Perfect Winter
How Britain really keeps warm
What makes a room feel right in winter?
We asked 2,000 people across the UK about the rooms they spend time in, the temperatures they prefer, and the small rituals that make winter something to look forward to.
The results reveal a simple truth. People do not remember a thermostat setting. They remember how a room makes them feel.
What we found
19.8°C is the average ideal living room temperature in winter, with 20°C the most popular setting
37% spend all seven evenings of a typical winter week at home
42% say a perfectly warm room is essential to a good winter night in – ahead of a favourite film at 41%
23% name doors left open as the most common winter household disagreement
41% look forward to Christmas and the festive season most, then cosy nights in at 39%
20% have secretly turned the thermostat down without telling anyone. 19% have turned it up
13% do not know or do not monitor what temperature their home is at all
26% choose cosy country / cottage as their ideal winter interior style
What Britain loves most about winter
For all the complaining about dark afternoons, most people find something in winter worth waiting for.
Christmas and the festive season leads comfortably, chosen by 41%. The findings just behind it are quieter and closer to home. 39%, nearly four in ten people, look forward to cosy nights in, while 30%, three in ten, most anticipate the feeling of returning to a warm house. The things people value most about winter are not extravagant. They are the small details that make everyday life more enjoyable. The season announces itself before the weather does. A quarter of people (25%) said the clocks going back is the moment winter properly arrives - more than named the first frost, the first snow, or the temperature itself.
Ready to create your perfect winter room?
Find the radiator styles designed to keep your space cosy all season.
The formula for a perfect winter night in
Ask people what makes a winter evening feel complete and the answers are remarkably consistent.
Warmth comes first. A perfectly warm room (42%) ranked ahead of a favourite film or series (41%), time with family (36%), a home-cooked meal (36%) and even a hot drink (36%).
It is worth sitting with that for a second. Given a free choice of everything that makes an evening at home good, more people picked the temperature of the room than picked the television.
And these evenings are not occasional. Britons spend an average of 5.2 evenings a week at home during winter, and 37% spend all seven.
If the warmth of the room is doing that much work, it is worth heating it properly.
The ultimate winter interior
Britain’s winter taste is traditional. Cosy country / cottage leads by some distance, and deep colour is not a fringe taste at all.
16%
Cream & warm white
14%
Burgundy & wine red
10%
Terracotta & rust
10%
Beige & oatmeal
9%
Chocolate & deep brown
Good winter interiors are not about following trends. They are about creating spaces people genuinely enjoy spending time in.
That is reflected in the results.
Cosy country / cottage is the most popular style by some distance (26%), followed by traditional and classic (17%) and warm minimalist (14%). Scandinavian styling, so often held up as the definition of winter interiors, was chosen by just 6%.
On colour, cream and warm white leads at 16% - but burgundy and wine red follows closely at 14%, and terracotta and rust at 10%.
Half of everyone surveyed (50%) said throws and blankets are what make a winter room, ahead of scented candles (34%). And 14% said a radiator that complements the room is part of the finished picture - roughly the same proportion who named heavier curtains, which places heating in the same conversation as lighting, flooring and soft furnishings rather than in the same conversation as plumbing.
14% say a radiator that complements the room is part of the finished picture. See radiators in the colours and finishes homeowners are choosing this winter.
Cosy country & cottage
Britain’s favourite winter interior style, chosen by 26%
Colour as part of the room
14% say a radiator that complements the space is a finishing touch that matters
Texture over everything
Fleece (39%) and wool (37%) named the cosiest materials of all
Inspired by Britain's favourite winter colours?
From warm neutrals to rich statement shades, discover radiators to match your look.
What Britain sets the thermostat to
The question people argue about every year without ever agreeing on an answer. So, we asked it directly.
The average ideal living room temperature for relaxing at home in winter, according to 2,000 UK adults.
Every winter, households have the same conversation.
Too warm. Too cold. Just right.
When we asked 2,000 people where “just right” sits, the average answer was 19.8°C, with 20°C the single most popular setting, chosen by one in five people (20%). Behind it come 18°C (15%) and 21°C (11%).
Around one in ten are comfortable at 17°C or below, while 13% told us they do not monitor their home temperature at all - which may explain why the argument never resolves.
What we do before the thermostat goes up
Most people try something else first. Getting under a blanket is the most common response (44%), followed by thick socks or slippers (40%), a hot drink (39%) and another jumper (36%).
Only 5% said they simply turn the heating up.
Struggling to reach your ideal room temperature?
Discover radiators designed to heat your room efficiently and evenly.
Winter wars
Winter has a way of turning small domestic habits into standing disputes - and heating is at the centre of most of them.
23% — leaving doors open and letting the heat out is the most common flashpoint of all.
20% have secretly turned the thermostat down. 19% have secretly turned it up. Presumably in the same houses
27% admit to drying clothes directly on or next to a radiator.
Winter around the country
We expected a north-south divide. What the data actually shows is a country in near-total agreement.
Every region sits between 19.5°C and 20.4°C.
Whatever else divides the country in winter, the thermostat is not it.
Ready to get your home winter-ready?
About this research
This research was commissioned by BestHeating and carried out among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK adults in August 2026, by Censuswide.
Some questions allowed respondents to select more than one answer, so those results total more than 100%. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, and averages are stated as averages.
Journalists and editors are welcome to use these findings with attribution to BestHeating and a link to this page.
Full data tables are available on request via daisy@weareboutique.co.uk
