Gas CH, is it more efficient to leave on low 24/7

Rob 80386

Rob 80386

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Emily
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Calling any heating specialists, or anyone who does this,

I have a combi boiler with no external thermostat, just two dials on the control panel and an analogue programmable timer/clock,

at the moment I have it coming on 3 times a day, full chat, it's costing quite a bit.

A friend at work suggested I leave it on low constantly, is this more efficient, or is it a load of hot air?

:)
 
I suppose it depends on the efficiency of your boiler Emily and how good your house insulation is. Ours is on constantly, in saying that the walls to our place are a double skin of solid White Lias stone. Once the place is up to temp we turn it down and the stonework naturaly absorbs and retains the heat. At the weekends we light the log burner as well and run around the house Naked :lol:
 
It depends on outside temperature really. When it is very cold the heat loss is so high you need to turn the boiler up a lot to cover the loss in temperature so it is warm. If you turn the boiler right down and keep it on then it seems to prove not that much more expensive but the thermal comfort levels are much better.

If you leave the boiler set to the same level then 24/7 will be more expensive but if you set it to a lower level and have the radiators set to opened reasonably so rooms that heat faster don't need the extra heat then it seems to be quite efficient.

When the weather is warmer then the heat loss isn't so great so you can turn off the heating for longer. I can turn mine off on cold days during the day time if the sun is out.

I used to set my old boiler to come on for 15 mins every hour and half or so day and night so that in the colder weather it never lost too much temperature. That's another way if you have a mechanical clock.

Only way to know is to test during similar temperatures with the different strategies.
 
Ours stays on 24/7 always on lowest setting but turned up if needed. The heating then switches itself on and off as temperature is reached or falls. Our bills are never that high.
 
u8myufo said:
I suppose it depends on the efficiency of your boiler Emily and how good your house insulation is. Ours is on constantly, in saying that the walls to our place are a double skin of solid White Lias stone. Once the place is up to temp we turn it down and the stonework naturaly absorbs and retains the heat. At the weekends we light the log burner as well and run around the house Naked :lol:
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Too much info :D

I live in an old victorian house/flat conversion, it has double glazed windows but a single glazed door, that i've put a heavy curtain over


Ozei said:
Lots of debate over this question. See http://www.uswitch.com/heating/heating-on-all-the-time/ and http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1398809.
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Cheers for the links, very useful :thumbs:



Cobra said:
Thats far, far too much info Rich :shake:
Sorry Em, can't help, but I have wondered that myself

Useful link thanks :thumbs:
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Snakes live in tanks with infrared lights don't they :p


srichards said:
It depends on outside temperature really. When it is very cold the heat loss is so high you need to turn the boiler up a lot to cover the loss in temperature so it is warm. If you turn the boiler right down and keep it on then it seems to prove not that much more expensive but the thermal comfort levels are much better.

If you leave the boiler set to the same level then 24/7 will be more expensive but if you set it to a lower level and have the radiators set to opened reasonably so rooms that heat faster don't need the extra heat then it seems to be quite efficient.

When the weather is warmer then the heat loss isn't so great so you can turn off the heating for longer. I can turn mine off on cold days during the day time if the sun is out.

I used to set my old boiler to come on for 15 mins every hour and half or so day and night so that in the colder weather it never lost too much temperature. That's another way if you have a mechanical clock.

Only way to know is to test during similar temperatures with the different strategies.
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looks like I need to test it and compare costs


nilagin said:
Ours stays on 24/7 always on lowest setting but turned up if needed. The heating then switches itself on and off as temperature is reached or falls. Our bills are never that high.
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cheers, i'll let you know the outcome :thumbs:
 
nilagin said:
Ours stays on 24/7 always on lowest setting but turned up if needed. The heating then switches itself on and off as temperature is reached or falls. Our bills are never that high.
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+1
 
Cobra said:
(its called a vivarium BTW ;))[/COLOR]
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Get you with the long words.

