How should you programme your heating to help you save?

According to data from the Institute for Energy Diversification (IDAE), a household's most significant energy consumption is on heating. On average, a Spanish household dedicates 47% of its energy to meeting this important seasonal need.

It is essential to pay the utmost attention to improving its efficiency, and to do this, being able to schedule its use is a vital factor.

Two situations in which you are wasting energy

It is not easy to maintain the ideal temperature in the rooms we live in during the winter. Our lifestyle habits have changed dramatically in recent decades: today we spend many hours away from home. We must avoid falling into one of these two energy waste situations, both of which are very common and frequent:

• Having the heating set to a "normal" temperature when you are not at home: this is obviously nonsense. No one is benefiting from that heat, which really adds to your bill.
• Returning home when the heating has been off for hours: in addition to the discomfort of feeling cold until the house warms up, wanting to quickly reach a comfortable temperature is an inefficient and ill advised way to treat your heating system.

The solution to this two-edged discomfort is obviously to program your heating so that it behaves in a rational and, of course, efficient manner.

"You need a stable temperature, but your house does not. Turn down the heat when you're not at home."

Temperature at home

It is impossible to talk about heating without dealing with the perennial question: what temperature does your house need to be at?

As with all important questions, there is no single answer that is valid for everyone and everyone's particular circumstances must be taken into account. But, as a general rule, both the IDAE and other specialist agencies consider that we can spend a pleasant winter with the following figures:

• Comfortable temperature: the one to use when you are at home and not sleeping. At 21ºC you should be able to spend the winter comfortably; you don't need a higher temperature. If you feel cold, you should try wrapping up more warmly.
• Night-time Temperature: you should sleep covered up and therefore lower the room temperature at night. Between 18°C and 20°C is good.
• Temperature for babies: if there are young children in the house, the comfortable temperature can be raised to between 22ºC and at most 24ºC.
• Absent temperature: the one you need to choose if you are going to be away from home for more than two hours. If you go to work or have other tasks that keep you away from home for between two and twelve hours, it is advisable to choose about 17ºC or 18ºC If you travel, you must turn off the power to your house and keep the heating turned off or at a minimum temperature to prevent freezing and the deterioration of furniture or utensils. About 7°C should suffice.

The key to all this is to be able to anticipate the times when you need the different temperatures. You need to ensure that when you open the door the house is already at a comfortable temperature and that when you go to bed it is already reaching the night-time temperature. To do this, you have to give the orders to your heating sufficiently in advance, this will vary depending on the size of your home and your heating system. As a general rule, for flats in the city measuring less than 150 square metres with a natural gas boiler the following settings should be sufficient:

• To have a comfortable temperature when you return from work: an hour and a half before getting home.
• To reach the night-time temperature: two hours before going to bed.
• To have a comfortable temperature when returning from a long trip: about eight hours before arriving home.

To stay ahead of your needs in this way, you need to program your heating using a thermostat.

"Your house does not need to be warmer than 21 degrees during the winter. And in bedrooms, you can leave it at 18 degrees."