[Closed] Have we had the annual "heating" thread yet?

Mines been on for a couple of weeks.

Shoot me.

Probably. Set to 18.5 all year. Don’t really monitor it

Still wearing shorts.

FFS who switches their central heating 'off'.

Just set the thermostat to whatever is comfortable and leave it there. It'll come on when it drops to that point.

And it was 1c the other morning here - so I'm guessing you're well 'south'?

We were away last week so heating was left to be on frost protection - as a result the house stayed around 12'C for the whole week!

So yes! Heating thermostat is set to have the house at 17'C for getting up in the morning and to be 20'C in the evening.

We're in an 1800's cottage in Cumbria where our front room doesnt see daylight all day, the heating is on! But only set to 17 degrees from 7pm - 10pm as that's all I'm prepared to spend on effectively allowing it to leak out of the place like a sieve!

Raspberry pi heating controller with some shonky Python scripts I threw together last year.

I'd forgotten all about it, but it started switching on all by itself just as it got cold a few weeks ago.

I should really set it up with some more external sensors and some better modelling.

Ground source/underfloor heating here. Turned it to autumn/winter mode. Toasty floors are back.

@oldnpastit - I have some sensors and a board sat in a drawer to do similar. First in my shed to turn smart plugs on to warm up outside office (and if I'm feeling keen maybe play with triggers around warming up workshop side when I stop recording a ride).

Did consider doing similar to groundsource pump etc which is 10+ years old and very analogue. Not a lot of control over flow rates etc (basically 90% of systems doesn't work on a thermostat). But since we'll be moving in a couple of years, that remains a 'pub project'

FFS who switches their central heating ‘off’.

I thought everyone who used gas or oil did. Anyone born after 1960 anyway. A slightly chilly August morning doesn’t need stuff burning… the sun will soon warm the house again.

21.5ºC, in London. Heating hasn't come on all that much yet, mornings and evenings mainly. Our flat is fairly well insulated despite being old, and a lack of underfloor insulation means we get our neighbour's heat as well! Saves on bills. 😀

We’re in an 1800’s cottage in Cumbria where our front room doesnt see daylight all day

Likewise, 1800s cottage in the Peak, on the top of a hill, ours (the ****ing Rayburn) is back on, has been for a week or so. Hour in the morning, half five to half nine at night. New boiler comes in a few weeks 🙂

Central heating has been turned up to 22 to test it when the fella came round to service it. That does the old bit of the house & one room downstair.
Other than that it's dropped below the set temps (19 warming, 13 set back) a couple of times.

Rest of downstairs is on electric underfloor, which I'm avoiding turning on until we need it - it's still getting pretty warm out the back in the sunshine we've been having and not really going that cold in the evening so not worth it.

October the 31st is switch on date.. regardless of weather.

Never turn it off. thermostat does it job. Rarely drops below 20 in my flat anyway since putting all the insulation in

I have been putting my gas fake log burner on a bit recently. Bite me!

FFS who switches their central heating ‘off’.

Yep, mine is set at 21.5 and never touch it.

Old storage heaters here (down stairs) in a rented house in the far north of north of north that we have virtually no control over. Up stairs is old electric panel heaters which we try not to use unless really necessary. Ex-council house.

I have some sympathy with Insulate Britain, as it costs us (and the environment a fortune) and we're still cold when it's really wind and cold.

Just set the thermostat to whatever is comfortable and leave it there

This. The only downside is that if it does kick in I have to explain again to my better half how a thermostat works.....

We use the Heating on a gazillion degrees and then open the windows to get fresh air strategy - NOT MY STRATEGY

And it was 1c the other morning here – so I’m guessing you’re well ‘south’?

2C here the other morning, and I bet I'm a lot further south than you 🙂

And the heating did come on, glad it did as I'm WFH.

I thought everyone who used gas or oil did.

Surely you mean anyone who hasn't bothered to fit a thermostat and is still on timers.....

I mean what's the point in turning it to off.....if it's summer it's warm and the thermostat keeps it off.

If it's winter and it's cold at the prescribed time then thermostat turns it on ....

Fuel doesn't really come into it.

Mines set to 20 at weekend mornings and 18 for arriving home.

It's only been on 3 or 4 days so far -and I'm at 57n

It's been unseasonable warm even today. We had a cold spell where the winds changed tail end of last week where we had a half hour of sleet but nothing to write home about.....yet 2 years ago according to my Google photos we had snow on the ground at this time.

