Does it take more gas to reheat my house or keep it at a constant temp all the time.
There’s a pretty good article on this here:
http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2008/12/03/index.html
Bottom line is that it isn’t simple at all.
Make sure to read the comments, too. There’s good discussion on boilers there.
Airlock in my old (non-combi) Baxi gas boiler heating system - what would you do?

yes
Take it down to 55 so that it is not too bad to bring back up to normal when you get back home.
References :
There’s a pretty good article on this here:
http://www.grist.org/advice/ask/2008/12/03/index.html
Bottom line is that it isn’t simple at all.
Make sure to read the comments, too. There’s good discussion on boilers there.
References :