Eater Sundae Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 But if you keep turning it off the heating system only has to work that much harder to bring the temperature back up to where you have it set, also some people will have a fire going which lowers your thermostat in that one room so the rest of your rooms will be cold...I wouldn't turn mine off , but if I was going away for say a week I would only lower the thermostat . Unless you were worried about freezing or other damage, you would save money by switching it off. The issue isn’t how hard the boiler is working, it is all to do with heat loss from the house. Ultimately, all the heat provided by the boiler is lost out of the house by convection into the air, conduction into the ground (or next door if you are attached – but depending on their temperature), radiation into the surrounding area, and air change (ie allowing in cold air from outside, heating it up, and then letting it escape). The amount of heat the boiler produces (and therefore the fuel used) will be just enough to match all the heat loss. The amount of heat loss depends on the difference in temperature between the house and the surrounding area, and for the length of time this difference exists. When the temperature is high in the house the rate of heat loss is high (so more fuel used), so the lower we keep our thermostat when we are in the house, then the less fuel we will use. Once we go out, if we leave the heating on at the same setting we will continue to lose heat at the same rate, and need the same amount of fuel. However, if we turn the thermostat down, or better still switch the heating off, then the house temperature will drop. A lower temperature in the house will mean less heat loss (and less fuel used) during the period you are out. You can then have the heating turn on again automatically before you get home to re-warm the house ready for your return. You do not feel any different – the house is just as warm when you are in it, but you have saved a bit of fuel while you were out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banjodeano Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Unless you were worried about freezing or other damage, you would save money by switching it off. The issue isn’t how hard the boiler is working, it is all to do with heat loss from the house. Ultimately, all the heat provided by the boiler is lost out of the house by convection into the air, conduction into the ground (or next door if you are attached – but depending on their temperature), radiation into the surrounding area, and air change (ie allowing in cold air from outside, heating it up, and then letting it escape). The amount of heat the boiler produces (and therefore the fuel used) will be just enough to match all the heat loss. The amount of heat loss depends on the difference in temperature between the house and the surrounding area, and for the length of time this difference exists. When the temperature is high in the house the rate of heat loss is high (so more fuel used), so the lower we keep our thermostat when we are in the house, then the less fuel we will use. Once we go out, if we leave the heating on at the same setting we will continue to lose heat at the same rate, and need the same amount of fuel. However, if we turn the thermostat down, or better still switch the heating off, then the house temperature will drop. A lower temperature in the house will mean less heat loss (and less fuel used) during the period you are out. You can then have the heating turn on again automatically before you get home to re-warm the house ready for your return. You do not feel any different – the house is just as warm when you are in it, but you have saved a bit of fuel while you were out. Now....that is a cracking post "Easter"....explained very well, that explains it even for the thickest of the thick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky B Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Eater Sundae, that was a lovely clear post! I rarely put my heating on anyway, preferring in general to just wear warmer clothes, but I think a lot of the temperature control depends on where you have your thermostat. Mine is half way up the stairs, which never reaches a temperature to trip the boiler off, even set at 12 degrees or so in winter... Therefore, whenever the heating is on, the boiler is going full blast. Not efficient at all! PS I've only just noticed that your user name is "Eater" and not "Easter" Sundae, after seeing it many times before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shogun Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 We live in a large Victorian 3 story house and we have a combi boiler I find if I dont heat all the rooms the house is like a fridge in the winter and takes hours to warm up,I find the best way is to turn the heaters in the rooms real low to take the edge off and turn the one up that we are in, it would seem to keep the heating on low for the days when it is real cold to just maintain the comfortable temperature is cheaper than coming in the house cold and the boiler banging away for hours to get the house anything like warm, I set the temperature low on the thermostat once the house is warmed up and that in the last very cold winter cost around £25 per week to keep all the houses nice and warm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppins Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Everyone here seems to have a bit of good Advice that makes sense , but by the time we've all figured out how to save money, Sumer will be here. And we won't need any heating :)i Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buck Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Unless you were worried about freezing or other damage, you would save money by switching it off. The issue isn’t how hard the boiler is working, it is all to do with heat loss from the house. Ultimately, all the heat provided by the boiler is lost out of the house by convection into the air, conduction into the ground (or next door if you are attached – but depending on their temperature), radiation into the surrounding area, and air change (ie allowing in cold air from outside, heating it up, and then letting it escape). The amount of heat the boiler produces (and therefore the fuel used) will be just enough to match all the heat loss. The amount of heat loss depends on the difference in temperature between the house and the surrounding area, and for the length of time this difference exists. When the temperature is high in the house the rate of heat loss is high (so more fuel used), so the lower we keep our thermostat when we are in the house, then the less fuel we will use. Once we go out, if we leave the heating on at the same setting we will continue to lose heat at the same rate, and need the same amount of fuel. However, if we turn the thermostat down, or better still switch the heating off, then the house temperature will drop. A lower temperature in the house will mean less heat loss (and less fuel used) during the period you are out. You can then have the heating turn on again automatically before you get home to re-warm the house ready for your return. You do not feel any different – the house is just as warm when you are in it, but you have saved a bit of fuel while you were out. Anytime between the middle of October to the end of March, there is a chance of a freeze up here. The house I now own is very well insulated, but the older one I owned would be so cold if the heater was off all night, it would not be habitable again till the afternoon, and I like warm, so the hell with scrimping. I can do with a few less brews if I have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eater Sundae Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Anytime between the middle of October to the end of March, there is a chance of a freeze up here. The house I now own is very well insulated, but the older one I owned would be so cold if the heater was off all night, it would not be habitable again till the afternoon, and I like warm, so the hell with scrimping. I can do with a few less brews if I have to. My post was still relating to the OP's original post, ie what is more efficient. But in the real world... A few years ago I changed the room thermostat to a "set-back" one. In the morning and evening it maintained 20C. During the day when we are out it was off. At night when we were in bed it set back to about 15C, which was enough to keep the bedrooms warm enough. If we were really worried about freezing we could use the setback while we were out during the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Boy Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 I have decided to leave the thermostat on the boiler at around 15-20 and the heaters in each room 3, with 6 being the maximum and turning them up when it gets cold, thus leaving the heating on 24/7 but turning up slightly when its cewd and tha neeeds to get waaarm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harleyman Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 I have decided to leave the thermostat on the boiler at around 15-20 and the heaters in each room 3, with 6 being the maximum and turning them up when it gets cold, thus leaving the heating on 24/7 but turning up slightly when its cewd and tha neeeds to get waaarm Deleted. Wrong thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stereolab Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Unless you were worried about freezing or other damage, you would save money by switching it off. The issue isn’t how hard the boiler is working, it is all to do with heat loss from the house. Ultimately, all the heat provided by the boiler is lost out of the house by convection into the air, conduction into the ground (or next door if you are attached – but depending on their temperature), radiation into the surrounding area, and air change (ie allowing in cold air from outside, heating it up, and then letting it escape). The amount of heat the boiler produces (and therefore the fuel used) will be just enough to match all the heat loss. The amount of heat loss depends on the difference in temperature between the house and the surrounding area, and for the length of time this difference exists. When the temperature is high in the house the rate of heat loss is high (so more fuel used), so the lower we keep our thermostat when we are in the house, then the less fuel we will use. Once we go out, if we leave the heating on at the same setting we will continue to lose heat at the same rate, and need the same amount of fuel. However, if we turn the thermostat down, or better still switch the heating off, then the house temperature will drop. A lower temperature in the house will mean less heat loss (and less fuel used) during the period you are out. You can then have the heating turn on again automatically before you get home to re-warm the house ready for your return. You do not feel any different – the house is just as warm when you are in it, but you have saved a bit of fuel while you were out. Excellent post, unfortunately this will be lost many of the readers here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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