MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis has busted a common central heating myth. The financial journalist took questions from viewers during a segment on Good Morning Britain today (Dec 7), providing them advice as the nation endures a cold snap.
Martin's fellow GMB presenter Susanna Reid put the questions to him, including one from Paula, a viewer who had a question about putting her heating on. Her query came after Martin, 50, gave viewers on how to keep warm when working from home through a 'heat the human, not the home' approach.
Susanna said: "This is pertinent. Sal says, 'To keep warm this winter, would you recommend putting the heating on constantly at 18C, or have it come on twice a day? Which would be the best and cheapest option?'"
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"So, there's a debate over this," Martin explained. "The general advice from the Energy Saving Trust is you have your heating on when you need it, and you turn it off when you don't need it. The myth that it is cheaper to have it on all day is false.
"The slight argument for that is if you have a house that is prone to condensation because each time you have to get rid of the condensation and that costs a lot of energy, so turning it off and on doesn't work. But, in most cases, you turn the heat on when you need it, and you turn it off when you don't need it,"
Martin then added: "Best to do it on a timer, on a thermostat. And remember, I know this sounds silly, when it gets cold, people turn their thermostat up, but if it's set at 20C, then it's just going to get to 20C.
"You don't need to turn it up because you're cold now, you're just going to have to wait [for it to get to] 22C because it's not on right now. That's what a thermostat's for, to give you the temperature that you've predefined it to be."
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