Gas on constantly or on and off...?

Chrysalis

ally18 wrote: »

Hi,
I'm sorry to continue on this point but can someone advise on my predicament.
I have an old Baxi boiler that does not have a thermostat, just a dial which ranges from 0 to 6. I do have a timer connected to it however. My home is an extended 3 bed semi with 6 radiators, all of which do not have thermostats on and cannot be turned on or off unless with a spanner and strong hand! Therefore they stay on!
I normally set the timer and use it to have the heating on twice a day, morning and night. My question is which is the best dial setting to have it on? Does anyone know roughly what the temperatures of this boiler would be set at?

Thanks

similiar to me then except my boiler is just 1 to 4, currently on 4 which costs £1.60 an hour to run.

aelitaman

Chrysalis wrote: »

similiar to me then except my boiler is just 1 to 4, currently on 4 which costs £1.60 an hour to run.

if you boiler costs 1.60gbp per hour to run then you have one of the worlds most ineffcient boilers?

Mine costs 34p per hour to run after it has got up to its peak operating effciency.

Chrysalis

aelitaman wrote: »

if you boiler costs 1.60gbp per hour to run then you have one of the worlds most ineffcient boilers?

Mine costs 34p per hour to run after it has got up to its peak operating effciency.

yep I know its inefficient. It costs me 30p an hour to only heat the water. So my water heating is almost as expensive as your CH, there is a reason why the boiler I have is now illegal in new builds.

My sister who is on prepay. So knows the exact cost of running her CH, has a combi boiler. If she turns her CH on then £2 lasts her about 2 hours. About £1 an hour. However her water is dirt cheap, in the summer £2 lasted for weeks.

aelitaman

Chrysalis wrote: »

yep I know its inefficient. It costs me 30p an hour to only heat the water. So my water heating is almost as expensive as your CH, there is a reason why the boiler I have is now illegal in new builds.

My sister who is on prepay. So knows the exact cost of running her CH, has a combi boiler. If she turns her CH on then £2 lasts her about 2 hours. About £1 an hour. However her water is dirt cheap, in the summer £2 lasted for weeks.

Mine cost 11p per hour to heat the water in the summer.

mech_2

aelitaman wrote: »

if you boiler costs 1.60gbp per hour to run then you have one of the worlds most ineffcient boilers?

Mine costs 34p per hour to run after it has got up to its peak operating effciency.

It's more a case of house x costs y amount to heat per day rather than anything else, as that's what drives heat demand. If the boiler is on for less time it will be working harder to get the house to temperature, so burn gas at a faster rate.

I did the whole timed vs constant thing a while back and found that, for me, having the heating on constantly 24/7 cost me somewhere between 12% and 17% more than having it on for 8 hours split between 1.5 hours in the morning and 6.5 in the evening (all at the same room thermostat setting).

Nowadays I just turn it down a degree or two before going out or going to bed (if I remember). This has only cost very roughly 3% more. I'm happiest with this regime, as my life just doesn't follow the same timing regiment every day of the year.

Chrysalis

mech wrote: »

It's more a case of house x costs y amount to heat per day rather than anything else, as that's what drives heat demand. If the boiler is on for less time it will be working harder to get the house to temperature, so burn gas at a faster rate.

I did the whole timed vs constant thing a while back and found that, for me, having the heating on constantly 24/7 cost me somewhere between 12% and 17% more than having it on for 8 hours split between 1.5 hours in the morning and 6.5 in the evening (all at the same room thermostat setting).

Nowadays I just turn it down a degree or two before going out or going to bed (if I remember). This has only cost very roughly 3% more. I'm happiest with this regime, as my life just doesn't follow the same timing regiment every day of the year.

I do know with my boiler when it is on it stays on, I dont see or hear it flick on and off to maintain temperature it simply is always on. Maybe it is broken I dont know but that is how it operates. The only thing I have resembing a temperature control is the 1-4 dial and that seems to adjust the size of the flame, so if eg. on 1, its still always on but a smaller flame.

mech_2

Chrysalis wrote: »

I do know with my boiler when it is on it stays on, I dont see or hear it flick on and off to maintain temperature it simply is always on. Maybe it is broken I dont know but that is how it operates. The only thing I have resembing a temperature control is the 1-4 dial and that seems to adjust the size of the flame, so if eg. on 1, its still always on but a smaller flame.

Ah so if it's on constantly would the house just get hotter and hotter until it was like a sauna? I suspect most installations at least have either thermostatic radiator valves or a roomstat, if not both.

Cardew

Chrysalis wrote: »

I do know with my boiler when it is on it stays on, I dont see or hear it flick on and off to maintain temperature it simply is always on. Maybe it is broken I dont know but that is how it operates. The only thing I have resembing a temperature control is the 1-4 dial and that seems to adjust the size of the flame, so if eg. on 1, its still always on but a smaller flame.

The 1-4 dial on the boiler is the temperature of the water(I suspect) When you turn it down the boiler output modulates - i.e. heats less so a smaller flame.

boliston

I don't like using a timer to control my heating and use the thermostat in the hallway as an "on/off" switch (30 degrees="on" and 10 degrees = "off"). I control the temperature using the thermostat on the boiler as this gives far more accurate heat stability than relying on the hall thermostat as a temperature control and it keeps the radiators "warm" rather than them cycling between "hot" and "cold" all the time.

curlygirl1971

Don't suppose anyone can give me some advice

It's forecasted to reach -11 tonight. I live in an 1910 terraced house.
I have an old heating system (will be getting a new boiler later this year). The timer doesn't work properly and neither does the thermostat. I am incredibly nervous of going to bed tonight with the heating off and the pipes freezing. Do I leave the heating on or take a chance? It does seem ridiculous to have the house heated whilst I'm in bed - and it will become uncomfortably warm but like I say........am really nervous. The waste pipe from the bathroom sink has already frozen