Why do people turn their heating off in summer?

[Kermit power]

At some point in October or November, there will be a thread on here entitled something along the lines of "have you turned your heating on yet" or words to that effect.

Now, if we were talking about stoking up an open fire for the first time after summer then this would make sense, but why do people switch off their central heating during the summer?

I just leave our thermostat set to what is comfortable. If the temperature doesn't fall below that for 4 months, then the heating doesn't come on, so it's not costing anything. When it does drop below that, the heating comes on automatically, rather than waiting for me to sit in the cold for a few days wondering if it's time to turn the heating on yet.

Am I missing something obvious here?

[Mc lovin]

If only i had these sort of worries, my life would be so much less stressful...

[ewenm]

Not everyone has a thermostat on their heating. I don't, so for me, the heating comes on at specific times of day during the winter and doesn't come on at all in the summer.

[julian64]

Well yes.

The problem is the boiler. Its life'd. It survives longer if running fairly constantly. It doesn't survive very well if its on for only a few minutes then off again. Incomplete burn with the boiler not heating up properly interferes with the condensing ability and shortens its life because of the continual start stop nature of driving a thermostat at a margin temperature compared to ambient.

Much better to wait till the bolier needs to do a more constant job.

Or at least thats the way I've always thought of it

[anonymous-user]

2010 - the year of quality posts!

[off_again]

Could be down to the multitude of different systems that are available.

Some people have oil, some have gas and some electricity. All have different demands and even on the more common gas central heating systems, there are several types of boiler, heating systems and hot / cold water storage systems. Not everyone has a simple fully joined system like how you are suggesting and as a result it makes sense to turn it off. Some people even have separate systems for hot water and radiators - there are no fixed designs etc....

[Puggit]

Our combi has a switch on it, so we can turn it from winter mode to summer mode

[condor]

Not everyone has central heating.
I have a storage heater that is usually switched on October-March and so off April-September I use an electric flame effect fire for additional heat ( though just looking at the flames makes you think it is warmer than it is)

[onomatopoeia]

Kermit power said:

Am I missing something obvious here?

Yes. My central heating does not have a thermostat, so I turn it off in the summer else the house will get too hot.

[speedchick]

Mine doesn't have a thermostat either, so during the warmer months, I have it set to just heat the water up a couple of times a day. In winter we have it set so the radiators and water are on a couple of times a day, at the moment it is set to on, so it fires up at 7 in the morning and stays on till about 8 at night (bypassing the turn off at 9am and back on at 4pm parts of the cycle)

[King Herald]

Kermit power said:

Am I missing something obvious here?

I have that grief with the wife: "Have you turned the heating on/off?"

"Look darling, it has THERMOSTAT on it. When the house gets down to a certain temp it turns the heating on, then, when it reaches another, higher, predetermined temperature, it turns the heating off".

To this day I don't think she can grasp the principle of the thermostat.

I usually bump up the heating temp about September, just to make it kick in for a couple of hours, just to make sure it does work again, before the 'plumbers rush' in November.

[Kermit power]

I understand that there can be many different forms of central heating, but I'm amazed that some of them don't have thermostats. How on earth do you maintain an even temperature in the house without one?

[ewenm]

Kermit power said:

I understand that there can be many different forms of central heating, but I'm amazed that some of them don't have thermostats. How on earth do you maintain an even temperature in the house without one?

Why do you need an even temperature in the house? Do you heat the rooms you rarely use?

[King Herald]

ewenm said:

Kermit power said:

I understand that there can be many different forms of central heating, but I'm amazed that some of them don't have thermostats. How on earth do you maintain an even temperature in the house without one?

Why do you need an even temperature in the house? Do you heat the rooms you rarely use?

A temp that stays somewhere near where you want it, when you want it, I beleive he means.

[fido]

Kermit power said:

Am I missing something obvious here?

Yeah. Not sure if you've noticed but Gas is bloody expensive. The thought of still having the heating on in April hurts my bloody wallet. I find that my in-built thermostat situated near my testicles is quite-sensitive to £/cu.ft. as well as ambient temperature.

Also, you tend to get used to having the heating off, and i find turning it on in March helps me adjust better to the weather.

regards, pikey

Edited by fido on Monday 4th January 12:24

[Cock Womble]

Kermit power said:

I understand that there can be many different forms of central heating, but I'm amazed that some of them don't have thermostats. How on earth do you maintain an even temperature in the house without one?

By using the timer. I set mine to come on about an hour before I get up in the morning, so that getting out of my cosy bed isn't too much of a shock to the system. Same thing in the afternoon, so I come home to a nice warm flat.

If it gets too warm, I turn it off. I am the thermostat.

[Don]

We leave the thermostat set to 18C in the house. Therefore the boiler doesn't fire in the summer...except that the boiler comes on year around twice a day to heat water...

Works great.

[Neil H]

Cock Womble said:

Kermit power said:

I understand that there can be many different forms of central heating, but I'm amazed that some of them don't have thermostats. How on earth do you maintain an even temperature in the house without one?

By using the timer. I set mine to come on about an hour before I get up in the morning, so that getting out of my cosy bed isn't too much of a shock to the system. Same thing in the afternoon, so I come home to a nice warm flat.

If it gets too warm, I turn it off. I am the thermostat.

I do that too, but I also have a thermostat.

However, I do still turn the heating off in summer, I do this because sometimes I'm not there and I don't want to heat an empty flat. If I control it, I know exactly when it's on/ off.

[snuffle]

What is central heating ?

1 log warm room
2 logs very warm room
no smoke no fire no heat, it must be summer.

[MitchT]

Kermit power said:

Why do people turn their heating off in summer?

1: because I don't need it on.
2: Because it's fecking expensive and I'm not rich.