Cheapest way to keep house warm. Heating on when cold or keep at a set temp

Spoonie_Turtle

Ally_E. said:

That depends on how your perceive cold. Without a thermometer I can feel cold at 19-21C sometimes, so I need that reality check of the number on the thermometer to tell me it's not actually cold and I just need to go a warm drink or move around. I have thermometers in almost every room of the house, they include hydrometers too and I keep an eye on relative humidity. 

marcia_ said:

 Ally thats me, I'm always cold so forever checking thermometers around the house to know if i should actually switch the heating on. Im trying to layer up but still cold! 

Same here, the thermostat can say 20+ and I'll still have goose pimples and purple hands.

(Our heating is set to kick in at 18℃ though, so no decisions to be made there, it's just me being cold.)

[Deleted User]

Ally_E. said:

That depends on how your perceive cold. Without a thermometer I can feel cold at 19-21C sometimes, so I need that reality check of the number on the thermometer to tell me it's not actually cold and I just need to go a warm drink or move around. I have thermometers in almost every room of the house, they include hydrometers too and I keep an eye on relative humidity. 

If you are responding to my post, the boiler flow temperature has nothing to do with the set temperature. A lower boiler flow temperature just means that it takes longer to attain the set temperature. Most gas boilers are massively over-rated. Installers recommend big boilers because homeowners want rapid water heating not because a big boiler is needed to heat a home. Looking at my 30 minute usage graphs, my boiler was consuming less than 1.5kW/30minute to maintain our set 19C temperature on a cold Winter’s day.

BUFF

Dolor said:

There was a very interesting post yesterday from a Chartered Engineer which made the case for maintaining an internal temperature of 15C throughout the house with particular emphasis on ventilation to maintain low humidity: dry air takes less heat to reach a target temperature than wet air.

It's pretty similar to Historic Environment Scotland's traditional buildings dedicated hub (The Engine Shed) advice - they go for 16C & adequate ventilation.

dr78

BUFF said:

how old is your house? end-terrace or mid-terrace (that extra external wall makes a difference).
how is it heated (wet central heating, electric storage heaters or ...)?
are you & your children generally in during the day or out?

It’s a mid terrace but with a very drafty entry way under my house . House is over 100 years old. Gas central heating. I am home and kids will be home from 3 . X

BUFF

Probably pretty similar to mine then (1905 stone & brick mid-terrace).

See if you can improve the draughts.

If you are in all day I would wear a couple of layers, run your heating at as low a temp as you are comfortable with during the day & let your controls cycle the boiler on & off as required to maintain that. Either switch the heating off or set the temperature  a couple of degrees lower overnight.
It may not be absolutely the cheapest way to run but it will be more comfortable than that.

What type of boiler & controls do you have?

lisyloo

BUFF said:

Probably pretty similar to mine then (1905 stone & brick mid-terrace).

See if you can improve the draughts.

If you are in all day I would wear a couple of layers, run your heating at as low a temp as you are comfortable with during the day & let your controls cycle the boiler on & off as required to maintain that. Either switch the heating off or set the temperature  a couple of degrees lower overnight.
It may not be absolutely the cheapest way to run but it will be more comfortable than that.

What type of boiler & controls do you have?

Will no one think of the children?

seriously I don’t think it’s acceptable to run a family home at minimum adult temperature.
Do all the drought/insulation/thermostat things.
after that one of the adults (if it’s a couple) should get a Saturday or evening job to get a few more quid.
i.e. I’m suggesting there comes a point you need to consider increasing income if you can.
obviously that will be dependent on free or cheap childcare.

Chrysalis

dr78 said:

Hi I’m trying to plan ahead now it’s started to get colder, what in peoples experiences works out the cheaper method. To only put the heating on when your getting really cold or keep heating on but at a set temperature where it kicks in? 

I’m in a terraced house which takes a good while to heat up and doesn’t really seem to keep the heat in that great neither. Not the worst in the world but I don’t find terraced houses are great for keeping the heat in. 

