central heating

[queenio]

Does keeping your central heating system on all night help to keep the pipes freezing up?

[The Builder]

Probably not Queenie .................. pipes tend to freeze in places the heating doesn't get to :o(

[queenio]

Many thanks Builder, I put forward this theory to my mates, and was over-ruled, but what do they know!!

[ChuckFickens]

I'm standing in Bob the Builders corner on this one.

[pilotlight]

Got to disagree with you on this one builder, which is a 1st.
Yes, there will be water carrying pipes that are not within the vicinity of either boiler or radiators which will be more susceptable to freeze than others. But by having the heating system come on especially when the internal temperature drops to approx. 15 deg c., the fabric of the building is warmed by the boiler, rads, and system pipework, and will eventually sustain the temperature around any zones where there are water pipes.
At present, I have the heating on throughout the night with the room stat set at 15 deg. c., and would be very upset if any of my pipes froze.

[NazNomad]

I'd say it was the opposite, it would probably prevent freezing in most cases.

[The Builder]

Pilotlight ................. I'm not a heating engineer. I only try to help from my own experience. You must say if you think I'm giving misleading information at any time. :o)

[The Builder]

.............. see what I did there ................. I got all stroppy! I misread Pilotlight completely............ I thought he said he AGREED with me for the first time.................. :o(

er ............. I've just come back from the pub (my excuse)

[pilotlight]

Builder, you obviously have much more self-discipline than I.
If I venture out to the pub / club, it's more like 12 o'clock when I get back home !
CHEERS.

[jackthehat]

?

The Builder's first response was absolutely correct given the question asked.

However, I suspect that the OP suffers from an omission of a particularly pertinent word.........:o)

[KARL]

I suspect the two "opposing" views put forward have a considerable degree of overlap. My experience in the recent cold weather may illustrate what I mean. We have two outdoor (garden) water taps. We had what must have been more than two weeks of continuous frost and/or snow and it was not until the thaw set in that I suddenly thought to check these taps. At that point I had heard that several houses around us, all of them occupied during the period, had suffered some form of flooding either through roofs or from indoor pipework freezing. Neither of our garden taps (one of which is literally a pipe sticking up out of the ground lagged halfway up) froze and water flows as usual.

[tezestwing]

hi it depends how old the boiler is, modern boilers have automatic sensors that
respond to frost and turn themselves on,but when you go to bed there is nothing wrong in turning the room stat down to 10 or 15c for peace of mind.
I personally have the boiler on timed off at 11 pm then go to a warm bed.
HTH Tez

[NazNomad]

Seems only 2 people actually read the question. ;-)

[bitsbits]

Hate to be pedantic but the way you have phrased the question means exactly the opposite to what you intended it to mean.

Should be 'Does keeping your central heating system on all night help stop the pipes freezing up'

[Whoever]

It depends where the pipes are. If some of them are in a freezing attic and are not lagged, it could conceivably happen in areas where low sub zero temperatures exist for a long time. Just look at what happened in Northern Ireland. If anybody had unlagged pipes in a loft, I'd recommend opening their loft hatch for a while to allow some warmer air to drift up there. It could cause a draught in the rest of the house but what is worse, a draught or dealing with the aftermath of frozen and burst pipes.