Has anyone dared to turn their heating on yet?

If I'm reading this correctly, only if you were born before 1946 to get the whole £700 unless you qualify re other benefits, tho there is rates relief. But I found it hard to decipher

inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/winter-fuel-payment-energy-bills-support-cost-of-living-grant-explained-1776109

I found it. Every household will get the £400 if they are connected to the grid. So that grant does not depend on age. We will get that plus £300 if we get state pension. Some will get extra on certain benefits and council house owners A-D will have had a council tax rebate of £150

The £400 will be dispensed by the energy companies suppliers

All in all, that is generous and will help a lot of people

whoops, not council house owners. I meant home owners

I'm NW but haven't yet felt cold enough for hearing.....the log burner is all set up ready to go though

My eldest daughter, now 45, was born the end of September and the heating went on when we returned home a week later. To this day I use that as a benchmark when the heating can go on.

Our heating runs on the thermostat and timer. We do not turn it on or off. The thermostat is set at 18.5 and the temperature hasn't dropped that low in the house yet. Nor have we felt cold enough to want it on.

As an aside to this. What do other GNeters think is a reasonable thermostat setting for main living room/s?

For me 20C.

Fleurpepper The answer to that question is as long as a piece of string. It depends on so many factors, how much the room is used, whether you have a thermostat in the living room and know its temperature, the amount of insulation you have, how drafty the room is.

We have a long thin house with bathrooms one end and kitchen etc the other so have 2 small boilers for efficiency and reduced pipe runs for both heating and hot water.

One thermostat is in the study, where we spend most of the day and the other in a rear hallway. Both are set at 18.5 and never changed. The living room falls between the two, so presumably has a similar temperature. In all but the coldest weather that is more than sufficient to keep the room cosy and warm without the use of throws or extra clothes when in there.

We don't have ours set by thermostat. It's purely manual, so we only have it on when we absolutely have to. I suspect our threshold for putting the heating on is a far lower temperature than most on here though. Half of you would freeze to death in our house!

We have thermostats on all the radiators.
The main thermostat in the hall is set at 17C but the sitting room will be at around 21C

I had forgotten we have radiator thermostats as well and they are all set below the mid-range. So they help to keep the living room around 18.5

I cannot see the point in setting thermostats in different rooms at different levels unless you keep the doors shut at all times. We do that with bedrooms wen not in use but downstairs where we are moving around the house all day and evening and may well be in different rooms doing different things there seems no point because warm air from one room will simply move into another room set at a lower temperature and bring them both up to the same temperature.

My thermostat control is set for 15 at the moment it is 17..?

It’s all so individual. We’ve not needed the heating yet even though I’m a cold soul. I’m chilly this evening so have a heated throw over jeans, a long sleeve top and a hoodie. Mr C isn’t at all cold and is sitting happily in a short sleeved shirt and light trousers. If I put the heating on now Mr C would be far too warm although he wouldn’t complain it seems foolish when I can keep warm with the throw.

I cannot see the point in setting thermostats in different rooms at different levels unless you keep the doors shut at all times.
We probably push the sitting roo door to in the evenings

Rarely have the heat on in the bedroom

No heating on yet here in the Midlands, but the temperature indoors is 19.5c this evening with the curtains drawn and the conservatory closed off so we're fine.

I have had my shower room heated towel rail on in the morning twice this week though ?

I'm a firm believer in wearing a vest, long socks, warm trousers, thermal tops, cardigan, you name it, before the heating goes on! I don't like breathing hot air and don't think it's particularly good for us.

My Dad (91) has been with us today, very under dressed as usual in thin trousers and just a shirt. He heats his flat to 22c or more. The trouble with this is that he's got no concept of the outside temperature and is always cold whenever he goes anywhere.
He was lent a jumper and given a fleece for his lap here. I think I'll buy him some vests!

I was feeling a bit cold this evening while watching TV in the lounge - rather a dark room with no direct sunlight due to an extension. Previously I would probably have knocked the heating on for an hour or two as the thermostat was showing 17 degrees ( currently set to come on at 15 degrees) but I put on an extra layer instead and was fine.

