less gas/electricity central heating radiators off?

[tali122]

will less gas/electricity be used in central heating if radiators are switched off and used in rooms were only necessary- (although this does cause air blocks) or does having 1 radiator on or 10 make no difference to cost.
i asked a gas engineer and got a stupid "the more you use the more it will cost" - yes...... doesnt answer my question though

[DirtyHabit]

Each radiator is a heat exchanger, so the fewer radiators should mean less work for the boiler and less fuel used.

[bigveg]

although if your home has a thermostat, the same amount of fuel would need to be burned to keep the place at the right temp. however, if you close the doors to the rooms that do not need to be heated, this reduces volume of air to be warmed, thus reducing amount of fuel required.

[spaced]

all the above are right, but it has been proven that switing the heating on and off is less cost effective than leaving it on all day. This is because alot of gas is used to kickstart the boiler.

[Tim B]

Sorry spaced, can't agree, does that mean if I run my boiler for 2 X 10 minute sessions each day I'll use more gas than if I left it switched on all day?

What's the break even point?

[dannydingbat]

Also disagree with spaced. I tried leaving my central heating on all night for a week as opposed to it switching off at 10pm and on again 8 hours later on the timeswitch. I used �7 worth of extra gas.

[spaced]

Im just repeating what ive been told by someone. Then again, I am not sure what hours or what boiler was being used.