and environmentally friendly that is..... to heat your house for the few hours when it's cold (7pm - 10 pm) or all day and all night (24 hours)? I have heard that it is cheaper to go the all day route, but for some reason it just doesn't make much sense.
2006-11-11 16:32:11 · 7 answers · asked by spidy 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The answer to that question depends on whether you OWN the home or you're RENTING. The reason I ask is because of the furnace / heating system itself. It would only be a concern in this if you own the furnace.
It WILL be slightly more expensive to run the furnace continuously. But, because you have "conditioned" (heated) all of the stuff (furniture, walls, etc), it isn't a huge margin to keep it heated.
You can save a small margin by turning the heat off and on but you are spending a lot to reheat the furniture, walls, etc each time and you are not comfortable until it gets up there.
The worst part of this option is that it is REALLY HARD on the furnace to do this. You're cutting the life of the furnace by running it full blast then shutting it off, then full blast then off. It WILL break down doing this. And that will inconvenience you badly, probably on the worst cold day of the year and the day when no repairman is available (Christmas).
Naturally, the only person who cares about the cost of new furnace is the owner of that furnace. But as a bona-fide cost analysis of your two options, you must consider the furnace replacement cost, too.
So, for cheap concerns only:
* if you're a renter, crank it up and down.
* if you're the owner, leave it set for continuous heat.
I rent and I leave the settings alone. I hate waiting to be warm and I'm willing to pay for that anytime comfort level.
PS: In answer to VERACITYG, above, heating is NOT like the air conditioning model you discussed. Lots of reasons why. Shut down your AC when you aren't there.
2006-11-11 16:52:38 · answer #1 · answered by James H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are on a fairly set schedule, work-home-sleep-wake, a digital thermostat might suit your needs. You don't have to change heat/cool settings radically. You can have the temp vary as little as 4 degrees and realize savings without allowing the dwelling to heat up or cool down too much. If your needs change temporarily, say a day off in the middle of the week, override the settings to your normal comfort level. Running it a constant temp is wasting energy.
2006-11-12 02:04:07 · answer #2 · answered by LoneWolf 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Okay, I have NOT done this in the winter, but in the summer, people told me that "if you leave the air conditioning off, the unit has to work harder to get the house cool and you dont save any money"..well spit to THAT. My air cond. bills were costing me 200 a month running all the time and with leaving it off for the most part at night and turning it on when i got home in the afternoons, my bills were 124 at the HIGHEST for the hottest part of summer. I am hoping that it works this winter, also.
2006-11-12 00:36:56 · answer #3 · answered by veracitygrrl 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Use the four hour rule: If you are coming back within four hours then leave it on. If the house is going to be empty for more than four hours, then turn it off or way down.
2006-11-12 00:44:43 · answer #4 · answered by Ayliann 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Keeping your heat on a set tempature is better. By turning your heat down it is allowing your home to get below your comfort zone. When you do turn your heat on, your heater has to work longer to get back to your comfort again. I find the best temp to keep the thermastat at is 74.
2006-11-12 00:50:08 · answer #5 · answered by Char 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
get a set back thermostat. They change settings when your not in the house.
2006-11-12 00:39:14 · answer #6 · answered by zocko 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
4 th question here like this....turn it down when not home or sleeping...
2006-11-12 12:34:41 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