diff --git a/qa-include/app/options.php b/qa-include/app/options.php
index 8e623253c..1407e75f2 100644
--- a/qa-include/app/options.php
+++ b/qa-include/app/options.php
@@ -203,6 +203,8 @@ function qa_default_option($name)
 {
 	if (qa_to_override(__FUNCTION__)) { $args=func_get_args(); return qa_call_override(__FUNCTION__, $args); }
 
+	require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/hotness.php';
+
 	$fixed_defaults = array(
 		'allow_anonymous_naming' => 1,
 		'allow_change_usernames' => 1,
@@ -353,7 +355,7 @@ function qa_default_option($name)
 		'points_q_voted_max_loss' => 3,
 		'points_select_a' => 3,
 		'q_urls_title_length' => 50,
-		'recalc_hotness_q_view' => 1,
+		'recalc_hotness_frequency' => QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_ALWAYS,
 		'show_a_c_links' => 1,
 		'show_a_form_immediate' => 'if_no_as',
 		'show_c_reply_buttons' => 1,
diff --git a/qa-include/app/page.php b/qa-include/app/page.php
index 3d6fab214..bde070b4d 100644
--- a/qa-include/app/page.php
+++ b/qa-include/app/page.php
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ function qa_do_content_stats($qa_content)
 
 	$viewsIncremented = qa_db_increment_views($qa_content['inc_views_postid']);
 
-	if ($viewsIncremented && qa_opt('recalc_hotness_q_view')) {
+	if ($viewsIncremented && (int)qa_opt('recalc_hotness_frequency') === QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_ALWAYS) {
 		qa_db_hotness_update($qa_content['inc_views_postid']);
 	}
 
@@ -470,6 +470,8 @@ function qa_content_prepare($voting = false, $categoryids = array())
 
 	global $qa_template, $qa_page_error_html;
 
+	require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/hotness.php';
+
 	if (QA_DEBUG_PERFORMANCE) {
 		global $qa_usage;
 		$qa_usage->mark('control');
@@ -579,7 +581,7 @@ function qa_content_prepare($voting = false, $categoryids = array())
 		);
 	}
 
-	if (qa_opt('nav_hot')) {
+	if (qa_opt('nav_hot') && (int)qa_opt('recalc_hotness_frequency') > QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NEVER) {
 		$qa_content['navigation']['main']['hot'] = array(
 			'url' => qa_path_html('hot'),
 			'label' => qa_lang_html('main/nav_hot'),
diff --git a/qa-include/app/post-create.php b/qa-include/app/post-create.php
index a69a23f01..a3d50d15d 100644
--- a/qa-include/app/post-create.php
+++ b/qa-include/app/post-create.php
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ function qa_question_create($followanswer, $userid, $handle, $cookieid, $title,
 	$categoryid = null, $extravalue = null, $queued = false, $name = null)
 {
 	require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/selects.php';
+	require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/hotness.php';
 
 	$postid = qa_db_post_create($queued ? 'Q_QUEUED' : 'Q', @$followanswer['postid'], $userid, isset($userid) ? null : $cookieid,
 		qa_remote_ip_address(), $title, $content, $format, $tagstring, qa_combine_notify_email($userid, $notify, $email),
@@ -80,7 +81,9 @@ function qa_question_create($followanswer, $userid, $handle, $cookieid, $title,
 	}
 
 	qa_db_posts_calc_category_path($postid);
-	qa_db_hotness_update($postid);
+	if ((int)qa_opt('recalc_hotness_frequency') > QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NEVER) {
+		qa_db_hotness_update($postid);
+	}
 
 	if ($queued) {
 		qa_db_queuedcount_update();
@@ -248,8 +251,12 @@ function qa_answer_create($userid, $handle, $cookieid, $content, $format, $text,
  */
 function qa_update_q_counts_for_a($questionid)
 {
+	require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/hotness.php';
+
 	qa_db_post_acount_update($questionid);
-	qa_db_hotness_update($questionid);
+	if ((int)qa_opt('recalc_hotness_frequency') > QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NEVER) {
+		qa_db_hotness_update($questionid);
+	}
 	qa_db_acount_update();
 	qa_db_unaqcount_update();
 	qa_db_unupaqcount_update();
diff --git a/qa-include/app/post-update.php b/qa-include/app/post-update.php
index 102dd43ca..ca2f36f50 100644
--- a/qa-include/app/post-update.php
+++ b/qa-include/app/post-update.php
@@ -386,7 +386,12 @@ function qa_question_set_status($oldquestion, $status, $userid, $handle, $cookie
 
 		else { // ... otherwise we're approving original created post
 			qa_db_post_set_created($oldquestion['postid'], null);
-			qa_db_hotness_update($oldquestion['postid']);
+
+			require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/hotness.php';
+
+			if ((int)qa_opt('recalc_hotness_frequency') > QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NEVER) {
+				qa_db_hotness_update($oldquestion['postid']);
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/qa-include/app/posts.php b/qa-include/app/posts.php
index d13c603f9..b4f5413d3 100644
--- a/qa-include/app/posts.php
+++ b/qa-include/app/posts.php
@@ -303,10 +303,16 @@ function qa_post_set_status($postid, $status, $byuserid = null)
  */
 function qa_post_set_created($postid, $created)
 {
-	$oldpost = qa_post_get_full($postid);
-
 	qa_db_post_set_created($postid, $created);
 
+	require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/hotness.php';
+
+	if ((int)qa_opt('recalc_hotness_frequency') === QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NEVER) {
+		return;
+	}
+
+	$oldpost = qa_post_get_full($postid);
+
 	switch ($oldpost['basetype']) {
 		case 'Q':
 			qa_db_hotness_update($postid);
diff --git a/qa-include/app/q-list.php b/qa-include/app/q-list.php
index f600042bb..7455fdb2a 100644
--- a/qa-include/app/q-list.php
+++ b/qa-include/app/q-list.php
@@ -159,6 +159,8 @@ function qa_q_list_page_content($questions, $pagesize, $start, $count, $sometitl
  */
 function qa_qs_sub_navigation($sort, $categoryslugs)
 {
+	require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/hotness.php';
+
 	$request = 'questions';
 
 	if (isset($categoryslugs)) {
@@ -167,17 +169,19 @@ function qa_qs_sub_navigation($sort, $categoryslugs)
 		}
 	}
 
-	$navigation = array(
-		'recent' => array(
-			'label' => qa_lang('main/nav_most_recent'),
-			'url' => qa_path_html($request),
-		),
+	$navigation['recent'] = array(
+		'label' => qa_lang('main/nav_most_recent'),
+		'url' => qa_path_html($request),
+	);
 
-		'hot' => array(
+	if ((int)qa_opt('recalc_hotness_frequency') > QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NEVER) {
+		$navigation['hot'] = array(
 			'label' => qa_lang('main/nav_hot'),
 			'url' => qa_path_html($request, array('sort' => 'hot')),
-		),
+		);
+	}
 
+	$navigation += array(
 		'votes' => array(
 			'label' => qa_lang('main/nav_most_votes'),
 			'url' => qa_path_html($request, array('sort' => 'votes')),
diff --git a/qa-include/app/votes.php b/qa-include/app/votes.php
index 14f41c385..2617581ae 100644
--- a/qa-include/app/votes.php
+++ b/qa-include/app/votes.php
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ function qa_vote_set($post, $userid, $handle, $cookieid, $vote)
 
 	qa_db_points_update_ifuser($post['userid'], array($prefix . 'voteds', 'upvoteds', 'downvoteds'));
 
-	if ($prefix === 'q') {
+	if ($prefix === 'q' && (int)qa_opt('recalc_hotness_frequency') > QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NEVER) {
 		qa_db_hotness_update($post['postid']);
 	}
 
diff --git a/qa-include/db/hotness.php b/qa-include/db/hotness.php
index 768e1d233..fc5a01983 100644
--- a/qa-include/db/hotness.php
+++ b/qa-include/db/hotness.php
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@
 }
 
 
+define('QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NEVER', 0);
+define('QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NO_Q_VIEW', 1);
+define('QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_ALWAYS', 2);
+
+
 /**
  * Increment the views counter for the post (if different IP from last view).
  * @param  int $postid The ID of the post
diff --git a/qa-include/db/recalc.php b/qa-include/db/recalc.php
index 351cd751b..891971de8 100644
--- a/qa-include/db/recalc.php
+++ b/qa-include/db/recalc.php
@@ -213,12 +213,16 @@ function qa_db_posts_get_for_recounting($startpostid, $count)
  */
 function qa_db_posts_votes_recount($firstpostid, $lastpostid)
 {
+	require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/hotness.php';
+
 	qa_db_query_sub(
 		'UPDATE ^posts AS x, (SELECT ^posts.postid, COALESCE(SUM(GREATEST(0,^uservotes.vote)),0) AS upvotes, -COALESCE(SUM(LEAST(0,^uservotes.vote)),0) AS downvotes, COALESCE(SUM(IF(^uservotes.flag, 1, 0)),0) AS flagcount FROM ^posts LEFT JOIN ^uservotes ON ^uservotes.postid=^posts.postid WHERE ^posts.postid>=# AND ^posts.postid<=# GROUP BY postid) AS a SET x.upvotes=a.upvotes, x.downvotes=a.downvotes, x.netvotes=a.upvotes-a.downvotes, x.flagcount=a.flagcount WHERE x.postid=a.postid',
 		$firstpostid, $lastpostid
 	);
 
