Is it cheaper to leave a hot water boiler on all the time....

i keep mine on all day from 7am until 9pm and my bills are not that high someone who works with british gas told me its cheaper keeping it on as it is putting it on and off as it uses more firing up each time.

You do not make it clear if it is an "instant hot water" system, in which case you cant really turn it off as it just uses a pilot light when not actually heating the water, or if you have an immersion heater, which will work of electric, not gas.

If it is an immersion heater then you need to consider if you have some sort of off peak electric such as "Economy Seven" in which case it is better to get the water heated up during the cheap rate period.

If you have standard single rate electric then best to have the immersion on a timer for perhaps a couple of hours in the morning before you get up, then an hour or so just before teatime for the washing up. Of course if you have evening showers/bath etc then factor this in.

If you leave the heater on 24/7 you will be throwing away money as every time the water drops below the thermostat level it will switch itself on, and even with a well lagged tank the heat will leak away, the temp will drop below thermostat level.....etc...etc....

Even if you have a modern tank with a foam lagging then one of the quilted type tank laggings is a good idea - the more insulation, the less energy leaks from the tank (where you want it) to wherever the tank is (which is where you dont want it)

If you don't belive me, try taking readings on your meter every day for a week with your imersion on 24/7, then compare the readings for week with the immersion on a timer

It is cheaper not to leave the boiler on.

When examined as a physics problem,it requires x amount of energy to deliver y amount of heated water.After the water has reached the desired temperature,further heating will serve only to maintain temperature but will not increase the temperature or the load being heated.

Therefore,any further heating is wasted fuel.

However,it could be argued that allowing the temperature to drop will increase the energy necessary to achieve the desired temperature once more.Though a sudden burning of energy may appear intense,there would be no waste,all the energy would be transferred to the water.However,if the water was kept under constant temperature,every minute that went by would be energy wasted since fuel has been spent but nothing has been achieved.

Economic advice would be to heat the amount of water necessary and use it immediately.

Eg

If a bath requires 30 gallons at 30 deg then only heat the water to 30 deg and add no cold.This is preferable to heating the water to 60 deg and adding cold to regulate the temperature.Thus the remainder in the tank would be wasted.

In the winter if it is hot water and central heating leave it on all the time but reduce thermostat a bit... In summer if only for hot water to shower and sinks , well a bit depends on number in household, If just one or two then switch on and off, Presume you do not have hot water storage tank ,, That is a waste need a combi that supplies hot water when needed . off at other times ..

No! If you are not heating your domestic hot water with the boiler, then shut it off for the months it is not needed.

It will cycle with the thermostat.You never know when you will need it every time.You don't want to wait for hot water .It won't be a substantial amount of savings if you only fire it up when you need it.Leave it on.

yea leave it on well cost you more to heat up the cold water everytime if you boiler is insulated good it wont cut in to often

its deffo best left on.

I used to work for an insualtion company.

Its the same principle of having your heating on say 25, then turning it off, then when your cold turning it on so it has to work to heat all the way back up to 25. rather than just warming back to 1 degree every 30 mins to a hour. best way to prove this is to get your kettle, fill it up, boil it. time how long it takes, then leave it ten mins, and boil it again, see how it takes seconds to click off this time? LEAVE IT ON, it will save you loads.

Alternativley get a combi, or a electric shower..

if you want to put your money in the Russian economy then please leave it on all of the time!

turn it on when you need it, if it is on constantly it will cost more