Controlling your heating system with a thermostat provides greater energy-efficiency and comfort levels for your home but according to research, a lot of us are making some costly errors when it comes to using one. In this article, we’ll look at some of the most common mistakes that people make when using their thermostat and how you can avoid them to keep your heating bills as low as possible whilst staying cosy all year round. You’ll find out:
- Why setting the correct temperature is key
- How long heating systems take to reach optimal comfort temperatures
- Why turning your heating on and off can be unintuitive
- The benefits of using Smart thermostats
- Why the location of your heating controller is so important
Mistake 1: Setting the wrong temperature on your thermostat
Setting the right temperature on your thermostat is key to feeling comfortable at home. However, a lot of people tend to overheat their homes, leading to wasted energy, costly bills and restless, stuffy nights. Most basic central heating systems won’t allow control of individual room temperatures and all too often there is only a single thermostat located in the hallway, making it more difficult to balance the temperatures of the individual rooms of your home. However, a simple tip can help here: by setting the radiator valve in the room you are occupying to a comfortable level, then setting the valves in the remaining rooms one or more levels lower.
Smart underfloor heating systems offer a zoned heating solution which allow you to control the temperature of different areas of your home independently to each other. If a heating system is not zoned, there is potential for overheating and underheating in each room. Multi-zone heating ensures that you’ll always be comfortable and that your heating system is always running at its most efficient. Learn more about zoned floor heating in our expert guide.
What’s the best temperature for my home?
Whilst ideal comfort temperatures are a personal preference, the official Cold Weather Plan for England suggests a minimum winter temperature of 18°C in UK homes for beneficial health.
Mistake 2: Switching the heating on and off instead of utilising a setback temperature
In the colder months, it may seem best to keep the heating system on at all times but for enhanced energy-efficiency, the best thing to do is lower the temperature when you’re not at home. The amount of heat your home loses is linked to the difference in temperature between inside the property and outside, so the colder it is outside and the warmer it is inside, the more heat you will lose. Reducing these levels of heat loss is important as the less heat you lose, the less energy you’ll need to use to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home. To combat heat loss, it is recommended to always make sure you have sufficient levels of good quality insulation in your home, which assists in maintaining a consistent environmental temperature.
Want to find out more about reducing heat loss in your home? Find out everything you need to know in our informative article.
What is a setback temperature?
A lot of people turn off the heating completely when they leave the house. However, this can put your home at risk of damp and mould growth in very cold weather, so using a setback temperature is a great idea. A setback temperature protects the temperature in your home from dropping too far if you’re out for longer than expected.
Getting the setback temperature right for your home might require a bit of experimenting, but a good starting point is 16 degrees. Our range of Smart thermostats can remove the hassle of this experimentation by automatically calculating the best temperature to use for your home when you’re away and activating the heating to warm up the space in time for your arrival.
Mistake 3: Turning up the thermostat to heat the space more quickly
Coming home to a cold house causes many people to turn the thermostat up to a higher than normal temperature, overheating the house and wasting the money they have saved by using a lower temperature when they were out. But this won’t help you feel comfortable any quicker because a thermostat has no control over how quickly your house heats up, all it does is set the final temperature for your comfort level. It simply allows the heating to be fully on until the set temperature is reached, at which point the thermostat will turn the heating off until the temperature drops again.
Mistake 4: Using a manual thermostat instead of a Smart thermostat
Whilst some people may prefer using a traditional thermostat which only turns their central or underfloor heating system on or off, a Smart thermostat can dramatically improve your heating system’s performance while also assisting in long-term savings on your heating bills too.
Warmup Smart controls are packed full of advanced features such as automatic heating, remote access from your Smartphone, energy-usage data and personalised heat scheduling. With a Smart thermostat, you can even control your heating system with your voice using a connected Smart speaker like the Amazon Echo.
What’s the best Smart thermostat for me?
Warmup’s 6iE Smart Wifi Thermostat for underfloor heating and konekt Wireless Controls for central heating systems can learn from your routines and provide you with heat at the right temperature, at the right time, automatically. Warmup’s proprietary technology SmartGeo™ is included within our all our Smart Controls. SmartGeo uses a unique combination of learning algorithms and location data to ensure that rooms are automatically comfortable when needed and that the heating system is always running at its most efficient. SmartGeo ensures accurate temperature levels for every room in a property, every time, without needing users to set their heating schedules manually.
Using a Warmup Smart thermostat to manage your home’s heating system can reduce your energy usage by 25% and help save you hundreds of pounds on your annual energy bills. Want to find the perfect thermostat for your home? Read our thermostat buying guide to discover which controller is best for you.
Mistake 5: Installing a thermostat in the wrong location
Thermostats measure the temperature of the room that they are placed in via an air sensor and/or a floor sensor. These readings are key when programming setback temperatures and assist in running an efficient heating system, so if a thermostat is installed in a very cold or overly warm room, it may not accurately reflect the true temperature of your home.
Your thermostats should be installed in a correct location within your home to ensure it can work at its most effective. We recommend installing a thermostat on interior walls, at an optimal height from the floor. Thermostats should not be installed near windows or in direct sunlight and they should be positioned away from heat sources such as radiators, lamps, ovens or other electronic devices that may produce heat.
What happens if something goes wrong with my thermostat?
Like all technologies, sometimes your thermostat may encounter a problem or two but more often than not these issues can be quickly solved. All Warmup Thermostats come with in-depth installation and troubleshooting guides and if you have any questions about your heating system, Warmup offer 24/7 support, 365 days a year. You can also access Warmup Support to find answers to all your queries about our range of products and Warmup Smart Care is a customer service experience that provides real-time bespoke support for your heating system. Using data received from your Warmup WiFi-connected thermostat, our team of experts can deliver remote diagnostics to help resolve most issues you may experience whilst assisting in improving your home’s energy performance.
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