How high do you set your central heating? Here's what Yahoo readers say
Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After 72 hours the poll closes and, each Friday, we'll publish and analyse the results, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers.
With even colder temperatures on the way next week, Britons are trying to balance staying warm in their homes while keeping energy bills at a manageable level.
On 1 January, the Energy Price Cap rose by 5%, which has left more people worried about their bills this winter.
But keeping the home warm is important to maintain good health, particularly for young children and elderly people. Using your heating will also stop your pipes from freezing and bursting, which can lead to even bigger issues.
According to British Gas, your main room thermostat should be set between 18C to 21C. Experts say that turning down your thermostat by just one degree can save you money, so if it's usually at 20C, setting it to 19C has the potential to save you over £100.
But the temperature you set your central heating at comes down to personal preference, with some people preferring cooler rooms and others opting for higher temperatures.
Yahoo News UK asked our readers what temperature you should set your central heating at, here are the results:
Our poll from Monday at midday until midday Thursday asked: 'What temperature do you set your central heating at?'
It received 9,424 votes and showed that, among Yahoo readers, the most popular temperature to keep their thermostats at was 21C, with 24% (2279 voters) indicating this was their preference.
The average thermostat temperature setting was 20.6C, with a sizeable portion of voters opting for slightly cooler temperature settings of 17C (449 votes), 18C (1257 votes) or 19C (1345 votes). Meanwhile a set of 162 voters indicated they liked to keep their thermostat setting all the way down at 14C.
The number of voters who opted to set their central heating higher than 21C fell sharply, and continued to fall for higher temperatures. Nevertheless, 90 heat-loving voters indicated they set their thermostats at a toasty 28C!
On average, voters kept their thermostats at 20.6C
Yahoo News UK readers were also asked: On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you worry about the cost of heating?
This poll received 7,219 votes with the most common vote being 10, indicating many readers were very concerned about the cost of heating in 2024.
The average strength-of-feeling score on all the votes was 6.48.
Many readers were very concerned about the cost of heating, the average strength-of-feeling score was 6.48
Our original poll article can be found here.
Read more of Yahoo UK's Poll of the Week articles
