'I'm a heating expert - everyone's making thermostat error that ramps bills up'

22 October 2023 , 08:51

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Reaching for the thermostat is often one of the first things we do when we feel cold (stock photo) (Image: Getty Images)

With winter quickly approaching and the days getting ever-chillier, many Brits will be starting to crank up the heating in their homes. Reaching for the thermostat is often one of the first things that come to our minds when we start to feel cold - and although we sometimes might try to avoid turning up the dial too often, it can quickly become a habit.

But one expert has advised that homeowners not go near their thermostats over the winter, claiming it could cost them a fortune and make little difference to the heat in their houses.

Dominic Lees-Bell of Only Radiators explained the thermostat does not control the heat of your boiler - and turning it up by a degree could leave you paying 10 per cent more each year. The heating specialist told the Daily Record: "Most people are still in a Victorian mindset and, during cold weather, they crank up the heat.

"And while that is a perfectly reasonable course of action, it's not what your thermostat does. Your thermostat is, instead, a limiter, not an accelerator. A minimum and a maximum temperature limiter rolled into one.

"If you're cold and you turn your thermostat up to 30 degrees in an attempt to make your home hotter. You're essentially saying to your boiler 'you couldn't reach 20 degrees, so give 30 degrees a try' with the rate of heating staying the same. It's like someone telling you to run 20 miles. Yet when you flop at 10 miles they instead move the finish line to 30 miles away instead."

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If you want to keep your bills low, you should instead allow the boiler time to accumulate heat, Lees-Bell added.

Turning up the dial on the thermostat could make little difference to the heat (stock photo) (Getty Images)

He said: "As we go into another winter with the cost of living crisis still predominant, many of us will feel the effect of the increase in energy prices. Although there’s no hefty solution, maintaining the thermostat at a regular temperature can certainly help cut down on some costs."

According to the NHS, the rooms you use the most, like your living room and bedroom, should be at least 18C - but Age UK advises the elderly to keep it around 21C.

Lees-Bell added: "The evidence that’s available points to 18°C being the most appropriate threshold, particularly for the fit and healthy. What is also made clear was that the ageing process makes our bodies less able to regulate our temperature, and less able to detect the cold.

"It’s important to consider the members of your household and their individual needs when deciding on an optimum room temperature."

Nicola Roy