Heating & Air Conditioning Design Dilemma

When do you turn your heating on?

4 years ago

As winter looms my house gets colder by the day! We arent on mains gas and live in a large 1950s bungalow and it costs a fortune to heat! My hubbie wants the heating on... and i prefer to layer up to save the pennies! When does everyone else turn their heating on??

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E D

4 years ago

When it’s cold.

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Comments (33)

Heather Hill
Original Author
4 years ago
What i should have mentioned is i live in Scotland and the temp in my house is currently around 14 to 15C!
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Heather Hill
Original Author
4 years ago
I would love to do that! Can i ask... are you on mains gas?
E D
4 years ago
Lol.

But seriously, yes we’re on mains gas.

I‘ve read somewhere it’s unhealthy to have your home colder than 18 degrees.

Don’t let your husband read this...

:-)
Sonia
4 years ago
I’m always hot, so we tend to put the central heating only when there is frost or ice outside. My OH feels the same. However, we do have an electric faux wood burner which we put on if it’s a bit chilly but not freezing outside. Or just put a jumper and warm socks on. We have mainline gas. Our energy bills are quite low compared to our namby pamby friends who even put it on during the summer! I grew up in a home with no central heating and ice on the inside of the windows, so pretty tough lol!
Anthony (Beano)
4 years ago
Ours come on for 1.5 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening, temp is set at about 21 degrees, it takes the cold out of the house and we have never had any damp anywhere, in the winter we will probably have the evening on for about 4 hours, we live mostly in the sunroom with a wood burner that burns from 5pm to bedtime, it heats the sunroom and into the kitchen/dining room, I buy the logs in bulk so its easy to run constantly in the evening.

tbh it’s the best thing in our home, great heat source.
Ellie
4 years ago
I am in Scotland too. Old cold bungalow too. We are out all day at work/school. It is 15 degrees normally in here. I switched heating on tonight 6.30pm
Jonathan
4 years ago
You must put the heating on before you get condensation on your windows. Otherwise it’s just personal taste.
I like the house to be 20 degrees
Daisy England
4 years ago
We switched ours on a couple of weeks ago. An hour in the morning to wake up to at around 21 and then it’s cranked up around 5pm until it switches off at 10. Inbetween then it’s 18 at the moment as I work from home but when it gets colder I’ll be turning it up.

I have no intention of shivering and feeling ill through being tight in the purse department.
Patrina
4 years ago
I never really put the heating off, it is turned very low during warmer months and set at 18, during fall and a bit higher during the coldest months. It comes on at 05:45 because I like warm towels and 16:30 because I love the welcoming of a nice warm home when I arrive home in the evening.
obobble
4 years ago
We have no mains gas either so we’re on oil. Downstairs is mostly wet UFH so it’s never off as such but the thermostat is set at 5C in the summer months. It takes a while for the floor slab to heat up, so we turn it back up to 20C for am and pm and 18 C for daytime and sleep time early in Sept and the thermostat kicks it in and out as the weather dictates. We only put the upstairs rads on for morning and evening a couple of weeks ago, but use the electric option on our dual fuel towel rails in the bathrooms for short am and pm periods throughout the year. We have a log burner in a lounge without UFH and that is a great backup/ supplementary source especially if you have access to free or cheap wood.
Sonia
4 years ago
I think the aspect of a room dictates how warm it feels. I’m in a small mid terrace, so only two outside walls. The back of the house is warmer than the front as it is south-west facing. I would imagine a detached house feels colder? I’m not really sure, but yesterday the kitchen was 21 degrees without heating on a sunny day. Outside was around 14 degrees. This morning is chilly so I’ve got the electric fire on.
Ribena Drinker
4 years ago
We're not on mains gas either, we have just heating oil or electric for heating. And as my OH is a self confessed tight purse, so we usually put the heating on around about the time the clocks go back, but only if it's necessary! It's a running joke in our house that if he could, he would go all the way through the winter without the heating if it doesn't snow, but he knows his life wouldn't be worth living!

