Yes, the eternal question. I've always subscribed to (what I think is) the uk.d-i-y orthodoxy that you pay for lost heat, and having the place hot 24/
7 just means more heat loss, so must be more expensive.
However, this bloke has come up with an alternative view.
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Stripping out the Telegraph political rant, the essence of his theory is th at warmer walls have less moisture in them, and walls which are dryer condu ct less heat, and so there is less heat loss if the heating is on all day. This sounds like claptrap to me, except in clinical trials he reckons to ha ve 160 votes in favour of his system being cheaper versus four votes agains t. Then again, they are Telegraph readers.
uk.d-i-y orthodoxy that you pay for lost heat, and having the place hot 24/7 just means more heat loss, so must be more expensive.
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warmer walls have less moisture in them, and walls which are dryer conduct less heat, and so there is less heat loss if the heating is on all day. This sounds like claptrap to me, except in clinical trials he reckons to have 160 votes in favour of his system being cheaper versus four votes against. Then again, they are Telegraph readers.
I think you have a damp problem if your walls get significantly higher moisture content by allowing home to cool some of the day.
When I was out to work each day, the most economic way of running our heating was to switch it on just before we came home. Provided that the house felt warmer than I was when I arrived, it was welcoming and over the next hour or so the house warmed up to the set temperature and I warmed up with it. The heating turned off an hour or so before I went to bed and I did not notice any significant cooling. In the morning I just got up quickly and got out of the house with no heating. Five hours running time each weekday approx.
Now I'm home everyday, the heating comes on as I get up and goes off at
11am I then put it on manually as and when I notice I'm cooling down. That way if I'm out during the day, the heating is not wasted. If I'm in, it is usually a couple of heating free hours even in winter before it goes back on. Time switch puts it back on around 5pm until bedtime -1 hour.
Total energy bill for the 4 bed house is currently £85 per month with 3 adults living there.
You could use a "programmable thermostat" as we do, to give as lower setting during the day. If it is very cold outside then I use a night time setting of 12°. That means if one of us has to get up in the night it isn't bitterly cold.
Manual is OK provided it's a "boost" for x hrs not "on then forget to switch off" operation.
That's what we have 18.5C from 0630 through to 1600, 20C from then to
2200, 15C overnight. I don't think the heating has ever come on during the night.
If it gets cold, beacuse there is a E'ly gale blowing and it's around or below freezing outside we'll nudge the temperature up a bit but that is self cancelling at midday or one of the other programmed times.
That's what we have - one push for one hour, two pushes for two hours. The heating is set to come on for two hours in the morning, and again in the evening, also for two hours.
I do much the same. It goes off around 9am and I am often out for an hour or two late morning. With south facing windows, it is usually warm enough not to need heating until late afternoon.
e uk.d-i-y orthodoxy that you pay for lost heat, and having the place hot 2
4/7 just means more heat loss, so must be more expensive.
that warmer walls have less moisture in them, and walls which are dryer con duct less heat, and so there is less heat loss if the heating is on all day . This sounds like claptrap to me, except in clinical trials he reckons to have 160 votes in favour of his system being cheaper versus four votes agai nst. Then again, they are Telegraph readers.
This has all been sorted out years ago, there is no controversy except for stupid journalists. It all depends on the structure of your house. Insulation levels. Thermal mass Occupation patterns Occupation density Air changes. Insolation. Electricity consumed. Large commercial buildings have control systems that ake all of these into account and have done for years.
However with your average domestic house intermitantly occupied it is always cheaper to turn heating off when not occupied.
Damp is a very tiny factor in modern buildings, most material these days are fairly impervious to damp and insulation should never be allowed to get damp. It might be a factor in old buildings with solid external walls of porous masonry.
Stripping out the Telegraph political rant, the essence of his theory is that warmer walls have less moisture in them, and walls which are dryer conduct less heat, and so there is less heat loss if the heating is on all day. This sounds like claptrap to me, except in clinical trials he reckons to have 160 votes in favour of his system being cheaper versus four votes against. Then again, they are Telegraph readers.
Economists love the phrase Ceteris paribus - Wikie says: a Latin phrase, literally translated as "with other things the same," or "all other things being equal or held constant." Always gives them a get-out clause because it is obviously never possible in real world economics.
But the idiot, sorry journalist, has not kept everything else the same in this case.
Changing the boiler temperature alone might have a significant effect.
Quoting SPAB happily without full details of references, but throwing out EST's info. (Not saying EST are wonderful.)
Somehow implying the Fourier's Law doesn't work in houses. What? Is heat transfer higher when the temperature difference is smaller? Sure, simplistically applying it to a more complex situation can mis-lead.
Suggesting 16 degrees at night! I'd bake in that.
Pointing out that some of the people who followed his advice didn't have a thermostat. (So how could they have turned that to any setting?) And seemingly realising he should have said to shut the wind out before making the changes.
This has all been sorted out years ago, there is no controversy except for stupid journalists. It all depends on the structure of your house. Insulation levels. Thermal mass Occupation patterns Occupation density Air changes. Insolation. Electricity consumed. Large commercial buildings have control systems that ake all of these into account and have done for years.
However with your average domestic house intermitantly occupied it is always cheaper to turn heating off when not occupied.
Damp is a very tiny factor in modern buildings, most material these days are fairly impervious to damp and insulation should never be allowed to get damp. It might be a factor in old buildings with solid external walls of porous masonry.
1 : exposure to the sun's rays
2 : sunstroke
3 a : solar radiation that has been received b : the rate of delivery of direct solar radiation per unit of horizontal surface; broadly : that relating to total solar radiation
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