Better to keep heating on constant ambient temperature or flick on when needed?

[behappy1736]

Does anyone know if it's more cost effective flicking the heating on when you need it or keeping it at say 19 degrees so the temperature is consistent and it comes in only when it drops below that temp?
So this morning it was pretty chilly and thermostat read 16 so I flicked the heating on and it took at least 30 minutes to reach 19 degrees.
I just can't work out what is better.
Any help much appreciated thanks

I'm pretty sure it's been proven that putting it on when you need it rather than leaving it on all the time is cheaper.

When we had our first baby in December we had the hearing on overnight fir the first couple of months and our bills shot up compared to putting it on in the morning, even though it had to warm the house up a lot.

For years people told me that it was cheaper not to let the temperature drop, but I think it's been proven now that you need to turn the heating off as much as you can to save money.

It never made any difference to my bills when I switched approach.

No one knows because there isnt an answer, it will depend on the exact circumstances of each house. Ignore anyone who tells you there's a one size fits all answer - they don't know what they are talking about

So I have done this today we have been averaging about £8 a day putting the heating on for an hour at tea time when the kids get in that's with 2 showers a day 1 wash 1 dryer load. Today we put it on at 19 degrees at 8am and left it on all day I eventually had to turn it off at 8pm when it was £10.26. So I definitely think it costs more but it's been lovely today. Think I may to try and cut back as much as I can in the week and do this at weekends.

It depends on the construction on the building you are heating, a well insulated modern honestly be cheaper to heat if you have the boiler running at a lower temperature for longer , in an old, drafty, uninsulated building building you would just be paying to warm the sky so blasts of heat when you need it. Having a room thermostat and the radiator in that room full open, then trvs on the other radiators will bring down the costs in both scenarios.

I think a lot depends on how well insulated your house is.

Our house loses heat quite quickly, so we’d spend a lot more on gas if we had the heating on all the time.
But the answer might be different for a more well insulated house.

Unless your house defies the laws of physics, the amount of energy loses is greater the more the temperature difference between inside and out.

So the longer your house is warmer compared to outside the greater the losses.

You are paying for the losses in energy to heat the rooms. So it will be cheaper to turn the heating on/off.

I think putting it on just when you need it is best, but it’s probably best not to get the house temperature down too low.

On and off as you need it.

Only on when you need it. Our house has been a steady 16.4 without the heating on this week and i have not felt too cold too often - i think the benefit of keeping it off is you learn to adjust to the lower temp.

As others have said it depends on the age of your house and how quickly it loses heat.
You may find that sticking to a slightly lower constant temp (17.5/18) is beneficial but I’d be surprised if a constant 19 was, but probably worth using a smart meter and trying to test your specific situation.

If you're concerned about saving money, 19 is pretty high. I'm definitely someone who likes the heating on but even I've acclimatised to the heating coming on at 17 to take the chill off but that's it. 19 would feel positively toasty now! (I do appreciate people with certain conditions need it warmer than this).

Last year I left the heating on for longer periods of time, this year I have the heating set for much shorter periods of time

im using far less gas, which is therefore saving me money

Threads like these make me think "Is keeping your oven on all day cheaper than using if for an hour?" Same principle unless u have a super insulated house.

If it s£10 for heating for 12 hours and £8 for an hour, obviously it’s more cost effective to keep it on all day.

🤨 It doesn't mean it's running the whole day, you leave it to click on automatically whenever the temperature falls below a set level and then click off again once it's matched it, instead of coming on at set times when it may be much colder and running for ages.

If you literally left it running the whole day in the same way as your oven example, you'd be living in a sauna. I don't know anyone who does that.

My house is a similar temp at the moment. We aren’t putting the heating on but we do have a log burner we are using.

but it’s not actually that cold at the moment and I think that houses get colder and colder if they aren’t heated for a length of time.

There was an article on the BBC where they carried out an experiment on how temperature affects the body, and even as low/high as 18 degrees can negatively impact the body.

18 degrees outside is a very different temperature to 18 degrees inside.

But to be fair your oven clicks in and out as it has a thermostat too. Even if you had it running all day it would not be heating all the time.

As I said above it does not matter how insulated the house is, the longer the house is a higher temperature than outside the more it will cost in losses.

@Tulipvase that's interesting (and a bit worrying!). It is the first week our house has been consistently cold. I am a bit of a wimp so usually i wouldnt enjoy working when the house is <18 (i wfh). But i was hoping I'd manage. We will see...

SchrodingersKettle heat yourself and the house, use a hot water bottle, they really do help and get a Gillet to pop on or pop your dressing gown on over your clothing - then meetings you can just slip it off. I pop the hotter bottle inside the front of my Gillet and it keeps me toasty warm

But it will cost more in total to keep it on all day.

We’re in a rented flat and recently the boiler was serviced. The man told me the boiler is a new and super efficient German one and it works best running all day at a lower temp so the radiators are warming to touch but not boiling . I’m in a very old building (sash windows eyc) and was very sceptical. I’d asked him to set it for the heating to come on say 6-8am and 5-8pm but he said that uses more gas to fire the boiler up and then heat up stone cold radiators. he said to try it and ‘welcome to the world of modern heating.’ I’ve only ever lived in period houses with single glazed windows with inefficient boilers and actually prefer a colder house because of that. Anyway we’ll see when the next bill comes. Hard to compare as this is the first winter in the property.

I think it depends on your house. We had a drafty Victorian house and now live in a better insulated more modern home.
It’s quick for the house to heat up but our old place less so. So it was better having a lower ambient temperature in our house and managing drafts.

Rang my elderly father last night and he had taken his jumper off as he was hot.
His room was 23c.
God knows what his gas bill will be.
I keep telling him to layer up and turn his heating down to 21c. What temperature should an elderly person set their heating?