Who will be the first person to turn the heating on in your Chiswick property? The drop in temperature heralds the regular battle over the boiler. So who takes control of the thermostat in your house? Forget British Standard Time and Greenwich Mean Time, the real beginning of the British winter is central heating time.
New research from HomeServe, reveals that the majority of the country will finally have switched their central heating on permanently this weekend, a milestone that one in three people (35%) see as marking the beginning of winter.
This is more than regard the clocks going back on 27 October as the start of winter (29%), even though that marks the end of British Summer Time, and well outstrips the actual winter solstice on 21 December (5%).
Some 39% of people already had their heating on every day; with a further one in 10 (12%) saying they will do so once temperatures drop below 10C - as happened this weekend. But despite this weekend seeing 51% of the country edge into CHT, a frugal one in six (16%) intend to wait until November - with three per cent toughing it out until December.
Londoners chill
Others claim they will wait until the first frost (3%) or even the first snow (1%).True to stereotype, men seem less likely to put the heating on than women, with 47% entering CHT this weekend as opposed to 54% of women - which suggests there could have been some tense conversations on Saturday.
Londoners were least likely to put their heating on permanently this weekend (41%), well behind Scotland and Yorkshire (51%). Meanwhile, East Midlanders and North Easteners are the most likely to turn to the thermostat (60% and 59%). But CHT is not the only harbinger of winter. One in four (24%) feel the seasons have turned when they have to come home from work in the dark and one in seven (14%) when they have to change their duvet.
Yet for a minority, it seems that the TV schedules hold as much sway as the seasons, with 5% seeing winter having begun with the start of Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor.
