Keeping your heating on all night (about 7 hours) on a low temperature setting, or having it come on in the morning on full blast for about 3 hours in total?
2007-01-30 22:34:38 · 16 answers · asked by anon 2 in Environment
Not sure where you are, but if you're in North America, do visit the website below; if you feed in the necessary info, it will perform an approximate calculation for you! (Even if you're in the UK, you could still complete the exercise, just to see what the difference is between the 2 options - it would provide a guide). If you are in the UK and had Economy 7, you would then have a second meter that records night-time useage and you're charged at a much lower rate than normal. Obviously In this case the night-time option would be by far the best (I used to have night storage heaters). If you only have a standard meter, I also read the following on the 2nd website (can also be accessed through the first and has lots of useful tips): 'It doesn't take more energy to heat your home in the morning than it does to keep it heated all night. Think about it: As you heat your home all night, some of that heat is lost through the walls to the outside, so your heater has to keep working to keep the temperature up. So overnight your heater is heating your home over and over and over again. If you turn it on in the morning then it's heating it only once.' According to this therefore, I think it has to be more economical to run it for 3 hours in the morning, even if it is on high.
2007-01-30 22:50:58 · answer #1 · answered by uknative 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answer to this is not in doubt. Keeping it on all night uses more energy. Basic science.
Here's the important thing, the basic science. Heat flows from hotter things to cooler. The greater the difference in temperature the faster it flows.
So, if you turn your heat off at night, the house cools. That reduces the flow of heat out to the cold outside, compared to having the heat on low.
So the next day, when you set the temperature back up the furnace has to provide less heat to replace what was lost overnight.
The same thing is true for air conditioning. People leave it on all day because "It costs more to cool the house down when I get home". Sounds like common sense. But it's wrong. Because the house warmed up, less heat flowed in from the outside. So the air conditioner has to get rid of less heat.
"Common sense" is wrong here. Science is right. The time doesn't matter, it's all about how heat flows. That's the reason they sell programmable thermostats to set the house cooler at night (when you're in bed) during heating season, and warmer during the day (when no one's home) during air conditioning season.
Don't think just about the furnace, think about the heat flow.
2007-01-31 00:33:01 · answer #2 · answered by Bob 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Having it come on in the morning on full blast for 3 hours in total.
2007-01-30 23:37:18 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is an age old stupid argument, how can leaving it on for 7 hours cost less than having it on for 3!!, come on think about it, from cold how long does it take your house to come upto temperature, maybe 1 hour i would guess, if it is a modern house maybe less.
I know some people who leave it on all the time and then wonder why there gas bill is two or three times greater than mine, and i live in a 300 year old drafty house
2007-01-30 22:49:55 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends what system you are using, what temperatures you call low and high and if you are able to get economy 7 tariff
But I would say 3 hours in the morning is probably less expensive.
If you time it to come on approx 45 mins before you get up, should be nice and warm.
2007-01-30 22:44:07 · answer #5 · answered by Great Eskape 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I keep my gas on very low all the time, and i think it saves gas,and the house is always, warm when you come in from the cold.If its really cold outside i turn it up slightly when im in the house, but never have really big gas bills.
2007-01-30 23:53:04 · answer #6 · answered by bevalou 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hav eyou ever heard of the wose group. They come out to people houses and sort stuff like out to the best efficiency.
They put ours on all the time on low
2007-01-30 22:39:16 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
starting it up in the morning on full blast but the difference is minimal
2007-01-30 22:43:20 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It mostly depends on how efficient your HVAC unit is.
Not to mention how drafty your house is - if you have old windows and little to no insulation/weather stripping then running it all night might be a waste since it will just be cold anyway.
2007-01-30 22:43:03 · answer #9 · answered by superfunkmasta 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The simple answer is leaving it on for seven hours uses more but whether it costs more or not depends on the tariff you're on. And you haven't even told us what country you're in, far less what tariff you're on. Nor have you told us what sort of heating you have. Or what sort of property you live in. Or what your climate's like.
2007-01-30 22:56:45 · answer #10 · answered by Feinschmecker 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