Empty House - To Heat or Not To Heat?

x_Wilco_x

I am posting for somebody who is going away and they want to prevent possible burst pipes and dampness (if it turns cold) but dont want to pay to heat an empty house!

Should they leave the heating on or turn it off?

If they do leave it on, should they also leave the water on as well as the heating and what temp should they set the room thermostat? (just enough to take the edge off and save energy/money)

They have a conventional gas boiler system which heats the water tank and rads, with a timer (which usually only comes on evenings and weekends) and the thermostat stays at 20 degrees...

Cheers...

ailuro2

Can the thermostat be adjusted to lower than 20?

When we go away we leave ours set to permanently on, but the thermostat on a low setting, so the heating will only kick in if there is a cold snap.

How long is the person going to be away for?

x_Wilco_x

I think they are away for 2 or 3 weeks and the thermostat does go below 20. What you do is exactly what I have advised, what temp to you set your thermostat to?

dmg24

My thermostat has a special away setting, it kicks in when the temp goes below 5.

x_Wilco_x

Right - the lowest setting on the room thermostat is 10 degrees. Is that adequate to prevent problems in a cold snap? ie: just turn it right down and leave it on...

dmg24

Yep, it should be fine.

I left mine on the 5 setting for a week in Jan and didn't get any problems x

DGJsaver

It does depend as well on how old the house is , ie we moved into a victorian property and the damp was pretty bad as the owner had swicthed it on `every now and then` , which isnt enough fopr a big old place like that , the paint was running down the walls , the heating had to be put on constant for a month to dry the place out

but then , if your friends house is a new build it may be slighly more insulated and not need as much , either way i would recommend leaving it at about 15, not much lower really , it will only click on every now and then and wont cost very much , middle of the night , that sort of time

Dan

John_Pierpoint

I have a detached bungalow, fairly well insulated by 1970's standards about 100' above sea level and about a dozen miles from the sea.
I leave the circulating pump running continuously but as the heating is solid fuel that is not on.(!)
The major windows are double glazed facing South & West (This means they offer POSITIVE heat gain even in January).
I draw the curtains on the East and North.
In 35 years I have not had a problem - lowest recorded internal temperature 7 degrees.
If you have gas, I would give the house a burst of heating for an hour or so in the early hours of the morning.
Insulation is the key.

DGJsaver

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Insulation is the key.

Not in all cases , our house has double glazing in every room + double glazed front door and the damp on certain walls was terrible , like i say took a month of constant heat to get it back ship shape

but either way the OP should play it safe anyway and use the heating

Dan

John_Pierpoint

Solid walls ?

DGJsaver

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

Solid walls ?

yep , big thick victorian solid walls