Should I leave my boiler on continuously?

yenners

Sorry if this is a silly question. My husband insists that we will save energy if we have our boiler come on only twice a day, once in the morning (for showers), and again in the early evening (for washing up dishes). It is on for an hour each time.

My opinion is that we use up more energy this way because it requires more energy to heat the water up from scratch each time.

Does anyone know the correct answer?

Thanks!

alanobrien

I assume this is in relation to a hot water storage tank system? If so this has been asked several times on the forum if you do a search you may find threads on it.

The short answer is providing the tank is well insulated water should only be heated as needed so your husband is correct. For info i have a well insulated hot water tank and the water stays hot for at least 24 hours even in the depths of winter, certainly hot enough for showers and the like anyway and our system heats the water only once a day for an hour in the evening.

yenners

thanks alanobrien, i have just done a search and found lots of information on hot water tank insulation jackets and they only cost about £10.

Thanks for the information - the other half will be doing some diy this weekend!

yenners

jimbo_the_jetset

You could always test the theory by checking the units used on the meter. I can't see that having it on all the time is energy efficient though

ForkHandles_2

Hi!
Crikey an hour each time :eek:

Our 3 kids have a bath every evening, we have a power shower every morning and the gas to heat the water is currently on for 10 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the late afternoon.

Occasionally we boost it if we need an extra bath / shower but otherwise plenty of hot water.

FH

Poppycat

well if you had a combi or condensing boiler you only heat the water you actually use, which is much better, I never had a house that has a hot water tank nor do I ever need one

tomstickland

My opinion is that we use up more energy this way because it requires more energy to heat the water up from scratch each time.

If you heat it up in the morning and then leave it off all day it loses heat. So you have to pump a load more in the evening.

However, if you left it on all day you'd still be losing that heat; the boiler would be continuously adding heat to compensate for the loss. In fact, you'd lose more heat because the water would be at a higher temperature through the day and the heat flow is proportional to the temperature difference.

Twice a day is more efficient.

You can extend the original thoughts to a longer time period. Imagine that you went away for 6 months. Would you leave the boiler on for all that time so that when you got back it didn't take so much energy to heat the water up for a bath?

George_Bray

yenners wrote: »

Sorry if this is a silly question. My husband insists that we will save energy if we have our boiler come on only twice a day, once in the morning (for showers), and again in the early evening (for washing up dishes). It is on for an hour each time.

On the basis of my own experience, your husband is correct. I've saved a small forune with that approach. Leaving the boiler on all day is so irresponsible for anyone who cares about saving energy, green issues, the environment or simply their own pocket.

Canucklehead

Good morning: This link http://www.nef.org.uk/energyadvice/mythstruths.htm

has been posted in the past but is relevant to this thread.

HTH

Canucklehead

alanobrien

ForkHandles wrote: »

Hi!
Crikey an hour each time :eek:

Our 3 kids have a bath every evening, we have a power shower every morning and the gas to heat the water is currently on for 10 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the late afternoon.

Occasionally we boost it if we need an extra bath / shower but otherwise plenty of hot water.

FH

Depends on how fast your boiler heats the water and the volume it has to heat along with what level of insulation you have. An hour is fine as long as its thermostatically controlled, as it may only need to fire up the boiler for 20 mins anyway.