Which saves more energy?

Question

Leaving the heat on all day or just turning it up when I'm home?

Answer 1

Why don't you put on a jumper.  How about only turning it on for a set period of time each day to warm the house up and then the heat should stay in.  Set them on a timer.  You can also set your water heater on a timer so instead of constantly heating water it just heats it for the morning and night.  It will stay hot anyway and it wastes energy.  Turn it off when you go away.

Answer 2

Just turning it up when you are home.

If your house were perfectly insulated, so that with the heat turned off it didn't cool down at all, then it would make no difference. (Of course in that case you wouldn't need a heater at all, but since perfect insulation doesn't exist, it is a moot point.) But if your house is not perfectly insulated, then it is constantly loosing some heat. Left long enough it will cool to whatever the outside temperature is and then stop loosing heat. But if you leave the heater on it will never cool that much and so never stop loosing heat. Basically it is like a leaky cup in a water shortage situation. Do you keep filling the cup even when you aren't drinking from it, and just let the leaking water fall on the floor and dribble away in case you might get thirsty and drink from it? Or do you leave the scarce water in the well or non-leaky tank and only pour some in the cup and drink it before much has leaked out?

But wait, there is more.

Even if it never cools all the way to the outside temperature, the closer it gets to being the same the slower the heat leaks out. So if you let it get a little cooler, a little less heat leaks out. But if you leave the heater on it keeps the temperature difference high which keeps the heat loss rate high. It is like the leaky cup. If there is only half an inch of water in the bottom, it leaks out slower than it would from a full cup.

So turn it off when you don't need it.

Answer 3

Turn the heat down when you leave the house, and (depending on where you live and if you can bear it) at night.  If you're cold, put on another layer.  A good rule of thumb, thermostat-wise, is 60 degrees when you're out/sleeping, no more than 68 degrees when you're there and awake.

Answer 4

i'll say turning it up when your home because the wheather could change.

Answer 5

Get a programable thermostat, set temp to 60 when your not there, 68 when you are.  Not using it ALWAYS saves more.

Answer 6

Just turn it up when your home.  You will use much less heat.