Let Heating Go Off at Night?

[Groover75]

I have a large, detached Victorian (solid walls). The CH has been flushed and the boiler serviced.

The heating switches off at 9pm.

Between 9pm and 7am the temperature in the house drops four to five degrees.

The next morning the heating switches on, however on a day like today (3.5C outside) it takes eight to ten hours to get the temperature of the house back up the four or five degrees that was lost. So the boiler is on solid for that time.

I work from home so heating has to be on all day.

How do I know if it is more efficient to keep the boiler on at night and perhaps turn the t/stat down one or two degrees instead? Or is that stupid?

Thanks, Andy

 

[kbdiy]

Hard to give a precise answer. Much depends on the level of insulation you have and things like double-glazing, draughts, other ventilation - too many variables.

I have experimented with keeping heating on constant and it did cost marginally more, but comfort level was much better than when on timed. My house, having insulated cavity walls and over 400mm loft insulation, has good heat retention but it will vary considerably when compared with others.

 

[Diyisfun]

Do you need all the rooms warm/hot during the day.
If you only require your work area, you could look at ways of heating that area only.

 

[D_Hailsham]

The next morning the heating switches on, however on a day like today (3.5C outside) it takes eight to ten hours to get the temperature of the house back up the four or five degrees that was lost. So the boiler is on solid for that time.

Which suggests that the heating system is not powerful enough.

I know you can't do anything about the solid walls, but are the windows double glazed (or secondary glazed) and has the loft been properly insulated (250mm minimum)?

You could try using the Baxi Whole House Boiler Size Calculator to check if your boiler is large enough and Stelrad Catalogue (page 46) to check the output of your rads.