How do you have your heating?

[daimatt]

Just been listening to two of my work friends about how they have their heating on at home. One has it running twice, comes on early in the morning to make sure it's warm when he wakes up then switches off for the time he is at work. It then comes on again at 4 to make sure the house is warm for the evening before switching off at 10ish to go cold over night.

The other friend has it on permanently at the temp he wants (currently 23C) 24 hours a day. He thinks that it works out more efficient to hold the temp than to keep warming a cold house up twice a day. I've not long been in my first house and am used to having it how my old rental agreement stated. So I never set the thermostat lower than 15C and have the heating on all day turning the temp up to 21 when I get home from work, then turn it down again when I wake up.

So fellow PH's, which is the most efficient way to run the heating?

[Defcon5]

I use the thermostat and keep the house at 19 when im in, but turn it down to 15 when I go out.

[daimatt]

That sounds pretty much the same as me, thanks for the reply

[Matt..]

My heating is turned off. In the 2yrs i've lived in this flat, i've turned it on only about 4times, and that was a few weeks ago when it was -10c

[macp]

We have ours coming on around 6.30am then going off about 8am then back on at 4pm until 10.30pm

Always interested in ways of saving a pound or two on the heating bill so will watch this thread with interest.

[BoRED S2upid]

Depends on a few things if you ask me, firstly the efficiency of your thermostat, mine is worse than useless, it has no idea how warm the house is and therefore im in the couple hours in the morning and evening camp.

The cost difference would depend how insulated your house is, how hard is the boiler working inbetween bursts, mine for example is very well insulated and doesn't take much to warm up, my parents built 50 years before mine is like a barn, if your not sitting on the radiator your not warm.

[grumbledoak]

14°C/18°C as cold/hot. Different rooms can have different cold/hot patterns, though most are two periods of hot at the obvious times; the munchkin's usual locations are set for constant hot.

23°C must be costing him a pretty packet...

[robinhood21]

More on the subject Here. and Here.

[jaybkay]

A warmer house will radiate more heat, hence keeping a house at a constant temperature will cost more to run.

You can reduce heating costs by having a colder house, or by spending money on things like insulation or more efficient heating systems.

[ShadownINja]

jaybkay said:

You can reduce heating costs by having a colder house,

You don't say.

[fatboy b]

Programmable stat on 16 overnight - 9:30pm to 5am, then up to 18 for the morning - 5am to 10am, then down to 17 for the day - 10am to 3:30pm, then upto 18 for the evening - 3:30pm to 9:30pm. We boost it to 19/20 if we're in, and also have a log-burner in the lounge.

[TooLateForAName]

I'm astounded at all these people who keep their houses higher than 20c. Our thermostats go between 12 and 18.

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

TooLateForAName said:

I'm astounded at all these people who keep their houses higher than 20c. Our thermostats go between 12 and 18.

Yeah, but what the thermostat says and the actual temperature where you usually sit is generally wildly different.

[robinhood21]

TooLateForAName said:

I'm astounded at all these people who keep their houses higher than 20c. Our thermostats go between 12 and 18.

Agree! Keep mine on 24/7 at between 15 & 17. Much better to keep warm by wearing warm clothes and not having to breathe hot stuffy air.

[onomatopoeia]

Twice a day, 7-7.45 and 4.30-5.45. Might run it some more in the evening if it is cold. No thermostat so the "leave it on all the time" option would turn the house into an oven

[sinizter]

Twice a day - mostly because the thermostat has been cleverly located in the coldest place in the house and is not really representative of the warmer parts where we actually spend time.

[aberdeeneuan]

Ours is set to 19 constantly at the moment, mainly for the wee one, with the roving thermostat in the room we are using at any time. So in the day it's in the lounge, at night it's his bedroom. The rest of the radiators are set quite low, just enough to keep chill out of those rooms we don't use.

[fido]

14C at night, else i just cope and wear a thick jumper.