For over 30 years now, our partners at BRE have been collecting data on average indoor temperatures in the UK. What they've found is that over time we're heating our homes to higher and higher temperatures, from about 13° C in 1970 to over 20° C in recent years. And all this during a period where the weather, if anything, has been slightly warmer than it used to be.
Of course, one thing that has changed since 1970 is that a lot more people have central heating. So what I like about this chart is that it separates out this effect: all else equal, the chart shows that the spread of central heating would have increased indoor temperatures only to about 15° C by 1970 standards. The rest of the increase (by rough calculation about 70% of it) is just behaviour. We've gone soft!
The Energy Saving Trust says that turning down the thermostat down by 1° C cuts your heating bill by 10% on average. So what we're really seeing here is the long run trend of rising incomes and falling relative costs of energy. Which if you're worried about these things, would get you thinking again about pricing.
The data source is here for those that are interested.
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