The nation’s heating habits – do we like it hot?

Next in our blog series exploring the nation’s energy usage, we look at our heating habits, to see who likes it hot, and whether we’re really being wise with our heating schedules.

We took the temperature of the nation and asked 2,000 adults what temperature they heat their home to and how they manage their heating to see if we’re warming our homes efficiently and safely.

Average home temperatures

On average, Brits are heating their homes to 18.27°C – which is the minimum ideal temperature (18°C) recommended by the World Health Organisation for those with good general health and adequate clothing, and is the ideal temperature for sleeping.

Just under half (48%) have their heating between 18°C and 20°C, in line with the lowest comfortable temperatures recommended by the Energy Saving Trust. However, nearly a quarter (23%) are keeping their homes on the chillier side at 14-17 °C, which reduces energy use but often compromises comfort and wellbeing. 1 in 10 do like it hot, heating their home to temperatures between 21°C and 24°C, which will be pushing up their energy bills.

15% of those surveyed didn’t know or didn’t set their heating to a particular temperature - and could be missing out on energy savings as a result.

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What’s a healthy room temperature?

While overheating our homes can waste energy, keeping them too cool can be a health risk, especially for the elderly, the very young and other at-risk groups.

It’s good to see that most over 65s had an average home temperature at 18.71°C, with over half (55%) running their heating at a healthy 18°C-20°C. But worryingly, nearly one fifth (18%) are keeping their home at just 14-17°C, which is well below the recommended temperature for this age group.

Gen Z and millennials generally keep their homes a little on the cooler side, with average temperatures of 17.8°C and a third (32%) of 18–24-year-olds running their homes at 14-17°C, compared to 23% on average across all age groups.

Are we in control of our heating?

Worryingly for our energy bills, 39% of those surveyed have the same heating schedule for the whole house, 19% have no heating schedule at all and 4% have their heating always on.

Only a third (35%) zone their heating. Just 16% have different temperatures in different rooms, 11% have different schedules for upstairs and downstairs, and less than 1 in 10 (8%) have different heating schedules for each room.

Brits are missing a real trick here when it comes to making savings, as controlling which rooms you heat and when can have a massive impact, saving you up to 16% off your annual energy bills.

This is especially true in the southeast and southwest where a quarter have no home heating schedule at all and around 40% in both regions have the same schedule for the whole property.

However, those living in Northern Ireland and the West Midlands are the savviest when it comes to room-to-room heating, with 25% and 22% respectively having different temperatures in different rooms, compared to just 16% nationally.

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Be Wiser with your heating

Preventing your home from overheating is a great energy-saving measure so it’s good to see an encouraging number of Brits are heating their home to comfortable temperatures, without wasting energy. Controlling individual room temperatures and heating schedules is a sensible next step that can add up to even more energy savings of up to 30%, and can achieved with easy-to-install Wiser multi-room smart heating kits.