What is the best cost effective way to use central heating.

no don’t close the doors. The air needs to recycle itself, so you need proper circulation. close vents in rooms you don’t use and use directional vents pointing down (winter months) in the rooms you do. One last thing, make sure you have a clean filter.

Please remember that closing off rooms causes them to achive the temperature of outdoors. ( Not completely, but for purpose of discussion.) This then makes the interior walls the barrier for heat to the outdoor condition. Do the interior walls have insulation? No! This drastically reduces the comfort level near those walls. If the return air for the heating system is drawn from these rooms, you will also have to heat that air with no gain to the structure. Overall, not a good idea. Remember that “comfort” is what you pay for!

You can keep temp on the lowish side (c. 60) wear extra clothes and still be comfortable. Also, in rooms w. high ceilings, you can buy little fans that you can install high on the walls to blow the warm air down.

I keep three rooms in my house shut all the time in winter unless I have company. But they are zoned and I can set them for 50 degrees.

many thanks for the answers, I get from it that best to leave rooms open to let the air circulate.

Using a heated (electric) mattress pad, you can sleep really comfortably several degrees below what’s best for walking around. A timer on the thermostat helps too.