Heating help

Infamous786

Infamous786

Infamous786

Associate
Joined
5 Dec 2008
Posts
505
Location
Peterborough
Hello, just wanted some advice, I have been in my new house for about 9 months. and I wanted to know if people leave there boiler on to heat the water consistently? or is it better to turn it on when needed. Sorry I am not very good with this. Just had a bill for £250 for gas. for 3 months, this house is allot bigger then previous. We dont use the heating loads. Just wondering ways to save some money. The boiler is old though since the house was built, about 20 yrs.
 
Depends on your cylinder if it's modern and insulated and how economical your boiler is.

Why don't you try both for a week rotating twice over a month take note of your gas meter readings and compare.

You say your boiler is old, I went through 5 years of nursing an ancient uneconomical boiler through until it literally rusted off the wall but now I wish I had changed it sooner, much more efficient and quieter. DO you have the old set up where it heats water 100% of the time then CH only if you switch it on?
 
Last edited:
We insulated the cylinder when I moved in, the Boiler i dont think its that economical its a old glowworm, I would prob have to take different readings. Because I am getting conflicting info, as they say its more economical to leave it on as it does not need to heat up as much. :S some say just turn it on when needed which uses more gas to get to the correct temp
 
presumably you have a conventional system (i.e. you have a cylinder in an airing cupboard) and not a combi boiler (water heated on demand)

Our heating isn't fully pumped so you can only turn the heating on when the hot water is on, which is a bit of an annoyance, if that's the case then you are limited by that, but other wise depending on how you use your hot water you might not need it on for that long. If you use a lot of hot water and have a small tank you may need it on more but for a lot of uses having it on once or twice a day is fine. I imagine if you can get away with have it on once a day it would be cheaper overall, but I couldn't say for sure or by how much...

Bear in mind an old cylinder in a hard water area may have a lot of limescale inside which will reduce its effectiveness & capacity.

Our heating is broken now anyway (boiler is over 30 years old) so getting a new system soon and probably replacing the cylinder...
 
Well, if you leave it on it heats up the water when the temperature of the water drops. and we have a thermostat switch if i turn up to a the required temp it will put the central heating on, I had a quote from British gas to replace it they quoted a 4k, this is because if i get a new boiler i would like it to be in the garadge, as its a in a weird position in the kitchen. lol I dont have 4k at the moment because of buying this house. decorating etc.
 
we don't use loads of water, just we have set it to come on at 5 am till 9, then at 6pm till 10 pm. and usually turn it on for about 20 min if somebody needs a shower in the middle of the day.
 
Infamous786 said:
Well, if you leave it on it heats up the water when the temperature of the water drops. and we have a thermostat switch if i turn up to a the required temp it will put the central heating on, I had a quote from British gas to replace it they quoted a 4k, this is because if i get a new boiler i would like it to be in the garadge, as its a in a weird position in the kitchen. lol I dont have 4k at the moment because of buying this house. decorating etc.
Click to expand...

Why not get someone self employed who will do it a lot cheaper than British gas. They contract in guys anyway. They just have the t shirt on when they do your job.
 
Yes i know, they quoted us this because of the extra work required for brick work and getting it set up in the garage. Sometimes i regret buying such a big house. lol, but it was ok priced
 
Yeh I will eventually do this, just at the moment I dont have the funds, till my mrs finishes her internship and works as a GP, but for the time being just trying to find out the best way to save money
 
Did you get many quotes ? I bet someone could easy knock 1k off that price. Other plumbers would still be doing a good job. I find it strange how so many people trust British gas even when they're on watchdog every week.
 
I know, I would go with a local experienced plumber. Just i didn't want to waste somebody's time, might as well be British gas they got loads of money. lol
 
Our boiler comes on once a day in the morning to heat the tank It stays hot all day and is still hot the next morning if i get up early and use it before the boiler has come on to heat it up again. Takes about 35 mins to heat it up.
 
I would just leave it on if the storage tank is well insulated then it will stay hot/warm for a long time until it may need to heat it up alittle but its better than heating up 50 litres of freezing water.
ideally a combi is the way to go heating up as and when its required. as mentioned british gas are a rip off. You could get it done for 2.5k
 
Infamous786 said:
Hello, just wanted some advice, I have been in my new house for about 9 months. and I wanted to know if people leave there boiler on to heat the water consistently? or is it better to turn it on when needed. Sorry I am not very good with this. Just had a bill for £250 for gas. for 3 months, this house is allot bigger then previous. We dont use the heating loads. Just wondering ways to save some money. The boiler is old though since the house was built, about 20 yrs.
Click to expand...
back in the day we had a timer on our boiler (big metal thing with a red jacket) it comes on in the morning and evening, if we needed water in between with flick the switch for 15-30mins.
 
This is the system we have at the moment, but have put it on constant at the moment and will compare usage from what i have now on a timer. Gas prices are really expensive at the moment
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom