installed incorrectly), but I have an engineer coming round on Thursday who is hopefully going to sort the boiler and the radiators out. Hope that makes sense. TIA.

OP posts:
GinandJag · 27/10/2015 19:29

I keep mine on all day, all year round. I set the thermostat to the temperature we are comfortable with.

ivykaty44 · 27/10/2015 19:33

How many do you need?

Obs2015 · 27/10/2015 19:36

Likes look of new thermostat!! Yes, we still have one of those old dial ones, how embarrassing!!

OnePlanOnHouzz · 27/10/2015 19:40

Thanks Thanks

PigletJohn · 27/10/2015 20:12

ivykaty44

Most people have one per house. However if you have a larger house, or a well designed system, you may be able to switch parts of the heating (zones) on at different times or to different temperatures. Most often the bedrooms separate from the downstairs rooms. In which case you need one for each zone (you also need an extra motorised valve for each zone, and some extra wiring)

Ruhrpott · 27/10/2015 20:18

We have two, one upstairs, one downstairs but we had two old dial thermostats before. We just swopped them out.

Crikeyblimey · 27/10/2015 20:30

We had the Honeywell one in our last house. It was amazing. So controllable and easy to use. We are looking for a new syst for the new house. It already has 2 zones (upstairs and downstairs) but the controls are no where near as easy to work as the Honeywell thing so I feel we aren't getting the best from the heating.
Sorry to take over but what does anyone think of the 'hive' type systems or are we better off getting the Honeywell thermostats again?

PigletJohn · 27/10/2015 20:43

I have no experience of Hive.

I dislike wireless systems as they go wrong more often.

PentagramChants · 27/10/2015 21:46

ATM ours is set at 18 in the day, 19 for the evening, so it goes on and off as needed. It gets switched off at night. When it is really cold we leave it on about 15 overnight too and have a fire in the living room during the evening. We stick to this until around the end of March. Our house has double glazing and is well insulated. This way our house stays constantly warm but not too hot and our bills are ok, probably average for large 4 bed. Could be cheaper but we hate being cold.

moopymoodle · 27/10/2015 21:59

I'm terrible, mines on full sometimes all day in winter.

TheUnwillingNarcheska · 27/10/2015 22:20

We had the "Hive" installed over a year ago. Love it. I know PigletJohn isn't a fan of the wireless, but it is great to be able to boost that heat when you are on your way home early, using your phone Grin

We have different temps at different times of the day. So in the morning it is hotter whilst we are naked for showering and getting dressed, then we drop the temperature down to a comfortable level in the day. I am a SAHM. Then slightly lower for evening when the children are in bed, and then a night time setting in case it drops below 15 at night.

Having been without heat a few times over the last few years due to boiler issues/pump issues and losing heat altogether on Christmas eve one year, we can see how well our house is insulated as we can see the temperature dropping very slowly (we have a spreadsheet with a graph, as well as Hive)

We have ours on a constant heat setting, so in summer it isn't on because the house is above a particular temperature. I think the heating a house from cold thing does depend on the size of your house and the layout. I hated our last house as the stairs were off the lounge meaning all the heat just went up the stairs.

BasinHaircut · 28/10/2015 06:30

Ohh I'm so getting one of those thermostats! Thanks for the tip ruhrpott and as always pigletjohn you are a legend.

We moved in April and the thermostat we inherited doesn't go above 20 degrees. The programmer is also ancient and incomprehensible. I've found some instructions online and still can't work it out.

BasinHaircut · 28/10/2015 06:34

We are also one of those households that generally leaves it on constantly but low, just turning up slightly in the evening and then down again before bed. We started doing this a couple of years ago when I was on mat leave as we were home a lot more. It doesn't seem any cheaper than having the boiler only come on twice a day but having to fire up from cold but I haven't seen a difference in our heating bill for doing it so it hasn't worked out any more expensive either.

PentagramChants · 28/10/2015 07:16

Also heating rooms to at least18 in the day/evening (not so much night when you're in bed) is better for your health when it's cold. Less chance of becoming ill, especially people with medical conditions/old folk/babies. Energy saving trust will probably say don't have heating on constant NHS will say do. Different agendas. My Dc have to have flu jabs so the heatings staying on low but constant.

Sleepybeanbump · 28/10/2015 07:19

We used to do the normal thing of having it at about 21 for a few hours every morning and evening. There were always cold spots and then suddenly it would get too hot etc etc. Never felt right.

Then we stayed in a holiday cottage with no heating except an aga. It was the perfect temperature all the time. We came home and immediately put our heating on 19 ish all day. Revolutionary. I really think the trick is never to let it cool down too much.

Ruhrpott · 28/10/2015 08:40

I take no credit for the tip, it's all The Legend Pigletjohns work. I just followed his advice a couple of weeks ago!

BasinHaircut · 28/10/2015 11:35

I agree sleepy, if it gets too cold then the cold seems to 'get in' to everything and it takes much longer to warm up.

If you put the heating on twice a day you also tend to use higher temps and so the temp at both ends of the scale feels more extreme.

CherriBlossim · 28/10/2015 11:38

We have the Heatmiser Neo wireless thermostat. Can't imagine being without it now.

When can control the heating and water from wherever we are in the world - by phone or computer.

Great to be able to keep an eye on the house temperature and great to be able to put it on if you have been away for a week or so and you need to heat the house up before you return.

moopymoodle · 28/10/2015 15:23

I have mine on 30?! Its a digital one and I can set it to come on at certain times and temperatures. However Im now wondering if I need to insulate my house better and seal all door frames etc more as this time of the year I feel I have to have it on full or I'm freezing!

PigletJohn · 28/10/2015 16:36

'appen you need a vest.

Use a thermometer to see what the actual room temperature is. You should be dripping at 30C

TalkinPease · 28/10/2015 17:45

My thermostat says 24, but the thermometers around the house say 18.5

Weekdays on at 6am off at 7.30 ~ on again at 4 off at 9.30
Weekends on at 8am on all day till 9:30
TRVs in all rooms so bedroom rads switch off as the heat rises

I have raynauds so always wear thermal sleeves

If its really cold and grey in the day we light the woodburner

ivykaty44 · 28/10/2015 19:03

See I set mine between 15 & 18 but thermostat is in hall and if I shut living room door it gets toastie and we have to turn the thermostat down further or turn the heating off. I do want a new thermostat though that is all singing and dancing

PigletJohn · 28/10/2015 19:16

TRVs would help.

it is preferable to have the stat in the living room you use most of the time, provided it does not have another heat source such as a stove.

ivykaty44 · 28/10/2015 20:27

What are TRVs? Please pj

PigletJohn · 28/10/2015 21:21

thermostatic radiator valves

The Danfoss RAS-C² is particularly good.

You need some DIY plumbing ability and simple tools to change them, and early summer is the best time to start, as your radiators, and your hot water unless you have an immersion heater, will be out of action until you finish. However if you have a modern sealed system (pressure gauge on the boiler) it can be done, one at a time, without draining. It is labour intensive so costly if you have to pay someone. You could do it in a weekend if nothing went wrong (ha ha). It does not need work on the boiler so does not need a gas engineer.

If you are doing a plumbing job which includes draining down, it is always worth using a cleaning chemical first.