At this time of year a long with 100’s of other people I worry about how I will pay my Electric/Gas bill.
Things are certainly better now I have moved on from those ghastly night storage heaters to Gas central heating.
After spending years being in a freezing house I want to feel comfortable but not be wasting money.
The problem is that everyone one has different ideas on the most economical way to use gas central heating.
Some say put it on timer a few hours in morning then a few hours at night… the problem here is the house temp drops to below 12c and it takes all night to warm the house.
Other say put the heating on and control it with the thermostat , keep it at 15 durring the night and durring the day when out, then turn up to 18 in the evening , this way the house warms up quickly and never feels too cold.
Now I wonder which is the most economical way ?????
Sally, having done a lot myself into this the best way is to take a reading then try one way for a couple of weeks then take another reading and see how many units you have used. The try the other way for the same amount of time and take a last reading, work out how many units and compare with the first set of units. Personally I use the second method but I have installed a programmable thermostat that automatically changes four times a day and you can have different settings for workdays and weekends.
Thanks Pete, I had already guessed the best way to work it out was take the readings… although for comfort and when its really cold i prefer the second way myself, but it would be interesting to do the reading bit 🙂
I do the few hours in the morning and at night as timed when I am at work. If I am in the house all day and it has dropped chilly I advance the timer which means it comes on and off as necessary during the day and turns itself off at the allotted time at night.
The house never gets really chilly…
I have always done it the second way .. thermostat control .. and then when I come in , I turn it up , and it is warmer quicker … otherwise I would be cold too.