Should you leave your heating on all day?

One part of winter most people don’t love is the costs of heating their homes – seeing your winter energy costs being up to hundreds of dollars more than your summer energy costs is never a pleasant surprise.

Still, that doesn’t mean you can simply just shut off your heat. One piece of advice we often see for saving money and keeping your house warm at the same time is to leave the central heat running all the time. But is it actually cheaper to keep heat running all day? In this post, we’ll answer the big ‘is it cheaper to keep heating on all day?’ question, as well as include tips and advice on how to best use central heating.

Does turning the heat on and off cost more?

As it turns out, it’s best to adjust your indoor temperature according to the time of day/whether you’re around or not. According to Energy.Gov, it’s a common misconception “that a furnace works harder than normal to warm the space back to a comfortable temperature after the thermostat has been set back, resulting in little or no savings.” In fact, the closer your interior temperature is to outdoor temperature, the slower your home’s heat loss will be and the less energy will need to be used to maintain the internal temperature.

In whatever case, though, you shouldn’t be completely shutting off your home’s heating at any point when it’s cold out – when your house gets too cold, you risk your pipes freezing over and eventually bursting, which can cost upwards of several hundreds of dollars to repair. So, in the sense of completely shutting off your heat and cranking it back up, it will cost you more.

There are also health risks associated with setting your thermostat at a too-low temperature during winter, especially for seniors. Ideally, elderly adults shouldn’t set their thermostat at a temperature lower than 18 degrees Celsius.

So then, how should your heat settings be programmed? In the interest of keeping your house at a reasonable temperature and preventing freezing issues, set your thermostat at a lower temperature during sleeping hours to help save money. For example, as stated in our post about tips for using thermostats, lowering your house’s temperature to 16 degrees Celsius when you’re away and when you’re sleeping could save you approximately 2.3% in electricity usage and reduce natural gas usage by about 13%.

So, overall, keeping heating on throughout the day is advisable, but not at a consistently high temperature.

How to Get the Most Out of Central Heating – Affordable Ways of Heating Your Home

Now that you know whether you should turn your heat off or down, here are some tips to help you achieve more cost-effective heating at home.

Check For Places in Need of More Insulation

Any amount of household heat isn’t going to do much if your house is poorly insulated. In the interest of not heating your home excessively, you can inspect your attic and walls for their level of insulation.

Organizations like ENERGY STAR have tips for how to assess insulation on your own such as:

• If the insulation in your attic is level with or below the attic floor joists, it’s likely that you need to add more insulation. For the most appropriate type of insulation, Home Depot recommends R-60 batt or blown insulation for the ceiling spaces below attics. You can also view our post here for recognizing poorly insulated areas.

Consider Space Heaters

If you’re working from home and you’re mostly confined to one room, you might want to consider using a space heater for a more economical way of keeping warm. Keeping the rest of your house cool (but not cool enough to freeze over your pipes or to harm your health) can help you save up to 10% on your yearly heating costs. To calculate the cost of using a spacer heater, you can use this formula below:

Watts (the watt rating or setting of your heater) x hours of operation ÷ 1,000 x kilowatt-hour (kWh) electric rate

For example, we’ll use a 1500 watt space heater and we’ll say that we are running it for 24 hours per day. Our kilowatt-hour electric rate will be $0.12 per kWh. So our equation will look like:

1500 watts x 24 hours ÷ 1000 x $0.12 = $4.32 per day, or $129.60 a month.

Ensure You Have a Programmable Thermostat

If you have a pretty routine schedule, having a programmable thermostat can help you take advantage of that and lower your heat settings at opportune times so that your heating bill isn’t so high. You can learn more about how programmable thermostats can help you save on energy costs in our post here.

Clean Your Warm Air Registers Regularly

Although this is relatively easy to do, many individuals overlook it. Simply remove your air vents and use your vacuum to clear away any dirt or debris inhibiting heat circulation in the vent holes. For the vents themselves, you can clean them with warm, soapy water.

Other Ways to Save on Energy Usage

Did you know that one simple way to save on your energy bills is to compare your electricity and natural gas rates to the rates provided by other energy retailers in your area?

Sites like EnergyRates.ca can help you find the best energy rates in your area with just a few clicks – just fill in the type of service you’re looking for and your postal code.

Additionally, EnergyRates.ca can provide quotes and personalized advice for businesses, commercial and industrial operations based on their energy needs. To get in touch, simply fill in this form or call 1-855-635-9608.