What temperature do you keep your house?

kinger101

293.16 ± 0.30 °k

Silvertabby

Yes ! 2 up 2 down with an outside loo and only a coal fire/back boiler (when the fire was lit) for heating and hot water. Mum used to say how lucky we were not to need net curtains in the bedrooms, because in the winter we had lovely frost patterns instead !

Wouldn't wish that on a child now, though.
Originally posted by Silvertabby

Jackmydad wrote: »

Similar here, but no back boiler in that house. :eek:
Mum had a gas boiler (that was like a small tub with a gas ring underneath it, not a gas boiler in the modern sense). Baths in a tin bath in the kitchen.
Three of us survived as babies in that house before we moved.
I was a bit older than the others.
We were happy there. My mum still said that years later.

I think that we (me included!) have got soft.

Mum thought we were 'well posh' because we had a bathroom with a plumbed in bath and wash basin (but no loo - she thought an indoor toilet was 'unhygienic').

Hot water was at at premium, however, as the coal fire back boiler only supplied a few pints at a time. Bathnight therefore involved boiling kettles and pans of water and carrying them upstairs .... health & safety would have a fit!

The local council then offered grants to fit indoor toilets to householders such as my parents. My mum initially said no, but dad couldn't give up on the offer of 'free' money. She finally gave in on the condition that the loo was only used at night after the house had been locked up.

moneyistooshorttomention

Kim_kim wrote: »

Odd that 22 & 23 are missing. That’s what I like :-)
I wish my thermostat was clever enough to be able to set different temperatures for the day & night.
It’s set to go off at night, but when it’s really cold, I do leave it on.
If I could set a night time temp of 18 I’d leave it on!

Just had another quick check of the card.

I guess that's because these temperatures are in the "okay" range. As those cards were done for people who might perhaps not be that aware, of themselves, what the temperature was (ie whether it was too high or, more likely, too low) as a "ready" thing to tell them if the temperature was deemed unhealthy either way. So 22C and 23C aren't unhealthy in either direction and the elderly people those cards are really meant for don't have to concern themselves (ie their relatives don't have to concern themselves) if the house temperature is in that range (ie it won't either freeze them or boil them) iyswim.

I keep those cards in to check on temperature - because they're free and a rough guide is good enough for me as to whether my house temperature is okay or no.

Tranquil

Wow, lots of variance then...looks like I should be able to cope with it being a bit colder and not expecting to be warm whilst wearing not too much!

coffeehound

I rented a stone-built back-to-back for a few months last year at the start of the cold snaps. No insulation in the walls but well draught-proofed. I tried the advice of the chap in the Telegraph:

- central heating on full time
- all radiator TRVs turned up to maximum
- radiator temperature control on the boiler turned down to minimum

Wall thermostat was set to 19 degrees initially. From cold, it took about 10 days to fully warm the place up. After that I inched the thermostat down each day. It was 16 degrees before I started to feel chilly, so left it on 17 thereafter.

I'm convinced this scheme works best. You don't have the slow warm-up response in the morning. There is no temperature see-saw or overshoot. The humidity stays stable and comfortable, avoiding the dry skin, scalp, nose, etc. that often occurs with CH. And because everything is always at temperature, you can feel comfortable at a lower temperature overall. Not necessarily the cheapest, but possibly the healthiest.

Gloomendoom

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Add the fact that most people are very overweight these days and I'm just about 2 stones overweight (still!) and more overweight people will probably want things at a lower temperature too than someone slim to mildly overweight.

In my experience, naturally slim people tend to have faster metabolisms the the mildly overweight or fatties. They don't feel the cold like normal mortals.

shortcrust

coffeehound wrote: »

I rented a stone-built back-to-back for a few months last year at the start of the cold snaps. No insulation in the walls but well draught-proofed. I tried the advice of the chap in the Telegraph:

- central heating on full time
- all radiator TRVs turned up to maximum
- radiator temperature control on the boiler turned down to minimum

Wall thermostat was set to 19 degrees initially. From cold, it took about 10 days to fully warm the place up. After that I inched the thermostat down each day. It was 16 degrees before I started to feel chilly, so left it on 17 thereafter.

I'm convinced this scheme works best. You don't have the slow warm-up response in the morning. There is no temperature see-saw or overshoot. The humidity stays stable and comfortable, avoiding the dry skin, scalp, nose, etc. that often occurs with CH. And because everything is always at temperature, you can feel comfortable at a lower temperature overall. Not necessarily the cheapest, but possibly the healthiest.

Couldn't you have heated the house to 19 with the boiler on high, then turned it to the min temperature? The 10 day warm up seems a tad masochistic!

mac.d

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I would imagine all of Age Concern/Age UK does these cardboard gauge things? Mine is from the ageCymru part of the organisation - so I guess the rest of it does so too?

It's graded as:
9C - Risk of hypothermia. Turn the heating up
12C - Too cold. increased risk of heart attack and stroke
15C - Chilly - risk of respiratory illness
18C - 21C - comfortable house temperature
24C - 27C - too hot. Reduce the temperature.

My gran had one of these too (from SSE), slightly simpler and they miss a few temperatures, not just 22-23°C.

9-12°C - Too cold. Danger of hypothermia
15°C - Cool. Turn your heating up
18-21°C - Just right. Do not adjust your heating
24-27°C - Too hot. Turn your heating down.

My heating is set for 20°C daytime and 14°C overnight. Normally by now it'd be set to come on for a while in the morning then again for a few hours in later afternoon/early evening, but its still on its winter 8am-9pm setting since the weather doesn't appear to realise winter should be over......

Sir_Robin

I have it timed morning and evening set to 19. At night the colder the better I sleep so open the windows for awhile for a substantial drop.

Out of curiosity those who keep it at 22+ plus do you sit around in t-shirts or do you still wear warm clothes ?

Frogletina

Sir_Robin wrote: »

I have it timed morning and evening set to 19. At night the colder the better I sleep so open the windows for awhile for a substantial drop.

Out of curiosity those who keep it at 22+ plus do you sit around in t-shirts or do you still wear warm clothes ?

Mine is set at 23, and I am wearing a dress, stockings, leggings and a warm cardigan.

frogletina