I thought about using my new heated poncho but I’ll save that for the really cold winter. In the sun it was quite warm this afternoon and I spent a couple of hours sat in a friends garden.

I do need to consider the damp though as I’ve had problems with mould on some walls previously so if it is raining or damp outside I will have to put it on.

I’m still using my 4.5 tog duvet which is plenty warm enough but my winter weight one ( only 10.5 as I do get hot at night) is on hand in my bedroom.

I have a dehumidifier and keep an eye on the dew point and humidity, if the structure gets too cold then dew will quietly form on windows and even on walls. Dehumidifiers are very good, removing moisture as well as adding some heat

I found this very useful leaflet about condensation

www.solihullcommunityhousing.org.uk/images/stories/fleximedia/condensation-leaflet.pdf

Still fairly warm here, I'm ironing with the windows open, it's nice and sunny.
We don't have central heating so no need to worry about thermostats etc. I have fleecy trousers and tops for really cold weather but haven't worn them for a year or two.

Southwest. I have reset my timer and thermostat to a much lower level and seem to be operating well with my monthly DD charge. jumpers and cardigans all on hand to stay in my budget (I hope).

Can someone tell me scientifically if it's a good idea to completely turn off radiators in spare bedrooms? Presumably the doors would have to be kept permanently closed and the rooms be unusable for the whole winter? Is it really worth it?

You might find the unheated rooms become damp, possibly mouldy. I wouldn’t do it. No scientific evidence, just what I found many years ago with one rarely used room when we had no central heating.

Thanks GSM

My staircase is in my lounge so as heat rises the warmest place is at the top of the stairs! I have the heating off in 2 bedrooms but I leave the doors open so they gain the heat wafting upstairs. My bedroom is also thermostatically controlled and it is set at 3 which appears to be fine for me.

If the T in winter is in a minus figure overnight I keep the heating on very low all night as that is cheaper than sorting out burst pipes etc.

I apply common sense.

GSM absolutely agree. I had to look after a relation who had who never put the heating on anywhere in his house, after his wife died.

When he went into a care home and I started emptying the house one of the wardrobes was one solid block of mildew, locking all the clothes in it into one mass. It was disgusting I had to wear coveralls, a mask and gloves to empty it into bin bags, dispose of everything and then scrub everything down.

There was mould in the corners of rooms and in cupboards. I had to put the heating on 24/7 for a week to begin to dry the house out, before reducing it to an hour morning and evening. Turn the radiator thermostat to the lowest setting and now and again open the doros for a day to let warm air from the rest of the house circulate round them.

Put those salt based humidifiers in each room. They will help.

During the height of COVID we could not visit our French home for about 18 months. As we turn the electricity off when we are not there it was left unheated. Our grass cutter cum house minder put half a dozen of these plastic humidifiers around the house and emptied the water and replenished the salts on each visit. they were remarkably effective - and inexpensive.

Here is a link tot the kind of thing I have in mind www.ebay.co.uk/itm/352576061639?epid=8011384995&hash=item52172bc0c7:g:EjYAAOSwtvZcSFPI&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4EkZganbE1rISt40Pl9oRvC3IbOX9L4jbFtcyrIIuy%2Ff6qZ2rfuUZla37flSKI5UOz9GOkm3moSV6HDWoGxKEEiN3I96V197gfElVvcILXznbEpwAPVOd%2FvGqIWswPI6xecgJrn9BV6S7qIP5L4Wt6kJigLqpFmqvyD3ZbiP95BVslhsdM9uxRLTItVh5VSoHcTyaup5Hey4P6a4zRg7xynBh6sfMi97lqJaIRQMl4ZKRwDOKQpdjILJ%2BMgA4WnR%2F0WHOf56T1nJUeWm9NCC3v5%2F3iPRjBuW%2BO8h%2BGKBF1Jn%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR66jxuDqYA

I don’t heat rooms I don’t use, but I’ve a planned cleaning routine (sad, I know!) so, when it’s cold, after I’ve ‘done’ a room, I put the heating on in it, then when the chosen rooms are all done, I go round and turn the radiators off again until next time. It gets the rooms warmed and I can check the radiators are all working properly. It’s a bit like car air-con - use it once a week, even if it’s not necessary.