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

km1500

Newton's law of cooling states that the rate of heat loss of a body is directly proportional to the difference in the temperatures between the body and its environment.

So, for a house, the higher the temperature inside the faster the heat loss.

Heat loss is made up by your heating boiler and thus heat costs money to replace.

So - turn the heating off when you don't need it and when you do need it keep it as low as you can comfortably bear.

[Deleted User]

km1500 said:

Newton's law of cooling states that the rate of heat loss of a body is directly proportional to the difference in the temperatures between the body and its environment.

So, for a house, the higher the temperature inside the faster the heat loss.

Heat loss is made up by your heating boiler and thus heat costs money to replace.

So - turn the heating off when you don't need it and when you do need it keep it as low as you can comfortably bear.

That's what I always thought - keeping heating "on low" all the way through the day means you lose more heat overall because of the increased average temperature difference.

I didn't realise there was such debate!

[Deleted User]

I think a lot of people are still in the old-fashioned way of heating switched on or off and don't always understand how timers and thermostats work which is why this question keeps getting asked.

An older relative of mine has what should be a fully automatic heating system with a programmable thermostat and TRVs yet they spend all day manually turning it off / on, adjusting radiators just like they did 50 years ago when central heating was first installed.

My heating is "on" 24/7 365 days of a year, well on automatic mode anyway. I don't switch it "off" as such in the summer/overnight and "on" for winter like many people still do.

It isn't just older people, I see it with all age groups doing daft things like:

1. Turning the thermostat up to 25C or more so it "warms up faster"
2. Turn the thermostat down to the lowest setting when it is warm enough and then turn it back up again when they feel cold.
3. Turning the thermostat up on cold days and back down again when the weather is warmer.
4. Switching the heating off at the boiler at a set date - 1st April and then not switching it back on until 1st November.

Each to their own but I set temps for time zones as a baseline and just tweak +/- 1C when needed:

11 pm - 5:30 am set at 16C for overnight, rarely comes on except on a few super cold days - my house is well insulated.
5:30 am - 8 am at 20C for the workers getting up and out
8 am - 5 pm at 18C - some of my family are in my house all day but as they are awake they can dress as required/keep active to stay warm or manually tweak it up a degree or two if feeling cold.
5 pm - 11 pm at 20C for comfort in the evening until bedtime

I am considering knocking 1 degree off given the energy prices this winter and an hour off the evening heating.

[Deleted User]

Deleted_User said:

I think a lot of people are still in the old-fashioned way of heating switched on or off and don't always understand how timers and thermostats work which is why this question keeps getting asked.

An older relative of mine has what should be a fully automatic heating system with a programmable thermostat and TRVs yet they spend all day manually turning it off / on, adjusting radiators just like they did 50 years ago when central heating was first installed.

My heating is "on" 24/7 365 days of a year, well on automatic mode anyway. I don't switch it "off" as such in the summer/overnight and "on" for winter like many people still do.

It isn't just older people, I see it with all age groups doing daft things like:

1. Turning the thermostat up to 25C or more so it "warms up faster"
2. Turn the thermostat down to the lowest setting when it is warm enough and then turn it back up again when they feel cold.
3. Turning the thermostat up on cold days and back down again when the weather is warmer.
4. Switching the heating off at the boiler at a set date - 1st April and then not switching it back on until 1st November.

Each to their own but I set temps for time zones as a baseline and just tweak +/- 1C when needed:

11 pm - 5:30 am set at 16C for overnight, rarely comes on except on a few super cold days - my house is well insulated.
5:30 am - 8 am at 20C for the workers getting up and out
8 am - 5 pm at 18C - some of my family are in my house all day but as they are awake they can dress as required/keep active to stay warm or manually tweak it up a degree or two if feeling cold.
5 pm - 11 pm at 20C for comfort in the evening until bedtime

I am considering knocking 1 degree off given the energy prices this winter and an hour off the evening heating.

Sounds totally tropical compared to my 16C between 17:30 and 23:00. with 13C at all other times.  And the geo-fencing on my phone that sets it to 5C whenever I'm out.

Reading that back now - I guess I do leave it "on low" all the time when I think about it, but not in the same way others seem to mean when they say it.

Coffeekup

lisyloo said:

Will no one think of the children?

seriously I don’t think it’s acceptable to run a family home at minimum adult temperature.

Eh? I see kids walking home from school all the time in the middle of winter in just a shirt laughing and walking long kicking stones, where as I'm gritting my teeth because it's around 4*c.
Kids run around alot more, they feel the cold far less. Worst comes to the worst they can put a jumper on.

