Earth Notes: On UK Central Heating Season

2019-10-31: @EarthOrgUK asked: We don't yet have our #heating on in London (#UK): what about you tweeps?

• Our heating is off. 0%
• Our heating is on. 100%
• What's off? 0%

Total vote count was 11 by ~10pm on 1st November.

Quite a few votes then rolled in in the last half hour:

• Our heating is off. 13%
• Our heating is on. 88%
• What's off? 0%

Final vote count was 16 by 10:30pm.

(Our heating went on the morning of 2019-11-10.)

2020-04-01: @EarthOrgUK asked (2 day poll, opened afternoon of the 1st): My seasonal pop quiz... Which of you in the UK have already turned your central heating off?

• CH is now off. (16%)
• CH is still on (76%)
• Other / What's "off"? (8%)

Final vote count was 37 by ~6pm on the 3rd April; halfway through it was ~10% off.

(Note that the UK was just short of two weeks into the coronavirus lockdown at the time of this poll, which may have changed things somewhat.)

(Our heating went off during the day on the 1st.)

2020-10-19: @EarthOrgUK asked: Who has their central heating on in the UK already? (poll open for 2 days):

• Our heating is on. (75%)
• Our heating is off. (13.3%)
• What's off? (11.7%)

Total vote count: 60.

(Our bathroom MHRV went on as of the start of poll and we closed our windows, and with the heating still off we're at about 21°C inside (13°C out) as of the close of poll!)

When @SwitchedOnPorts (Switched On Portsmouth) asked on 8th October its poll got 2 votes either way. Maybe the 8th is indeed "the average big switch on day" as claimed.

This November has been the mildest for several years for 16WW, so our heating only went on for the morning of 1st December (~7am).

2020-12-01: @EarthOrgUK asked: SNAP POLL: Who has their central heating on in the UK already? (poll open for 2 days):

• Our heating is on. (88.5%)
• Our heating is off. (1.9%)
• What's off? (9.6%)

Total vote count: 52.

So we've dropped from ~13% (1 in 8) off mid-October, to ~2% (1 in 50) still off by the start of December, even when relatively mild for many in the UK.

2021-03-24: @EarthOrgUK asked: UK followers: which of you have already turned your central heating off? (poll open for 2 days):

(I added: All UK readers of this poll are welcome to vote in [this] poll, even if you don't currently plan to join my cult.)

• Our heating is on. (67.5%)
• Our heating is off. (25.0%)
• What's off? (7.5%)

Total vote count: 40.

Alexandra D-S commented It's 16 indoors without the heating on so I'm still turning it on for parts of the day. to which I responded that Our normal off-day is 1st April, but I'm not sure how that'll work this year! It's only been coming on a bit anyway...

2021-05-05: @EarthOrgUK asked: SNAP POLL: Who has their central heating on in the UK right now? (poll open for 2 days):

We just had a cold April (more heating degree days than March at 16WW). It's still quite chilly with daily highs ~12°C. So this May may not be typical...

• Our heating is on. (69.2%)
• Our heating is off. (26.9%)
• What's off? (3.8%)

Total vote count: 26.

2021-08-05: @EarthOrgUK asked: POLL: Who has their central heating on in the UK right now (ie controlled by the thermostat, so it'll come on if the house gets cold)? (poll open for 2 days):

We've had quite a rainy and overcast and windy couple of weeks in the UK. Some of the rest of the world has been having heatwaves and fires...

• Our heating is on. (26.8%)
• Our heating is off. (67.6%)
• What's off? (5.6%)

Total vote count: 71.

There was an interesting comment from @MilitantHobo in London: We're required by either our mortgage or leasehold to leave it operational and set to at lowest 10 degrees C. It basically never comes on in summer but in theory there could be a cold snap capable of damaging pipes.

2021-09-17: @EarthOrgUK said: It's a funny old September so far - POLL - Who has their central heating on in the UK right now (ie controlled by the thermostat, so it'll come on if the house gets cold)? (poll open for 2 days):

It's been warm and dull and rainy in turns this month so far!

• Our heating is on. (9.1%)
• Our heating is off. (85.5%)
• What's off? (5.5%)

Total vote count: 55.

Interesting comment and engagement, thank you!

I am slightly concerned about people leaving their heating on the thermostat permanently, and thus using heating at either end of the season that they'd actually be fine without. But 'thermostat' may now be something less crude than the real-time behaviour of a bimetalic strip in a drafty corridor.

For example, @Zapaman said:

By your definition our heating is ON, but won't come ON until external temp definitely dips below 15C averaged over 24h. This unlikely for another couple of weeks at least. It has been "ON" like this all summer, but not coming ON at all.