[mercutio2]

I have radiant floor heating, and setting the thermostat to my target temperature 3 hours before wake-up is fine.

But note that the OP has not just radiant floors, but also a heat pump (which isn’t using gas, so we’re far afield from the overall question, but setting that aside).

Heat pump systems are generally sized so that compressor’s sweet spot is pretty close to your expected normal/max output.

To be honest, this is more about the lifespan of the compressor than it is energy efficiency, but there is also a small loss of efficiency if you get the system into a state where it’s turning on/off frequently.

So it seems plausible and sensible that a radiant-heat pump system would recommend circulating 24/7 in the winter rather than cycling on/off a lot.