Energy myth-busting: Is it cheaper to have heating on all day?

RichardWilcox1970

Reading the section about Tumble Drying or Drying indoors made my head spin!



Yes it can cause damp, particularly in rainy England.



Why wasn't use of a dehumidifier suggested? I was recommended one some years ago and if you get the right type, they are amazing.


Lower energy use than a tumble dryer, plus it prevents damp, and if you get the right type it heats the air up while doing this! Some days, even in winter, when I have laundry out, I just let the dehumidifier dry my laundry and heat the house too. It's great.


I don't know if I'm allowed to plug a particular company (I am not a representative of this company but a customer) but Meaco brand are outstanding.


And if you realllllly want to save money, once it's full of water, use the loo and pour the water into the cistern (or plants). Perfectly good for flushing loos or watering plants

orrery

RichardWilcox1970 wrote: »

Why wasn't use of a dehumidifier suggested? I was recommended one some years ago and if you get the right type, they are amazing.
...
Lower energy use than a tumble dryer, plus it prevents damp, and if you get the right type it heats the air up while doing this! Some days, even in winter, when I have laundry out, I just let the dehumidifier dry my laundry and heat the house too. It's great.

We use one, with a nodding desk fan to drive the air round, and a couple of drying racks.


It isn't lower energy consumption than a tumble drier - I did measure it a few years ago with one of those plug watt meters and found them to be about the same. The dehumidifier takes longer but with lower power.


It does have one big advantage though - the lower power means you can get more from solar, if you have it, and I use ours with a Zerowatt countdown timer to ensure it turns off when finished, or a standard timer for overnight on economy 7.

skattie

The TRV does not measure the temperature in the room but the temp of the water in the rad, when it is hot it switches off, forcing more hot water on to the other radiators in the loop. It stops hot water going through an already hot radiator and straight back to the boiler.

richardc1983

Dehumidifers recirculate the same stagnant air. Look into ventilation,the cheaper ventilation is PIV (positive input ventilation) pressurises the house gently with fresh filtered air whilst pushing the stale damp air out through the building envelope. A dehumidifier is not all that great, ventilation is key!

Its basically a fan in a box in the loft, some of them have a low wattage heater that tempers the air slightly in colder weather. Much more effective than a dehumidifier and removes pollutants and contaminants from the house. Uses about 25w on full fan speed or 10w on low. CHEAP!

richardc1983

skattie wrote: »

The TRV does not measure the temperature in the room but the temp of the water in the rad, when it is hot it switches off, forcing more hot water on to the other radiators in the loop. It stops hot water going through an already hot radiator and straight back to the boiler.

Incorrect, a TRV measures air temperature around the TRV and responds by driving the pin between open and closed.

A TRV at position 2 with a room temp of 10c and a TRV at position 4 with a room temp of 10c will have the same radiator temperature water flowing through it.

zeupater

richardc1983 wrote: »

Dehumidifers recirculate the same stagnant air. Look into ventilation,the cheaper ventilation is PIV (positive input ventilation) pressurises the house gently with fresh filtered air whilst pushing the stale damp air out through the building envelope. A dehumidifier is not all that great, ventilation is key!

Its basically a fan in a box in the loft, some of them have a low wattage heater that tempers the air slightly in colder weather. Much more effective than a dehumidifier and removes pollutants and contaminants from the house. Uses about 25w on full fan speed or 10w on low. CHEAP!

Hi

Alternatively MHRV where stale internal air is exchanged with external air with the majority of heat in the extracted air recovered & transferred to the incoming airflow. This can be on either a single room or entire house basis, but experience suggests that addressing the main area of humidity creation works well.

HTH
Z

richardc1983

zeupater wrote: »

Hi

Alternatively MHRV where stale internal air is exchanged with external air with the majority of heat in the extracted air recovered & transferred to the incoming airflow. This can be on either a single room or entire house basis, but experience suggests that addressing the main area of humidity creation works well.

HTH
Z

Totally agree, just not always feasible for MHRV, in my house to MHRV would not takle the downstairs air as there would be no way to run ducts so would end up just extracting bathroom and bedroom air.

A high cost for MHRV systems - although they are the best and not alot of people can afford these.

CASSIE£$%

hi ,does any one know if it is cheaper to run boiler with pump up high and wall thermostat lower (radiators get really hot and stay hot longer) OR pump low and thermostat high

richardc1983

CASSIE£$% wrote: »

hi ,does any one know if it is cheaper to run boiler with pump up high and wall thermostat lower (radiators get really hot and stay hot longer) OR pump low and thermostat high[/QUOTE

What are you most comfortable with?

Does the house get warm on low speed?

When you speak of a high thermostat what temperature are you setting it, for example if you set it to 22c the thermostat should keep the heating on until it achieves it. Setting it to a higher temperature will just waste energy.

Can you please explain further.

zeupater

richardc1983 wrote: »

Totally agree, just not always feasible for MHRV, in my house to MHRV would not takle the downstairs air as there would be no way to run ducts so would end up just extracting bathroom and bedroom air.

A high cost for MHRV systems - although they are the best and not alot of people can afford these.

Hi

Yet I've seen first hand the effect of installing a small (£300?) single room MHRV solution in an upstairs bathroom has on an entire house when leaving doors open ... much of the humidity that exists in a house results from the occupants breathing when asleep in rooms where temperatures and conditions may be atypical to the entire property - as bedrooms are normally close to bathrooms a single-room MHRV can often suffice, it just depends on the property & severity of the issue.

HTH
Z