Is it more efficient to run central heating constantly at a lower temprature or to have it on a timer?

Question

I am not sure if it takes more gas to heat the house from cold twice a day (morning and early evening) than to have the house running at a constant 15 C?

Answer 1

Energy loss through the walls of your house varies with the temperature difference on either side. A lower difference will have a lower thermal loss.
You will save energy having the house at a reduced temperature. The savings will be increased if the lower temperature is reached and maintained for an extended period of time. For instance if you normally have the house at 20C and want to reduce to 15C at night, the only significant savings will be during the time the house is actually at 15C. The savings during the cooling down period from 20 to 15 will be negated by the time you have to replace that heat energy and bring the temperature back to 20C. If it takes four hours to cool the house and by that time you're calling for heat again you will not be saving very much.
On days which are extremely cold the savings will be minimal. If it is -45C outside and you maintain the house at 20C, the reduction to 15C will be less significant than if the outside temperature was 0C.
My house uses hot water baseboard heating. There are programmable thermostats on all six heating zones. Temperature drops during the day when no one is at home and at night while we are sleeping. If we leave for a few days I set the thermostats in manual mode at an even lower temperature. Don't set things too low that the pipes could freeze or you'll be spending money elsewhere.

Answer 2

If you have efficient and sufficient lagging and attic space is insulated with minimum 250mm insulation,double glazing to windows, keep all room doors closed when not in use, then your home should be at or above 15 degrees so you can time your heating. To check the temp in your house, turn your thermostat off then slowly turn it on until you hear a click at this point check what the reading is on your thermostat that will give you an indication of the temp in your home, hope this helps

Answer 3

A timer is best. I have mine on for 2 hours in the morning for when I get up and 2 hours in the evening so the house is warm when I het home from work. The rest of the time it's off, and my heating bill is pretty small.

Answer 4

The best is to fit a programmable thermostat, this will raise the temerature to a comfort level at the times you choose, then 'set back' to a lower temperature at other times, as opposed to switching OFF. With on/off timers, when the system is off there is no heat, so when it comes ON the initial output is lost to the cold fabric of the building and the room takes longer to heat to comfort level. I have fitted dozens of these systems, normally use a Honeywell controller, wired or wireless. CM67 or CM67RF

Answer 5

I wouldn't say it's cheaper, but it certainly isn't much more expensive

You don't get large temperature variations either - much nicer to have a warm house to come back to, and also getting up is better - no cold bathroom!

If you have a variable room thermostat -so you can set different temperatures for different parts of the day - set it higher in the evening and early morning, and a lower temperature during the day when no-one's in.

Answer 6

15 is a bit cool, I'd still be wearing a jumper. Turn it up to 22 and if you are home all day I would leave it on and even if not home leaving it on would not use much gas as it would only cycle on for short periods to maintain the temperature. I proved a similar theory when living in a caravan. I ran my airconditioner 24 hours a day for a week and my neighbours turned theirs on when they got home from work and then off in the morning. My power bill was cheaper, both vans similar size and same aircon.

Answer 7

Timers are there fo a purpose, to bring on the heat at the correct time. You don't leave your car engine running when you go shopping in a supermarket even if there is someone in the car.
Heating should be brought on about an hour BEFORE getting up, and turned OFF half an hour BEFORE you leave. At night an hour BEFORE you come home, and turn off about half an hour before going to bed..Continuous heating cost MONEY
Warren 914 lives in the USA where conditions are different.

Answer 8

I put mine on a timer, it's on in morning to take chill out of the house, only for about an hour, then in the evening for about an hour, I have a Combi during the day you have cooker on washing machine and other domestic appliances so don't normally need it on during the day, unless it is severely cold outside

Answer 9

Try a thermostat which you set and it keeps the temperature even through out the day. I set mine for a lower temperature when I am not at home and for sleeping and a little warmer when I am awake and at home. Heating bills are not too bad.

Answer 10

Install a $50.00 programmable thermostat and set it at a minimum temp, increasing briefly at preferred times of day to remove the chill. The forget about it.