House freezing - how can I make best use of gas central heating system?

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AnnieC

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Hi All,

Apologies if this comes across as the most clueless question ever but I'm freezing!

My 3-bed house has gas central heating which also provides the hot water and I can't seem to keep the house warm at all as soon as the heat is turned off and I need help as I've zero knowledge of how the system works!
I have the thermostat set to 30 degrees celsius, the heat is set to come on at 4am-7am in order for us to have hot water for showers first thing and also to heat the house before we get up. It then is set for 3pm-5pm again so that there is enough hot water to give my little girl a bath before bed (every second night) and that the house is warm for when I come home from work/daughter home from creche. This works fine on the days that we're out of the house during the day but not on the days we're at home (I jobshare).

Basically my main question is, is it possible to have the heat on constantly at a lower setting on the thermostat so that the house is warm all day rather than freezing between 7am and 3pm without having massive gas bills?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

AnnieC
 
AnnieC said:
Basically my main question is, is it possible to have the heat on constantly at a lower setting on the thermostat so that the house is warm all day rather than freezing between 7am and 3pm without having massive gas bills?
Click to expand...

Yes.

30C is very high. If you set the thermostat at 21 or even 22 you could leave the heating on much longer without a huge cost increase. The problem may the the long periods where there is no heat at all - from your post this looks like from 5pm until 7am and then from 7am until 3?

I don't think many houses would have a chance to warm up properly with gaps like this. You might find that e.g. half an hour on, half an hour off over 6 hours can work better than 'constant' for 3 hours.
 
Hi, there should be a manual over-ride switch on the boiler timer, usually (1) off (2) timer (3) constant
set the switch to constant or 24 hr and switch back to timer mode as you please. If you find it too warm just turn the room thermostat down a little.
hope that helps
 
how have you the stat set at 30? is the stat in a room or on the boiler??
If its a room thermostat it shouldnt be set above 21-22...

central heating pipes usually work in the range or 50-90... at the higher temps during colder weather.

Is your house a timber frame?? how old is it?

You need to do everything you can to keep heat in...
these measures span from free to high cost

free and low cost measures would include:
1. checking all draught stripping around windows / doors to make sure they are working properly
2. draught strip the attic hatch, and put a hinge and put a bolt lock on it (an attic hatch is basically a huge hole in your insulation!! If possible stick some polystyrene over it
3. check all points at which pipes enter and exit your outer walls. If there are gaps around these pipes, fill them with filler.
4. check around windows and doors for draughts. especially check under window boards... fill all these gaps with caulk filler.
5. always draw curtains if any!

medium costing measures:
1. purchase more quilted insulation and lay it up in the attic
2. put heavier curtains on windows and always draw them at nighttime!


if you continue with the way things are, the ONLY way you can keep the house heated is to turn the heating on constant.
 
Thanks so much for all the prompt replies guys. To answer your questions, Sydthebeat -

The thermostat is in our hallway downstairs. We found out (the hard way!) that if the thermostat is between 21-22 degrees, on a warmer morning the water wouldn't be hot enough if at all! Doesn't apply at the moment though I know! The house is about 10 years old, I honestly don't know if it's a timber frame but I doubt it. I'm in Lucan, Dublin a 3-bed semi-detached if that's any help.

Thanks for those suggestions, my weekend will be busy as will the DIY shops!!

Caveat, I'll give your suggestion a go for now and see how I get on with the lower temps during the day for longer. I just really am stuck as I genuinely can't afford an increase in gas bills (like most people nowadays) but on the other side looking after my little girl is more important to me.
 
Get yourself a table mounted thermostat so that you get an idea how warm your house is, between 19 and 21 does most people but there are complete energy wasters out there with the house at 24 and 25.

You should be able to keep the heating on with the thermostat at say 20 for the day without running up huge bills.

You may also wish to consider some of the draft proofing and attic insulation threads if your heating needs to come on at 4am for a 7 am start.

