Woman shares surprising results after testing whether it's cheaper to leave heating on constantly or boost during the day

A woman has shared the results of her experiment to see whether it's worth keeping the heating on all the time or just using short bursts.

The colder it gets and the more expensive energy becomes, the more pressing an issue this is.

Leaving it on constantly should keep your home pretty toasty and ward off the worst of the cold weather, but is getting the temperature up at the start and end of the day more or less expensive?

We're well past the point the experts have said is time to stick the heating on and now the dilemma is between a steady temperature or a few hot blasts during the day.

Humans like temperatures of between 18-21C so keeping things on a steady heat below that isn't going to fully solve things.

Getty Stock Photo

Meanwhile, whacking the thermostat far beyond that for short bursts will devour power and crank up the energy bill.

One woman who's given this a go both ways has delivered her verdict on what approach she'd prefer.

"The first couple of days when I had put it on constant it was costing more every day," said TikToker Mandy Charlton.

"But since then it's really come down and I now seem to be using around about the same amount of gas every day.

"If you're only using your heating like a couple of times a day for half an hour here or there it's gonna be cheaper to leave it off really and just boost it.

"But if you're using it more than four hours a day you might as well just have it as a constant 18 'cause it doesn't kick in as much as you'd think.

TikTok/@mandyyourtiktokmum

"Remember every time you're boosting it you're letting the temperature in your house go down. Chances are in two hours it's blasted it really hot but it still won't have got up to 18 on a cold day."

The TikToker explained that she was deciding to leave the heating on at a steady level instead of using quick bursts to blast away cold temperatures in the moment.

Mandy said it was 'definitely the way forward' for her as it 'works out just as cheap as having it on for two hours in the morning and two hours at night'.

However, others disagreed with her assessment, saying they tried this test for themselves and saved money by only 'putting it on when needed'.

Another said they found it 'more expensive constant', while many others agreed with Mandy that having it on a steady level worked better for them.

Topics: Money, UK News, Weather, Cost of Living

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker