is it OK to leave heaters off all year round?

Modestas · 15 Nov 2019

Hello.

I have 2 rooms where I do not spend much time in... one of them is like a storage room. and other is like a room where I keep my wet laundry for drying (leaving window slighlty open all the time).

both of the rooms have gas based heaters (central heating based). to save gas I am thinking to keep these heaters off all year round. is it a good idea?

I wonder, would it not affect pipes in a negative way? and also would it not affect carpets, walls (especially in the room where wet laundry is kept) if there was no heating all year round all the time?

thank you for any comments.

muggles · 15 Nov 2019

You should have at least a little background heating to keep the cold and damp away, but it won't adversely affect the system if you do have them turned off

Newboy · 15 Nov 2019

Modestas said:
and also would it not affect carpets, walls (especially in the room where wet laundry is kept) if there was no heating all year round all the time?

Yes it will - wet laundry airing in an unheated/poorly ventilated room is a recipe for damp and mould.

Modestas · 15 Nov 2019

Newboy said:
Yes it will - wet laundry airing in an unheated/poorly ventilated room is a recipe for damp and mould.

this is what I suspected... is there any way to avoid it without turning the heater on? like if the window was left open all the time or something like that.

Alec_t · 15 Nov 2019

Leaving the window open all the time would make the rest of the house colder if the room door were open too. Closing the room door could prevent adequate ventilation of the room. Catch 22.

Madrab · 15 Nov 2019

Ventilation needed to avoid damp etc in the room would need air to flow through the room, an open window is only one side of that flow. You would probably just create draughts in your house.

As @muggles mentions, it's alway a good idea to keep at least a little heat within a room, doesn't need much

Notch7 · 15 Nov 2019

Modestas said:
there was no heating all year round all the time?

The radiator in the main bedroom is off all year round, but the bedroom door is left open always -enough heat circulates during the day and evening for the bedroom to be warm enough at bedtime. I cant stand a hot bedroom -small window open overnight every day of year.

Try it and see if it gets damp.

Mottie · 15 Nov 2019

The missus uses one of our bedrooms as a drying room. We have one of those electrically heated airers in there plus it has windows on two walls which are always on vent. I keep shutting the bloody door because it feels colder when I go upstairs and she keeps opening it. Constant battle but we have no dampness or mould issues.

Newboy · 15 Nov 2019

Modestas said:
is there any way to avoid it without turning the heater on?

Don't dry laundry inside!

Modestas said:
like if the window was left open all the time or something like that.

Leaving the window open doesn't circulate air and may make the situation worse by allowing the room to cool

Modestas · 17 Nov 2019

thank you for the comments. I dont wanna tart a new thread, so I thought I would ask one more question related to the central heating. is it a good idea to turn the boiler off when leaving the house and turn it on when coming back home? I mean to keep it on only while being at home, cause I do not see a point of heating the house while Im away for 9 hours.

Keithmac · 17 Nov 2019

Have you not got a programmer/ timer for the boiler?.

Modestas · 14 Dec 2019

setting the program or turning the boiler on/off at certain times is one and the same thing

anyway is it a good idea to have the boiler on and off, would it save eenergy? or would it have an adverse effect on the energy consumption cause once you turn it off and then on again it needs to work hard to get the temp right all the way up from the bottom.

also, I don't really understand. if humidy causes problems in regular rooms, whats about the bathroom? it is always humid there, does it mean heater needs to be on all year round in the bathroom?

Madrab · 15 Dec 2019

Bathrooms usually have purpose made/forced ventilation or an open window to be opened when you have a bath/shower, that is then closed/turned off once the steam/heat dissipates. The window shouldn't be left open all the time, then the door open to keep air circulating with the rest of the house. The bathroom wouldn't normally have lots of soft furnishings/carpets either that will hold the moisture keeping it humid.

Yes it's better for the boiler, never mind saving energy, to have a boiler running rather than regularly going hot/cold/hot. How much energy is saved though would ultimately be down to size of system.

winston1 · 15 Dec 2019

Modestas said:
setting the program or turning the boiler on/off at certain times is one and the same thing anyway is it a good idea to have the boiler on and off, would it save eenergy? or would it have an adverse effect on the energy consumption cause once you turn it off and then on again it needs to work hard to get the temp right all the way up from the bottom.

There is no doubt about it turning the boiler off when you don’t need it saves energy. Yes it works harder to heat up again but overall you save.

The energy provided by your boiler replaces the heat lost through your walls etc which is proportional to the difference in temperature between the inside and outside. For any period that difference is lower represents an energy saving.

diynot

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

is it OK to leave heaters off all year round?

Newboy

Newboy

Similar threads