Central Heating Settings & Timings ??

g4fne

Being at home most days, i'm starting to feel the full force of the price increases in gas. I've just had a new central heating temperature timer fitted & curious what others have found the most economic way of running central heating.

What temperature setting do you find is comfortable during the winter ??
Do you run central heating all day at that temperature ??
Do you program it to increase & decrease the temperature through the day ??

nb : i already turn my heating off overnight


Probably only relevant to people that are at home most days & i understand different houses & different people will have different opinions but i'm interested to hear them

SplanK

I have just ordered an electronic timer for our boiler as at weekends i dont see the need for the heating to come on at 550 (we get up at 630 weekdays!!) during weekend.... but i find that during the day we dont need the heating on at all - only at night and early in the morning during the week

at the moment its set to around 16c and for 4hours in the evening - however I plan to change this to 2 hours staggered (1hr on, 1hr off, 1hr on....). the thermostat is in the hallway so is quite a cool place already - hence 16c on the thermostat

but would also be interested to see if there is a better way of doing it!!

roses

My thermostat is in the hallway too. I set this to 16'C 24/7 and I turn it up a notch in the evenings for 2-3 hours as it seems to only come on for half an hour every 3 hours if I leave it at 16'C. It is nice and warm when I wake up in the morning. I only stared doing this a few weeks ago so haven't got a gas bill yet.

Graham90

I have been investigating this problem for sometime with my own central heating.

I live at home full time with my wife and we have condenseing gas boiler which services hot water and central heating.

In the past I have had it come on at 6am off at 10am on at 3pm off at 10pm.

Currently following much research I leave it on all day - central heating only - at a temperature setting of 17deg - and also all night. The whole house (3 bed) stays comfortably warm and it is nice to get up to a warm house in the morning.
Over the past 4 days I have measured my gas useage and find that I have used 12 units, which is slightly less than before. Also I dont hear the boiler reving up trying to catch up with the thermostat. In severly cold weather - like this week - I give it the odd boost by raising the thermostat to 20deg. It does not take the system long to reach that temperature I then reduce to 17deg. Of course at night time if 17deg is to warm just drop down a couple of degrees.

Summary This method seems to be working well with no extra cost will monitor it for a bit longer and report back if there is any major news.

robbieroy

Graham90 wrote: »

In the past I have had it come on at 6am off at 10am on at 3pm off at 10pm.

Currently following much research I leave it on all day - central heating only - at a temperature setting of 17deg - and also all night. The whole house (3 bed) stays comfortably warm and it is nice to get up to a warm house in the morning.
Over the past 4 days I have measured my gas useage and find that I have used 12 units, which is slightly less than before.

Summary This method seems to be working well with no extra cost will monitor it for a bit longer and report back if there is any major news.

I too am experimenting with the gas central heating and settings.

Current Position: Temperature setting 20 deg. On at 6.00am off at 9.00am; on at 4.30pm off at 8.30pm I also use it for the shower and hot water.

Current usage and cost: 4.5 cubic metres per day = 45kwh per day = £1.60
However, the flat cools down by 1300 and can be quite chilly in the afternoon.

Energy Cost Calculator (for gas and electricity)
There is a useful calculator for gas an electricity use at: http://smartmeter.ukpower.co.uk/ to use it you need You need 2 readings (with dates of readings) and you need to know your supplier and tariff.

I intend to experiment with different temperatures and settings and will give your 17 degree setting with the heating on all day a try once I have confirmed the gas usage and cost for my present settings.
RR

closed

Whatever settings you use, if you heat the house while you are out for long periods or asleep, you are wasting money.

With wildly varying temperatures outside, any tests results are unlikely to be valid.

If a house or flat cools down, it's because it's colder outside, and the hotter/longer you heat it, the faster/more the heat escapes, the more the waste.

dave76

I have an electronic thermostat which has a high and a low setting (labeled sun and moon which is a bit confusing!) and little tabs on the clock so you can select which temp at different times of the day. It is not screwed to the wall as it is wireless so it has been moved around the house over time and I still cant find a good location for it! If we have it in the lounge the upstairs gets too warm, if we have it in the bedroom the lounge is too cold. Is there actually a recommended location for the thermostat? Maybe I just need to have a play with the radiator valves (which arent thermostatic unfortunately)