heating 1/2 rooms

Dilly.

hi guys

Living in a 3 bed house, only the one bedroom in use. Is it a waste to be putting on the oil heating to heat just the bedroom and ensuite for 30/45 mins every night and morning? would an electric heater be more economical? should i be heating the other two bedrooms and main bathroom when the boiler has to start from cold anyway?

edit: should have said the water is heated also but we have electric showers and use a dishwasher so although its nice to have warm water on tap its not essential!

Sir Arthur Daley

Dilly. wrote: »

hi guys

Living in a 3 bed house, only the one bedroom in use. Is it a waste to be putting on the oil heating to heat just the bedroom and ensuite for 30/45 mins every night and morning? would an electric heater be more economical? should i be heating the other two bedrooms and main bathroom when the boiler has to start from cold anyway?

Oil will be cheaper, you should heat all your house.

Dilly.

WikiHow wrote: »

Oil will be cheaper, you should heat all your house.

heat all the house every time i put the heating on? or do you mean ensure each room is heated at some point during the day?

at the moment the living room is heated with open fire, kitchen is heated few times a week with oil. then upstairs the main bedroom and ensuite are heated every night and morning with the other two bedrooms an main bathroom generally only heated if we have guests.

Sir Arthur Daley

Once every room gets heated every day all will be well, cold zones are a no no.

Dilly.

WikiHow wrote: »

Once every room gets heated every day all will be well, cold zones are a no no.

would it possibly be most economical then to heat downstairs (kitchen, living room, small toilet and hallway in the evening and all the upstairs at night? you see its a relatively small house (9 rads in total) I have been wondering when the boiler needs to be started from cold anyway does it actually take that much extra to heat a few radiators at a time as opposed to 2.

im pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff! we have been living in houseshares where the whole house was being used and heated so we never needed to consider this before we moved in here!

Sir Arthur Daley

Dilly. wrote: »

would it possibly be most economical then to heat downstairs (kitchen, living room, small toilet and hallway in the evening and all the upstairs at night? you see its a relatively small house (9 rads in total) I have been wondering when the boiler needs to be started from cold anyway does it actually take that much extra to heat a few radiators at a time as opposed to 2.

im pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff! we have been living in houseshares where the whole house was being used and heated so we never needed to consider this before we moved in here!

Yes you are correct that heat rises and thus heat the downstairs first, i guess insulation is the key here, is your attic well insulated?

Dilly.

WikiHow wrote: »

Yes you are correct that heat rises and thus heat the downstairs first, i guess insulation is the key here, is your attic well insulated?

tbh i dont actually know!! its a rented house and the landlord said it was before we moved in but we've had a few issues with things he said not being entirely true so im not so sure!

comparing to other houses ive lived in it does seem to retain heat quite well but then we've had quite mild weather since we moved in!

Dr Turk Turkelton

Hi guys don't mean to hijack the thread but I have the same sort of query.
We have recently moved into a house with 25 radiators in it.
I have turned off all the ones in rooms not being used and put them on once a week for a couple of hours.

Should I leave them all on?
There was a new Firebird condensing boiler installed last year by the previous owner.
House also seems to be well insulated and retains heat well.Oil is probably on for 3/4 hours a day at most.

MicktheMan

Dr Turk Turkelton wrote: »

Should I leave them all on?

Yes

Dr Turk Turkelton

Thanks for that.
Is there a reason for leaving them all on?
Sorry for what probably is a stupid question but I wouldn't know much about plumbing theory?

Also would turning them all on be harder on oil or would it be the same?

MicktheMan

Notting do with plumbing theory.
You supply heat to unused rooms primarily to prevent damp and mould problems.
It does cost a bit more in oil use but, imo, worth it. Can be minimised by keeping the boiler well serviced/optimised and having an appropriate control system.

freddyuk

Have you worked out how many times you use the dishwasher in a week? If you really are counting pennies maybe you need to look at ways of using less energy on high power items. Anything that heats water costs relatively large amounts of money so not filling the kettle each time you make tea etc. starts to add up quickly. Dishwashers use the same element as a kettle. if you are heating water via central heating then a couple of bowls full to do the washing up may be using less energy than a dishwasher which runs for an hour+??
Look at the most expensive loads first as you may be able to have a warmer house by making other changes to your lifestyle for the same cash outlay.
Stopping draughts and having sufficient insulation are cheap ways to keep a house warmer.
Wet the back of your hand and hold it round windows, doors, letterboxes, keyholes, catflaps etc. and you will be amazed how cold the draught may be coming through the house. Solve that with some draught proofing and you are saving on the heating bill for a few pennies.

Dr Turk Turkelton

Thanks MicktheMan I thought it was perhaps something to do with not using the system fully would disrupt it in some way rather than to do with dampness!
As I said I don't really understand plumbing.

freddyuk thanks for the post but not really to do with saving pennies was more of seeming like a waste to have all the heating on when not in use.
No real drafts around the house anyway if anything it can be quite stifling with heat at times.

Again thanks for the advice guys.

freddyuk

If you have stifling heat I would look at your control system. Having effective controls means all the rooms are comfortable or as hot / cold as you want/need? Have you got programmable thermostats?

Dr Turk Turkelton

freddyuk wrote: »

If you have stifling heat I would look at your control system. Having effective controls means all the rooms are comfortable or as hot / cold as you want/need? Have you got programmable thermostats?

Thanks freddyuk I have turned down the temperature on the boiler
Tbh I'm still getting used to the house and what controls are around it!

Too many switches seem to do nothing the first few times and then I will eventually cop what they are for!