Going on holiday for 10 days - heating off, or set a minimum temperature?

badger09

Agree with those who say leave heating on @ 10 - 12C. Probably won’t come on at all so why not?

RelievedSheff

I would personally leave it on set to a low temperature.

What_time_is_it

badger09 said:

Agree with those who say leave heating on @ 10 - 12C. Probably won’t come on at all so why not?

Outside temperature are forecast to stay under 10 for the entire time we are away. It's an old house. I think it might well drop to below 10 inside overnight when temperatures drop to 3-5 outdoors.

I'll probably set a minimum temperature, take a note of the meter reading before we go, and then check it again when we get back to see what it cost or whether it came on at all,

RelievedSheff

Whatever little it costs to "heat" the house it will be a damn sight less than it would cost to repair any damage caused by frost damage.

We are away between Christmas and New Years and we will be leaving the house heated. 

daveyjp

We used to go away for 2-3 weeks in November or over Christmas.  The property didn't have central heating but I always turned off the stop tap.

Reddleman79

Off. There's no chance of ice bursting pipes yet.

chris_n

k_man said:

Astria said:

What_time_is_it said:

Astria said:

I would set it to maintain an inside temperature of at least 10 - 12c.

Before you decide I'd check your home insurance as some specify minimum temperature requirements to provide cover.

How would they know?

They wouldn't, unless you made a claim for damage caused by low temperatures.

Considering we are not expecting freezing temperatures then if you set your thermostat at something like 10c then the heating shouldn't come on anyway, so it won't cost any more than leaving it off.

And weather forecasts can change over 10 days too.
There is no real downside of leaving on, but at a low temperature just in case.

SAC2334 said:

Off for me too as no chance of hitting sub zero unless you live high up in Northern Scotland ,
 Electric on only for the fridge/freezer/alarms .Water stop !!!!!! also turned off .

If there is no chance of hitting sub zero, why turn off the water stop?

chris_n said:

If your house is going to get down to 10 degrees over the course of 10 days with the temperatures forecast you need to have a serious look at your insulation and draught proofing! 

Current forecast for Newcastle upon Tyne (an example location in northern England) over the next 2 weeks is low of 2 or 3C and high of 8 or 9.
Over 10 days, with no heating, I think many houses would get down towards 10C.

When in UK I lived near Newcastle,  for 7 years I worked away in winter,  left house Nov to April. Heating was always left on at 12 degrees, most years it didn't come on. If it did get close to 12 I would usually turn it on for a couple of hours during the day. This was a 1970's semi.
I would turn the water off, leaks can occur for reasons other than freezing. 

k_man

chris_n said:

k_man said:

Astria said:

What_time_is_it said:

Astria said:

I would set it to maintain an inside temperature of at least 10 - 12c.

Before you decide I'd check your home insurance as some specify minimum temperature requirements to provide cover.

How would they know?

They wouldn't, unless you made a claim for damage caused by low temperatures.

Considering we are not expecting freezing temperatures then if you set your thermostat at something like 10c then the heating shouldn't come on anyway, so it won't cost any more than leaving it off.

And weather forecasts can change over 10 days too.
There is no real downside of leaving on, but at a low temperature just in case.

SAC2334 said:

Off for me too as no chance of hitting sub zero unless you live high up in Northern Scotland ,
 Electric on only for the fridge/freezer/alarms .Water stop !!!!!! also turned off .

If there is no chance of hitting sub zero, why turn off the water stop?

chris_n said:

If your house is going to get down to 10 degrees over the course of 10 days with the temperatures forecast you need to have a serious look at your insulation and draught proofing! 

Current forecast for Newcastle upon Tyne (an example location in northern England) over the next 2 weeks is low of 2 or 3C and high of 8 or 9.
Over 10 days, with no heating, I think many houses would get down towards 10C.

When in UK I lived near Newcastle,  for 7 years I worked away in winter,  left house Nov to April. Heating was always left on at 12 degrees, most years it didn't come on. If it did get close to 12 I would usually turn it on for a couple of hours during the day. This was a 1970's semi.
I would turn the water off, leaks can occur for reasons other than freezing. 

You may well have been helped by the heating in the other semi. Or lucky aspect for passive solar via windows.

Astria

Reddleman79 said:

Off. There's no chance of ice bursting pipes yet.

But considering the weather, there IS a chance of high humidity in a cold house, which can also affect things...

silverwhistle

Most winters I hardly use my GCH and rely on the woodburner, but when I go away on winter skiing holidays in the coldest part of the year I actually turn the heating on low (maybe 12?) and open the loft hatch. As a mid terrace in Hampshire (with a large S facing window) I hardly use any gas for the two weeks away although without the stove the house does get cooler. When I get home I light the fire and turn the GCH up to heat the fabric up. The gas used is insignificant.