How ecconomical is leaving the heating on all day?

Katie-Kat-Kins

Because with the thermostat down to 17C it won't actually be on much, just if the temperature drops very low, and it would be a bit unpleasent if it did drop much lower than this even if you are in bed.

If your heating is on but with the thermostat down low it will be off unless your house temperature drops below a certain level.

The temperature on the thermostat doesn't relate to the temperature that the heating is working at, it relates to the temperature which the heating is attempting to maintain in the room. It will cycle on and off to reach an maintain this.

Realistically turning down to 17C overnight might mean that you get one half hour top up in the night but don't wake up cold or get nasty drafts through any gaps in the covers. And then when you turn it up in the morning there will be less work for your heating to do as the temperature of the house will not have fallen so low. So maybe instead of working solidly for an hour to get your property from 15C to 20C it will only have to do half an hour to get from 17C to 20C.

The figures are just examples, just to illustrate how thermostats work and how leaving your heating on with the stat turned down isn't as bonkers as some people on here seem to think. There seem to be a lot on this site that don't understand the principle of a thermostat switch.

KimYeovil

Katie-Kat-Kins wrote: »

Because with the thermostat down to 17C it won't actually be on much, just if the temperature drops very low, and it would be a bit unpleasent if it did drop much lower than this even if you are in bed.

Rest of your post is okay but to suggest that any normal person would find a temperature of 17C to be comfortable is crazy. Most normal people would be kicking the blankets off and stretching out naked if the ambient temperature was that high. And I doubt they would get any sleep.

richardc1983

Actually Kim I turn my thermostat down to 18C on a night when its cold like this, and I still wake up cold and the room temperature says its 17.5C so now I put it down to 19C on a night.

Reccomended bedroom temp is 18C.

Katie-Kat-Kins

Depends how accurate your thermostat is - I don't have GCH at the moment and our house is about 15C when I get up I think and that feels pretty cold to me. Can't vouch for the accuracy of that reading though to be honest, but it is the principle, there is sense in turning the heating thermostat down over night rather than off and it depends upon your own comfort levels what that should be.

If you look at cardew's post on temperatures I think 18C is recommended for a bedroom.

Most thermostats are in a cold area (the hall) and so the temperature of the rooms is normally higher than the temperature shown on the stat. So if your stat is at 17C and you are too warm it may well be because the temperature in the warmer areas of the house are higher.

richardc1983

If you check my post above I have just supported what you have said Kim, and I can control each temp in each room due to air con so its is pretty spot on with maintaining whatever is selected.

Katie-Kat-Kins

Sorry Richard - I think we crossed posts - 1 minute apart and mine took a while to type

I agree less than 18C would be chilly for most people used to central heating. I have two duvets and a pair of PJs because with storage heaters we can't keep the house that warm overnight without bankrupting ourselves!

richardc1983

Are you not on economy 7?

Katie-Kat-Kins

Yes, well E10 actually - so the heaters are charging overnight - although we don't have one in the bedroom.

It is pretty cold all the time, must get a proper thermometer so that I know how cold, but if it reads really cold I'll just feel worse!!!

Two duvets makes it ok overnight while you are in the bed it is getting out that is the challenge!

I'm just glad I'm not the one that is home all day - I go to my air conditioned office to warm up in the day time!

richardc1983

Your economy 10 should be cheap to run then really as long as it is coming on during the hours that its cheaper, I had storage heaters and the timer was coming on at the wrong times so it was coming on during the day and not the night so they had to come out and fix it.

Regarding thermometers...

Theres a few options really...

http://www.oregonscientific.co.uk/ca...ometer---.html

this one that you can use multiple sensors for different rooms, im ordering one of these, the 2nd link is the new version which is solar powered...

http://www.oregonscientific.co.uk/ca...-Monitor-.html

http://www.oregonscientific.co.uk/ca...a-Control.html

Or the one I have here on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Acctim-Galatea...042964fb9d81fc

Or to get a free indoor digital thermometer that tells you humidity etc ring these folk...

http://www.jshumidifiers.com/

Blackpool_Saver

ixwood wrote: »

You do know that freezing point is 0? Why would you have it on 15 when when you're not there?

My heating is not on now and it's 9 degrees in the hall and kitchen. It'd take a VERY cold spell to get it down to 0 inside. Don't all boilers have built in frost protection mode these days anyway?

Heating an empty house to stop damp and mould is madness IMHO. You get damp and mould when the moisture content in the air is too high. If you have dry air, the temperature is irrelevant.

I don't have a water tank, but as I understand it, they only need to be on for a few hours overnight/early morning normally.

I should hope so, I was reasonably well educated as Princess Anne once said !!

I leave it on at 15 so it doesn't drop, I am in a detached end house with lots of exposed walls.
It's not the boiler it's the pipes along the outside walls that worry me re the freezing possibility.
I don't have a combi, like you, it's a storage tank.
I have a medical condition requiring extra warmth.
Thanks for your reply.