Not everyone is sure what they need to be doing with their boiler. Some people believe it should be kept on continuously, while others believe that it should only be switched on when you need it.
The truth is, there is no right or wrong answer here. It’s all up to your personal preference and the way you want to run your home.
In this article, we will discuss whether you should be leaving your boiler on continuously or if there is something else you could be doing instead.
What Is A Boiler?
A boiler is a device used for heating water in order to provide hot water for domestic use. These days, boilers are also often used to heat water for commercial purposes as well.
Currently, there are two main types of boilers: gas-fired boilers and electric boilers. Gas-fired boilers are more common than electric ones, but both work in much the same way.
They have an internal combustion chamber that heats the water inside them. Electric boilers do not require any fuel to operate. Instead, they use electricity to create steam.
Both types of boilers can either be installed into existing plumbing systems or built from scratch.
Should The Boiler Stay On All Day?
The question about whether the boiler should stay on all day has been asked many times before. But the real question should be, is it a good idea to leave my heating on, or schedule a heating period for set temperature all day? There are people who believe that running the heating on constantly will save energy and money over time.
Leaving a boiler ‘on’, in standby mode all day will not cause any problems or use much energy at all. It is only when the boiler fires that it uses energy.
The reason you have the boiler on is to make your home warm. This is important, especially during winter, when the temperatures really drop low.
Also, the elderly are known to always have their heating on all day, as they feel the cold much more than younger people. So, for them it suits them to have the heating on all day.
There is a real difference between having the boiler on all day, and having the heating on all day. Having your boiler on and plugged in all day will not pose any issues. The problem lies with having the heating on as it could be firing up all day and wasting energy.
Luckily, you can keep your boiler on all day and keep it plugged in and on standby for when you turn on your heating. However, having your heating on all day will cause your energy bills to increase exponentially. Having the heating on all day is extremely problematic if you don’t have a thermostat as this means that your boiler is powering through a tonne of energy.
Why Shouldn’t You Have The Heating On All Day?
If you’re thinking about having the heating on all day, then you might wonder why you would ever want to leave it off. After all, isn’t the whole point of having a boiler to get hot water or keeping your home warm?
Well, yes, but there are some reasons why you may not want to have the heating on all day.
Here are just a few of those reasons:
Energy Saving
By switching it off at night or when no one is home, you’ll be saving yourself money by avoiding paying for energy during the hours that you aren’t using it.
This means that you’ll end up saving more money in the long term. If you don’t want to pay extra for energy, then you shouldn’t leave the boiler on all day!
Economy
If you have a gas boiler, then you know how expensive it can be to buy gas. Keeping the boiler on all day means that you’re wasting money every hour that you leave it on.
If you’re going to be away from home for a couple of weeks, then you should consider turning the heating off so that you won’t be spending money unnecessarily. But you shouldn’t turn off your boiler at the mains during that time.
Most thermostats and boilers have a holiday mode or anti-frost setting, which means your heating system will protect your pipe work in the event of a frost or sub zero temperatures.
Insulation
If you are finding that your home is just not getting warm and you are having to leave the heating on for longer periods just to get your home or room up to a temperature, you need to make sure that your home is well insulated.
Otherwise, you are wasting your money by keeping the boiler on as your home is letting all the heat that you have created escape.
The more heat that you lose, the more energy and money you will spend to maintain the temperature that you want inside. This is just very expensive. Consider loft insulation and cavity wall insulation to help you retain the heat in your home.
When Should Your Boiler Be On
As you can see above, it isn’t practical to have your heating on continuously. However, you may wonder when you should put your heating on.
For the most economical use of your boiler and to get the most energy efficiency, we recommend that you only use your heating when you need to.
We also recommend that you only heat the rooms you need to heat. One of the quickest ways you can save money is by turning off the radiators in rooms that you aren’t using.
A lot of boilers with a timer that you can use. As a result, you can set your boiler and heating to come on at a certain time, so your home is warm when you wake up or come home from work. Then it can be switched off at a certain time as well.
A far superior way to use your heating would be to use room to room heating controls, such as WundaSmart, which giev you the power to only heat rooms you want in your home when you want to heat them. Cutting down on all wasted heat and energy.
Ideally, you should only switch your boiler on when you need it. As mentioned previously, having your boiler on continuously doesn’t save you any money at all and will waste energy heating rooms that aren’t used and the home when you aren’t in.
Especially if your home isn’t insulated properly, then you are just wasting money. Alongside this, if you aren’t in the house or asleep, you don’t need the boiler on as no one is using it. You won’t feel the benefit of the boiler, therefore you are wasting money and energy.
Final Thoughts
No one likes a cold house, so it is up to you whether you keep your heating on continuously, however, we would recommend that you don’t.
We would suggest that you only turn it on when you need it. This will help you become more energy-efficient and help to keep your energy bills down as you aren’t using energy that isn’t needed.
To help you only use the heating when you need it, you should be using at least a central thermostat, but to get the absolute most out of your system we recommend you invest in zoned controls.
Zoned controls such as our own WundaSmart system, help you heat on a room by room basis and remove the potential for wasting heat in empty unused rooms.
We hope that this guide has helped you decide whether you should leave the boiler on all continuously.