Not yet. Was toying with turning it on just to make sure it still works. Only just closed the windows from their slightly ajar position that they stay in all summer. Can't stand a hot house, luckily the wife feels the same.

Don't have a thermostat, so yes mine is either off or on. I sit cold on my own all day WFH, and then put on late afternoon to avoid the every day comment 'This house is freezing' from my wifes return from work 🙂

Our heating broke in the summer. The plumber came and diagnosed it, claimed to have ordered a part and then went quiet. I didn't pursue it cos it was summer, but last week I fixed it myself. Since we'd managed reasonably well without it, I knocked half a degree off the temps to save some gas.

I'm going to take a look at smart TRVs so I can only heat what I want to heat, make it a bit warmer for WFH but not by heating the entire house.

I’m going to take a look at smart TRVs so I can only heat what I want to heat, make it a bit warmer for WFH but not by heating the entire house.

I have a small oil filled electric radiator next to my desk<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">. uses bugger all power and its quite effective. </span>

Firmly in the “Put a bloody jumper on!” camp here, although the heating is now on. I’m going to have to glue the thermostat dial in place because someone keeps winding it up to max…

I've never got the "Heating must not come on until x date" mentality.  Turning the heating on when it's cold isn't a character flaw

FFS who switches their central heating ‘off’.

Hi. 1812 house calling here. The big coal unit with the radiators was allowed to go out in March or April - haven't relit the thing yet, probably hold off until late November. Stove in the lounge has been going for a few weeks though.

The only downside is that if it does kick in I have to explain again to my better half how a thermostat works…..

Story of my life. She still thinks that the house will heat up faster if you turn the thermostat up to max. Meanwhile we have 16 year old daughter who is a fresh air fiend but also likes to have a toasty hot bedroom. Therefore her radiator on max with window wide open.

@surfer

https://images.app.goo.gl/YFpuo3EJFZzeoJWD7

Me after having to explain thermostatic valve operation to Mrs F, again.....

I’m going to take a look at smart TRVs so I can only heat what I want to heat, make it a bit warmer for WFH but not by heating the entire house.

Still need to find the best solution for this.

Appallingly leaky big house in the highlands at 200m above sea level that's on LPG. Like all your worst heating issues in one. In the last 12 months we spent £3K on LPG and £600 on logs and still have no thermostat ever set above 17 Deg C (and most turned off completely in rooms we can live without either entirely or for a few hours a day).

Medium term a serious overhaul of the walls/windows (when warrants are sorted and building materials are an actual thing) will hopefully sort out the insulation and reduce the problem. And the mother of all stoves warms us up in the evenings. A tado smart systems has made a big difference to our costs and comfort but my wife WFH in cold office is a thorny problem. I am yet to work out if the central heating on but only one room active (above frost protection) but with water obviously still going around the whole circuit makes sense above some oil filled rads in one room. I suspect it doesn't.

with water obviously still going around the whole circuit makes sense above some oil filled rads in one room. I suspect it doesn’t

Kind of depends how well your pipes are insulated I guess.

Personally I just use a small electric heater in my work room, placed under the desk so feet and warm and heat wafts up.
On top of the usual hat and thick jumper. Winter doesn't start for another month all the way down here.

I have a small oil filled electric radiator next to my desk

That's the other option but it's quite cluttered in here already. I'm considering an IR panel, possibly on the ceiling.

Honeywell evohome with individual temp regulation for each room, 1880s house. Had it completely off for months (set to 5degC all-round), reinstated it last week and only on in rooms when it's needed. But when WFH I'm using a small oil-filled radiator under my desk rather than heat a massive room via GCH.

In office today though and it's a balmy 24.5degC in here - some muppet's adjusted the heating to compensate for the windows being open for COVID ventilation improvements, not realising it's an equally balmy (for central Scotland in late-Oct) 16degC outside.

Mine stays on all the time.

As it knows...
- Temp in each room (and can heat each individually)
- External temp and weather forecast
- Whether individual members of the household are at home or not (and likely ETA if they are travelling home)

...it's quite frankly better qualified than me to decided if/when/how to turn 'on'!

I try to keep the heating off as much as I can but working at home makes it a bit tricky. We have a big 3 storey semi for 2 of us and the heating comes on in the morning for a warm bathroom and bedroom then in the evening for the lounge and dining areas.
I’ve put it on to warm the spare room where I work but it’s annoying that the whole house is being heated which isn’t needed so I’ve been considering the Hive radiator valves to turn various rooms rads off when not needed eg don’t need lounge and dining in the morning really and certainly most rooms through the day when we are working in 2 offices but then have all the bedrooms off in the evening apart from ours which can come on for 30mins before we go to bed.
I reckon I’ll save loads on gas this way - it’s a chore to turn the rads down every day and I don’t remember to do that often.

