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Gas on constantly or on and off...?

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  • lola34
    lola34 Posts: 1,205 Forumite
    Mine was on twice 24hrs but I was waking up boiling, even though we hit -9 maybe lower, we are now averaging 2/3 degrees so its on 7-9am and 5-9pm, the electric fire in the lounge is on more,our house although 25 years old is always warm probably due to the boiler in the airing cupboard on the landing and in DS1's room you can feel the heat from the pipes under the floor
  • Chrysalis
    Chrysalis Posts: 4,703 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Andy_WSM wrote: »
    Are you down in Cornwall?

    It's noticeably warmer here in North Somerset today too, but at 7C, I still need heating!

    East midlands.
  • Tyler_Du
    Tyler_Du Posts: 712 Forumite
    I did a quick test of this theory over xmas, when the heating was on 24/7 my gas usage went up by over 50% Its back to the timer / thermostat now
  • stevemcol
    stevemcol Posts: 1,666 Forumite
    I carried on with the experiment. I found that as the outside temperature warmed up, after the cold spell, yes, I used about 10% more gas maintaining 15° during the day.

    but

    I also found during the cold spell that if I allowed the temperature to drop during the day, I could never get the house temperature to recover in the evening, with the heating flat out.

    Interesting trial. Perhaps my boiler is under spec for the house.
    Apparently I'm 10 years old on MSE. Happy birthday to me...etc
  • Talldave
    Talldave Posts: 2,002 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    SuzieSue wrote: »
    You can get programmable room thermostats now which you can set to different temperatures throughout the day.

    ...and they're fantastic! We hardly ever have to touch our prog stat other than to tell it that we're taking the day off tomorrow, going on holiday for 14 days, or having a party and want to delay the switch to the night temp setting!
  • stevemcol
    stevemcol Posts: 1,666 Forumite
    Did anyone catch that Worcester infommercial on TV advising maintaining a base temperature. I only caught the back end of it.
    Apparently I'm 10 years old on MSE. Happy birthday to me...etc
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,059 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Rampant Recycler
    stevemcol wrote: »
    Did anyone catch that Worcester infommercial on TV advising maintaining a base temperature. I only caught the back end of it.


    The adverts are shown here.(click the red arrow for others)

    http://blog.bhl.co.uk/tag/worcester-tv-advert/

    Didn't see anything about a base temp, but if it did it would be for speed to bring the house up to temp, and not cost.
  • Meatballs
    Meatballs Posts: 587 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I'm pretty sure the worcester boiler ad (it's attached to Ray Mears tv show) says it is more 'efficient' to keep a base temp... Would have to see it again and take notes.

    I don't believe it though :p
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,059 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Rampant Recycler
    Meatballs wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure the worcester boiler ad (it's attached to Ray Mears tv show) says it is more 'efficient' to keep a base temp... Would have to see it again and take notes.

    I don't believe it though :p

    This then raises the usual retort.

    If you go away from your house for, say, 10 years, is it more efficient to keep the house at a 'base' temperature while you are away?

    How about a year? A month? A week? 24 hours? 12hours?

    At what point do the Laws of Thermodynamics not apply?
  • mechy
    mechy Posts: 254 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Cardew wrote: »
    This question comes up perhaps a dozen times each year - if you do a search you will find literally hundreds of posts on this issue.

    It is without question cheaper to have the heating on timed rather than on constantly.

    There is this Urban Myth that comes up time and again, that somehow it uses more energy to heat a house up from cold than to keep it at a constant temperature.

    If that were the case then if you went away for a year, would you keep the house at a constant temperature? Of course not?

    How about a month? A week? 3 days? All exactly the same principle. The longer your heating is off, the cheaper it will be.

    By the way turning down the thermostat has exactly the same effect as turning off your heating.

    Would you leave your kettle boiling all day, because it is cheaper to keep it at a constant temperature rather than letting it cool down and having to reheat it? Exactly the same principle.

    Makes sence to me lol
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