Is it more efficicent to keep heating on all day as apposed to switching on and off? Causing peaking. Any one done research on this subject?
Heating efficencies
- Thread starter Monarchmel
- Start date
Is it more efficicent to keep heating on all day as apposed to switching on and off? Causing peaking. Any one done research on this subject?
I'm sure some a government department somewhere has done the necessary but I've never seen any results.
However I liken it to driving a car in town or on the open road. If you repeatedly accelerate the car up to speed then let it slow down only to accelerate it again, ie town, you use a lot of fuel, say 30mpg.
However if you accelerate up to speed the cruise at a constant speed you use less fuel say 50mpg. Car fuel consumption figures prove this so surely the same might apply to heating a house?
However I liken it to driving a car in town or on the open road. If you repeatedly accelerate the car up to speed then let it slow down only to accelerate it again, ie town, you use a lot of fuel, say 30mpg.
However if you accelerate up to speed the cruise at a constant speed you use less fuel say 50mpg. Car fuel consumption figures prove this so surely the same might apply to heating a house?
You are using the fuel all the time the house is heated. You are just fueling the heat loss of the building! For an older semi thats about 10 kW !
So for each hour that you dont heat it you are saving 10 kWH ! Thats about 90p depending on your tariff and boiler efficiency.
Its always cheaper to ONLY heat the building when its occupied!
It seems very difficult to get some people to understand this!
Tony
So for each hour that you dont heat it you are saving 10 kWH ! Thats about 90p depending on your tariff and boiler efficiency.
Its always cheaper to ONLY heat the building when its occupied!
It seems very difficult to get some people to understand this!
Tony
Yes the heat loss is constant assuming constant inside and outside temperatures but how do you get it up to temperature in the first place?
When you boil a pan of water you turn the burner up high to boil it and turn it right down for it to simmer.........
tipper your comparison to car mpg is not right, on gas heating we are trying to see if it is better to run it all day or on and off, so to compare it to mpg you need to work out driving at 50mph for an hour then sitting with the engine off for a couple of hours then driving at 70 mph to make up the lost time then work out your fuel consumption then
Thanks for the responses. There is a logic in all. Guess there are a lot of variables, such as the ambient temperature of the day, how many times we switch on and off.
Tippers pan of water indicates the question perfectly.
There is so much written about boilers Rads etc. but there must be a way to manage heating room to room Changing temps of each zone in different patterns!
Tippers pan of water indicates the question perfectly.
There is so much written about boilers Rads etc. but there must be a way to manage heating room to room Changing temps of each zone in different patterns!
The latent heat of evaporation comes into this.
In an older house with poor insulation, if the walls and fabric drop below 14-15C the house can absorb moisture into these areas.
The moisture can then create a musty smell as bacteria sets in, thus the whiff you get in unheated rooms and houses which are empty and unheated. This quickly causes mould and deterioration of the building.
The amount of energy you need in terms of heating to remove this moisture and raise the temperature of the building fabric is significant and not linear. So in a significant building where it has dropped in temp and moisture has been absorbed will take much more energy to raise it above 14.5C, because the water has to be evaporated first.
Therefore I usually advise that a thermostat which is programmable to give different target temps throughout the day is better than just having fixed on/off periods in very cold weather.
For the reasons above I would not agree with this comment.
In an older house with poor insulation, if the walls and fabric drop below 14-15C the house can absorb moisture into these areas.
The moisture can then create a musty smell as bacteria sets in, thus the whiff you get in unheated rooms and houses which are empty and unheated. This quickly causes mould and deterioration of the building.
The amount of energy you need in terms of heating to remove this moisture and raise the temperature of the building fabric is significant and not linear. So in a significant building where it has dropped in temp and moisture has been absorbed will take much more energy to raise it above 14.5C, because the water has to be evaporated first.
Therefore I usually advise that a thermostat which is programmable to give different target temps throughout the day is better than just having fixed on/off periods in very cold weather.
For the reasons above I would not agree with this comment.
Thanks for reply Simond. Can you give any guide as to where Thermostats giving variable temps throughout the Day?? Can be found. Do you use them?
Yes we do.
The best room stat is the Honeywell CM907 (or its wireless cousin, the CM927).
We fit all kinds of clever thermostatic domestic controls, but for your average house the ones above take some beating in terms of features, and ergonomics.
The best room stat is the Honeywell CM907 (or its wireless cousin, the CM927).
We fit all kinds of clever thermostatic domestic controls, but for your average house the ones above take some beating in terms of features, and ergonomics.
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