Central Heating on or off ?

[jjb1333]

Hi
Can anyone advise me as to which is the most economical and cost effective way of operating my Central Heating

At the moment when it is cold i turn on the heating full blast until its warm then i turn it off.

Someone told me its cheaper to have it on low all the time and just use the room thermostat

Your expert advice would be appreciated
Thanx.

 

[Boilerman2]

Best to conduct your own experiment, as it is impossible to advise without knowing the thermal mass of your building, and the heat losses & gains etc so in short impossible question to acurately answer!

 

[Bankrupt]

Have you got thermostatic valves on your radiators ?

I have thermostatic valves on mine apart from the living room ( no thermostatic valves because that's where my thermostat is located . ) and my wet room.

Rooms I don't use very much I've set the thermostatic valves low.

I have the central heating permanently switched on on, regulated by the thermostat in the living room. Works a treat and I'm well pleased with the relatively small amount of gas I'm using......

 

[jjb1333]

Thanks
Does that mean that if you turn off rads in rooms your not using
it saves you gas ?

 

[digdilem]

Yes, of course. Less heated area, quicker the boiler reaches temp and shuts down. Doesn't work so well if the thermostat is in one of these areas, but it shouldn't be.

But don't let the penny pinching lead to damp problems by not heating areas well enough, or if you don't, ventilate like mad. That could cause even bigger bills down the road.

 

[croydoncorgi]

This debate is interminably repeated.....
The facts are:
- the building (house, office, whatever) needs to be warm enough for its intended purpose. If YOU decide that 17 degrees (plus an extra sweater) is OK for you, then it's OK.
- it's MOST unlikely that 'under-heating' a building will actually encourage damp. If it's so cold that there are corners where condensation forms, then TWO issues need to be looked at. 1. There's probably (a) moisture source(s) inside that need investigation and / or damp penetration 2. Insufficient VENTILATION.

The rate at which a building loses heat through the walls, etc. depends mostly on the difference in temperature between inside and outside. The bigger the difference, the more heat runs downhill! So if you OVER heat a building, past the temperature you want to be at, that's additionally wasteful.

Also, if you work any boiler hard, more heat will be wasted in the flue gases. This is ESPECIALLY the case if you run a condensing boiler above condensing temperature - ie. with most of the heat exchanger ABOVE 56C degrees. It follows that the Return water going back to the boiler must be considerably below 56 to make this happen. Therefore, the flow temperature must not exceed 75 AT MOST and ideally should be well below that.

So: the general answers are:
- heat only when you need to.
- and heat as gently as possible.

And, of course, heating is the LAST thing you turn to, when conservation of energy (via insulation, heat-recovery, etc.) have all been done to the maximum economic extent.