Leaving the heating on 24/7

[carolyorkie2010]

Has anyone left their heating on low all day/night, every day? My friends reckon it costs no more than putting the heating on for a couple of hours a day at normal temp. Just wondered if anyone had tried it. I can only afford mine on for a couple of hours at night.

[cookiecookuk]

once we turn ours on we leave it on 24 7 until about march and just turn room stat up and down as weather changes .

i personally think that keeping the house warm all day is less heating that trying to heat the cold house up twice a day from freezing.

[divinedressesdaily]

apparently its a common misconception that its cheaper to leave it on low

although the boiler has to worker harder to heat the radiators from cold than if you leave it on all the time - it costs more to run it 24/7 even with rads on low

There is good info on this on the U Switch website I believe - gives all the technical reasons in the FAQs

[cookiecookuk]

well our bills are never that hi even through the wild weather of wintewr so i would recoment it every time.IMHO

[dairyview123]

My dad is 88 and has his on 24 hrs a day and their bill is very high, I would not recommend.

[tintinthegingertomcat]

I have a pre payment meter so easy to keep an eye on the costs.

I used to have the heating come on for two hours in the morning (6-8) and then again 5-10 in the evening. One day I decided to keep the heating on from 6am through to 10am without turning off....and the cost was only about 70p-£1.00 more to keep it on right the way through the entire day.

I believe it was the two initial start ups that made it more expensive, so having just one initial start up will help to keep costs down.

My advice, in my opinion would be to have the heating on through the day and leave off at night. Others may say differently

[fluffypenquin]

This link has some interesting thoughts on this subject:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/9831697/Jeff-Howell-can-keeping-the-heating-on-lo...

[stroppy*cow]

Ours is running 24 hrs per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. Doesn't mean that the radiators are hot in warmer weather, as the heating will only kick in if the temperature falls below the 17 degrees that the thermostat is set to.

I can very quickly get hypothermia as my body is not good at regulating internal temperature.  I have real problems in winter when I go to work in the morning and have to get in to a cold car - no heat in the car until the engine warms up. I often go out in cold weather with a heated pad under my coat.

We have tried having the heating come on morning and evening, but it wasn't any cheaper and I would have difficulty sleeping as if I woke in the night because the room was cold, I would have to go to the loo, would then find it very difficult to get back into bed because I stiffen up very quickly in the cold. I would then be unable to get warm again, and would be unable to get back to sleep. I would often have to wake "him indoors" for help to get into bed, and for a hot water bottle. Then there was the cost of the electricity to heat the hot water bottle in the microwave (it is a proper microwave one). Neither of us was getting much sleep and I was struggling to manage to work.

Keeping the house at an even minimum temperature works for us - we probably spend as much in the hot weather trying to keep cool as we do in the cold weather keeping warm.

It does depend on your heating system though, on how well the house is insulated and how good the thermostat is. We noticed a big drop in bills when the cavity wall insulation was done.

If you are a mid terrace, or a semi, I suppose it could also depend on how much heat you lose (or gain) through the the party wall(s).

[petitecalicocat]

Like stroppy our heating is on 24/7 for very simular reasons .

I have copd /emphysema & cant risk being cold so ours is set lower for night time & comes on higher during the day as im in the house all day .  

[ed_blackadder_1]

Our Heating is on 24/7 in the winter, our thermostat is on 15 and it is very rarely on, and when it comes on it only stays on for about 5 or 10 minutes,  we did this last year and it was a lot cheaper than haveing it on a timer. We just adjust the thermostat if we want it hotter or cooler, We don't have a cold house it is insulated well and we put in new windows so without the drafts it is toasty. I think you need to find a way that suits you but it is trial and error.

I might add I do turn the thermostat down before I go to bed so it isn't too warm at night, and during the day if no one is going to be home I do the same, after all the dogs don't need it they have fur coats.

[ed_blackadder_1]

Also it depends what sort of heating you have, electric, combi boiler, night storage,

[rose2008-2008]

I do leave my heating on longer if its really really cold and only then . I just use it for an hour at a time. I have a combi boiler that does heating and water.

[captainbovine]

ours is electric storage heaters. They make a lovely warm bedroom as they are on at night, you can adjust how much heat you want to come out. We leave the doors open and let the heat flow into the hall as that is usually a wee bit cold. The lounge is a problem as we took one of the heaters out to get the couch in!! We have been using a convector heater in the lounge of a night when we are in there, it heats up in about 10 mins and isn't that expensive to run.

I know we pay more than you guys on gas central heating though.

[wizilizi]

I leave ours on 24/7 but it is not on much - substantial old house seems to stay warm & conversely keep cool

We don't like/need the place to be very warm.  Personal pref is to put cozy clothing on if it's a bit chilly

I was brought up in an ice-box (often ice inside windows)

OH was brought up in a hot-house (it was ghastly hot!!!!) 

& we seem to like something in the middle