After enduring days of strong winds, rain, and snow, the UK continues to experience chilly temperatures, leading many to crank up their thermostats.
However, this common practice may not be as beneficial as it seems, potentially costing you more money. Dominic Lees-Bell, a heating expert at Only Radiators, has shed light on why adjusting your thermostat in response to cold or warm weather isn’t advisable.
He clarified that increasing your thermostat setting during cold weather won’t necessarily heat your home faster, the Express reports.
The thermostat simply instructs your boiler to maintain the house’s temperature at the set level. If you set your thermostat to 20C in winter, it will heat your home to precisely that temperature.
Dominic pointed out that people often “crank up” the heat when it’s cold, which might seem logical but doesn’t align with how thermostats function. He explained: “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 30C in an attempt to make your home hotter, you’re essentially saying to your boiler, ‘you couldn’t reach 20C, so give 30C 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.”
Instead of cranking up the thermostat, it’s advisable to wait for the central heating to reach its normal temperature. Maintaining a consistent thermostat setting can help reduce costs.
Although the urge to turn your thermostat up to 25C during freezing conditions might be strong, you could end up overheating and this could become costly if done frequently.
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