thermostat question

poonum

this is probably a really silly question but... if i leave my thermostat on a low temp all day & evening, so the heating comes on & off accordingly, is the boiler then off & not running at all when the thermostat isn't hitting the temp for it to come on?

i am now a full time mum at home so have been setting the thermostat at a low temp all day so it comes on & off when needed. our house is well insulated & warm. but i'm used to turning the heating on & off when needed pre-baby, so am worried about the cost.

with a baby at home though i want a stable comfortable temp for her, whereas before i would just put up with a cold house to try & save money!

so is doing this better than what we used to do - waiting til the house got cold & then blasting the heating out for an hour at a time during the day??

macman

The boiler is 'on', but it's only burning gas when the room 'stat is calling for heat. Otherwise it's just using a little bit of electrical power. Keeping it 'ticking over' on a lower temp will still burn more gas than leaving it off.
The longer the boiler is running, the more it will cost.

jalexa

poonum wrote: »

i am now a full time mum at home so have been setting the thermostat at a low temp all day so it comes on & off when needed.

What do you mean by "low temp"?

poonum

thanks - depends on the weather but at the mo 18-20 degrees...

macman

For most of us that's normal range, not low. Mine is at 19C when on. 20C is probably typical.

poonum

well what we used to do was wait til we felt cold & then blast the heating on for an hour or so at 22-25 degrees so quite high. i can't do that now we have our baby as the house needs to be comfortable not cols for her. that's why i've just been leaving the thermostat at 18-20 all day. we always switch off overnight.