There’s a specific feeling that comes with getting home from a trip in February. You’ve been somewhere brilliant, you’ve dragged your suitcase up the path in the dark, and all you want is a cup of tea and a warm bed.
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Then you open the front door and realise the house feels colder than the pavement outside.
If you travel regularly during a British winter, you’ve probably faced this dilemma. Leaving the heating on while nobody’s home can feel wasteful, especially with high energy bills in the UK.
However, switching it off completely isn’t always the safest option either, because when temperatures drop, pipes are at risk of freezing. Before you head off on a winter city break, ski trip or sunny escape, it’s worth setting your heating properly so you can come home to a warm house just as you left it.
Switching your heating off completely while away is usually a mistake
The instinct is obvious. You’re not there, so why spend money heating an empty house?
But switching the heating off completely during a British winter can cause problems if the temperature drops while you’re away.
A cold house can make condensation more likely, particularly if there’s already moisture in the air and surfaces such as windows and external walls become very cold. Poor ventilation, existing damp problems and the way your home is insulated all play a part too.
Good ventilation can make a difference too, particularly in winter, so it’s worth understanding how ventilation systems can help manage moisture and condensation in your home.
You might come back to condensation around the windows, a musty wardrobe or, in some homes, patches of mould beginning to appear.
Then there’s the pipework. When water freezes, it expands and puts pressure on pipes and fittings.
Pipes in colder parts of the house, such as lofts, garages and other unheated spaces, face a greater risk during freezing weather. If a pipe freezes and bursts while you’re away, you may not discover the damage until you get home.
The Met Office recommends leaving your heating on low when you go away and insulating pipes vulnerable to the cold.
How to set your heating before you leave for a winter trip
Set the heating to a low background temperature that keeps your home above freezing and stops damp from taking hold, without heating an empty house to a comfortable level.
- Use the thermostat’s low setting rather than the off switch: Most modern systems have a frost or setback mode designed for exactly this. Your boiler manual will give the right figure for your system, so check it rather than guessing.
- Keep the heating on a schedule, just a shorter one: A couple of short runs a day moves warm air around the house and keeps the system exercised.
- Open internal doors: Free air movement between rooms does a surprising amount to prevent cold spots and the condensation that follows them.
- Leave curtains open on the sunny side: Let in free heat gain during the day, and it makes the house look occupied.
- Shut the loft hatch and lag pipes up: Do this before you leave, not after.
- Turn the water off at the stopcock: This is good for longer trips, and it will help you to know where it is before you need it in a hurry.
How to come home to a warm house without heating an empty one for a fortnight
This is one of the easiest things to plan, but also easy to forget when you’re thinking about passports, packing, and getting to the airport on time.
If your heating system has a timer or smart controls, set it to warm the house before you get home. A few hours can make a big difference, especially if the house has been sitting at a lower temperature for a week or two.
Instead of walking through the door and immediately reaching for your thickest jumper, you can come back to somewhere that already feels comfortable.
Bear in mind that a radiator that was under-sized for its room will struggle hardest in this situation, arriving back to a cold house in January. Heat output is measured in BTUs and depends on the room’s size, glazing and insulation, and stated outputs across the market are not always reliable.
The figure produced under generous test conditions isn’t what you get in a real house.
It’s worth checking this before blaming your boiler or turning the thermostat higher. This is why ukradiators independently test their radiator heat outputs and have a BTU calculator to help you work out the heating requirement for a room.
Their radiators also come with a warranty of up to 25 years, depending on the model, and the company offers free UK delivery.
What to tell a house-sitter or dog-sitter about using the heating
House-sitters and dog-sitters increasingly help people manage longer trips, and heating is where the arrangement usually goes unspoken.
Say it plainly before you go. Tell them roughly what the heating costs, how to use it, and show them the controls.
Sitters left with vague instructions to be careful tend to under-heat the house out of politeness, which brings back the damp problem you were trying to avoid and makes for a miserable stay.
If your dog is staying, keeping your home warm isn’t negotiable. Dogs settle where it’s warm, and leaving an old or small dog in a cold house is a genuine welfare issue rather than an inconvenience.
Agree on a temperature, and instruct your dog-sitter properly on how to use the heating system.
How to dry wet boots and waterproofs after a winter walk in the Peak District
If your winter trips involve walking boots rather than airports, think about where you’ll dry your kit when you get home. Wet waterproofs, muddy boots and a soaked dog can quickly take over the kitchen.
A heated towel rail in a utility room or a downstairs bathroom does that job better than a radiator with a chair pulled up to it, and prevents the whole house from smelling like a wet spaniel. Keep waterproofs and technical gear away from direct heat unless the care instructions say otherwise.
If you spend a lot of winter weekends walking, a dedicated drying space can make coming home much easier.
A ten-minute heating checklist before you leave
Before you head off, set your heating to a low temperature or holiday mode instead of switching it off. Check your timer, insulate vulnerable pipes and make sure anyone looking after the house knows how to use the heating.
For longer trips, check whether you should turn off your water supply and read your home insurance policy for any rules about leaving the property empty. If you have a timer or smart heating, schedule the house to warm up before you return.
A little preparation can make all the difference when you travel during a British winter. Keep your home warm enough to protect it from freezing temperatures, check your pipes, and set the heating for your return.
Then, when you finally drag your suitcase through the door on a cold January night, you can take your coat off, put the kettle on, and enjoy the home-sweet-home feeling.
