The Problem…
Some people tell everybody how they save money by running the heating at a lower temperature for 24 hours a day. Others may say they save money by using the heating only when it’s necessary. Meaning in the latter case it is often switched off for 20 hours at a time. How can both people be right?
Both people can be right. Often, both people are right. How often does that happen?
Working Out Heat Loss
When a heating engineer calculates the size of radiator required in a room, a heat calculation based on heat loss is applied. Some of the things considered and measured are –
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Number of external walls
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Window number, size and materials
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Wall insulation
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Solid or wooden floor
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Room or attic above
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Room volume
Older House Types
A Victorian property would generally have a much higher heat loss per cubic metre than a house that has been constructed in the last 20 or so years, often considered a new build. The newer the property, the lower the heat loss. Stone houses are much more expensive to heat for example.
Newer House Types
For a newer build property, keeping the heating on is probably not necessary, but it would be cheaper than trying to heat a Victorian property. A newer property would lose heat quite slowly. A Victorian or stone house is continually losing heat 24-hours a day at a high rate. In that scenario, the heat loss is too high, and people in older houses would undoubtedly save money using the heating only when it is occupied and needed.
The Summary
So it’s pretty clear to see that both people can be right depending on the property in which they live. It’s not often both people in an argument are right. Newer house, you can keep it on, older house it may be much cheaper to use it only when necessary.
