Keeping heating on

My understanding- from Which, I believe, is that it is not so.

This has been discussed on MSE, and apparently it's not true.

"According to experts at the Energy Saving Trust, the idea that it's cheaper to leave the heating on low all day is a myth. "

There are so many factors. It might be true for some. Told to me by a gas engineer.

It probably depends on the type of heating you have, and just how cold the weather is too.

We have an air source heat pump.

If it is on for the heating, it heats the water too. There is no obvious way of having one without the other, and the system is designed to be turned on all the time.

For a couple of months at the end of last year, we were having big problems with the heating part of it - it was out of control, randomly heating the house far too much, no matter how low the thermostat was set..

Because of the problem, not wanting our energy bill to soar, we turned the whole system off, and only turned it on for up to two hours morning and evening, largely so we would have hot water.
(We still have an open fire in our living room, so I gathered fallen branches to burn on that in the evenings when necessary, though luckily the weather was relatively mild for the time of year anyway).

I was reading the meter every day, and quickly discovered that we used as much electricity doing that as we usually did by leaving the system running 24/7!

I've heard it's wishful thinking too.

Unfortunately - very untrue. One of those urban myths that has been around a long time.

It is very important, and even more so now, to try to find out where heat is being lost in your home, and use whatever you can to stop them. Good, lined curtains are an essential, even on double glazing. We will all have to get used to wearing more clothing during colder months. So many people have got very used to wearing similar clothing all year. A spare duvet or a light blanket over knees when sitting down to watch tv, listen to radio, do knitting, etc. Separate controls on all radiators and turning off rads in room not being used.

We’ve done what your friend said from day one of our marriage.

Of course...we can’t say what our bills would have been if we’d used the on, off, on off, form of heating, but do know it’s saved money on the boiler. The house is set around 19/20 degrees in the day, and 15 at night. Always warm.

I have my heating set at 19 degrees ( was 20 but I turned it down as energy prices were increasing) from 7 am to 10pm. If I am sat down and feel chilly, I will turn it up a couple of degrees. This suits my lifestyle and also keeps mould away from my house, mould was a problem when I was working and did not have the heating on during the day. It is set at 10 degrees over night but I don’t think it has ever got that cold indoors.

Although I do wear warm clothes like a t shirt and sweat shirt in the winter, I don’t want to have a blanket over my knees or wear a hat, I prefer to increase the thermostat for a couple of hours. I use my nose as a guide, if it is cold, the house is not warm enough!

But I don’t need to worry about my household bills too much, I don’t have things like tv packages, car loans or fancy holidays to pay for and was able to save for my retirement for the last twenty years of my working life. I know that a lot of people will struggle this winter and I’ll try to help with extra food bank contributions and donating the blankets I crochet to a local charity for people with dementia.

Lizbethann, I have my heating on all the time during winter as I worry about pipes freezing. I do have it set low though, round about spring I have it set to turn on/off at certain times. I have a condition where I really cannot cope with the cold but I do layer up and most of the time my heating is on low. I have solar panels, so I try to do washing, vacuuming etc on sunny days. It is a worry for people. Im quite willing to do without luxuries to have heating on. Some people have no luxuries and will still struggle. I blame greedy utility companies, they are forever posting huge profits. How about using some of those huge profits to help those who are struggling. It's disgusting these companies get away with it.

One of the advantages of it having been such a mild winter so far this year is that we have used less than half the gas/electricity that we used last year. When it's just the two of us, we don't heat part of the house that is not in use and we only have the heating on at night if it's very cold. I have a big breakfast kitchen, heated by an aga so it's always warm and we'll put extra heat on in other rooms if we feel we need it. I find most houses are far too hot but it seems to be what people are used to.

I’m curious about having the heating on all day. I like my bedroom and bathroom windows to be open for part of the day, even in cold weather. What would be the point of having the heating on and the windows open? And yet we are encouraged to ventilate our homes for freshness, and to avoid mould and condensation.

I don't have the heating on during the day at all, usually about 5 or 6 I switch on for 4 hours and because it's set at 21 the place soon warms up therefore the reason for not needing heat for each following day. Only the bedroom window is invariably left open for the cats coming and going to save opening doors and letting the cold in.

It's about 16 degrees inside now but by no means freezing. My hands are as warm as toast.
Then again I'm in a flat and not a house which makes a big difference.

I wish people would expand the saving of electricity and gas beyond heating.
Every time you use your washing m/c, your shower/ bath. Your cooker. These are all using power.

MerylStreep

I wish people would expand the saving of electricity and gas beyond heating.
Every time you use your washing m/c, your shower/ bath. Your cooker. These are all using power.

But these are all necessities. Or will we all just sit around in our unheated houses, stinking in our unwashed clothes and our unwashed bodies, slowly starving to death?

I keep my thermostat on 18 during the day. I wear extra jumpers in evening if chilly....when going out for a couple of hours I lower it to 17....
A friend has the heating on in the morning but it goes off in afternoons and back in the evening....I don't think that's a good idea as she is unable to get around much and I find I have to keep my coat on if I visit in afternoons.

We have an air source heat pump too oldnproud and it’s set to be on all the time. However we don’t use the water heating component but have an immersion heater instead which is better for us as we don’t use vast quantities of hot water.

Do you cook on a primus stove,*MerylStreep * ?

Blondiescot
My meaning was obviously lost on you.
I’m sure there are many on here who understand exactly what I mean.

MerylStreep

Blondiescot
My meaning was obviously lost on you.
I’m sure there are many on here who understand exactly what I mean.

Yes we are being advised to try to cut down to save money. Shower instead of a bath. One less washing load per week if possible, not leaving TVs etc on standby.
This is just common sense.

When I was renting, I remember the young couple next door, no children, hanging washing out every single day, I was surprised My Mum only ever did the washing one day a week.

Unfortunately it seemed they were also using unfriendly washing powder/conditioner, as the communal septic tank started to pong and the landowner knocked to say it would have to be emptied.

Blondiescot ? yes maybe we should all just do that and recycle ourselves while we’re about it eh?
It would be “good for the planet and cost nothing. ONLY JOKING, obviously.
Stuff that for a lark

MerylStreep

Blondiescot
My meaning was obviously lost on you.
I’m sure there are many on here who understand exactly what I mean.

I assure you it wasn't...

MerylStreep

Blondiescot
My meaning was obviously lost on you.
I’m sure there are many on here who understand exactly what I mean.

There are ways to cook without putting the oven and hob on every day.
We've got a steamer, I can do several veg in one go rather than put 3 different saucepans on the hob.
We've got a slow cooker too and I know there are other devices out there including the humble pressure cooker which will speed up cooking.

There is a world of difference between sitting around stinking in dirty unwashed clothes and bathing, hair washing every single day and changing every single item of clothing every day too unless you have a particularly strenuous, dirty job and live in a hot climate.

Perhaps we should all keep a primus stove handy just in case. And candles.