-	qa_db_hotness_update($firstpostid, $lastpostid);
+	if ((int)qa_opt('recalc_hotness_frequency') > QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NEVER) {
+		qa_db_hotness_update($firstpostid, $lastpostid);
+	}
 }
 
 
@@ -236,7 +240,9 @@ function qa_db_posts_answers_recount($firstpostid, $lastpostid)
 		$firstpostid, $lastpostid
 	);
 
-	qa_db_hotness_update($firstpostid, $lastpostid);
+	if ((int)qa_opt('recalc_hotness_frequency') > QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NEVER) {
+		qa_db_hotness_update($firstpostid, $lastpostid);
+	}
 }
 
 
diff --git a/qa-include/lang/qa-lang-admin.php b/qa-include/lang/qa-lang-admin.php
index d1ea83f4a..2f3b28c9c 100644
--- a/qa-include/lang/qa-lang-admin.php
+++ b/qa-include/lang/qa-lang-admin.php
@@ -205,7 +205,10 @@
 	'recalc_categories_note' => ' - for post categories and category counts',
 	'recalc_categories_recounting' => 'Recounting questions for ^1 of ^2 categories...',
 	'recalc_categories_updated' => 'Recalculated for ^1 of ^2 posts...',
-	'recalc_hotness_q_view_note' => 'May slightly improve page speed if disabled, but hotness values will become out of date if views are included in hotness settings',
+	'recalc_hotness_q_view_note' => 'May slightly improve page speed if disabled, but hotness values will become out of date if views are included in hotness settings', // @deprecated
+	'recalc_hotness_never_note' => 'Hotness is never recalculated or even used. Removes the hotness submenu in questions list. No performance impact.',
+	'recalc_hotness_no_q_view_note' => 'Hotness is recalculated in several events (e.g. post creation) with the exception of question views. Medium performance impact.',
+	'recalc_hotness_always_note' => 'Hotness is recalculated in all possible events, including question views. High performance impact.',
 	'recalc_points' => 'Recalculate user points',
 	'recalc_points_complete' => 'All user points were successfully recalculated.',
 	'recalc_points_note' => ' - for user ranking and points displays',
diff --git a/qa-include/lang/qa-lang-options.php b/qa-include/lang/qa-lang-options.php
index 0e11aee1e..2905ff615 100644
--- a/qa-include/lang/qa-lang-options.php
+++ b/qa-include/lang/qa-lang-options.php
@@ -238,7 +238,11 @@
 	'points_vote_up_q' => 'Voting up a question:',
 	'q_urls_remove_accents' => 'Remove accents from question URLs:',
 	'q_urls_title_length' => 'Question title length in URLs:',
-	'recalc_hotness_q_view' => 'Recalculate hotness on every question page view:',
+	'recalc_hotness_always' => 'Always recalculate, including page views',
+	'recalc_hotness_frequency' => 'Hotness recalculation frequency:',
+	'recalc_hotness_never' => 'Never recalculate',
+	'recalc_hotness_no_q_view' => 'Always recalculate, except for page views',
+	'recalc_hotness_q_view' => 'Recalculate hotness on every question page view:', // @deprecated
 	'register_notify_admin' => 'Email me when a new user registers:',
 	'search_module' => 'Use search module:',
 	'show_a_form_immediate' => 'Show answer form immediately:',
diff --git a/qa-include/pages/admin/admin-default.php b/qa-include/pages/admin/admin-default.php
index b7ccc62c0..828d54bb5 100644
--- a/qa-include/pages/admin/admin-default.php
+++ b/qa-include/pages/admin/admin-default.php
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 }
 
