This will be my first winter with gas central heating. I have been given advice that it is cheaper to leave it on continuously on a comfortable 20 degrees C (when in the house) rather than having it come on for three hours at 23 degrees C in the morning from cold, then cool back down, then on for four hours in the evening, again from cold. Is this true? It is a two bedroom open plan detached house.
2007-11-19 04:31:51 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
I don't turn my heating off at all, and I mean all year round. It is left at 18 degrees all day and it goes down to 16 degrees through the night. Considering we use a gas cooker you would think we have a high bill, in fact the gas company routinely owe us money!! I think if you keep it at a constant slightly lower temp. there are savings, you can always turn it up a bit if it is really cold. Failing that put on another jumper!!!!
2007-11-19 04:40:49 · answer #1 · answered by lulubelle 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It really depends on you. 20 C for some people is hot and for others cool. There is certainly no point in leaving the heating on "high" when you are out but you have to experiment as follows:
a. find the minimum temp you need to keep the house comfortable when you are out
b. find the "normal" operating temp in which you feel comfortable when you are in
c. work out the time is takes to get from a to b and set the timer accordingly.
You will also find that the location of the thermostat will make a difference to the overall ambient temp and that if you fit thermostats to different radiators throughout the house you can have individual rooms at different temperatures.
Overall, heat cost money! Think in terms of what else you can get for the money you might waste. You could easily have a nice night out on the money you could waste without planning!
2007-11-19 04:42:32 · answer #2 · answered by costa 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have tried this both ways. We have ended up leaving the timer on from 06.00 until 21.00, and regulating the whole thing with the thermostat. We keep it at 20 degrees all the time, except when on holiday, when we reduce it to 15 degrees.
We found that when it is off for a long while, the structure (walls) of the house get very cold and act as cold radiators even if the radiators are blazing away, and it takes ages for the house to warm up. Instinct tells me our way might be more expensive, but how to tell?
2007-11-19 04:50:41 · answer #3 · answered by bob m 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mine's left on at 20 degrees and keeps the house nice and comfortable.If you have it coming on at 23 then once it drops by a few degrees then you'll notice the difference and probably put it back on but maintaining a constant temperature will be better
2007-11-19 04:37:33 · answer #4 · answered by DARREN A 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes this is true. I ran into a similar issue. You never want to set it to less than 5 or 6 degrees lower when you aren't in your house because it means your furnace has to work that much harder to get back up to the desired temp.
2007-11-19 04:36:37 · answer #5 · answered by Yo! 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you have modern condensing boiler, and programmable roomstat, thermostats on radiators, and good insulation, leaving it on may not cost more than if you are on an older system with low insulation, but if it is older and you have no insulation, and only few controls, it will cost you dear.
2007-11-19 05:45:42 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I've been told this is a load of old cobblers put around by the energy companies to up your bills...so I'm interested to see your answers!
2007-11-19 04:36:34 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, with the newer programmable thermostats, it cheaper to program it to run cooler when ur gone and heat when ur home
2007-11-19 04:36:36 · answer #8 · answered by oldguy 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