using gas central heating efficiently!

[cherryglitter]

any ideas on how to do this?
we have a gas boiler fitted and it's been turned off for heating (of course) since we moved in, in august.
we have a thermostat and im not too sure what temperature to have it on. would that be the most economical?

so when it drops below a certain temp it comes on automatically? im not into this whole waiting for it to come on at certain times. obviously if i knew we were out all day i would drop it right down (or maybe put the timer on!)

any advice?

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I have mine on manual so basicly I decide when it goes on. I never have it on at night and I never have it on a timer. I am not sure if this saves money actually but I just hate the heat that radiators give out x

 

[// arcadia]

Ive always wondered this ...

You use the boiler to warm the radiators and the hot water .. so if i put my heating and hot water timer on at the same time, you must be saving money right, because its powering more things together?

Im cutting right back with my heating this winter, i cant afford to be -£400 next spring like i was this year.

 

[cherryglitter]

it's stupid isn't it. i hate gas bills.
although we're on a meter this time.... should be great fun!

 

[shortie1990]

No idea, we don't have a thermostat..(as far as I know) I just turn it on as and when I need it, but having the heating on to heat the water really pisses me off, like if I get up and want to wash dishes after breakfast.. I can't.. (obvs if I boil the kettle I can but cba!) so if it's hot, I use the electric water heater switch (my dad used to go mad at me using this at home because he said it costs a fortune) but OH sorts bills out so I haven't a clue if I use too much or anythin he's never commented on having a high bill

When It gets really cold though we have it coming on in the middle of the night and just before we get up so it's nice and warm, and if I'm in I just turn it on and off to keep it warm during the day

 

[shortie1990]

it's stupid isn't it. i hate gas bills.
although we're on a meter this time.... should be great fun!

I was on a meter at my sisters (they used to take a fortune off me for gas and electric) but when ever I wanted a shower.. Guess what.. No gas!! Pissed me right off!!

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

we have a meter and I much prefer it. No horrible debts

I just top up £5 extra than I use every week to bump it up for winter x

 

[Tegans Mama]

We have a meter too

I keep my heating on 19degrees through the day, 21 in the morning and 21 in the evening when it's cooler. We have a auto thermostat thingy where you can set it to change at certain times of the day.

I think it's more economical to keep the house at a set temperature rather than keep turning it up and down. By trying to save energy and turning your stat right down whilst you're out, you're actually using MORE gas because it takes longer to heat the house back up when you get back

 

[going_crazy]

I had a new boiler fitted last year, with a thermostat and thermostat valves on each radiator, and I was told this....
Keep the boiler on FULL heat and adjust the radiators accordingly. Keep the main thermostat at the temperature you want the house.
It seemed really weird to put the boiler on full, but it really did work and I did end up using less gas last winter (I am on meter too). It took a while to get each radiator at a good temperature (lots of fiddling around) but when we got it right, all we had to do was use the main wall thermostat.

I think this only applies to new boilers though xx

 

[MrsVenn]

We have ours on timer (5:30-7:30am) and (5:30-8:30pm) and we use the thermostat too. If I'm in all day with Molly, I put it on and off manually. In the summer, we turn the heating on to 'summer setting' which is an economical setting. SAme for hot water too.

 

[RachA]

hubby and i could never agree on the best way to do our heating so we did a test over two years.

The first year you did what hubby wanted which was to keep the heating turned off and to put it on to about 20degrees if we got cold, then once the house was warmed up we'd turn it off again.

The second year we did my thing which was to have the heating switched on. At night the thermostat would be on about 12 (15 if the weather was really cold) and then during the day i would turn it up to about 20-24degrees depending on how cold it was.

The second year was the year that, despite the increase cost per unit used, we used a lot less. Even if you have the thermostat on low and then turn it up for a boost, you use a lot less energy overall.

 

[Missy86]

Have you made sure it works properly if you haven't used it before, also I would get it serviced if you haven't

Like mrs Vern ours comes on twice a day

Also don't forget to bled your radiators

 

[cherryglitter]

it got serviced when we moved in in august
he checked over all of the radiators too.