UK households urged ‘check your thermostat’ this weekend

As Britain braces for an Arctic blast over the weekend checking the household thermostat is working as it should be might not be a bad idea.

And according to floor heating manufacturer Warmup.co.uk many people might have the simple heat measuring device in the wrong position in their home where it can record incorrect temperatures.

Under a list of “5 Mistakes People Make With Their Thermostat” the supplier says one of the most common is fitting the thermostat near a source of cold or heat, particularly above a radiator.

They said: “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.

“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.”

The other four key errors people can make with thermostats were; setting the wrong temperature, switching the heating on and off too much, turning up the thermostat to heat a space more quickly, and using a manual thermostat instead of a smart thermostat.

By setting a ‘wrong’ high temperature in every room homeowners can cause high bills and waste energy, so it’s recommended to heat the room you occupy most to the ideal temperature and keep the other rooms cooler.

Turning up a thermostat to very high temperatures to heat a room faster was also said to be a false economy, because the thermostat simply measures temperature, it does not control how fast a home loses heat or heats up.

Fitting a ‘smart’ thermostat is also recommended as people can monitor their energy usage in real time, and avoiding constantly turning heating on and off will also save money because it uses a lot of energy to get started again each time.

The advice on thermostats seems particularly pertinent right now as the Health Secretary said this is “definitely a weekend to turn the heating on”.

Wes Streeting said people should wrap up warm and use their heating as temperatures drop ahead of an expected bitterly cold weekend.

A yellow warning for snow and ice is in place from 12pm on Saturday until 9am on Monday and covers most of England and Wales, while a separate warning for heavy snow from midnight on Sunday until 12pm on Monday has been issued for most of mainland Scotland.

Mr Streeting told BBC Breakfast: “We are heading into a cold snap this weekend and I know there are lots of concerns, not just amongst charity leaders, but also among NHS and social care leaders as well, about the particular risks and vulnerabilities this weekend as temperatures drop, both in terms of risk of accident and injury, but also risk from the cold itself.”