Also remember that this is a very cold snap and every householder has to adjust their heating to take account of that as in general we get mild even winters - of course those of us with programmable room stats with optimum start get the real benefits.
 
annie, there should be another thermostat somewhere for the hot water.. im not a plumber so i dont know the standard, but my gas boiler at home has a thermostat at the boiler that spans between 40-80 (i think).. this is for hot water alone. I have no room thermostats, but i do have TRVs in the kitch and living room (these are controllable valves on the rads that allow 4 settings, off, low medium and high temp.)

Is there a thermostat on your hot water cylinder?
 
a 10 year old estate house is unlikely to have a stat on the cylinder. Just a wheel valve to balance system. Stat in hall would still turn off heating
 
our hall stat is set at 17 which keeps the living areas comfortably warm; mind you, our house is very well insulated. We have a combi boiler so water heating is independent of space heating.
 
davidoco said:
You should be able to keep the heating on with the thermostat at say 20 for the day without running up huge bills.
Click to expand...
do you mean the thermostat on the boiler at 20 and on all day? I have this problem too. My house is very cold and will warm up but when the heat is off it goes down to 10 degrees. It is a new house but does not have thermostat in hall so i would have to leave it on at boiler long periods
 
Not having a separate pump/switch for your water is a real pain. Still, setting a room thermostat at 30C sounds excessive. Get an accurate thermometer so that you know when the thermostat needs to be turned up to keep the heating running for your water. Basically, use the thermostat as a switch when you need water. You do NOT need heating on from 4am-7am to heat water ... depends on size of hot water tank and wattage of boiler, but I doubt more than half an hour is required. If you are also turning on for space heating, 30C is too high. The rate of energy loss through your windows and walls is proportional to the difference between inside and outside temperature. Periods of high temperature interspersed with no heating are less efficient than maintaining a constant temp.
 
Jane Doe said:
do you mean the thermostat on the boiler at 20 and on all day? I have this problem too. My house is very cold and will warm up but when the heat is off it goes down to 10 degrees. It is a new house but does not have thermostat in hall so i would have to leave it on at boiler long periods
Click to expand...

You will have to give the make and model of your boiler but most thermostats on a boiler would only give a reading of the temperature of the actual water in the pipes not the air temperature, although it could be connected to a remote stat somewhere. In any event the temp at the boiler would be between 55 and 75 at least.

You need to consider how in the name of God a new house built to even the most basic standard with the worst craftmanship would drop to 10 degrees. Are you taking that from a reading on the boiler or a normal thermostat.
 
just out of curiosity. what tempreature should your hot tank be at. i checked mine and it was at 70. i turned it down to 50 last nite
 
I'm no expert, but its all relative really. For example where is the stat attached to the tank? 2/3 down from the top or 1/2 etc. The hottest water will be at the top, so with a constant stat temp, the further you go down the hotter the water will be at the top, so its really just a case of adjusting the stat so that when theres no need to heat anymore, you have an adequate amount of you desired water temp coming out of the taps (i.e kitchen sink).

I've always been told to have the stat 2/3 of the way down...

S.
 
The fact that you aee heating the whole hpuse from 4am to 7am when you are all in bed in order to have a hot shower is an complete waste of money.

does it really take 3 hours to heat the tank ?
I assume you have a well lagged tank. If not, solve this immediately.

Have you considered getting an immersion heater installed.
If the central heating is not heating the water hot enough, it only takes about 15 minutes for the immersion to finish the job. This would be much more cost effective.

Then you could turn the termostat down to a reasonable 21 and leave it on for longer and when you are in the house.
 
I have exactly the same problem with my house...its a nightmare, and the bill do be sky high! I've started just leaving the gas on for an hour or so just to heat the water, and then light the fire, and put a small heater into my sons room for half an hour before he goes to bed just to heat the room up. No matter what way i run the gas, the bills are astronomical!
 
what do you mean astronomical?

i live in a 1000 sq ft 3 bed semi.... built around 2004.

the house has 6 persons, 4 kids 2 adults.....

my gas bills are in the range on 60-80 bi monthly during warmer periods, and around 100-120 during winter period.....
 
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