Heating And Fresh Air.

We always air the house for about 10 minutes even when very cold. No heating in bedrooms either, and sleep with window slightly open in winter, and wide in summer.

HousePlantQueen

silverlining48

If my heating is on the windows are not open. In winter
I sometimes open windows for a blow through for 10 minutes, then close them again.

That's what I do. In the morning when we get up, I turn the bed back, open the bedroom window, then go into the kitchen, door closed. The window is closed when I go back to make the bed.

I don't get making the bed with the windows closed? Beds are the worst dust creators and so I always open my window until after the beds have been made to let the dust settle and the air to circulate.

In my opinion rooms can start to stink - especially in modern buildings with lower ceiling height, unless some fresh air (even five minutes) is allowed in.
Also condensation in bathrooms as it causes mould is helped by opening the window.
Me? I like both, being the awkward, want-my-cake-and-eat-it type of person that I am😌

What is the temperature in your living-room? (just out of interest). I have a little cardboard temperature gauge from AgeUK which tells me 15c is dangerously low.
The temperature outside is -6 at the moment (up from -9 overnight) and the temperature in the living room is 18c. I feel cold and have filled a hot water bottle to stay warm whilst I type this.
There is no way I'm going to open a window.

Mine is 13C at the moment.

I open the windows for 10 minutes every morning, I can’t imagine not doing this!
The bedroom radiator is turned of during the day, I might put it on in the early evening if it’s particularly cold.
I open the toilet and bathroom windows every morning for an hour, with the doors shut, to reduce the likelihood of mould from condensation, the same with the kitchen if I’ve been cooking. The living room window is open while I tidy up.
I hate the smell of stale air in a house.
My heating bill isn’t any higher for doing this by the way!

In Denmark we do much the same as in Germany.

Formerly, you were advised to turning central-heating radiators off whilst windows were open to air rooms.

Now the muncipal heating plants say this is not necessary, as turning the thermostats up again when you close the windows uses just as much heat as that which escapes during the five to ten minutes the windows are open to air a room.

In schools the classrooms are regularly aired during the ten minute breaks between classes.

Very few people turn their heating off, as we are advised to keep an even heat in all rooms of the house in order to prevent damp, black mould or other hazards.

Our house is quite warm, but this freezing week we have put the heating on; OH is taking medications which makes him feel cold. Each morning every window, and the front, side and back door are opened, reducing the inside of the house to the same temperature as outside, then everything is closed and the heating goes on to keep OH comfortable. Lingering cooking smells etc. are blown away and we start the day with a beautifully fresh smelling house.

I like a bit of fresh air, so have the heating on but all windows open slightly for as long as I can get away with it - DH is a cold body and likes them shut after an hour or so of airing each morning. He’s out today collecting Christmas trees for our local hospice, so all windows are ajar. I shut them once it starts to get dark since we had a bat in the kitchen one evening, and it turns out we’re a couple of wusses.

I'm another one living in a very old house. Ours dates from the 17th century & has plenty of draughts so we certainly don't open the windows during the winter. However, we only have the heating on for a few hours in the evening as we live in the kitchen during the day. It's heated by a lovely log burner which gets too hot at times. We're able to burn our own wood from fallen trees on the farm and have no neighbours to object!!

ExDancer

What is the temperature in your living-room? (just out of interest). I have a little cardboard temperature gauge from AgeUK which tells me 15c is dangerously low.
The temperature outside is -6 at the moment (up from -9 overnight) and the temperature in the living room is 18c. I feel cold and have filled a hot water bottle to stay warm whilst I type this.
There is no way I'm going to open a window.

Back: Kitchen, utility at one end with wood fireplace, through diner, family living room, playroom to wood fireplace at other end. 21C

Front: dining hall, proper sitting room, bedrooms, bathrooms. No heat sources, merely the various doors connecting sides of our home. 14C

GrammaH we also have a wood burner and use our own wood from the farm. The last load had been inside the barn all year but obviously hasn't dried so I'm having problems keeping the darn thing alight.
We are both in our 80s and my husband doesn't feel the cold whereas I'm a frozen thing, slow moving because of arthritis and I hate the winter.
You don;t need to open windows to get fresh air here!

My hoùse is fairly new and has a drimaster system which circulates fresh air and prevents codensation. Costs 1p per day to run so don't need to ooen windows when heat is on

We open the windows of the house for half a day to let fresh air in. We then close the windows except for the bedroom windows but close the bedroom door. DH likes to sleep in a cold room.

We light a fire in the grate to heat up the house after lunch if it is freezing otherwise around 4 or 5pm.

TwinLolly

We open the windows of the house for half a day to let fresh air in. We then close the windows except for the bedroom windows but close the bedroom door. DH likes to sleep in a cold room.

We light a fire in the grate to heat up the house after lunch if it is freezing otherwise around 4 or 5pm.