We do have a 'Rug Buddy' which is like an electric blanket under the rug in our usual sitting/tv room, which is remarkably effective for keeping the chill off the room and it can build up quite a warmth in the room over the course of the evening. The only drawback is that in order to move around, you have to navigate a patchwork of 5 cats, all sprawled in warmed, snoozing bliss. :-/
rachelmidlands
4 years ago
Like Sonia I grew up in a house with no heating. Just had two coal fires, one had a back boiler for the hot water, no double glazing and yes I remember the frost inside the windows:) thankfully they installed mains gas when I was about 8-9 but my parents decided not to install radiators and to this day they still have no heating! Brrrr....I always wear an extra layer whenever I visit. Our own home is mains gas on thermostat set to 19-20 which kicked in a couple of weeks ago, just have to remember to keep utility room door shut or else we get an icy blast. But I still think that having heating is a luxury and I’m still in the habit of wearing a house coat:-).
Ribena Drinker
4 years ago
rachelmidlands I hear ya! I too grew up in a house with no central heating or double glazing.

Getting in or out of the bath or shower in the winter was approached at full speed You didn't hang around and you absolutely didn't do any pre or post bathe faffing and preening. You just rushed to beside the electric heater in the bedroom.

They never did get central heating and the house only got CH and DG when we we're selling the house after my mother's death.

After growing up without it, when I moved out I vowed I would never live in a draughty, cold house with poor/no central heating. And I didn't.........until we moved to this bloomin' house 16 years ago. It took a load of work, money and about 10 years before we made this house something approaching warm.
rachelmidlands
4 years ago
Ribena Drinker, ooh don’t remind me about bath time... had to have coal fire lit all day to get one bath full of hot water and then we had to share it:-0....in...out...then stand in front of fire and hope we didn’t get chilblains. Thankfully we did have a little electric heater and best of all, an electric blanket!
Ribena Drinker
4 years ago
But it made us as tough and as hard as nails though, didn't it? LOL
PRO
OnePlan
4 years ago
Mine came on this morning - bliss !!!
PRO
OWLarchitecture.com
4 years ago
It is best if you can have multiple changing temperatures for different times of day and different days. To do this a modern internet thermostat is the best option - you can also programme this to automatically not heat the house above the base temperature when you are away on holiday....

I use a "nest" thermostat and have turned off most of the self learning functions and have merely set temps and times that vary according to my predicted needs. The heating is always ready to come on if the house gets cold enough summer and winter alike - thus these is no question of "When do I turn the boiler on? it is always waiting to be on if needed. Once set up you dont really need to think about it again - but if you prefer you can teak it from you smart phone as much as you like as you home life patterns change. NB. in the evening I have temps that vary from 18C to 20C and turn down to 5C one hour before bedtime...PS. Mornings start at 7am and evening at 4pm....
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i-architect
4 years ago
If your house is really cold and you're struggling to heat it, or you are heating it but it still feels uncomfortable anyway, then you can fix this! You need to find ways to add more insulation and to stop draughts.

There are small simple things you can DIY and then you can go bigger scale and hire a specialist to help you retrofit more energy efficiency measures. The most full on version of upgrading your home is to meet the Passivhaus Enerphit standard.

I did a FB live talking about retrofit for your home just last Friday, and I do regular videos talking about eco design and things you can do to improve your home, which can really help with this. Here is the link for last Fridays video (apologies in advance for the video quality - my camera decided I looked better in a very soft focus that day!)

https://www.facebook.com/iarchitectUK/videos/636358780103997/
PRO
Best Heating
4 years ago
i-architect has got a point, you could go a long way to saving on heating costs by insulating your home better.

In the meantime, if you fancy a little bit of a giggle (which will keep you warm!) take a look at this article we did about why we argue over the heating!

