Winter heating, whats the most efficient way to set it up?

Marcos · 20 Dec 2006 at 13:02

I have a timed gas heating system on a big old (student) house, its eating through gas credit, about £2 a day

Is it better to have it on more hours of the day, and it has to keep the temperature up in the system.

Or instead having it only a few hours a day where it has to heat the whole system up again?

right now i have it on 7am - 9:30am and 4pm - 11:30pm and the temperature on the dial is quite low

just seems ridiculous that its going through so much credit

Richand · 20 Dec 2006 at 13:36

Marcos said:
I have a timed gas heating system on a big old (student) house, its eating through gas credit, about £2 a day

Is it better to have it on more hours of the day, and it has to keep the temperature up in the system.

Or instead having it only a few hours a day where it has to heat the whole system up again?

right now i have it on 7am - 9:30am and 4pm - 11:30pm and the temperature on the dial is quite low

just seems ridiculous that its going through so much credit

I got the same problem mate, exactly the same price aswell £2, are you with NPower by any chance? they seem expensive to me...not sure though tbh

crystaline · 20 Dec 2006 at 13:56

Log fire tbh

Dolph · 20 Dec 2006 at 14:00

The best thing to do is minimise drafts(sp) first of all. Close doors, hell get those little draft excluder snake things and put them by the gaps if they are still drafty... make the house keep it's warmth when it does get it, and work from there.

With regards to the actual heating setup, little and often is normally better, and cheaper, than it being on all the time, or only at a couple of points. However, without thermostatic control, this can get a little problematic to be constantly adjusting it.

We used to have all kinds of problems heating our old house (that was a big draughty townhouse too), but you can make it better by trying to make the best of what you have.

Our new house is so much easier to heat, because it's very well insulated and draft free

crashuk · 20 Dec 2006 at 14:02

dig a hole insert study material burn them while drinking whiskey.

or eat lots of beans and fart away

or just sleep at your place but go over to your mates place.

Marcos · 20 Dec 2006 at 14:10

Dolph said:
The best thing to do is minimise drafts(sp) first of all. Close doors, hell get those little draft excluder snake things and put them by the gaps if they are still drafty... make the house keep it's warmth when it does get it, and work from there.

With regards to the actual heating setup, little and often is normally better, and cheaper, than it being on all the time, or only at a couple of points. However, without thermostatic control, this can get a little problematic to be constantly adjusting it.

We used to have all kinds of problems heating our old house (that was a big draughty townhouse too), but you can make it better by trying to make the best of what you have.

Our new house is so much easier to heat, because it's very well insulated and draft free

about the "little and often" thing, my timer only lets me set the heat on twice every 24 hours. right now its 2.5 hours in the morning, 7 hours in the evening

wish i had more control points so i could have it on every other hour instead

Marcos · 20 Dec 2006 at 14:11

Richand said:
I got the same problem mate, exactly the same price aswell £2, are you with NPower by any chance? they seem expensive to me...not sure though tbh

I have one of those Credit Card type top-up systems so its pretty easy to keep track of spending but it does seem to go fast, dont know how it compares in cost to monthly bill system

Dolph · 20 Dec 2006 at 14:18

Marcos said:
about the "little and often" thing, my timer only lets me set the heat on twice every 24 hours. right now its 2.5 hours in the morning, 7 hours in the evening

wish i had more control points so i could have it on every other hour instead

Does it have any form of thermostatic control on it, or is it simply on/off at given times?

If it's the latter, then the cheapest way of using it is as little as possible, because it won't take into account the heat of the house or the system, it'll simply fire the boiler and the pump up and pump heat out.

You might actually be better off getting a thermostatically controlled oil filled radiator powered by electricity instead in all honesty, as once set they maintain a temperature with the least amount of energy possible.

scratch · 20 Dec 2006 at 14:34

Marcos said:
I have one of those Credit Card type top-up systems so its pretty easy to keep track of spending but it does seem to go fast, dont know how it compares in cost to monthly bill system

£2 a day..that's nothing!

We have a gas meter as well and use £20 every 6 days during the cold periods, and that's with only half the radiators in the house on! It's still bloody cold in here most the time as well.

It is a big terraced house with high ceilings so most the heat goes straight up and we don't feel it's benefit.

Andy

Marcos · 20 Dec 2006 at 14:37

Dolph said:
Does it have any form of thermostatic control on it, or is it simply on/off at given times?

If it's the latter, then the cheapest way of using it is as little as possible, because it won't take into account the heat of the house or the system, it'll simply fire the boiler and the pump up and pump heat out.

