I've been meaning to blog about this for a few days now, but the warm weather outside has distracted me somewhat. It's hard to stay inside thinking about thermostat temperatures when you can be outside in the garden in the sunshine digging the veg plot over.
I'm a bit of an obsessive as to what temperature our central heating is set to ever since we upgraded the heating in our (normally cold) 1928 semi to a system that has such a posh user control unit that it even has a "party mode" (I"m not sure what it does, but it has a picture of a martini glass next to the button which just looks cool!) When Little Miss C was born we were also in the middle of a heat wave and with all the guidelines for normal room temperatures for babies I became fanatical about thermometers too and we now have about four dotted around the house. This last winter's snow and accompanying freezing temperatures again fuelled my obsession.
This BBC News article suggests that the average indoor temperature of British homes is 17.5 degrees, yet the Guardian here shockingly tell me that one in five of us set our thermostats at 27 degrees. Yes you read that right – 27 degrees! Mr C just asked if that was because their thermostats were broken. That's quite a discrepancy between the two. It also makes me wonder just how many people are putting up with very cold rooms to reach that average across the country. But then 17.5 degrees also seems a bit, well, cool to me if I'm honest.
We are relatively energy conscious here and before LMC came along we were always much more inclined to put extra jumpers on rather than turning on the heating. With a little one in the house though it has been a bit harder, especially since she can't tell us if she's cold yet. Even still, the temperature in her room has been known to drop as low as 14 degrees at night, and sometimes she does wake up feeling rather cold in the middle of the night, but she is wrapped up well in a nice thermal sleep-suit and thick sleeping bag. Her room is cold with a couple of external walls and the house is in a windy spot, but I figure that over the years babies must have lived in this house before, and possibly before there was full central heating installed.
As for what our thermostat is set at – that varies depending on time of day. It can be anywhere between 16 and 20 degrees, and we do occasionally turn it up or down depending on what we're up to. If we're away, whether it be overnight or just for a whole day, we try to remember to turn it down again. Admittedly it never gets turned off, but instead we try to ensure it doesn't get too cold, but depending on this time of year it may mean that the heating never actually kicks in.
So, being nosey, how warm is your house? Are you one of the one in five 27 degree people, or are you much more am average 17.5 sort?
My place is set to 20C 7:30-9:00 and 17:30-23:30. The rest of the time I think it’s set to 14C. I don’t have a baby in the house though.
In winter I might be better off setting the temperature lower (18/19C) and using the gas fire in the lounge when I’m in there. Keep just the places where I’m sat around warmer. It’s a plan.
Our thermostat in the hall is set at 20.5. Sometimes turn it up…sometimes turn it down!
We have an aincent syatem with no thermostat. This is not a good situation but a new boiler is shed loads of money.
When I have control I’m a 19ish kinda person, though I prefer a cooler bedroom.
Interesting question! Our heating is on for an hour and a half in the morning, and then from 5pm to 9.30pm in the evenings. If we’re at home during the day, we usually switch it on then too. The thermostat is set somewhere between 18 and 21, depending on how cold we feel. We have plenty of thermals and blankets, which we get good use out of!