Home heating: slow and steady or as you need it?

There are a number of things to keep in mind when considering how to heat your home, including: 

If you have a heat pump, you can save money by leaving the heating on all day. This is because heat pumps take air from outside to heat up your home, meaning they’re less efficient in colder temperatures as they have to work harder to keep water at a higher temperature.  Similarly, if the temperature inside your home drops, the heat pump has to work harder to get it up to a warm temperature. By keeping it on all the time at a lower temperature (or ‘set-back’) when you’re not home, it won’t have to use as much energy to get back to a warmer temperature when you get back.  

A common energy saving myth is that you should have your hot water heater on all the time, instead of turning it off and on. Immersion heaters and boilers will heat up the hot water to a certain temperature and will then keep the water hot all day for you to use when you need it, so once it’s reached the maximum temperature it’s aiming for, it can’t actually heat up anymore. Save yourself the hassle by only heating up the boiler when you need it.  How your home is insulated also plays a big part in deciding which is the most efficient way to heat your home. If you have cavity wall and loft insulation, providing it’s up to modern standards, then it may be worth keeping your heating on at a lower, steady temperature as you’ll lose less heat.  

Realistically, it comes down to one simple fact: if you keep your heating on, you’ll be paying for heat you’re not using or feeling the benefits of, and you’ll risk losing more heat. However, if it takes a while for your heating to come on, it uses more energy to get to a comfortable temperature and it’ll cost you more if you’re constantly turning it off and on (like underfloor heating).