heating question??

jenny30_2

i have just moved into a new rented house which has gas and electricity card meters fitted which is absolutly fine by me.

my question is i have gas central heating which is the only gas thing in the house now the colder nights are drawing closer i was wondering if it would be cheaper to just switch heating on as and when or leave on low all the time. have been told its cheaper to leave on all the time is this true.
would like to save as much as possible but not to the extent of being cold lol, any advice would be brill

thanks jenny x

ps i live in a mid terrace

rickswords

Cant imagine thats true I would use as needed - And ask about getting rid of the cards with suppliers they charge far more than standard invoicing. Basically they really rip you off.

Swipe

Mods, can we make this "is it cheaper to leave heating on low 24/7" question a sticky? It seems to come up at least a few times a week during winter.

Suzanne_Louise

As we had a 5 month old baby, we kept the heating on last winter at a constant 17 degrees. The house was always warm, including during the night, when she'd wake for feeds. Our gas bill came down by £10 per month in doing this. So, we're doing the same this winter, but with a new roof and insulation, so hoping it will come down even more. Hope this helps.

standingupforthepeople

I would suggest that much of the answer to this question is unique to the house its thermal efficiency, as well as the type and efficiency of the boiler.

eg,
if you have an old, drafty, poorly insulated house heat will be escaping as fast as its generated, fine whilst you are sat watching the tv as you will personally feel the benfit of a nice warm radiator next to you. The rest of the time all that heat is escaping though the walls, floors, windows, and ceilings with no benefiit to you tucked up in bed or out at work etc.

in a well insulated house (modern double glazing, cavity wall insulation, insulated floors, thick roof insulation etc) much of the heat generated is retained as residual heat within the building and its contents,

My oil heating bill dropped by 40% after replacing single glazing for A-rated windows/doors and having cavity wall insulation. That was based on having the heating on 2 hours in teh morning, and 5 hours at night. I them opted to leave it on all day, 17hrs and did not notice any significant difference in oil consumption. The boiler kicks in for short bursts, at regular intervals, rather than longs bursts when first coming on in the morning/evening. I have not tried it over night, but I will this year.

Ultimately your best bet is to test it. Take daily meter readings for a week at the same time of day, with it coming on for prest times, then do the same for a week with it on constantly. Take into consideration the general outside temp during the day and overnight. If one of your test weeks is particularly cold and miserable, then you might be better doing the same tests again (giving 2 weeks of results for each scenario) and working out an average daily consumption.

Also take into consideration all of the old fashioned energy saving methods, regardless of results... shut curtains early, shut internal doors, turn down rads in spare rooms, put a jumper on before turning the heating on.... and on the list goes.

Flibertigibit

The chap who did all my heating related work for 12 years told me he leaves his GCH on all the time, and that I should. According to him the thermostat will turn it on and off as required and it is easier/cheaper to keep residual heat in a house than to leave it off all day (when I was at work) and then force it to try and get the place thoroughly warm in a few hours in the evening. I followed his advice, but don't know if it saved money or not. At the time I lived in a semi with 3 outside walls cavity insulated, double glazing and a well insulated loft.

jenny30_2

cthanks all for your replys x

im going to test which is the cheapest ove the next few weeks. thats if i can get the radiators working lol

thanks again jenny x