Laundry washing machine (1) comprising an outer casing (2), a washing tub (3), which is arranged inside the casing (2), a rotatable drum (4), which is arranged in axially rotating manner inside the washing tub (3) and is designed to receive laundry to be washed, a detergent dispensing assembly (12), which is designed for supplying detergent/water into the washing tub (3), a water softening system (14), which is designed to receive fresh water from a water mains (13) and is configured to reduce the hardness degree of the fresh water in order to supply softened water to the detergent dispensing assembly (12) and/or to the washing tub (3) during one or more softened water laundry wash phases, a heating device (11) designed to heat the water loaded in the washing tub (3) so as to regulate the temperature of the loaded water, a control panel (28) configured to allow the operator to input information indicative of a washing course to be performed, wherein the washing course comprises one or more softened water laundry wash phases, and a controller (15) configured to control said heating device (11) to regulate the temperature of the water loaded in the washing tub (3) based on the softened water laundry wash phase/s of the laundry washing course.