House empty in winter - what to do re heating

Diver_John

I need some advice please. I am going away for a few weeks in what I hope will be the depths of winter. I dont want the house to freeze but want to know if it is more economical/sensible to leave the heating on constant at a low temperature (and what temperature should that be? 12C) or to just have the heating come on during the night for a few hours at a 'normal' temperature of say 19C?
I have gas central heating with a new Worcester boiler which is situated in the loft. Loft is well insulated and all the tanks/pipes well lagged. Do I leave the loft door open?
I have solar panels which also heat the water in the tank in the bathroom airing cupboard via an immersion heater and i was planning to leave the bathroom door open to use any 'free heat'.
Any advice appreciated.

forgotmyname

As long as its above freezing then it will be OK.

2 or 3 degrees and it wont freeze.

macman

A brand new boiler install will have a frost 'stat fitted which will normally kick in at a default of around 5C. Read the manual.
Pointless to heat the whole house to as much as 19C overnight!

tim9966

I'd leave it on very low, say 7C so if it reaches that any any time it will kick in, and maybe a quick blast for 15 mins a day up to 12C just to get the water flowing in the pipes.

Diver_John

@tim9966 - I like that idea but how would I set the controls to come on to give it a boost to 12C if it is set to 7C on constant?

DragonQ

I'd set my thermostat to the lowest it can go (5 °C) then put the heating on constant. Shouldn't use much energy unless it gets really cold for a long period of time.

tim9966

Maybe it depends on what system you have, but on mine I have a Drayton wireless controller where I can set the times and temp and can pick up about 6 different settings each day so that is possible, so I can vary the temp throughout the day.

Diver_John wrote: »

@tim9966 - I like that idea but how would I set the controls to come on to give it a boost to 12C if it is set to 7C on constant?

macman

Tell us what programmer you have and you can go into the installer mode and adjust the frost 'stat to kick in at whatever temp you wish.

Diver_John

Sorted. Got it from the manual. (When all else fails RtFM)