Mine is a stone built house and through this cold snap - oh yes it has gone down to 0° - I just keep my log burner lit all the time. If the freaking siberian winds would stop, it would probably be warmer outside than inside in the middle of the day :nod:
 
i know its expensive we have our boiler on for 1 hour in the morning we may turn it on for 10 mins during the day if its really cold but out wondows are rubbish so we dont use it lots as it goes cold straight away so now we have a little electric heater in the front room so we tend to sit in there and have that on and stay in there

we did leave the boiler on low before and it still used alot not as much but then again it was very warm either just took the chill off but wasnt warm

so my advice is put on a extra layer and get a small electric heater in one room
 
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The last few days its been 24/7 in our house, not cheaper but its warmer.
 
I run the central heating 24/7 and adjust the thermostat. 22C when I'm there and awake, 16C at night and when I'm out.

It might cost, but I figure that if I can't be comfortable in my own home, what's the point?
 
Buy a jumper and turn the central heating off :D
 
Cobra said:
Don't you bloody start :razz:
:lol::lol::lol:

(its called a vivarium BTW ;))
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Oh I dont know, Snake in a tank has a much better ring to it than a vivarium:
417061_3264106968623_1445723170_33243778_2051062163_n.jpg


:exit:
 
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Mine stays on 24/7 at 21deg

Over 4 years I've tried it with the ON/OFF programmed timer.
Run 24/7 at as low temp bumping it up when needed and 2 years running it left at normal room temp.

I live in a reasonably well insulated 1930's semi with double glazing all round.

Leaving it on 24/7 at room temp costs me about £20 a year more if its a cold winter and I have the advantage that I never get up to a cold house.

When the boiler does kick in it comes on at minimum flame for about 10 minutes instead of running flat our for an hour or two to reheat the house from cold.
 
A small modification to the image (Thanks to my colleague YV)
and we are good to go, so watch it you lot ;)

:D

untitled-7.png
 
astraman1 said:
i know its expensive we have our boiler on for 1 hour in the morning we may turn it on for 10 mins during the day if its really cold but out wondows are rubbish so we dont use it lots as it goes cold straight away so now we have a little electric heater in the front room so we tend to sit in there and have that on and stay in there

we did leave the boiler on low before and it still used alot not as much but then again it was very warm either just took the chill off but wasnt warm

so my advice is put on a extra layer and get a small electric heater in one room
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Ish gods, I almost feel like sending a donation..

you need one of them there picket line fires.....and woolly fingerless gloves..

:)
 
Just buy large LCD TVs!

We have the windows open in December they are like radiators :D
 
Your best bet is to fit a programmable room thermostat. That should make quite a difference to your fuel bills.
 
There is no way I would have the central heating running 24/7 or even when I'm not in.

The hallway thermostat is a bit of a waste of time actually using it as a thermostat so I just use it as an on/off switch and control the actual temp of the boiler on the boiler's own temp dial - much more accurate.
 
mine is on 24/7. But i (sneakily) flick the temp down to 19deg before i go to bed and then flick it up to 21 when i get home from work. The missus can't understand why the house is colder during the day (when she's home alone) :lol:
 
We have a combi boiler so it heats the tap water too, hence on 24/7. Stat in the Hall upstairs is set to 25 whe we are in and 21 when we are out or its bedtime. We have rad stats too, they are nearly always fully open in winter but turned down at bedtime, bedroom ones are nearly always on 3 all the time. I checked the room temp last week and despite the stat saying 25 the rooms were at 21. Boiler controls are set to one below maximum. 1930's semi, double glazed, good loft insulation but none in the cavity walls.
Choice - holiday in USA or a warm house 24/7 52 weeks of the year, easy choice for us YMMMV.

Matt
 
MatBin said:
We have a combi boiler so it heats the tap water too, hence on 24/7......
Matt
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I use a combi too (would never go back to a traditional boiler :eek:), and I guess that it's technically "on" 24/7/365 in the sense that it will "fire up" on demand whenever I run a hot tap. I think this is more about the "space heating" function, so I guess I leave that "on" 24/7/365 as well, but only "fire it up" via the hall thermostat when I actually need space heating.
 
