Freezing... heating on all day

[mosaica]

Hi,

As it's so cold, we've had the heating on 24/7 for the last three days. You sometimes hear how it's cheaper to have the heating on all day on a lowish temperature (18 degrees in our case) rather than twice a day on a higher setting, as the boiler will use a lot of energy bringing the radiators up to temperature. Is this true or does it only apply to very well insulated modern houses? We live in a 1909 semi detached house, which is not too draughty considering the large windows, but it is by no means perfectly insulated. Does it make economic sense to have the heating on all day? I'm on maternity leave at the moment and I spend a lot of the time indoors (particularly in this cold weather) with my baby and toddler.

Thanks!

I don't think it is cheaper if the boiler is reasonable efficient but 18C is quite high. If you have it on all day, you can probably put the thermostat much lower or adjust the thermostatic valves on the individual radiators.

I agree with lalalonglegs. I also think it is sensible to keep it ticking over to prevent your pipes from freezing.