When Should You Turn On Your Heat in Vancouver? (We Answered Reddit's r/askvan)

Okay, nobody asked us. But someone on r/askvan posted that she and her husband were arguing about when to turn the heat on. She's cold and wants it on now. He says summer ended like four days ago, relax, and think about the bill.

183 comments later, we figured the heating guys should probably chime in.

So when should you actually turn it on?

When the house is cold. Not a date on the calendar, just when it's actually cold inside.

If you want a number, we'd say once your place is sitting under about 18°C most of the day. That lines up with the World Health Organization, which recommends keeping homes at 18°C or warmer in cold weather, and warmer if there are babies, older folks, or anyone with health issues in the house.

So if she's cold, she's cold. Sorry, husband.

The top Reddit answer isn't bad, honestly

Most of the thread said some version of "put on a sweater, and if you're still cold, then turn on the heat." One person said they're still in shorts with the bedroom window open and plans to work their way up to a hoodie before giving in. Respect.

It's a fair system. The only thing we'd add is don't let the house stay cold and damp for weeks. Vancouver in the fall is wet, and a place that never warms up gets clammy and starts fogging up the windows. A little heat helps dry things out.

Does waiting really save money?

A bit. But what saves you way more over the winter is the temperature you set it to, not the day you start.

Natural Resources Canada says around 20°C when you're home and awake, and around 17°C when you're sleeping or out. That's the setup we'd tell anyone to use. If you've got a smart thermostat, set the schedule once and forget about it. One less thing to fight over.

If you have a heat pump

Fall is when heat pumps do their best work. Mild weather is where they're most efficient, so there's no reason to be scared of turning yours on early.

Just don't drop it too low overnight. Heat pumps warm the house back up slowly, and if it's way behind in the morning, the thermostat kicks on the backup heat to catch up, and that costs more. Keep the nighttime drop to a couple of degrees and you'll be fine.

A few things before the first run

Swap the filter first. It's been sitting there all summer.

When it kicks on, you'll probably smell something burning. That's the dust inside the furnace burning off, and it goes away in a few hours. We wrote a whole post on which furnace smells are normal and which aren't if you want to be sure.

While you're at it, push the test button on your CO alarms. Takes a minute.

And if you've been putting off a tune-up, now's the time. We get a lot of calls the first really cold week of the year, so it's way easier to sort things out while it's still mild.

Our take

Turn it on. Keep it around 20°C when you're up and a couple degrees lower at night. She stays warm, he doesn't get a crazy bill. Everybody wins.

If anything sounds, smells, or runs weird once you fire it up, give us a call. Air Comfort Systems services, repairs and replaces furnaces and heat pumps across Metro Vancouver.

Sources: Natural Resources Canada, Winter is coming: Top tips to heat your home for less; World Health Organization, Housing and Health Guidelines (2018); BC Wide, How Backup Heat Works With a Heat Pump.