Cheaper to keep heating on or use timer

kdalwayskint

HI

We have a Gas PPM, and as the winter is getting into full swing we are noticing we are putting more and more cash in (sort of expected really).

Just wondering if anyone knows if its more economical to keep the heating on continuously at a reasonable heat setting or if its better to use the timer to heat a cold house at different times of the day?

Thanks

macman

No. Boiler ON = burning gas = costing money.
Sorry to be blunt, but this question is asked time and time again and the answer is always the same.
If you went away for a week, would you leave the heating on? For a day?

Robert2009

What do you think?

Read your meter, try it for a week on all the time, read your meter again, then try it timed for a week, then read your meter again.

Let us know in 2 weeks time what uses the least amount of gas.

I leave my heating on all day and it uses more gas than having it turned off. In fact when it is off it uses no gas at all. Well except for the pilot light.

Swipe

Mods, this question really should become a sticky / pinned thread, at least over the winter months. It's asked almost every other day now.

CashSaver_2

Surely , the flippant answers aren't fully answering the question.

If you leave the heating on during the day with thermostat at say 14 degrees, the boiler only powers up when the temperature drops below - so it is not actually on all day. When you then need some extra warmth in the evening, the house only needs to heat up a few extra degrees. Therefore, the house warms up to the desired temperature more quickly and the boiler is less active in the evening. At worst, the costs would be similar but you don't have to wait ages for the change in temperature.

How well your house is insulated is sure to have a big bearing on this. The best way to test it is to try both methods for a few days each and compare meter readings, or in your case how much money you have had to put in the meter.

macman

The answers were not at all flippant, they were correct. Leaving the boiler on all day would be as economic (not more economic) only if you could insulate your house to produce zero heat loss. If anyone has managed that, I'd be delighted to hear from them.
You're quite correct in saying that the house will come back up to temp more quickly, but it certainly won't be as economic. All you really need to do in the colder weather is advance your timer settings to switch the boiler back on earlier to compensate for the lower ambient temperature, or use a programmer with optimisation or weather compensation.
A new programmer will cost a lot less than leaving the heating on all day when you are out, however low. And if you leave it so low that it drops to the ambient temp anyway, what's the point?

Cardew

CashSaver wrote: »

Surely , the flippant answers aren't fully answering the question.

If you leave the heating on during the day with thermostat at say 14 degrees, the boiler only powers up when the temperature drops below - so it is not actually on all day. When you then need some extra warmth in the evening, the house only needs to heat up a few extra degrees. Therefore, the house warms up to the desired temperature more quickly and the boiler is less active in the evening. At worst, the costs would be similar but you don't have to wait ages for the change in temperature.

How well your house is insulated is sure to have a big bearing on this. The best way to test it is to try both methods for a few days each and compare meter readings, or in your case how much money you have had to put in the meter.

As has been stated many times, the longer the heating is off, the lower the cost.

Setting your temperature to 14c will be the same as turning off the heating for most people as the house will not drop to 14C.

However if the heating does need to switch on to maintain 14c, then it is costing extra money.

However a cold house takes longer to reach a comfortable temperature. So it is a compromise between cost and conveience.

You really don't need a comparison test over a few days as the results - if the test is carried out correctly - are already known and determined by the law of thermodynamics.

Look at it this way. If you went away from your house for 2 years, I suspect you would agree it would be cheaper to have the heating off, rather than maintain it at, say, 14C.

How about a year? a month? a week? a day? 6 hours? At what point do you think the laws of themodynamics cease to apply?

LittleMissAspie

I think if the house is exceedingly well insulated it might not cost much more to keep it on all the time and that could be good if you are in all day, or disabled and can't move around much. If you're in that situation and the difference between suffering the cold and being comfortable is, say, £10 a month then you may as well keep it on.

If you're at work most days then it's got to be pointless to have the heating on while you're not there. 10 hours of the boiler flicking on and off vs an extra half hour in the evening to get it up to temperature. When we get home the bedroom is 12 or 13 but that's because I have the windows ajar while we're out, for ventilation. With windows closed I'm looking at 14 or 15 degrees. It warms up to 18 quickly enough (17.5 seems to be my optimum temperature, though the boyfriend likes it a bit warmer), obviously it does take longer after having the windows open but I'm not going to leave the heating on for it to go straight outside.

kdalwayskint

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I think a sticky would be most helpful.

I did do a search before I posted, but couldn't find what I really wanted.

Thanks again though