https://www.bestheating.com/info/thermo-spat-why-do-we-argue-over-the-heating/
Sonia
4 years ago
Mine’s on! Bloomin’ freezing today :-))
Ribena Drinker
4 years ago
Nope, we're still hanging on.............. To be fair though, it hasn't been unbearable, I just wear 3 layers. :-D
Sonia
4 years ago
I had to turn it off! After doing some housework and changing the bed I was boiling. Might put it back on this evening......:-D
Marina
4 years ago
I live on the Costa del Sol where most houses don´t have central heating. It does get chilly though and it is often colder inside than it is outside. We have a log burner in the lounge and a supplementary gas heater for when we just need heat for a short time. Haven´t needed to use any heating yet but expecting to in the next couple of weeks, just in the evenings. I have an electric radiator in the bathroom which is on a timer and will be switched on as soon as the loo seat gets cold.
rinked
4 years ago
Dutch 1950s house here. First thing we did was insulate insulate insulate. The exterior walls are made of 13cms thick concrete, so we used high end bubble foil and plasterboard (plus loads of slats and screws) to insulate all the walls and double layer of rockwool on the attic floor (attic remained as it was built, because the wooden structure was meant to breathe). Then took out the pine floors and insulated some more before placing the pine back. All of this diy, which I bet we've already earned back twice in the past 8 years, saving on heating bills!

We also spent a small fortune on hr+ pvc windows, but the comfort (and silence) is amazing! All well worth the money.

We keep our heating on 16/17C, because moist (and mold) was a major problem in here before we moved in. And when we get home/up and turn it to 19/20C, it only takes about half an our to get there. The bedroom radiators are mostly on the frost-free position.

Our central heater (gas) is a model from 1994 but serves us well. So does our wood burner, which we ocassionally use in winters. Our home's footprint is 6.5x6.5m, so it takes about 5 small logs to heat our livingroom to 24 degrees, the benefits of a small home!
rinked
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
I remember sleeping with wool socks on as a kid and as a student I sprayed water on the window frames (on the inside!) so they would freeze shut in winters. So insulation was on top of my wishlist when buying a home.
Ribena Drinker
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
We live on the eastern edge of the Cotswolds and our house is old and made of original honey coloured Cotswold stone.

Consequently, in some places the walls are literally 2ft - 2.5ft thick, so I always smile when folks talk about any type of wall insulation or filling a cavity wall with something. It's just not something we can do, but I have to say that it's cool inside in the summer and in the winter, once you get a good amount of heat generated, the walls do retain it well.

We had new double glazed timber windows installed about 5 years ago and it made such a difference.
PRO
i-architect
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Yes Ribena Drinker, those beautiful traditional built stone solid wall cottages are not so easy to insulate! There are things you can still do though. Obviously you need to balance protecting the heritage of the building and the original beauty with the effectiveness of any alterations.

The main thing you can do is insulate the roof and replace windows (as you've done) and doors with that kind of building. Depending on the ground floor construction there is quite a lot you can do with that too.

Other than those parts of the external envelope that are possible to deal with, just keeping on top of filling cracks and gaps in and around plasterboard, around windows and skirting, etc... can make an incredible difference. Just a small crack in your plaster can make the air flow through it can really have a big impact on warmth and comfort. A tube of filler can be a great investment and really effective in that kind of house!

There are more specialist things you can do with older buildings - and even insulation can be possible for solid walls - but this will be more complex and costly than for other types of buildings.
Heather Hill
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks all for participating in my question! Sorry been away on holiday so wasnt too worried about how warm my house was tbh!! But it is so nice to know there are a few of my types out there that dont mind a bit of cold to save some pennies. But now im back... the temperature has dropped outside and we had condensation on our windows this morning so unfortunately it seems its time to turn the heating on! We do have a stove but it only heats the living area unfortunately! So pls help me... at what point dpes my house need to be warm to stop condensation. Is it when we go to bed or early in the morning or... does it have to stay at around 17 to 18 all thru the night??? It was a lovely refreshing 11C when we woke this morning!!!
rinked
4 years ago
I was told an hour daily is enough ventilation, two windows or doors to create air flow, preferably when the heat is on, because the warmth 'pushes' the moist out.

But we always have a window on a small gap. And a ventilation pipe in the ceiling next to our woodburner. The heat loss is ok, since natural ventilation keeps some moist out too (laundry rack is indoors most of the time). Then again, our pine floors love 50% air humidity..
PRO
Feature Radiators
4 years ago
1st October is officially Central Heating Day in the industry! Most people normally have them on by mid Oct, but so weather dependent.
Ribena Drinker
4 years ago
We have put our heating on twice now, both times after 2 or 3 hours it was too warm, so I think it may still be a bit too early.........

When do you turn your heating on?

E D

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