You might actually be better off getting a thermostatically controlled oil filled radiator powered by electricity instead in all honesty, as once set they maintain a temperature with the least amount of energy possible.

I have a temperature dial thing, like a volume knob on hi-fis but for temperature.

which do you reckon is best, having it on for a short amount of time on high heat or turning it low and having it on most of the day?

i cant afford to buy another way to heat the house, just a student trying to make the current system more efficient

Marcos · 20 Dec 2006 at 14:41

scratch said:
£2 a day..that's nothing! We have a gas meter as well and use £20 every 6 days during the cold periods, and that's with only half the radiators in the house on! It's still bloody cold in here most the time as well.

It is a big terraced house with high ceilings so most the heat goes straight up and we don't feel it's benefit.

Andy

yeah thats it, we have high ceilings aswell, 4 empty rooms (i've tried turning off the radiators, not sure if i've done it right), and a drafty front and back door

the house is fine when it has 6-7 people in it putting out heat and cooking etc but over the xmas break theres just me and another guy

scratch · 20 Dec 2006 at 15:16

Go get yourself some draught excluder tape and fit it to any windows/doors which are letting draughts in.

EDIT - Something like THIS

I did this on our back door and its improved our draught problem massively. We used to be able to feel a breeze blowing through the whole house and had to keep all the doors closed downstairs because the breeze would blow right through the house. After fitting the tape and using some expanding foam to fill in some other little holes the draughts have stopped.

Andy

Snow-Munki · 20 Dec 2006 at 15:32

haven't turned the heater on at our house yet.

been weating scarves at home

Samtheman1k · 20 Dec 2006 at 15:35

Wear a jumper?

Dolph · 20 Dec 2006 at 16:47

Marcos said:
I have a temperature dial thing, like a volume knob on hi-fis but for temperature.

That's good, makes things easier.

which do you reckon is best, having it on for a short amount of time on high heat or turning it low and having it on most of the day?

If you can stem some of the draughts, on low for most of the day is likely to be better. With the empty rooms, either keep the radiators turned on, or close the doors and put something at the bottom to prevent draughts for starters. (a rolled up jumper or towel works quite well). Also make sure you keep doors/windows closed where possible and again, try and stem any obvious draughts with something to keep the heat in.

i cant afford to buy another way to heat the house, just a student trying to make the current system more efficient

I remember it well, it's especially difficult when it's not your house so you can't do anything permanant.

Marcos · 20 Dec 2006 at 22:29

Samtheman1k said:
Wear a jumper?

done, but its well chilly here

VeNT · 20 Dec 2006 at 22:33

crystaline said:
Log fire tbh

oh latex queen we bow before your knowledge of the log!

but everyone knows, give a man a fire an he's warm for a day,
set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life!

Marcos · 20 Dec 2006 at 22:34

Dolph said:
That's good, makes things easier.

If you can stem some of the draughts, on low for most of the day is likely to be better. With the empty rooms, either keep the radiators turned on, or close the doors and put something at the bottom to prevent draughts for starters. (a rolled up jumper or towel works quite well). Also make sure you keep doors/windows closed where possible and again, try and stem any obvious draughts with something to keep the heat in.

I remember it well, it's especially difficult when it's not your house so you can't do anything permanant.

yeah our front door is shocking, very tempted to get that insulation tape and seal it up

Werewolf · 20 Dec 2006 at 22:38

Marcos said:
I have a temperature dial thing, like a volume knob on hi-fis but for temperature.

Silly question, on the boiler or on a wall somwhere? (just to avoid any confusion).

Assuming it is a seperate thermostat/roomstat, I would set the heating to come on only when you are likely to be in if possible - if you're at uni during the day have it set to come on for the morning (say 6-8am), then again for when you get back (say 4pm-9 or 10?).

there is no point in heating the house when no one is in it

Dolph's advice is pretty much spot on imo (although if it's a simple thermostat with one setting you are almost certainly better with it off when you are out)..

Marcos · 20 Dec 2006 at 22:51

Werewolf said:
Silly question, on the boiler or on a wall somwhere? (just to avoid any confusion).

Assuming it is a seperate thermostat/roomstat, I would set the heating to come on only when you are likely to be in if possible - if you're at uni during the day have it set to come on for the morning (say 6-8am), then again for when you get back (say 4pm-9 or 10?).

there is no point in heating the house when no one is in it

Dolph's advice is pretty much spot on imo (although if it's a simple thermostat with one setting you are almost certainly better with it off when you are out)..

well i dont really know the names of these things

we have a massive water tank type thing with thick solid insulation - boiler?
and then we have a square white heater type thing that seems to heat water on-the-go as it passes through it, dont know what this is or which does what