Heat only boiler - best way to run?

[Owen J]

I have a newish house (10 years old and new to me!) with a heat only boiler system.

I'm putting the heating on for an hour in the morning now but historically the water has been coming on for 2 hours in the evening.

Is this the best way to run it or is it possible/cheaper to have both on in the morning only?

Thanks

 

[joni os]

The best time to run the heating is when you need it. In a modern house air changes make a substantial part of the heat demand. Only if you have money to burn should heating be on and windows open. The same goes for air conditioning.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Its a life style choice , if just having the hot water on for 2 hrs. in the evening suits you then keep to that, or if more hot water needed in morning for showering etc. then set up for 1hr morning and 1hr or more in the evening, heating you may have to switch on as and when now its getting a little colder in the evenings

 

[Masood]

As said above it depends on your lifestyle and when your main hot water demands are. If your cylinder is well insulated, it will retain heat better and save on fuel bills. More efficiency gains can be made through insulation than tweaking on/off times in my opinion.

 

[Owen J]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Its fair to say that as winter progresses the heating will be on morning and evening but for now while the heating is on in the morning only am I better off moving the hot water setting to come on in the morning at the same time as the heating i.e. so the boiler only has to fire up once instead of twice?

 

[Masood]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Its fair to say that as winter progresses the heating will be on morning and evening but for now while the heating is on in the morning only am I better off moving the hot water setting to come on in the morning at the same time as the heating i.e. so the boiler only has to fire up once instead of twice?

Again, it depends on your lifestyle! If you heat the cylinder in the morning it will retain some but not all that heat till the evening. If you shower in the evenings, this may not leave you enough hot water. If you use any hot water in the morning, it will be replaced by cold water, thus leaving even less for the evening.

Heating the cylinder at the same time as running the heating is not "free" - the additional demand from the cylinder coil will use extra gas. So if you're wanting to move times to save gas, it will be a fairly negligible gain.

 

[Owen J]

Thanks very much for clarifying Masood