Gas central heating

[Doubleglitch]

Some say that it is cheaper to leave your central heating on all the time then to switch it off say during the night as it uses more gas to heat the system back up. Is this true? At what point time wise does one option out weigh the other?

[Oneeyedvic]

No it is not true. You should not have your central heating on for more than aronud 8 hours a day.

[Oneeyedvic]

https://www.energyefficiency.powergen.co.uk/advicecentre/category2/FAQHeating.htm

[alan30]

The other option is to consider a thermosat with variable temperature time zones. You can reduce the temp at night and when house is empty but have optimum temp when house is used. Drayton digistat is one make

http://www.gasapplianceguide.co.uk/drayton_central_heating_controls.htm

[Upforit]

I have done this, and did not notice a big difference in my bills. However, this could be due to ambient conditions. I now leave my heating on, with the thermostat turned down about 5 or so degrees if it is forcast to be particularly cold. That way the house stays reasonably warm ,and you do not have the huge fuel drain starting from cold.

[Doubleglitch]

Thanks for the replys but no one has really answered the last part of my question. I can see that leaving the heating on for 9hrs a day only must be cheaper then having it on 24hrs aday. But what about say 12hrs or 16 hrs a day.

[stanleyman]

It really depends on whether your house is brick etc. and absorbs a lot of heat taking time to warm up and cool down or if it absorbs little heat, warms up quickly, cools down quickly and how well insulated it is. If your heat loss is high then it is pointless and wasteful heating when the house is empty, if the heatloss is low then again it is pointless heating when empty as it will still be warm but will not be as expensive. Usually it is best to have a low level thermostat fitted to maintain a minimum temp of about 16C.

[Gef]

The less you have it on the cheaper it is. You cannot use more gas by switching it off during the night.

[ianess]

Nice one Gef......that's the best answer so far........I tend to go with the programmable thermostat.....I have a Drayton......just set it to what you want and when you want it.
Get a monthly budget account so you don't have a heart attack when the winter bill comes in.

[KARL]

It is pretty obvious that it costs less money not to use your heating rather than using it. However, not using it means there is a cost in terms of discomfort. If you switch off your heating for many hours at a time then the temperature will fall relentlessly, the rate depends on your heat retention (or conversely, heat loss). With much the same logic, you will inevitably have a cost incurred in raising the temperature again and this will to a large extent depend on how low the temperature has fallen, same for the time it takes to build it up. For those who occupy their home at least 12 hours per day, in order to ensure comfort on return (as opposed to not before an hour or three afterwards) the heating needs to come on well before the return. This is why many opt for a lower setting by a few degrees only while out, rather than a timer. The best answer is to ensure heat-retention is high and that is what we have done. Our gas bill for a 24/7 minimum temperature of 18 (absent/night), but otherwise 20 at least, in a four bedroomed 150 square metre house in not-the-warmest part of UK is �500 per annum - cheap at the price.

[jemetos]

I agree with the posting that the less you have it on the less it costs. The only slight twist is that gas boilers are more efficient if run flat out rather than coming on and off.

New building regs require all new installations to have timing clocks and thermostats - it is now illegal not to install these - the installer can be fined. This is done to reduce the countrys overall energy use - a big clue I think. Turn the themostat down to a low as you can at all times of the day. So at night it can be very low or off, etc.