 require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/admin.php';
+require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/hotness.php';
 require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/maxima.php';
 require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/selects.php';
 require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'app/options.php';
@@ -193,7 +194,6 @@
 	'notify_admin_q_post' => 'checkbox',
 	'notify_users_default' => 'checkbox',
 	'q_urls_remove_accents' => 'checkbox',
-	'recalc_hotness_q_view' => 'checkbox',
 	'register_notify_admin' => 'checkbox',
 	'show_c_reply_buttons' => 'checkbox',
 	'show_compact_numbers' => 'checkbox',
@@ -388,7 +388,7 @@
 	case 'viewing':
 		$subtitle = 'admin/viewing_title';
 		$showoptions = array(
-			'q_urls_title_length', 'q_urls_remove_accents', 'do_count_q_views', 'show_view_counts', 'show_view_count_q_page', 'recalc_hotness_q_view', '',
+			'q_urls_title_length', 'q_urls_remove_accents', 'do_count_q_views', 'show_view_counts', 'show_view_count_q_page', 'recalc_hotness_frequency', '',
 			'voting_on_qs', 'voting_on_q_page_only', 'voting_on_as', 'voting_on_cs', 'votes_separated', '',
 			'show_url_links', 'links_in_new_window', 'show_when_created', 'show_full_date_days'
 		);
@@ -424,7 +424,6 @@
 		$checkboxtodisplay = array(
 			'show_view_counts' => 'option_do_count_q_views',
 			'show_view_count_q_page' => 'option_do_count_q_views',
-			'recalc_hotness_q_view' => 'option_do_count_q_views',
 			'votes_separated' => 'option_voting_on_qs || option_voting_on_as',
 			'voting_on_q_page_only' => 'option_voting_on_qs',
 			'show_full_date_days' => 'option_show_when_created',
@@ -1204,8 +1203,18 @@ function qa_optionfield_make_select(&$optionfield, $options, $value, $default)
 				$optionfield['note'] = qa_lang_html('admin/characters');
 				break;
 
-			case 'recalc_hotness_q_view':
-				$optionfield['note'] = '<span class="qa-form-wide-help" title="' . qa_lang_html('admin/recalc_hotness_q_view_note') . '">?</span>';
+			case 'recalc_hotness_frequency':
+				$hotnessOptions = array(
+					QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NEVER => 'recalc_hotness_never',
+					QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NO_Q_VIEW => 'recalc_hotness_no_q_view',
+					QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_ALWAYS => 'recalc_hotness_always',
+				);
+
+				qa_optionfield_make_select($optionfield, array_map(function ($optionValue) {
+					return qa_lang_html('options/' . $optionValue);
+				}, $hotnessOptions), $value, QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_ALWAYS);
+				// recalc_hotness_always_note, recalc_hotness_no_q_view_note, recalc_hotness_never_note
+				$optionfield['note'] = sprintf('<span class="qa-form-wide-help" title="%s">?</span>', qa_lang_html(sprintf('admin/%s_note', isset($hotnessOptions[$value]) ? $hotnessOptions[$value] : reset($hotnessOptions))));
 				break;
 
 			case 'min_num_q_tags':
diff --git a/qa-include/pages/admin/admin-pages.php b/qa-include/pages/admin/admin-pages.php
index af82bc96d..757b15d30 100644
--- a/qa-include/pages/admin/admin-pages.php
+++ b/qa-include/pages/admin/admin-pages.php
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 
 require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'app/admin.php';
 require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'app/format.php';
+require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/hotness.php';
 require_once QA_INCLUDE_DIR . 'db/selects.php';
 
 
@@ -63,12 +64,6 @@
 	'nav_activity' => 'main/nav_activity',
 	$hascustomhome ? 'nav_qa_not_home' : 'nav_qa_is_home' => $hascustomhome ? 'main/nav_qa' : 'admin/nav_qa_is_home',
 	'nav_questions' => 'main/nav_qs',
-	'nav_hot' => 'main/nav_hot',
-	'nav_unanswered' => 'main/nav_unanswered',
-	'nav_tags' => 'main/nav_tags',
-	'nav_categories' => 'main/nav_categories',
-	'nav_users' => 'main/nav_users',
-	'nav_ask' => 'main/nav_ask',
 );
 
 $navpaths = array(
@@ -77,7 +72,22 @@
 	'nav_qa_not_home' => 'qa',
 	'nav_qa_is_home' => '',
 	'nav_questions' => 'questions',
-	'nav_hot' => 'hot',
+);
+
+if ((int)qa_opt('recalc_hotness_frequency') > QA_HOTNESS_RECALC_NEVER) {
+	$navoptions['nav_hot'] = 'main/nav_hot';
+	$navpaths['nav_hot'] = 'hot';
+}
+
+$navoptions += array(
+	'nav_unanswered' => 'main/nav_unanswered',
+	'nav_tags' => 'main/nav_tags',
+	'nav_categories' => 'main/nav_categories',
+	'nav_users' => 'main/nav_users',
+	'nav_ask' => 'main/nav_ask',
+);
+
+$navpaths += array(
 	'nav_unanswered' => 'unanswered',
 	'nav_tags' => 'tags',
 	'nav_categories' => 'categories',