central heating

[joe.s-b]

Is it cheaper to leave gas central hating on a low level 24/7 or allow it to switch on only when it reaches a set tempaerature

[EDDIE51]

Do you not have a timer? our heating comes on at 7am and off at 10pm
The thermostat is set to 19 deg C. No point have heating on at night when no one is up. You can vary the on off times to suit your own circumstances.

[Old_Geezer]

Insulation will not be perfect so if you have the heating on when not needed, as is likely to be the case for 24/7, some will be wasted. In any case the low level you refer to would still have to be high enough to be comfortable for you so can't be too low.

As for whether continuous or pulsed heating is cheaper, I suspect there's no difference long term as I'd expect it to be the same number of watts (except for the loss through your insulation mentioned above).

I don't know if the saving is significant though. Eddie has made a good point. It's more to do with timing when it is on at all, if you want savings. If you are under the bedcovers, why have it on ?

[The Builder]

I agree with Eddie there Joe. Timer set for mornings and evenings is the convention (assuming you're out all day). Technically, it's better for the "fabric" of the building to be at a constant temperature, but, in the real world, economise by switching it off when not needed.

I know one shouldn't pick up on typos, but "central hating" ........ is that another name for Chatterbank? ;o)

[buildersmate]

If one considers the pure physics of this question, the heat loss from a building is directly proportional to the temperature differential between the inside and the outside. So heating the building to any temperature above which you really need it wastes energy.

The only caveat to that is that gas CH boilers lose some of their efficiency when heating up from cold - so there is a minor loss in operating to my paragraph above. However it is minot and you will gain overall by not heating rooms at times you don't use them.

[joe.s-b]

Thank you gentlemen. All is now clear.