Central heating. Bursts or constant? My results

Rumman

What is the consequence of turning of a radiator i.e it doesn't have a TRV, in a room that you don't use?

Cardew

Rumman wrote: »

What is the consequence of turning of a radiator i.e it doesn't have a TRV, in a room that you don't use?

Normally it should be off - assuming it has a valve to turn it off.

There are some CH systems that require at least 1 radiator to be on all the time.

melbury

Our plumber friend who serviced the boiler last week said that of course it costs a lot more to have the heating on all the time because you are using gas all the time.

I really wanted him to say it hardly costs any more to be constantly warm - but of course logically it has to doesn't it?:mad:

ToTo_Man

Ok our quarterly energy bill came in at the beginning of the month and thankfully its not as bad as we feared:

Total gas usage was 1500 units (16980 kWh) costing £625 before discounts.
Total electricity usage was 2560 kWh costing £315 before discounts.
Total charge after DF discount was £865.

This gives a combined daily average energy cost of £9.60, considerably lower than my estimate. But bear in mind that I did go a fortnight in Oct and a few days in Nov and Dec with no heating on at all, so this probably has something to do with it.

Along with the monthly direct debit, this latest quarterly bill has eaten into 50% of the credit we had built up over the summer months, so as long as this quarter isn't as cold as last quarter was then the cost will be sustainable. January has been considerably cold but I'm banking on being able to switch the CH off permanently once March comes .

kjsmith7

I personally find 14 - 16 degrees is okay for me when that is the actual temperature of the room, as opposed to what the boiler is set at, if that makes any sense? (I really should get better at explaining myself!) Then again, I don't like very humid temperatures when going abroad, etc. (which means out-of-season holidays work really well for me) because I am soft when it comes to being too hot!! At the same time, I don't like to be cold.

I usually have my boiler to come on twice a day (as that is the maximum number of 'settings' it can handle!) for around 4 hours each time. Thankfully, the radiators are quite new in my rented property and heat the rooms very well, and being a midterrace allows for us all to nick heat from each other. It's a mutually beneficial thing, as none of us can have insulation.

I find this works really well for me and my OH, but we have no reasons why it wouldn't (no children and we do not live with anyone who would need more heat).

ToTo Man, If that is less than your estimate and you had a decent credit than it appears you had planned for this using your direct debit! I am also hoping to switch my CH once March (or April) comes, and then again I only turned my CH on at the very end of October this year

Another point I feel I must mention - I have a standalone gas fire, powered by butane bottles. This works out very effective for me - the fire cost around £100 around 10 years ago and is probably similar now. The gas bottles (16kg or so) cost me £20 (the first one costs a little more as you pay a 'rental' fee, but then you only pay £20 the next time as you take your old bottle back and get a new one) and I find as it is relatively portable it can be moved to where it is needed. It could be an option for yourself to help heat the rooms you use more? Obviously, it would need to be safety and efficiency checked once every year, but if you already have that covered I am sure the engineer would check your fire also? Just a suggestion