Auti

[Deleted User] said:

I think a lot of people are still in the old-fashioned way of heating switched on or off and don't always understand how timers and thermostats work which is why this question keeps getting asked.

An older relative of mine has what should be a fully automatic heating system with a programmable thermostat and TRVs yet they spend all day manually turning it off / on, adjusting radiators just like they did 50 years ago when central heating was first installed.

My heating is "on" 24/7 365 days of a year, well on automatic mode anyway. I don't switch it "off" as such in the summer/overnight and "on" for winter like many people still do.

It isn't just older people, I see it with all age groups doing daft things like:

1. Turning the thermostat up to 25C or more so it "warms up faster"
2. Turn the thermostat down to the lowest setting when it is warm enough and then turn it back up again when they feel cold.
3. Turning the thermostat up on cold days and back down again when the weather is warmer.
4. Switching the heating off at the boiler at a set date - 1st April and then not switching it back on until 1st November.

Each to their own but I set temps for time zones as a baseline and just tweak +/- 1C when needed:

11 pm - 5:30 am set at 16C for overnight, rarely comes on except on a few super cold days - my house is well insulated.
5:30 am - 8 am at 20C for the workers getting up and out
8 am - 5 pm at 18C - some of my family are in my house all day but as they are awake they can dress as required/keep active to stay warm or manually tweak it up a degree or two if feeling cold.
5 pm - 11 pm at 20C for comfort in the evening until bedtime

I am considering knocking 1 degree off given the energy prices this winter and an hour off the evening heating.

Your method of controlling heating sounds good. I am a person that does point 2 and keeps boiler on but set at 0 degrees in the summer. My thermostat and boiler controls are 20 yrs old and boiler over 12 (they reused boiler controls) and I have been told is needing replacement soon. Finances stop me from changing heating controls/boiler at the moment but have started a boiler replacement fund so in couple of years may have new one Sometimes it is not choosing the , old fashioned way, but having no other way to do it  

Coffeekup

[Deleted User] said

Each to their own but I set temps for time zones as a baseline and just tweak +/- 1C when needed:

11 pm - 5:30 am set at 16C for overnight, rarely comes on except on a few super cold days - my house is well insulated.
5:30 am - 8 am at 20C for the workers getting up and out
8 am - 5 pm at 18C - some of my family are in my house all day but as they are awake they can dress as required/keep active to stay warm or manually tweak it up a degree or two if feeling cold.
5 pm - 11 pm at 20C for comfort in the evening until bedtime

I am considering knocking 1 degree off given the energy prices this winter and an hour off the evening heating.

For me it makes no sense to heat the house for X amount of hour's so everyone can enjoy that heat for a 20-60 minute trip from the bed to the front door, only to go outside and feel the cold that much more because you turned up the heat.
As you're house is well insulated I'd be turning down the heat from 5-11pm to 5-9pm as the temperature will very slowly decline by 11pm.
I'd also set the over night temp to 14*C as everyone is in bed and it's well insulated.

I live in a house where having the heating on its highest setting all day won't get it above 16*C. You acclimatize to these temperatures, I go round people's house's who have set their temperature's as you have and I find it uncomfortable, if I'm there long enough 2 or so hours there is a good chance I'll be drowsy or even snoozing.
I only turn the heating on for a few hours in the evening only (5-7pm) and maybe a hour or two during the day in the coldest day's if we at home. But we will watch TV with a throw or blanket over us and be more than comfortable 

As you say each to their own

Chrysalis

Am I the only one here who has central heating without a thermostat?

I wonder how many just turn it up to a number rather than seeing what they can tolerate whilst wearing multiple layers of clothes.

Max68

Mid Terrace here.  Not saying it's right but this is what I did last year.  Tried in December to save by only having the heating on one hour a day but I found it too cold, condensation was bad, and the house felt damp.  Changed it to two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening but limited it at 18.5c.  To be honest I didn't use much more than only having it on for an hour, maybe something to do with the fact that using it only an hour a day meant it took longer to warm up to thermostat temperature.  Still more than halved my gas usage compared to the previous year.  18.5 was still chilly though so fleeces, throws and a fleece duvet were saviours.

BUFF

Chrysalis said:

Am I the only one here who has central heating without a thermostat?

I wonder how many just turn it up to a number rather than seeing what they can tolerate whilst wearing multiple layers of clothes.

Quite possibly. If used properly they will usually more than pay for themselves over their lives in reduced running costs & convenience. Same with TRVs.

I have done it the other way, seeing how low a setting I can tolerate & how low is comfortable (for me that extra 1C for comfort is worth it atm). Both whilst wearing layers - knowing that means that I don't just turn it up to a number, I know what I am doing.