I have been away from the UK for 18 years, 12 of those in Cyprus [where I did not require central heating] and the last 6 years in Russia [where the state provides your central heating]. Now that we are having bitterly cold nights is it: a. most sensible to leave your thermostat settings a few degrees below your normal at night so that your central heating is constantly switching on or off all night or b. turn your thermostat settings way down for the night so that your central heating, when it switches on in the morning, heats the house to your normal settings? Which is more economical having it switch on throughout the night or a big heat-up in the morning when the system switches on?
Most cost effective at night?
- Thread starter essentuki
- Start date
Put the stat at a lowish setting, say 15 or 16, to keep a minimum background heat. You will appreciate it on these B. cold nights. Then just turn it up to normal level in morning.
Leaving it off completely will mean that temps drop to uncomfortable levels at night, then the boiler has to thrash itself for hours to get the temp up from a very low point when you turn on in the morning.
Cost wise, probably pennies in it. Brownie points with 'er indoors - priceless!
Leaving it off completely will mean that temps drop to uncomfortable levels at night, then the boiler has to thrash itself for hours to get the temp up from a very low point when you turn on in the morning.
Cost wise, probably pennies in it. Brownie points with 'er indoors - priceless!
Thanks but I have a programmable thermostat, it's a matter of adjusting it down a few degrees or should I adjust it down even more. During the night my wife and I are not really concerned about the house temperature but leaving the thermostat at too low a setting means that the boiler has to thrash itself when the thermostat reaches the mornings settings. I think the best way, as suggested by the reply above, is to set it to 16 degrees Celsius for the night so that the boiler does not thrash itself trying to achieve the daytime settings.
16 - 21 is still a fair bit energy 
This subject has been asked a million times. Work it out for yourself by trying both ways over a few days and taking meter readings. You will work it out quicker if you have a prepayment meter.
Btw boilers don't trash themselves. They just switch on when told and do their thing.
This subject has been asked a million times. Work it out for yourself by trying both ways over a few days and taking meter readings. You will work it out quicker if you have a prepayment meter.
Btw boilers don't trash themselves. They just switch on when told and do their thing.
I have taken out British Gas Homecare 400 whose charges per month are quite expensive for what you get. Anyone know of a cheaper option which will give the same level of cover?Indeed boilers don`t thrash/wear - any more than a modern car engine will- but boilers now have a lot more parts to go wrong than they used to - so it`s worth getting some sort of breakdown cover plan
Do you mean that by leaving the thermostat at 16 degrees Celsius at night I am wasting energy? What setting would you recommend?16 - 21 is still a fair bit energy
I agree about the brownie points!
We've tried both ways and can't see any difference. In the end we decided to leave the CH on all day set to about 17 so that the house isn't too cold when they come home. Having recently added an extra 170mm of loft insulation makes this look like the more sensible option.
We once tried a programmable 'stat and it was a nightmare, nobody understood how to programme the flippin' thing and it didn't seem to work very well anyway.
We've tried both ways and can't see any difference. In the end we decided to leave the CH on all day set to about 17 so that the house isn't too cold when they come home. Having recently added an extra 170mm of loft insulation makes this look like the more sensible option.
We once tried a programmable 'stat and it was a nightmare, nobody understood how to programme the flippin' thing and it didn't seem to work very well anyway.
Trouble with having the ch off all night on these abnormally cold nights, is that the house temp can get quite low.
So low in fact, that putting the stat up at or near to the time you get up may mean that the house won't be up to temp before you leave for work.
For the extra cold spell, IMHO it's best to leave the stat at 15 or 16 to keep the house at a sensible background heat, then when you need it higher for getting up, it hasn't got so far to rise.
This is advisable at the moment to make your home liveable. Cost terms, probably not much.
So low in fact, that putting the stat up at or near to the time you get up may mean that the house won't be up to temp before you leave for work.
For the extra cold spell, IMHO it's best to leave the stat at 15 or 16 to keep the house at a sensible background heat, then when you need it higher for getting up, it hasn't got so far to rise.
This is advisable at the moment to make your home liveable. Cost terms, probably not much.
How you should set it depends on a few things, mainly how well insulated your house is. If you have a high heatloss there is little point in heating the street day and night. Every house is different. Run it both ways for a bit and compare it.
At the moment my heating is set to a constant 22° day and night but i have 3ft of snow outside and like to stay warm.
At the moment my heating is set to a constant 22° day and night but i have 3ft of snow outside and like to stay warm.
DIYnot Local
Staff member
If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.
Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.
Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local