Putting heating on is it more cost effective

[Irishflower]

When you put your heating on is it more cost effective to flick on the heating several times a day when it gets cold in the house or keep it at a consistent temperature so it comes on if it drops below a certain temp and then the house temp is maintained?

Sadly, I think it's cheaper to turn it off.

We have an electrically heated house with a separate reader so I can see how many KwH are used for heating alone. I’ve tried both methods and found it used less to keep it constant (we keep it at 18/19° so enough to take the edge off). When we only had it on for short bursts, it used a lot of power to heat everything up and that used more overall for us.

I remember my mum had a new boiler fitted and the plumber who fitted it told her to keep the heating on constantly at a comfortable temperature as the bill would be cheaper. It really wasn't and she stopped doing it pretty sharpish.

I wonder if it depends on the insulation / energy efficiency of the home though. It might work better in a modern home.

If your house is well insulated it will be better to keep it at a set temperature. If you have a smart thermostat you can have different temperatures at different times of the day.