Not many “newish” houses are built with fire places or chimneys in UK are there?
So that sort of warmth is available to a minority.
For most it is radiators as the main source of heat with perhaps an old style gas fire or electric effect (less common now from what I’ve seen)
Some houses are just not insulated sufficiently to be warm. So I totally get why so many people need their boilers running a lot and why they worry about the loss of heat through open windows.
But if the subject is quality of life then fresh air is necessary.

No one unless they are really peculiar will willingly go to bed in a cold room if they are already cold, because the rest of the house hasn’t been sufficiently heated for the majority of the day.

I'm afraid we buck the trend - or rather I do. I must have a strange inner thermostat but in summer I am too hot and in winter too cold. We have no open fires and rarely open windows except in summer. We have been told many times not to alter the thermostat in the hall but use the valves on individual radiators but am not sure that works. Or that they work any more. The hall is all internal walls with entry from an enclosed porch (only two small outer walls) and as a result it hardly ever switches the heating on, even in winter. So we wap it up and adjust the individual valves. It's not a small house so spare bedrooms are turned low, as are the two studies, dining room and main living room - cos we "live" in the kitchen/breakfast room. There is only one radiator here plus an electric wall heater. The radiator in the downstairs loo is never on cos the room is entirely internal and the temperature is perfect. No radiator in the utility room.

The electric radiator is eating money. We bought it cos it was hundreds cheaper than a gas one and doesn't need an annual service but then electric prices shot up.

All that said, we have no mould or stains from condensation. We always open bathroom windows a little when we shower and close about an hour later.

Wish I could reduce the costs. Oh, just had the loft insulation topped up to maximum so maybe that will help. But I cannot stand being cold.

What is the point of opening windows when heating on.
It’s a waste of warmth and money.

I always open windows in bedrooms in the morning to air rooms of, but before heating is switched on.

I was brought up in the days before any central heating, and still tend to keep the same ways now as a widow living on my own. So when we got up washed and dressed the bedclothes were thrown back and the window in the bedroom opened. down to breakfast and ready for school, back up to clean teeth and make bed and shut window. Tea time, home and change out of school clothes and hang up, and old clothes put on and window opened for a little fresh air, whilst we sorted out books or found things or whatever, and down to tea. Then after tea if no one was going upstairs for another reason someone would be sent up to close the windows.
So now in this very cold weather, and with my back really painful, I struggle getting up in the morning so, if in a lot of pain put my dressing gown on and have something to eat so I can have painkillers, Then after about half an hour can go and shower and dress etc. Then if I am going shopping or out at all, windows opened while I make shopping list , do emails etc etc. Then windows shut and door locked and off I go. On very cold days, I keep the curtains closed to keep the heat in , generally dont have any heating on after about 8am, and heating on in the evening, but have thermostatic controls on each radiator so can heat where I need to . Bedroom is set lower as I dont like to go to sleep in a warm room. Jobs are also changed round at this time of the year. Things like cooking or ironing are warming kinds of work so are done on colder days, shopping I used to like to do early and get back but now with the lack of the winter fuel etc etc, I am rejigging my routine to do so much shopping , not including frozen things and then call at a warm space church, and go to a cafe where I can have a reasonable time sat in the warm whilst having just one coffee, also belong to Strikes loyalty group where you pay £12 for the year , so £1 a month, for which you get 2 cups of coffee a month , not large cups but nevertheless very welcome. The cafe is at the back of the shop so of course they hope you will spend a lot of money on the way. Ah they havent met me!! I can be quite strict with myself, but again it is somewhere to warm up and they are busy but always have some spare room, so I would be able to sit there for a reasonable length of time. So yes I still do my open window bit, but of course I live alone so only me breathing in here , so not a lot of condensation here

I think what we do about anything should be governed by circumstances, not by long learned habits that may not be relevant anymore.

Whens taying in a small airless heated room - like a hotel room, I will open windows for vntilation . In a large old house like ours with a very large bedroom, I leave the bedroom door open at night and the natural ventilation in the house, I will not say drafts because I cannot feel them, is sufficient ventilation.

But when gas and electricity are so expensive, the last thing I am going to do is waste a penny of it by opening windows or doors unnecessarily in cold weather.

I keep the windows open at least a crack all year round although I did close them for a night last weekend when it hit minus 20C.

Have vents on all windows. Some are closed day and night in this cold weather (-2° at 11 am today). Bathrooms and kitchen vents are open until night time. Have heating on at 20° from 7.30 am until 10 pm everyday and I live in a well insulated 15 year old house. I feel when I open outside doors going in and out there is enough fresh air gets in.

Even if it's frosty, our bedroom window is open a crack all night (would be open wider, but my husband would grumble). I can't sleep without the window open.... During the day, our windows are closed when it's cold.

Even if it's frosty, our bedroom window is open a crack all night (would be open wider, but my husband would grumble)

And ours except it would be me grumbling. I'm on the window side.

No, I don't open windows during very cold periods, especially sub zero temperatures. I am out all day though so the heating is only put on briefly in the morning and in the evening when I get home. I'm frozen when I get home so opening a window is just not happening.

It is not what you are all doing that is intersting, but why. For some of you itis long ingrained habits, regardless of rationale or justification, but for the rest of you?