Basically..how does gas/electricity work!

Bad_Weather

Hi All,

So we live in a OLD house, rented, and got the certificate and we are the lowest efficiency ratings. House has some dampness aswell, but its not long term living situation and we just LOVE it.

And sorry in advance but this is my first proper house so I know NOTHING about how heating/electricity works. NOTHING - as you will gather from the questions below

Come the deepest parts of winter I want to be snug in winter (life is too short to be cold) and am worried about the pipes freezing (trust me in this house they would). BUT I want to keep our bills as low as possible WHIST having the heating on. However realistically there is only about 3 rooms that really need to have a good heat in them (it is a big house).

So basically the heating will be going on in the house one way or another, I am just trying to figure out the most cost effective solution.

Regarding the below questions - when I say level 1 and level 5 I am talking about the wee notch at the side of the radiator where you can adjust how hot it gets.

So main questions (If these make sense)

A) Is it cheaper to turn down the radiators in the areas that we do not really use. Would turning the radiator levels still cost the same as the thermostat still triggers the heating to come on? For example we set the thermostat to 20, would we save money if we kept our living room radiator at a level 5 and our hall radiator at level 1? Or would it cost the same to have them both at 5 regardless - as the heating has been triggered to come on?

Is it a urban myth to just keep our heating on a really low level when we get in at night (I.e all heaters on at level 2 ALL night) or does it cost more to put it on for say a couple of hours at full - level 5?) I am thinking here how it costs more to turn a car on and start it for a small time than if you were just driving it consistently.

C) APPLIANCES - I switch my toasters/microwave off at the mains (now this might be a really stupid question) but does it cost more energy to turn it on and off (like how a car burns more petrol starting and stopping) then just to leave them on?

D) In the mornings I only really need the bedroom hot, and the evening the livingroom when we are sitting watching tv. Would it be cheaper to set our little hydro heater to a timer to come on for a couple of hours and have the rest of the heating on really low or not at all? So i if we needed an extra wee boost - would this help keep costs down? Or will the normal full house heating be cheaper than the heater?

Feel free to ask any questions. If I do not know I can try and find out!

P.S I am with Scottish Power if that helps...
P.P.S I am Gas and Electricty
P.P.P.S I cannot think of anything else that may help...

HappyMJ

Bad_Weather wrote: »

Hi All,

So we live in a OLD house, rented, and got the certificate and we are the lowest efficiency ratings. House has some dampness aswell, but its not long term living situation and we just LOVE it.

And sorry in advance but this is my first proper house so I know NOTHING about how heating/electricity works. NOTHING - as you will gather from the questions below

Come the deepest parts of winter I want to be snug in winter (life is too short to be cold) and am worried about the pipes freezing (trust me in this house they would).

Pipes won't freeze in a lived in house with the heating on for at least 2 periods each day.

BUT I want to keep our bills as low as possible WHIST having the heating on. However realistically there is only about 3 rooms that really need to have a good heat in them (it is a big house).

So basically the heating will be going on in the house one way or another, I am just trying to figure out the most cost effective solution.

Regarding the below questions - when I say level 1 and level 5 I am talking about the wee notch at the side of the radiator where you can adjust how hot it gets.

So main questions (If these make sense)

A) Is it cheaper to turn down the radiators in the areas that we do not really use. Would turning the radiator levels still cost the same as the thermostat still triggers the heating to come on? For example we set the thermostat to 20, would we save money if we kept our living room radiator at a level 5 and our hall radiator at level 1? Or would it cost the same to have them both at 5 regardless - as the heating has been triggered to come on?

Yes it's cheaper turning radiators off in rooms that are not in use. The radiator in the room with the thermostat must be kept set to max.

Is it a urban myth to just keep our heating on a really low level when we get in at night (I.e all heaters on at level 2 ALL night) or does it cost more to put it on for say a couple of hours at full - level 5?) I am thinking here how it costs more to turn a car on and start it for a small time than if you were just driving it consistently

At night turn the thermostat right down before going to bed. If it gets too cold it'll come on during the night. During the day if you are not in then turn the heating off. It's cheaper having it off if you are not in the house.


C) APPLIANCES - I switch my toasters/microwave off at the mains (now this might be a really stupid question) but does it cost more energy to turn it on and off (like how a car burns more petrol starting and stopping) then just to leave them on?

For safety reasons you should always turn things off at the plug and even unplug them if not in use but it's not necessary and doesn't save you anything.

D) In the mornings I only really need the bedroom hot, and the evening the livingroom when we are sitting watching tv. Would it be cheaper to set our little hydro heater to a timer to come on for a couple of hours and have the rest of the heating on really low or not at all? So i if we needed an extra wee boost - would this help keep costs down? Or will the normal full house heating be cheaper than the heater?

A couple of hours is probably just a bit too long for an electric heater to be running when you have gas central heating. Electric heating is quick to heat the room but only useful and cheap enough for short periods not for 2 hours. An hour max....If you need heat for more than an hour it'll be cheaper just to heat the whole house with gas.

Feel free to ask any questions. If I do not know I can try and find out!

P.S I am with Scottish Power if that helps...
P.P.S I am Gas and Electricty
P.P.P.S I cannot think of anything else that may help...

New house...compare and switch. It's unlikely the tariff you have inherited is the cheapest tariff available.

Bad_Weather

Thank you very much happyMJ!!! x