Should you leave the heating on or turn it off if you are going on holiday? Here we explain and detail some common scenarios.
Planning a holiday and wondering whether you should turn off your boiler/heating? Sounds like you’re doing multiple fun things at once, and we can help you with the second.
Ultimately, this will depend on factors like the time of year you are going away, but other factors can come into play too.
Let’s explain!
Turning Off Your Boiler for a Holiday
Ultimately, whether or not you should keep your heating off when going on a holiday largely depends on the time of the year.
However, it would also depend on the age of your heating system among other factors.
Should You Turn Your Boiler During the Summer?
First things first, odds are you’re planning to go on holiday during the hot summer months.
In this case, it will usually be perfectly fine to turn your heating off. You’ll be warm somewhere else.
After all, during the summer temperatures will be relatively warm and you probably aren’t using your boiler much anyway.
On the other hand, you could generally keep your boiler on if you’d like to, although it would depend on a few factors.
For example, if you have an old boiler or a boiler that is otherwise worn down or sub-optimal, you should turn it off when you are aware for safety purposes. This ensures you’ve got a house to come back to.
An example of a sub-optimal boiler would be one that is only serviced every two years rather than annually.
However, if you do not have your gas boiler serviced once a year, we strongly recommend that you start availing of annual servicing for safety reasons and to ensure its longevity (and your longevity, in turn).
If you’re heading away in the summer and have a relatively new boiler, it would be great to have your boiler serviced in the weeks before you go away.
Obviously, if the heating engineer finds any issues that you can’t fix before going away, then you should turn your boiler off (or consult with the heating engineer as to the best course of action).
If your boiler is fairly modern and in perfect working order, then it’s completely fine to leave it on while you’re away.
And just like brain surgery, if in doubt, always check with a professional.
Should You Turn Your Boiler Off During the Winter?
Note: The coldest months of the year are November, December, January, February, and March.
So, when we discuss the winter, you’ll want to consider these months (and, of course, February and March are often considered Spring, but in this case see them as the winter time).
You may be planning to go away in the winter, perhaps to take advantage of the lower costs while still enjoying decent sunshine (in this 2nd week of November temperatures are peaking at 24°C in Lanzarote that’s more decent than some UK summer days).
So, if this is you, turning your heating off during the winter is generally not advisable. This assumes that you have a boiler that is in good order or/and not too old.
While you may be enjoying a Sapphire Martini in the south of France, your boiler will be dealing with the cold British winter weather. Life isn’t fair, and we hope you’ve told your boiler that.
Leaving your boiler off during cold weather can lead to serious and dangerous issues.
The reason for this is primarily because leaving a boiler off in the winter when temperatures are low could allow the pipes to freeze over. Unlike hell, pipes freezing over occurs regularly.
This can lead to a host of issues such as damage to your pipework and may even leave you with no choice but to have your boiler entirely replaced (and much of the pipework too).
But when would it be advisable to keep your heating off during the winter? Here’s where it gets a bit complicated.
See, if you have an old or worn-down boiler, keeping it on while you’re away comes with a notably higher risk than leaving a new, modern boiler on. And unlike board games, when it comes to boilers, risk isn’t a good thing.
After all, modern boilers are better designed to shut themselves off if an issue arises, thus preventing any problems from worsening and houses from exploding.
The challenge with an old or worn-down boiler is that keeping it on and turning it off both come with risks.
Therefore, we’d recommend consulting a Gas Safe Register engineer.
Hire them to come out and take a look and they can best advise you on what to do to keep your boiler safe while you're away.
Of course, if you can afford it, we’d suggest having a new boiler installed as soon as possible.
A popular solution to buying a new boiler on a budget is to purchase one on finance (i.e. buy now and pay later).
In some cases, it’s possible to purchase a boiler on finance and pay zero interest, while in other cases some amount of interest will apply.
In general, buying a boiler now and paying later usually involves making repayments over a 12–24-month time frame.
Should You Turn Your Boiler Off During Spring & Autumn?
The months of April (Spring) and August, September, and October (Autumn) are something of an in-between. They’re really the middle children of the year.
April, for instance, is actually nearly as cold as November, so we suggest erring on the side of caution and treating April like you would a winter month (i.e., you should follow the winter months' advice from the previous sub-section).
The same logic would apply to October since this is a relatively cold time of the year.
As for August and September, these are quite mild months with August, in fact, being the second warmest month of the year (ahead of June).
September is quite mild too and is arguably most similar to the months of May and June.
So, it’s fine to treat August and September like summer months and follow our advice above. Just without the swimwear.
Related reading:
Should I Turn My Heating/Boiler Off When I Go on Holiday? Summary
So, to sum things up, here is what we’d recommend:
January to April - Keep your heating on if you have a modern boiler. If you have an old or worn-down boiler, consult a professional.
May to September - Feel free to turn your heating off if you’d like. If you would like to keep it on, however, and you have an old or worn-down boiler, consult a professional.
October to December - Keep your heating on if you have a modern boiler. If you have an old or worn-down boiler, consult a professional.
If you’re going on holiday for four-month stretches, you’re doing something right.
Keeping Your Heating on The Smart Way
Important note: Make sure you set your heating timer to determine when your boiler comes on and off while you’re away.
After all, you want to ensure you don’t accidentally leave your heating on 24/7 while you’re away!
You might choose to keep your heating on by following our advice or you may simply prefer to (again if you have an old or worn-down boiler, check with a professional before taking this approach).
Whatever the case, there are ways you can limit your energy bills while you’re away. None of your neighbours will be impressed with your heated empty rooms.
First and foremost, you can lower your thermostat such that when your heating is on it will heat around 15°C to 18°C.
This will keep your household warm enough while saving you on your bills. Some modern boilers also come with an anti-freezing setting. Ironically, since that’s what some people use the boiler for - not to freeze.
Very few do but if yours is one, make sure to put it to use.
Check the manufacturer’s manual for how low you could set your thermostat to work with an anti-freezing setting, if applicable to you.
Also, if your system has a hot water tank, you can switch this function off before you head away since hot water will be unnecessary. Your house ghost can take cold showers for a week.
If in doubt about this, leaving it on won’t use too much energy but if you know exactly what to do, it could save you a little extra cash.
