This conundrum arises all the time in winter due to everyone naturally looking to save money on their winter heating bills. Home owners want to try everything which could possibly save money on their heating now the weather is becoming colder, especially when we get down to -0 degrees!
The most popular question we always get asked is should I set my central heating on constant at a low temperature or shall I just program timings to come on throughout the day? To this question there are several answers.
It’s a complex scenario, down to quite a few factors. You need to take into consideration how energy efficient your home is, points to consider include do you have sufficient cavity insulation and is your loft insulated to a high regulation? As well as your home efficiency you need to look at your boiler and heating system on a whole, how efficient your boiler is and its components such as thermostats and controllers.
We recommend you set your heating timer to program when the house is occupied. You want to program your timer for when you are in, times like early morning when you get up, tea time when you finally get home from work (just before you crawl into bed!). This will keep your house warm when you need it to be. Setting your heating this way should minimise heat loss from your home. If you set your heating on constantly at a low temperature, your boiler will use more fuel trying to maintain and regulate the correct room temperature.
That said we would recommend that, if your home is well insulated and all precautions have been taken to retain heat within your home, you trial both methods and document the outcome. We would suggest setting your timings for a week and recording your meter’s fuel use and recording the results at the end of the week. Then the second week set your heating on constant at a low level and monitor your fuel consumption. At the end of the 2 weeks compare the 2 readings, this will tell you which process is most efficient for heating YOUR house.
To summarise the above these results will also be improved by installing an A rated gas boiler and introducing energy efficient controls such as Thermostatic radiator valves, room thermostats and the latest Smart learning thermostat controls such as the Nest. If you are interested in these features adding to your heating system or looking to install a new boiler system, call Plumbcare.com today.
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