Can I have a definitive answer to "what is the cheapest - time switch or leaving the boiler on all the time" please?

[WhizzBangCaligula]

Is there a definitive answer?

Everyone's horrified that I'm leaving my boiler on all the time (just turning it down at night and up again in the morning) but I keep reading/ hearing that that is the cheapest. Then people look horrified and I get uneasy.

Who knows?

I do this all winter and my fuel bills don't seem that horrific. I've heard that it takes more energy to boost up a stone cold system and it is better to leave it on low all the time.

Dont know, but am bumping this as an answer would be gratefully recieved too

I was just coming in here to ask that very same thing!

I leave boiler on for heating hot water all the time, boiler bloke told me it was cheaper. I turn the heating on and off when I need it.

it depends on how long you leave it off for. If you would leave it on all day and just turn it off at night, then it may be marginally cheaper to leave it on. But the cheapest way is definately to have it on for a short time - say for 3 hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the afternoon. presumably this varies with different boilers, but in theory it takes just as much energy to heat water from 10 degrees to 11 degrees as it does to heat it from 40-41 (unless the lagging is terrible). I tested with our old boiler, and although it wasn't a controlled test, it was def cheaper to use a timer.

I have the hot water on a timer for the morning and evening as it's only me and dd. If there are people staying I leave it on all the time. With heating I leave it on 24 hours and just use the thermostat to turn up and down as I need it. I don't know if it's wildly more expensive or not but I can't bear being cold. I turn it down to about 16/18 at night so it probably stays off for most of it. Any help? No, I didn't think so

Daughter of a central heating engineer here

Dad has everything on timers BUT in the very cold weather he has it on all the time as it works out very expensive if your pipes freeze

i want to know the answer to this too.

am doing the timer thing at the moment but unsure if i'm wasting energy like this. and my houe isn't very warm either!

our central heating is on all day (on the thermometer switch so off once it reaches the temperature and it's not that high)

I switch if off completely at night (from 10.30pm till 5.30am) unless the temp is due to fall below freezing and then I leave it on so the pipes don't freeze

Hot water is only on for a few hours in the morning and then a few hours at night because that's all we need.

Our gas bill is never that bad (it's our electricity that's horrendous!).

My hubbie is plumber and gas fitter. He tells everyone to leave heating on all the time as it is cheaper - just turn it up and down when you need to

I know that leaving it on uses less gas, but doesn't that mean that the pump is on all the time so you're using more electricity?

I find it hard to understand why people don't sound like they have programmable thermostatic controls fitted to their boiler. All this switching on and off (aside from any financial incentive, which I can respect if that is your decision) is just archaic !

A programmable controller means you can leave the boiler on, but select lower temps at night and the controller will manage the on / off cycling of the boiler IYSWIM.

I've posted loads on this before if anyone wants to search archives for hints / tips / explanations / models to get etc.

hth (and I appreciate it's not answering the OP)

FIL told me it didn't work out much more expensive to have it on 24/7 for the hot water, heating is on a timer, but we have a v old back boiler so prob costing us a fortune. still waiting for it to be replaced with an upto date system/radiators and elec frie

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh! calig i LOVE you

since jan last year we started it too
i have no idea if tis cheaper BUT i did notice that you often have the thermostat on lower fo longer( say still on a " i am going out all day 16" )till maybe 8pm.

aslos NO noisy creaking rads.

What about my pump question hub? Any opinion? Pleeeaaaasssseee.

adn yes water still on a timer

I can't programme the temp on ours hub - but we can programme it to switch on or off (on a time switch)

i am coveting a timer you can get tht has differnt tepms at different times

ours is old styleeee with a round thermometer thingy

(how is dh's hand cod? are you having to chauffuer him around?)

he is in zurich this week
amsterdam last week
paris the week before

next week is..............................

ah v dull, poor you (although I always enjoy it at first - being away that much is a pain)

I can't programme the temp either.

So it sounds to me like it's cheaper if you're at home all day and need the heat, but might not be cheaper if you only need heat for a couple of hours in the morning and between say 6 and 10 in the evening.

Have just got an enormous bill because they underestimated my DD payments, so have gone into panic mode about this.

its ok
he is miggin us
as you would

next week is.................??