I have children so I don’t want them to be cold obviously but Scottish power today said it’s probably cheaper to have heating on and have temperature set to where it will kick in if drops below a temperature? But I’m not sure if that generally uses more gas? Or as it takes so long to heat the house it may use more for the time it even takes to warm up? Sorry if it’s a stupid question and if need anymore info to help me work out the best options 

For me I concentrate on heating my body rather than the house, house heating is a means to keep the body warm, but not the only means, we dont need to wear tshirts all year round.

However with that said you have children and I dont for one moment want to make suggestions there related to not using heating.  It would certainly be understandable you wouldnt want to compromise their health.  An idea for them would be to just heat the rooms the children are in instead of the whole house?

I am lucky that I can tolerate much lower temperatures than a lot of people.  As a result I do hate summers though.

[Deleted User]

lisyloo said:

BUFF said:

Probably pretty similar to mine then (1905 stone & brick mid-terrace).

See if you can improve the draughts.

If you are in all day I would wear a couple of layers, run your heating at as low a temp as you are comfortable with during the day & let your controls cycle the boiler on & off as required to maintain that. Either switch the heating off or set the temperature  a couple of degrees lower overnight.
It may not be absolutely the cheapest way to run but it will be more comfortable than that.

What type of boiler & controls do you have?

Will no one think of the children?

I am old enough to remember when new build homes didn’t have any form of heating other than an open fire. As children, we often woke up to ice on the inside of bedroom windows. The Big Freeze Winter of 62/63 was one of the coldest and longest on record and I don’t recall many reports of children succumbing to the cold. Indeed, I have a school photo somewhere of me and my classmates sitting in school with our coats; hats and gloves on. Even The Thames river completely froze over and it was safe to skate on. 

As children, we spent a lot more time doing things inside and out as we didn’t even have a TV to watch. It wasn’t a question of affordability, it was just how life was at that time. 

I am not suggesting that we should turn the clock back but I don’t think that children are necessarily at significant risk. Those most affected by the cold will be my generation and those with underlying health conditions.

Ally_E.

[Deleted User] said:

Ally_E. said:

That depends on how your perceive cold. Without a thermometer I can feel cold at 19-21C sometimes, so I need that reality check of the number on the thermometer to tell me it's not actually cold and I just need to go a warm drink or move around. I have thermometers in almost every room of the house, they include hydrometers too and I keep an eye on relative humidity. 

If you are responding to my post, the boiler flow temperature has nothing to do with the set temperature. A lower boiler flow temperature just means that it takes longer to attain the set temperature. Most gas boilers are massively over-rated. Installers recommend big boilers because homeowners want rapid water heating not because a big boiler is needed to heat a home. Looking at my 30 minute usage graphs, my boiler was consuming less than 1.5kW/30minute to maintain our set 19C temperature on a cold Winter’s day.

Well no, I was responding to OP's question of turning the heating on when feeling cold. 

BUFF

lisyloo said:

BUFF said:

Probably pretty similar to mine then (1905 stone & brick mid-terrace).

See if you can improve the draughts.

If you are in all day I would wear a couple of layers, run your heating at as low a temp as you are comfortable with during the day & let your controls cycle the boiler on & off as required to maintain that. Either switch the heating off or set the temperature  a couple of degrees lower overnight.
It may not be absolutely the cheapest way to run but it will be more comfortable than that.

What type of boiler & controls do you have?

Will no one think of the children?

seriously I don’t think it’s acceptable to run a family home at minimum adult temperature.
Do all the drought/insulation/thermostat things.
after that one of the adults (if it’s a couple) should get a Saturday or evening job to get a few more quid.
i.e. I’m suggesting there comes a point you need to consider increasing income if you can.
obviously that will be dependent on free or cheap childcare.

so, when the children come in at 3 they can turn the heating up a degree or 2 (say to 18C) if they want before switching the heating off/down for bedtime. 
The 15/16C we have ben suggesting as a minimum isn't really that cold expecially if they wear layers - it's not like we are suggesting <14C.

Things like this are always a balance between comfort, convenience & cost & are different for every personal situation. Ultimately the op will have to find what suits their situation best - we can give them a few ideas/tips to start from though.