If we weren’t working at home it would be easier!!

We have the one hive thermostat which is in the hallway and that room is weird. Sometimes it can be quite warm so the heating won’t kick in when needed and sometimes its the opposite!

Mine stays on all the time.

As it knows…
– Temp in each room (and can heat each individually)

What system is that?

What system is that?

Tado

Heating has been kicking in at 5am for an hour when we get up for work, but Hive rad valves only heating certain rooms. On again in the evening if the thermostat warrants it, 20deg is the kick on point for both.

I've got new door and window seals to fit as our house does leak heat, wall insulation is about optimum for the style of house but the loft could do with a bit more as well i expect.

all of this is supported by a log burner which is lit when we're going to be in for any length of time, which usually means friday saturday and sunday.

Have put it on a few times in the morning just to take the edge off. Once it's needed, on it goes! Don't understand the whole thermostat dad relationship thingy.

“ Heating has been kicking in at 5am for an hour when we get up for work, but Hive rad valves only heating certain rooms. ”

How have you found the Hive valves? Good purchase?

16 year old daughter who is a fresh air fiend but also likes to have a toasty hot bedroom. Therefore her radiator on max with window wide open.

If you kill her it’s a free pass! Not a jury in the land would convict. 🤣

Our house was built in 2012 and pretty well insulated. The wife has gone into the office today which means that she's not opened every bloody window in the house.

As a result the heating has stayed off all day and the internal temp is 22C.

It is unseasonably warm though, 16C in late October in Glasgow is pretty warm. One of the apple trees in the garden is trying to blossom again

What advantage do Hive TRVs have over normal TRVs, other than ability to set them remotely?

Hive TRVs will act as controllers and call for heat in the room via the Hive thermostat to heat just that room. It should cut heating bills as you can heat the home office to 20C during office hours and run 16C as background at other times.

Nope, though I’ve come close.
I refuse to heat an entire house for just me in the spare room most of the day.

Maybe im being dim, but if you just use a thermostat to set temp, surely on cold nights heating is on all night? So u need a timer & thermostat?

It should cut heating bills as you can heat the home office to 20C during office hours and run 16C as background at other times.

Ah, so it's about being able to set heating times and temperatures at a room level. Gotcha.

You could, off course, just turn the normal TRV up in the office when you're in there, and down when you leave 😉

Maybe im being dim, but if you just use a thermostat to set temp, surely on cold nights heating is on all night? So u need a timer & thermostat?

Instead of setting on/off periods using a timer you set temperature periods using the timer. We have ours set to 18 °C during the day, 20 °C for the evening and 16 °C overnight. Heating system is on 24 hrs a day but only fires the boiler if the internal temperature drops below the set point.

Maybe im being dim, but if you just use a thermostat to set temp, surely on cold nights heating is on all night? So u need a timer & thermostat?

I think (hope) most have moved on from just a timer or just a thermostat some time ago even with dumb systems.

But as Sandwich says the advantage of smart TVRs is that they (or rather the system they talk to) have the ability to request the boiler comes on so each TRV (kind of) acts as master thermostat. Without it a 'dumb' system will have water pumping around your house if the timer says it's time and the master thermostat is not warm enough even if all the other PVR rads are off. Tada knows to avoid the home office at the weekends, brings the bedroom up in the morning on a weekday an hour or so before the office then turns it off until a quick tickle at 10pm to warm it back up just warm enough to make it bearable. The main living/kitchen area warms up for half an hour or so around lunchtime for when Mrs C comes out of her home office for a quick break. And so on.

edit

We have ours set to 18 °C during the day, 20 °C for the evening and 16 °C overnight.

Dreamy numbers. My wife would happily divorce me to have a bit of that if an opening is available at yours

Maybe im being dim, but if you just use a thermostat to set temp, surely on cold nights heating is on all night? So u need a timer & thermostat?

Digital thermostat, you set it to (say) 16C 00:00-06:00, 21C 06:00-08:00, back to 16C until 17:00, then 21C until 21:00. And back to 16C again.

Gotcha

We’re about to go full smart heating due to a forced new boiler. Herself is losing her inner child playing with matches so we’ll find out if it works soon.

16 year old daughter who is a fresh air fiend smoker? but also likes to have a toasty hot bedroom. Therefore her radiator on max with window wide open

Wife has the hive app and turns it on if it seems cold enough before she leaves work, I'm home working in shorts still with no heating on.

