Cheaper to leave central heating on or not?

Cardew

iangooner wrote: »

try running for 4 days as normal take meter reading first eg 00025
after 4 days take reading again eg 00055
run for 4 days on once [when up to bed ] turn boiler stat down to 65/70 then roomstat to 19 then take reading again eg 00070 try it!!!!!!!!!!
because when you heat the first time it takes all the power of the boiler to heat fully when cold and just a trickle when hot so doing it twice a day use's twice the gas as then once and a slow trickle !!!!!!!!!

I just knew someone would come along!!!

Woby_Tide

how do boilers with weather compensators fare? a few of the plumbing forums seem to have quite good views on using them(yes I know it means they can get more cash when doing the install). But it does seem that this method is used on the continent a lot and is based on having your heating 'on' constantly whilst allowing teh compensator/temp settings do the control. rather than having 2 or 3 defined periods where the boiler is on 'constant' to bring the house temp up before dropping down to it's equilibrium whilst the heating is off

Edit: a lot of the benefit appears by this method being more efficient at utilising the condensing function of the condensing boilers as it allows lower return temps to the boiler. The standard UK style of fire up boiler for x hours means the flow is generally too high to be as efficient at condensing apparently? Again I've no actual idea if this is correct!

DVardysShadow

iangooner wrote: »

try running for 4 days as normal take meter reading first eg 00025
after 4 days take reading again eg 00055
run for 4 days on once [when up to bed ] turn boiler stat down to 65/70 then roomstat to 19 then take reading again eg 00070 try it!!!!!!!!!!
because when you heat the first time it takes all the power of the boiler to heat fully when cold and just a trickle when hot so doing it twice a day use's twice the gas as then once and a slow trickle !!!!!!!!!

Indeed. Physics is a load of tosh. Some bloke said so on the internet, so it must be true.

iangooner, you are deluding yourself.

boliston

I can't see the point in having the heating on when you are in bed as you can just add an extra blanket if you are cold.

oldskoo1

The simple answer is its cheaper.

I asked the same question a few years ago and the answer was the same. However, as i had a little one we needed it on 24/7.

Its almost impossible to run a fair test due to weather conditions. But the upshot is, we've run the heating 24/7 for the past few years now.

As it turns out, the increase we are paying is hardly noticeable. Maybe an extra £20 a quarter. Its so small i didn't even work it out when factoring in natural unit price raises.


I'm very particular about balancing the rad's and stopping drafts and we have double glazing and good composite doors in a typical 4 bed 10yr/old house. Our winter bill was £198 and that covers gas c/h, gas hob and water. With heating being on 24/7 at 18dC with a 78% efficient gas stove burning in the living room on some days.

I'm very happy with our gas usage for the size of our house and usage. Its much more comfortable to live in, i dont have any fears about burst pipes and i dont have to have arguments about how cold it is arriving home before the timer is about to kick in.


Friends recoil in horror when we tell them. I know many of them have £3-400 quarterly bills (although older houses). Whilst it might only be slightly more for us, a different type of house may burn through gas at a frightening rate when running 24/7. I dont know why we are different given the size of the house, but our gas usage seems to be good.

If you want to, do the 4 day test measuring consumption with timed and then 4 days with it on 24/7. Try to make sure the ambient temp is roughly similar. It will be more for 24/7. By how much is dependant on your house. Work out the increase and apply it to a quarter to work out your projected quarterly bill factoring in a margin of error to about +20 just to be sure. If the increase looks workable to you then you take a gamble, providing you can afford it. The first year i did it, i was extremely dull, and checked it almost each week over winter to check how it was going. The -7 days got a bit scary but it worked out fine in the end.

espresso

oldskoo1 wrote: »

The simple answer is its cheaper.

I asked the same question a few years ago and the answer was the same. However, as i had a little one we needed it on 24/7.

Its almost impossible to run a fair test due to weather conditions. But the upshot is, we've run the heating 24/7 for the past few years now.

As it turns out, the increase we are paying is hardly noticeable. Maybe an extra £20 a quarter. Its so small i didn't even work it out when factoring in natural unit price raises.


I'm very particular about balancing the rad's and stopping drafts and we have double glazing and good composite doors in a typical 4 bed 10yr/old house. Our winter bill was £198 and that covers gas c/h, gas hob and water. With heating being on 24/7 at 18dC with a 78% efficient gas stove burning in the living room on some days.

I'm very happy with our gas usage for the size of our house and usage. Its much more comfortable to live in, i dont have any fears about burst pipes and i dont have to have arguments about how cold it is arriving home before the timer is about to kick in.


Friends recoil in horror when we tell them. I know many of them have £3-400 quarterly bills (although older houses). Whilst it might only be slightly more for me, a different type of house may burn through gas at a frightening rate when running 24/7. I dont know why we are different given the size of the house, but our gas usage seems to be good.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: