Keeping central heating on all the time?

tomstickland

Yes, it works because:

we have the thermostat set lower ..... rather than being like living in the Bahamas for a few hours each day

not because it's on all of the time versus turning it off when not needed.

kaneaj1

Yes, it works because:

Quote:
we have the thermostat set lower ..... rather than being like living in the Bahamas for a few hours each day

not because it's on all of the time versus turning it off when not needed.

Thanks for that Tomstickland :rolleyes:

Like most people, we DID previously turn off the heating when not needed & found that we had to have the thermostat quite high in order to heat a freezing cold house up every day which was v.expensive!

Obviously if you are going to have the heating on 24/7 you need to turn the thermostat down considerably otherwise it would be like living in a sauna and cost a fortune!! Logically, this is why it also costs less as opposed to blasting the house with high temperatures a few times a day.

Like I said before it works very well for us to maintain a constant temperature; I appreciate this may not be suitable everyone. I can only go on the benefits to us in savings that have been made over the last 4 years of doing this in comparison to previous years consumption.

I have no desire to argue the toss with anyone; this is my own personal experience which I posted in response to the OP's original question.

Kerry :beer:

Just to claryfy & avoid confusion when I was referring to 'thermostat', I mean the temperature dial/setting on the combi boiler (and before anyone asks me to go all technical, don't!! My partner sets it all, i just reap the benefits financially ;o)

Cardew

kaneaj1 wrote:

Yes, it works because:

Quote:

Obviously if you are going to have the heating on 24/7 you need to turn the thermostat down considerably otherwise it would be like living in a sauna and cost a fortune!! Logically, this is why it also costs less as opposed to blasting the house with high temperatures a few times a day.

Kerry :beer:

Just to claryfy & avoid confusion when I was referring to 'thermostat', I mean the temperature dial/setting on the combi boiler (and before anyone asks me to go all technical, don't!! My partner sets it all, i just reap the benefits

financially ;o)

Nobody is suggesting the choice is between "blasting the house with high temperatures a few times a day" and a low temperature all the time.

You are confusing the temperature setting on the boiler with a thermostat that controls the temperature of the room(s) in the house.

The temperature setting on the boiler simply controls the temperature of the water going round the system and heating the radiators. Turning it down means the radiators do not get so hot. That is not the way you should control Central Heating as a boiler normally works most efficiently at the higher settings.

The room thermostat and/or Thermostatic valves on radiators are the way to control the temperature of the rooms in the house. If you set these to, say, 70F(21C) it doesn't matter what the water temperature setting is on the boiler, or how long the boiler is switched on for, the rooms will be maintained at 70F. If it gets "like a sauna" you either have a fault or you haven't set the thermostats in the rooms correctly.

However that is not the issue. If you have your room themostat set at 70F and leave your boiler switched on 24/7 you will use more gas than having your boiler on a timer and it switching off at night or when you are out of the house.

kaneaj1

Cardew wrote:

However that is not the issue. If you have your room themostat set at 70F and leave your boiler switched on 24/7 you will use more gas than having your boiler on a timer and it switching off at night or when you are out of the house.

At risk of being shot down in flames again :rolleyes:

I can't speak for anyone else & have not tried to; in the winter our central heating is on 24/7. I'm not imagining things, our fuel bills speak for themselves and have done so for the last 4 years. Prior to that the heating was on a timer............

With regard to knowledge of the technical stuff, (probably non existent central heating knowledge, lol) I don't sort out all the settings for boiler, room thermostat etc. My partner works for a well known utility provider & he deals with all that, not me.

There are other people on this thread who do the same thing in winter & who have also noticed a financial benefit from it.

To those who don't agree, that's fine, no-ones asking you to. Lifes all about personal choice

Kerry :beer:

Cardew

kaneaj1 wrote:

At risk of being shot down in flames again :rolleyes:

I can't speak for anyone else & have not tried to; in the winter our central heating is on 24/7. I'm not imagining things, our fuel bills speak for themselves and have done so for the last 4 years. Prior to that the heating was on a timer............

With regard to knowledge of the technical stuff, (probably non existent central heating knowledge, lol) I don't sort out all the settings for boiler, room thermostat etc. My partner works for a well known utility provider & he deals with all that, not me.

There are other people on this thread who do the same thing in winter & who have also noticed a financial benefit from it.

To those who don't agree, that's fine, no-ones asking you to. Lifes all about personal choice

Kerry :beer:

Kaneaj1,

Of course life is about choice; and of course everyone can do their own thing.

However the OP asked for advice; and with respect you have given bad advice. So on a money saving site your advice will cost money if anyone follows it.

By your own admission you know nothing technical about central heating. You apparently don’t set room/radiator thermostats but turn down the water temperature on the combi boiler and leave it on permanantly.

You purport to have done that for 4 years and claim it saves you money. It would appear that your comparison is between having the house like a sauna several times a day(because you haven’t got your controls set correctly) or turning down water temperature. That might be the lesser of two evils – but it isn’t the cheapest way.
The original question was does it save money to leave heating on all the time, rather than having the heating on a timer.

You say it does! but you are wrong in the opinion of every expert. Indeed if you were correct why would anyone bother to fit a timer. A simple on/off switch would be all that is required.

saubryn

I've read this with interest, and I think both of the viewpoints are right in specific situations.

I know of some people who don't use thermostats and timers - they turn the heating on when they are cold, and turn it off again when the house gets hot. I think this is a very inefficient way of doing things - they are using a lot of energy getting the house heated up to the point where they feel hot.

In a case like that, I think turning the thermostat down to 'liveable temperature' then running the heating all the time would be a better thing to do.

If you have the boiler set up properly, and only heat your house to liveable temperature you would be better off having it off when not needed.

I haven't tested any of this, I'm just guessing. I live in a block of flats, and even in the winter rarely need my heating turned on because I get so much heat coming up from the people below I heat the water for an hour on the morning and it retains enough heat that I can still use it for a bath on an evening if I want.

kat21

hmm, typical men
I did say try it and report back if you have a reasonably energy efficient home then setting the thermostate to a lower setting and leaving the boiler switched on means the boiler does not fire up as much thus using less fuel. As I stated before it takes a long time for a home to be thermally warm, that is to say the fabric of the building once the fabric temperature is maintained then the boiler will just idle. I have taken gas meter readings both using it the conventional way that is switching it on in the morning then off before going out then back on in the evening, I did a one week trial like this and noted down my gas usage. I then did a weeks trial setting the thermostate to a much lower setting but keeping the boiler on all the time, I took gas meter readings at the begining and end of the week and found that I used less gas.
kat21
try it an see!
dont be a numptee! *g*:p

kaneaj1

[QUOTE=saubryn_I_haven't_tested_any_of_this,_I'm_just_guessing.__I_live_in_a_block_of_flats,_and_even_in_the_winter_rarely_need_my_heating_turned_on_because_I_get_so_much_heat_coming_up_from_the_people_below_:)__I_heat_the_water_for_an_hour_on_the_morning_and_it_retains_enough_heat_that_I_can_still_use_it_for_a_bath_on_an_evening_if_I_want.[/QUOTE]

Now that's money saving, lol :T

Kerry

masonic

kat21 wrote:

if you have a reasonably energy efficient home then setting the thermostate to a lower setting and leaving the boiler switched on means the boiler does not fire up as much thus using less fuel.

Nobody's disputing that. But if you turn the thermostat down and put it on a timer, you will use even less fuel again. Try it and see.

tomstickland

hmm, typical men
I did say try it and report back if you have a reasonably energy efficient home then setting the thermostate to a lower setting and leaving the boiler switched on means the boiler does not fire up as much thus using less fuel.

Stuck record syndrome...

Yes and the difference is because you turn the thermostat down to a lower setting.

on twice a day at roasting temperature so it heats the cold house up
vs
on all day at low level

Yes, the second option is going to be better.


However, clever use of a timer should be able to provide an even more efficient set up. ie: turn on heating at low level a few hours before the house needs to feel warm.

The house is a large thermal mass that can receive heat from the heating system and also constantly loses it to the outside world at a rate depending on the temperature difference. If, once the building is warm then the boiler only needs to idle, then that suggests that the rate of heat loss to the outside is pretty low. So it'd be more efficient to just let the building slowly lose heat whilst it's empty and then bring it back up to temperature later on.

It's exactly the same as opting to leave the kettle off until you need to boil the water rather than leaving a large urn turned on permanently.

Or, another way of looking it. Forget about the boiler bit, just think about the amount of heat transferred from the building to the outside world: the warmer the building then the higher the heat flow rate. When its temperature matches the outside world then no heat will flow at all. I assume that this is obvious.
If the building is kept at a selected temperature all day then it will lose more heat than if it's allowed to cool for part of the day.

As already said 100 times, the problem is that people set the heating to roasting levels for twice a day and this is what makes the difference.

None of this matters to me because I've got Economy 7 and live in a flat so I'm going to pull my heat from the neighbours.