I suspect we should sort out the on/off issue with just setting the levels accurately, but I have a temperature I want it to come on at and she has her own higher temperature. So if we were to not switch it 'off' I'd be kept at her comfortable temperature all day which doesn't make sense to me.

Also solidly built house that keeps heat in so a little goes a long way!

not had to turn mine on yet either, had it switch to hot water only all summer so far, in glasgow, thermostat today is sitting at 20.8 at the minute, don't think I've seen it below 19.7. Imagine it's not far off, usually mid october is about right, but does seem pretty mild this year.

Normally run it about 20-21C all day.

FFS who switches their central heating ‘off’.

Just set the thermostat to whatever is comfortable and leave it there. It’ll come on when it drops to that point.

I do. It can occasionally be cool enough in the summer to trigger the heating first thing, but then the house ends up too warm as the day gets warmer. I usually put it back on late September so it will come on as needed, which has been infrequently so far this year.

Same here. We have huge windows which can make the rooms quite warm when the sun is in the right direction. However where the thermostat is might be cool enough to turn the heating on. Hence me wanting to fit smart valves to get a bit more control over the whole system

Don’t have a thermostat, so yes mine is either off or on. I sit cold on my own all day WFH, and then put on late afternoon to avoid the every day comment ‘This house is freezing’ from my wifes

same! Except I'm in a small house in Bristol. So although we haven't had the heating on at all today, it's currently 19.7C in the spare room (aka 'my office')

Hence me wanting to fit smart valves to get a bit more control over the whole system

Yeah, I need to do that now I'm WFH. Each room has a different pattern of usage.

Stove had been lit about a third of the days in October. It has been mild though generally, leaves are hardly turning on most trees and I've got daffs appearing in the lawn. This weather seems worrying too me.

Do you think you could all lay off the 20 to 21C settings talk? Mrs Sandwich is just about tolerating 19C and to see these larger numbers may cause domestic harmony to be disturbed.

Once the new install is in we'll turn her office heat up to sub-tropical if necessary.

During last year's lockdown I installed smart TRVs (needs a hub) on most of the radiators and I can control each room separately. The one issue I have with them is they are a little noisy when opening and closing the value.

They can be controlled via Google Home and I assume Alexa... If you are interested this is where I bought them but the prices look link they have gone through the roof in the last year!

My heating went on last week (storage heaters...) as the flat was struggling to stay dry while I dried clothes overnight. On it's lowest setting though and only the heater in the main living area so not cranked it up yet!

I do. It can occasionally be cool enough in the summer to trigger the heating first thing, but then the house ends up too warm as the day gets warmer. I usually put it back on late September so it will come on as needed, which has been infrequently so far this year.

Do you live in a tent.

For all that that don't get the urge to resist turning on the heating, there are, I think, 2 reasons beyond the bragging rights obtained by reaching Feb before caving. 1stly I find it takes me a week or 3 too acclimatise to the warmth in the spring andc the cold in the winter. Take today, 19-20C inside the house but I felt chilly. If don't resist the urge to flip the heating on for a bit I'll end up as one of these 21-23C setting people but by acclimation I am fine through the winter at 18-19. 2ndly some people do have to watch every penny and stunning can't afford to run the heating for 8+ months, it's got to wait until it's cooler. I'm very grateful their not me

We've just installed the 'clumsy-builder-with-stihl-saw-thermostat-isolation' 24hr delay function, which I as upgrade from the 'clumsy-builder-with-minidigger' oil pipe limit valve we had earlier in the month

b230ftw

Free Member

“ Heating has been kicking in at 5am for an hour when we get up for work, but Hive rad valves only heating certain rooms. ”

How have you found the Hive valves? Good purchase?

Sorry,  only just got back from work!

I wouldn't pay rrp for them, got them in a really good black Friday deal a couple of years ago. They can be a bit flakey when the battery's start going and regularly needing calibration. With new batteries in they are reasonably reliable but the thermostat side still isn't all that good imo.

I tend to use them as valves though, rather than thermostats. Main hive controler is downstairs with normal trvs on downstairs rads, this is also timed. On in the morning before work, then a lower temp during the day then back up to 20deg for evening when we get in. The hive rad valves are all upstairs. On in the morning (30deg) then off all day until 10pm, back up to 30deg to heat upstairs ready for bed but they don't call for heat, so even if they are open the rads only come on if the timer/stat downstairs is on.

Poverty zoned system really, not all that smart!

Sandwich
Full Member
Do you think you could all lay off the 20 to 21C settings talk? Mrs Sandwich is just about tolerating 19C and to see these larger numbers may cause domestic harmony to be disturbed.

Once the new install is in we’ll turn her office heat up to sub-tropical if necessary.

your house should be 20-21C, you must just like jumpers.

The builders went through the gas pipe, again, today. So no, I haven’t got the heating on…

Do you live in a tent.

I don't have central heating in my tent.

It can occasionally be cool enough in the summer to trigger the heating first thing, but then the house ends up too warm as the day gets warmer.

That’s pretty much the point I was making. Burning oil or gas on summer mornings, only for the sun to warm the house anyway a few hours later, really isn’t the way to go. Even if your household can afford to waste money, you should have a think about whether it is wise to be using non-renewables in this way for other reasons.

Annual? Bloody daily

the office I work in is always too hot or too cold. We have air con guys pretty much every week. Lor knows what they are doing. Yesterday I was freezing. Today it's too hot.

Had the aircon on warm last night as it's unusually cold here in WA but we're looking at 25c at the weekend. (When I say cold, it was around 16 last night which doesnt sound cold, but it is for WA)

Bring on 40c+ for three months! Christmas on the beach 🙂

you must just like jumpers the planet.

Fixed.

Don’t have a thermostat, so yes mine is either off or on. I sit cold on my own all day WFH, and then put on late afternoon to avoid the every day comment ‘This house is freezing’ from my wifes

old skool here - timer and thermostat with a gas fake logburner the fake log burner has been on for a few hours the last couple of weeks, thermostat has hardly allowed the heating on at all. if I put the stove on it soon turns the thermostat off anyway

I must do some checks see which burns more gas

your house should be 20-21C, you must just like jumpers.

21.5 for me. Feels exactly right, whereas just a degree lower feels noticeable colder.
Not worth sitting in my own house being cold for the sake of what £20 a month (less than some people spend on Coffee every 3 or 4 days!)

It’s still mid teens in Pembrokeshire. Heating is off and won’t come on until everyone is wearing trousers, slippers and atleast one jumper. That’s usually not until mid December.
I don’t think our house ever gets above 20, even with the heating on! End terrace from late 1800s. Without some major insulation it just can’t hold the heat in the walls. A thermostat would mean the heating was on permanently. We have the windows open most days anyway.
Oh, and the heating is never on in the mornings; it makes the kids move faster if it’s cold! 😃

21.5 for me. Feels exactly right, whereas just a degree lower feels noticeable colder.
Not worth sitting in my own house being cold for the sake of what £20 a month (less than some people spend on Coffee every 3 or 4 days!)

That would feel insufferably warm as an inside temp for me these days and would not activity do that to myself. I'd become super lethargic.

As said above acclimatisation is a thing. Visiting friends from down south come visit us here and comment on it being cold (indoor or outdoor) when it feels fine to me. Similarly when working in the med years ago I'd be walking around like it was a normal summers day in 38 Deg C heat and the guest who had arrived in the proceeding days would be blown away. Human bodies are remarkably adaptable.

A slight aside - a temp monitor/humidity/co2 monitor in our holiday cottage which is very air tight and efficient is reporting really high CO2 levels in the living area when its full to capacity and the guests all sit in all evening. Upwards of 3000 ppm. It rapidly drops when they go to bed and stop all breathing in the same space! I might investigate one of these heat recovering ventilation systems. You could open a window for fresh air but then you are heating up the planet rather than just a room. The downside of a very efficient building I guess.

Even if your household can afford to waste money, you should have a think about whether it is wise to be using non-renewables in this way for other reasons.

Alternatively your house is insulated or it's not. My thermostat (salus rt520 - upgraded from the rt500 the electrician broke) won't let the heating on in summer as even in the fairly far north of the actual north it doesn't get cold enough in our house....1950s build -mediocre insulation. Heck it's only been on a few times this year so far in the AM

We are on oil. If it was using oil unnessecarily be assured it would be off.

After years of "discussions" and thermostat wars (I turn it off, SWMBO turns it on) and one last "discussion" around why one layer of clothing even if it's a thermal top isn't necessarily "warm" and why suggesting that someone "put a jumper on" isn't a crime against humanity, I've caved, I can't do it any more. Told SWMBO to "just stick it on whatever temperature, I don't care enough to have the discussion anymore".

Result : 23.5 degrees and the windows open upstairs because it's "stuffy"

23.5 degrees, that would be unbearable for me. House only gets that hot during a sustained summer heatwave and it is horrible.