Most efficient way to use central heating...

Andy_WSM

GlynD wrote: »

It depends where that stat is. My experience tells me it should be in the entrance hall.

Why? That's crazy! I don't care what the temperature is in my hallway, I care what the temperature is in the living room, where I spend most of my time.

GlynD

Andy_WSM wrote: »

Why? That's crazy! I don't care what the temperature is in my hallway, I care what the temperature is in the living room, where I spend most of my time.

You put it in the entrance hall because, normally, that's the coldest place in the house. Setting the thermostat there means it will be at a fairly low temperature. Whereas if you put it next to the boiler for example it reaches the set temperature too quickly and has to be turned higher to heat the rooms. Then there's the in between, which may or may not be suitable.

That's why you see the dial in the hall in most new houses.

Logical when you think about it.

reeac

Andy_WSM wrote: »

Why? That's crazy! I don't care what the temperature is in my hallway, I care what the temperature is in the living room, where I spend most of my time.

If you heat the whole house then you can have the thermostat anywhere [but not where it will be in direct sunshine].You can then offset the setting to achieve the desired temp. in the main living areas. Ours is in the hall and works well there - in our previous house I installed it in the S-facing dining room [but on the far wall from the window] because that made the wiring easy and that also worked fine. Of course, if you have only one room heated then you'd best have the thermostat in that room.

oldskoo1

Yes generally in the coldest place in house.

Living might be really warm, thick curtains, thick carpet, fire on perhaps. Halls are usually empty, dark ish spaces, sometimes drafty too from the doors.

retiredin2011

I started to leave my heating on all day and night and my usage hasn't increased dramatically from when it was on from 08:00 to 23:00.


Possibly because the energy used to heat the house back up in the morning is the same that the house lost during the night.

oldskoo1

retiredin2011 wrote: »

I started to leave my heating on all day and night and my usage hasn't increased dramatically from when it was on from 08:00 to 23:00.


Possibly because the energy used to heat the house back up in the morning is the same that the house lost during the night.

When did you start doing this?

I tried and measured this too, at this time of year we normally get minus temps as soon as the sun drops. However at 5-10c overnight i used in the region of 10-12% more gas.

Wait until it is regularly -5c overnight and you will find this usage increases as heat loss increases due to the temperature difference between inside and outside.

Either way you said it yourself, it does cost more, if you measure it in mild weather, not much more, in cold deep winter, it's a significant increase.

Therefore i recommend people either experiment themselves as houses with poorer insulation may suffer more or just stick to timed / as and when you need it. If like me you need it on all day just leave it at a comfortable temperature and the bills will be what the be.

sniggings

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »

Mine doesn't have a timer. It's supposed to be set once and left alone but I can't bring myself to do this.

I turn it up to 16-18 during the day and then turn it down to 10 sometime after 10pm.
I don't always remember so it's really annoying when I get up in the morning and realise how much money I think I've wasted during the night. Or have I?

if you turn it down to 10c then that will be the same as turning it off, I doubt your temp drops below 10c anytime, especially when you have had the heating on part of the day.my flat is very cold and even my flat doesn't drop to 10c! well it does, it drops to 8c sometimes but that's because it's a cold flat and my heating is not on a lot.

@op
I would check what your temp is in the main part of the house, it could be lower than 25c if your stat is not correct or in a different part of the house, it could be heating the hall to 25c but your living room to 20c.

If your living room is 25c then you need to get used to high bills as that is crazy hot, my heating when on never goes past 20c, if it gets to 21c I get too hot and it's off.

I find even in my cold flat, you can turn your heatng off a good 2-3 hours and the room still stays warm enough to sit in, if you turn it off 3 hours early that will save you loads.

It's nice to come home to a warm house but again, turning it on when you first come in will save you money, coming in to a warm house when you have been out in the freezing cold makes me far too hot too quickly, even a cold house is going to feel warmer than outside so i can't see the point in turning your heating on before you get in, again it will save you a load of money.

as said though, heating to 25c is much higher than most have it and I bet you can't even feel the difference if you turn it down a bit, you will see the difference in your bill though.

sniggings

retiredin2011 wrote: »

I started to leave my heating on all day and night and my usage hasn't increased dramatically from when it was on from 08:00 to 23:00.


Possibly because the energy used to heat the house back up in the morning is the same that the house lost during the night.

I guessing but most people don't have their heating on for 15 hours a day :eek: you were only turning it off for 9 hours, no wonder you can't see a difference.

Lincoln_Imp

anotheruser wrote: »

Just thought I would add I set mine to come on only in the morning and evening; none of this "on all day but low" stuff for me.

Same for me
House is empty for a lot of hours during the day apart from 2 cats and they have fur coats on

diywhynot

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