Any negative (mechanics) to not using a boiler/heating?

JustAnotherSaver

May be a silly Q to some, but as i don't know the answer & asking is free i'll go ahead...

Another reason i ask is i learned that with the cars air con, many don't use it for fear of it running out (or whatever) but this has a detrimental effect on the system itself. I can't remember the ins & outs of what i was told but i'm sure they said that parts start to perish or whatever & keeping it in use keeps things lubricated & lasting longer. Or something to that effect.

Which is the basis of my wondering about the heating system/boiler.

We're not actually living in the house at the moment. It has one of those thermometer settings in the hall where we can set the temperature. The lowest this goes is 5.0c.

As we're not there, i've set it to this. No point in heating the house to 15.0c when we're not there as it'll only serve to put up our gas bill. That's my thinking anyway.

But i was wondering if leaving it at this setting would have a negative effect on the boiler/heating system as opposed to setting it higher?

Ectophile

There's a risk that if the place where the thermostat is is at 5C, then there may be other bits of the house that are below 0C. If that's the case, you could end up with burst pipes. If I'm going away, I tend to leave the thermostat higher than that.

Most modern boilers will run the pump once a day, for a minute or so, even if the boiler isn't being used for anything. If yours doesn't, then there's a risk that the pump will be seized the next time you try to start up the system.

JustAnotherSaver

Thanks for the reply. I thought I best ask as we approach the cold months.

What temperature would you recommend leaving it at then (bearing in mind we're not actually staying in the house)? I think the previous owners left it at 12.0c when we went in at the start of Nov; but isn't that a bit warm when nobody will be in there? What figure do you guys reckon?

anotherbaldrick

12deg C seems quite reasonable to me, You need to put some heat into the building otherwise at low temperatures damp will deteriorate the fabric of the house

southcoastrgi

I've seen room stats that can be as much as 6d out of calibration, your 5d might actually be minus 1d :eek:

Mr_Ted

False economy setting the stat as low as it can be compared to frozen pipes, water damage, new ceilings, mould, dehumidification after, and repair required, set to 14 degrees C to keep the house safe ;)once a core temperature is reached it will just maintain that temperature, not run all the time

SuzieSue

You need to check with your insurance company as some require the system to be drained if the property is unoccupied.

My friend's BTL policy requires the thermostat to be set a minimum of 14 degrees throughout the year and extra precautions if the property is unoccupied.

JustAnotherSaver

Thanks for the replies.

I got the missus to set it at 12.0c, although when she left the house she dropped it to 8.0c So i'll sort that out tomorrow & take it back to 12.0c.

How does it work in summer though? If you set it to 12.0c then you'll be a bit out of luck with it being scorchio outside.

southcoastrgi

how long do you plan not to live in this house then ? if you are worried about the summer, why do you want the heating on in summer anyway ?

JustAnotherSaver

southcoastrgi wrote: »

how long do you plan not to live in this house then ? if you are worried about the summer, why do you want the heating on in summer anyway ?

This is something i've never understood & tbh it gets quite annoying. No offence but you just happened to be the one who did it (again) so you're just the one i'm replying to...

Outside of the internet if you ask a question, it's just a question, you're just wondering & it's all ok. It gets answered & you get on with your days.

On the internet though, if you ask a question everyone thinks you're worried. I really don't get it. I've experienced this on other forums too. Why do people on the internet think that by asking a question you're worried & not just simply asking - wanting to learn?

Who said i wanted heating on in the summer? Not me. It's a setting on the display on the wall. 5.0c is the lowest i can set it. If i set this to 5.0c in summer does that mean i'm wanting the heating on?

I just wanted to know what happened. Does somehow it make things cooler?

southcoastrgi

the setting on the room stat is the temp that the heating switches off at, most people switch the heating off in the summer on the programmer but even if you didn't your house is not gonna be at 5d in the summer