How much does putting the central heating on actually cost?

[mrsbabookaloo]

Apols for dull subject matter. Just wondering how I work it out. Energy company seems to go out of their way to make it as difficult as possible to find out what you're actually spending, and I'd really like to know, for example, if I put the central heating on for a couple of hours in the day, in addition to the usual periods it comes on automatically, how much it will cost.

Is it massively extravagant, or a negligible amount? I'm at home studying some days at the moment and have been putting it on in the day and feeling guilty about it.

I guess I could take note of the gas meter reading when I put it on and then when I turn it off and then compare that to a period where I don't have the heating on, and then just work out how much it is per unit?

Does this work? Any tips? Or just a ball park figure?

My plumber told me to keep the heating on a constant low so it'll come on and off thruout the day as needed. He said it works out cheaper than blasting the house twice a day as you keep the house warm and so it takes less to heat it, or something like that. Is he right?

That's what this guy says in the Telegraph. here He says "Some 160 readers have so far reported back, saying that their fuel consumption has gone down since adopting this regime. Only four have said their consumption has risen. Two of these had no room thermostat, which is essential for the method to work. The other two had not draught-proofed doors and windows, which again is a prerequisite.

We are currently trialling the approach of keeping the thermostat set to 16-19 between 7-30am and 8pm unless I go out when it gets turned to 11. We have also tweaked the radiators so that upstairs is cooler all day.

We have noticed that the boiler is not working as hard as it usually does. Will wait to see the £ damage but wirh two very young children in the house we can't just do the bung a jumper on approach.

Happy I have 5 Dc and do 3 loads minimum per day, no way I could get that all on the line, at this time of year! Yes, tumble driers are guzzler but there no workable alternative.

The Telegraph employs an eccentric comedian to assert that the world is flat and the moon is made of green cheese.

You could find a thousand people to say that a copper bracelet cures rheumatism or coffee enemas cure cancer.

Rubbish

Am toying with the idea of trying what the telegraph man says and testing it out for a week, but going to wait for a colder week I suppose. I keep reading about turning the boiler thermostat down, which I've never touched before. I think ours is set at the maximum - but I believe if it was turned lower that might help fuel economy (as long as the radiators were heating up enough to reach the temperature that the wall thermostat was set at?)... so confused...

If you have a modern condensing boiler, it will be at its most efficient and economical at about 60C.

In very cold weather you may have to turn it higher if your raduatiors are not big enough to keep the house warm at 60. A higher temperature will be less gentle and you will feel the on/off fluctuation more.

We pay roughly 120 a month for both electricity and gas.
Gas goes on from 6-7.30 am weekdays and then 4.30-10.30 pm. Variable at the weekends depending what we're doing. I'm quite happy being on the chilly side of comfortable tbh during the day. The temp is set to 21 but I turn it down to anything between 16-18 and Dh doesn't know

It can't be cheaper to have the heating on rather than off, that doesn't make any sense

pigletjohn we have a 12-year-old boiler, fitted just before condensing boilers became a legal requirement. The guy who fitted it (who i trust and still services it) reckoned it was almost as efficient as a condensing boiler anyway, only less complicated, therefore easier to repair.

Do you have any idea what sort of temperature we should have it set to, on the boiler, to make it most efficient and economical?

I don't think its the heating on vs heating off idea valium - I think it may be the case that with our house, blasting it for a couple of hours in the morning and a few hours in the evening is expensive because the boiler seems to be working very hard in cold temperatures - so the alternative seems to be to not let the house get too cold, so that the walls etc aren't so cold/damp. I'm not going to have it blazing hot 24/7, just want to stop it cooling down if that makes sense. The engineer who did the powerflush said he had a similar house (age, size etc) and they have been experimenting with ways of running the heating for years, and he'd come to the conclusion that on all the time but at mild temperature was best for them. Perhaps there's not much in it, but it would be better to pay a similar price and be warm, instead of freezing for most of the time, warm for a few hours, and paying a massive bill anyway. My bill is so high I think I've got to work out ways of using the heating more economically, and switching it off isn't an option with the 4 dc, two of whom are here with me in the day. If I run my experiment for a week and take the meter reading, my spreadsheet should be able to project the cost for the Winter (although it will be based on whatever the temperatures were outside that week)... we'll see! BigWellyLittleWelly I'd be interested to hear what conclusions you come to after your experiment

Nope.

It might say in the instructions.

With a non-condensing boiler I don't know if it will make any difference.

Happynappues

I would suggest you swap your existing room stat for a orogrammable thermostat such as a Honeywell CM927.

It will allow you to set different temperatures for different times of the day and days of the week.

Very useful replies, all about the cost to your pocket. My reply would be not enough! Not one about the cost to the environment / future generations. PLEASE think before switiching anything on do I really need this. The impact on the environment (climate change) and future generations (it's not a finite resource) should be in you mind before using any power (house heating, car etc etc). Fossil fuels may run out in your lifetime and will run out in your children's. Your children will not thank you for frittering away their power. There is as yet no green alternative to even 10% of the power we use. Think aboit it, please