We have a three bed semi with solid brick walls (no cavity :(), double glazing and an insulated loft. For many years - ten or more - we have left the heating on 24x7 throughout the colder months. As I'm at home most of the day throughout the week I need it on during the day in any case. Even through summer it is still "on", but the thermostat setting means it never kicks in. In the last ten years we have only once seen an energy bill (gas + electric) in excess of £1,000 for the year, and given the figures either side of that year I think it was probably just a billing quirk. This year we are on track for a total energy bill of £943 for the year.

Many years ago I did used to user the timer, but the house got so cold during the "off" periods that it took around three hours simply to come back up to temperature, and the boiler was going flat out. All in all it seemed a better option just to keep an even temperature balance throughout each 24 hour period.

Now we have a new combi boiler (old combi died a year ago after 23 years of service) and a more sophisticated thermostat, which can adjust the target temperature over six time periods throughout the day. We only have it drop by one degree at night, which means a comfortable house any time day or night. I'm sure the dog appreciates it too, as she doesn't have a duvet. :D

So, 24x7 gets my vote.
 
I live in the same type of house as Tim and do the same.24x7 gets my vote also.
 
Ours is on as close as possible to 24/7 but the boiler's getting a bit old and keeps switching itself off. we try to keep it lit as much as possible for comfort's sake but get bored with constant relighting. temperature is basically controlled by the hallway thermostat but every rad has its own thermostatic valve as well. replacement boiler will be a non combi type but will be condensing and will have to wait until the weather's more conducive to having a hole in the kitchen wall while the swap happens.
 
how much do you reckon you are spending a day? i have an old building with no central heating or water at all (all I have are a few electric heaters and an immersion heater) and on a weekend where I'm in all day, if I push the boat out I can spend almost £10 in a 24 hour period. I'm stuck in between a rock and a hard place because I _hate_ my house being cold (what good is it if you are uncomfortable in your own house) but even on a good winter month it costs so much to heat that I'm often run down into my overdraft.

Those of you with central heating should consider yourselves lucky, been there done that in previous properties and looking back it's a godsend!
 
I have absolutely no idea how much it costs per day to keep the house warm - IMO, my comfort is worth it.
 
I live in a 1 bed flat, it's a new build (well it was 2 years ago) and it's got a Potterton boiler with a built in hot water tank (water is heated by gas too).

The flat is very well insulated and benefits from having other flats above and below and to one side.

The "exposed" side is south facing and there's about 4m of wall that's west facing.

I don't think I put the heating on until December and even then there were times we had to turn it off and open the windows as it got too hot.

I have the timer come on twice a day 05:20 - 06:50 and 16:00 - 22:20 during the week but tend to turn it on constant at the weekend and just turn the stat down while we're out and about as it takes less than 15 mins to warm the place up again.

Even with the thermostat set to around 19 and even in this weather it barely seems to fire up (which is good :) )

Maybe I should buy my neighbours something to say thanks? :lol:

Incidentally, my latest energy bill came in today, for the last 3 months I it cost £200 for gas and electric but bear in mind my Fiancée does like to spend 10-15mins in the shower (with water that hot I have no idea how she has any skin left on her), then a further 10mins in the bathroom doing her make up with 200 watts worth of halogen spotlights on, followed by using a hairdryer and straighteners :lol:
 
Nod said:
I have absolutely no idea how much it costs per day to keep the house warm - IMO, my comfort is worth it.
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This. I have the house comfortable as a first priority, if that means I can't have other luxuries (e.g. new lenses etc) then I don't care.
 
@russ77 - definitely and advantage living in an apartment rather than a house heating wise. I live on the top floor of a large block and basically my neighbors below are paying to heat me :cool:

For a 2 bed apartment I pay £36 per month for combined electric/gas (I self read the meters quarterly so it's "actual" usage not estimated) and I normally keep the apartment around 22 degrees.
 
I've worked out that leaving it on at a low setting,i'm using much less than I was when running on timer at full burn.

so 24/7 it is
 
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