Housing Energy Advisor.com Forum

[GDC71]

Hi there

I've recently moved into an apartment, converted from an older building. The rooms are very large, with very high ceilings, except the kitchen which has a lower "modern" ceiling in it. There are 4 rooms, lounge, kitchen, bedroom and shower room.

I've read lots and lots of posts relating to best way to manage heating but I'm getting a bit of information overload so I wondered if I could post my specific set up I could get some hints and tips so I don't suffer heart failure when I receive my first fuel bill.............

I have a boiler which has settings for Heating and Hot Water, they can be programmed individually and have On, Off, Timed and Advance on them which I can use without a problem. The bit I'm struggling with is the radiators in each room have a TRV while the radiator in the hallway doesn't but in the hallway there is a remote thermostat,

My confusion is which one "overrides" the other? If I set the thermostat to say 22 (I know this is high but I do like a hot house!) does that then dictate to the radiators the highest temp they will go to? So if the thermostat is 22 does that mean the highest temp the TRV will go to is 22??

My 2nd query is about the Hot Water, I've been advised to keep it set to On permanently as the boiler only provides Hot Water on demand (and if the heating is off the boiler doesn't kick in unless the tap, shower or whatever is switched on) but I really don't know the best way to manage it...........

Thanks in advance

GC

[Angib]

It would be good for you to confirm that you are in Britain, so that we know if the advice being given is relevant. The following assumes you are:

The master thermostat is the one in the hallway and this controls the boiler - when the hallway gets to the desired temperature, the boiler switches off and will come back on when the hall temperature drops slightly.

The TRVs (Thermostatic Radiator Valves) on each radiator control the temperature in that one room and the settings don't change - '5' or 'three dots' is always the same, whatever the hall thermostat is set at.

However..... the rooms with TRVs will only be heated when the boiler is on, so you don't want the hall thermostat set too low, even if you don't mind having a cool hall.

So think of the TRVs as maximum-only thermostats - they will stop a room overheating, but if the hall thermostat is set low, the boiler may not run for long enough to heat up all the TRV rooms as much as you want.

Maybe that was too much information and it's not clear?

It sounds like you have a combi boiler (ie, you don't have a hot water cylinder anywhere) in which case the advice to leave the hot water always on is right - it will only use energy when you open a hot water tap.

[GDC71]

Thank you Angib, yes I'm in a very very very cold Britain!!

I think I'd kind of got it right but you've put everything into a logical order in my mind so thanks again.

GC

[BarrenAllen]

The right heating controls will let you keep your home at a comfortable temperature without wasting fuel or heat – so you’ll reduce your carbon dioxide emissions and spend less on heating bills.