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Energy myth-busting: Is it cheaper to have heating on all day?
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Doesn't it concern you that, assuming the weather and everything else were similar during the two weeks, and your data collection methods produced accurate results, your results seem to be at odds with scientific laws?
Of course you may have produced the results you did if the weather were different and/or your methods were poor and/or measurements inaccurate and/or there was a systemic bias to a particular result.
(Don't worry unduly, a certain branch of (so called) science suffer from the same attributes these days, but thermodynamics never has).
Oh, and there is extra electricity running a boiler constant and wear and tear on the boiler resulting in it being repaired/replaced sooner.
Sorry, but this is complete nonsense. For that to be remotely scientific, the ambient temp profile would have had to be the same for the whole of each week, which it wasn't.
It would work only if your insulation was 100% efficient.
1) put your heating on for half an hour a day so you don't come back to an ice cold house
2) turn heating totally off then when you come back blast the house with heat until it warms up
Yeah, strange isn't it. I wonder if this 'on all the time is cheaper' just applies to heating, or whether is applies generally?
For example, if we go round to the houses of people who have measured their consumption and know it to be less if on all the time, leave their tumble dryer on all the time because it's cheaper than turning it on and off. Are all their lights on constantly because it's cheaper? Is their the car engine left running 24/7 because it uses less petrol that way? TV on through the day and night to save electricity? Oven on all the time? (tried that with my AGA, which should dispell any myths about that being cheaper!).
I assume this is a joke, right?
If you are away for a week, how is having the heating on for half an hour 6 days prior going to have any impact upon the temp when you return?
And 'blasting the heat' will not warm it up any quicker at all, it'll just overheat it beyond the temp you require.
I would never leave my heating OFF for an extended time in the winter. What if your pipes freeze? I would leave it on with the thermostat at 5-10 degrees so it will kick in before there's a disaster.
That issue aside, why anyone would want to heat a vacant house so it's not cold when they get home just completely escapes me.
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