The Independent, on Climate, 23 October 2026

3.0out of 10Minor

Experts reveal the ideal thermostat temperature to keep your home warm and slash heating bills

Tap a highlight to see why it matters.1 finding

Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Experts reveal the ideal thermostat temperature to keep your home warm and slash heating bills Julia Musto in New York Friday 23 October 2026 08:25 BST Bookmark popover Removed from bookmarks Close popover People can save as much as 10 percent on heating a year by turning the thermostat back 7-10 degrees for eight hours ( Getty/iStock ) HVAC experts recommend setting home thermostats to 20°C (68°F) in autumn to stay comfortable without overworking heating systems.

According to the US Department of Energy , can cut annual heating costs by up to 10 percent. Lowering indoor temperatures overnight or while away from home helps prevent unnecessary energy consumption and can improve sleep quality. Recommended settings vary by climate, with warmer regions needing higher baseline settings of between 21°C and 25.5°C (70°F to 78°F). Alternative methods to stay warm without turning up the heat include wearing extra layers, sealing drafty windows and doors, and using hot water bottles.

In full What to keep your thermostat at this fall as temperatures drop

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What we found (1)

The Independent gives household advice on thermostat settings, sourcing its savings figure to the US Department of Energy. The only weakness is that it gives the size of the recommended overnight cut as a bare number of degrees, with no unit, beside figures that lead with Celsius. Nothing else in it misleads.

  1. Uses figures that mislead

    Minor

    “lowering the thermostat by 7 to 10 degrees for eight hours a day”

    Why this matters
    The words "7 to 10 degrees" give the size of the cut with no unit, while the article's other temperatures lead with Celsius.
    The impression it gives
    A UK reader may take this as a 7 to 10°C drop, which from the recommended 20°C would mean a home kept at 10°C to 13°C.
    The context
    The article attributes the figure to the US Department of Energy and gives every other temperature in both scales, but here it gives neither. A reader cannot tell which scale is meant, and the gap between the two is large.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“setting home thermostats to 20°C (68°F) in autumn”

    Show it in the article

What it gets right

  • “According to the US Department of Energy”

    The article names the source of its savings figure rather than stating the estimate in its own voice.

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