Central heating and hot water timers - the basics?

spookylukey

I'm after some basic advice on heating/water timers please...

In my old flat I had a combi boiler so no need for a timer on the water element. In the hallway I had an electronic 24 hour / 7 day timer that let you program the heating to come on at different temperatures throughout the day and you could set it to a different pattern on different days of the week.

In my new house I have an old fashioned timer in the kitchen next to the boiler, it allows you to select 'water only' vs 'heating and hot water' and then another switch that is 'constant', 'off', or 'timed'. The timer is a pegs on a dial so you can only have it coming on or twice a day. In the living room is an old fashioned dial thermostat to adjust the temperature of the heating.

I'd like to get a an electronic timer like in my old flat so that I can have the heating coming on at different temperatures at different times of the day. What would I be replacing though? The timer control in the kitchen or the thermostat control in the living room or would I need to replace both?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts

Pssst

The fact that your existing old timer has the options HW or HW/CH indicates that you may well have gravity hot water circuit, i.e the system is not fully pumped. This leaves you with the option of fitting a timer which simply gives you more on/off options and different times for different days.

It may be better to concetrate your efforts in making the existing system and your home more emergy efficient.

Have you had a look at the energy efficiency of your home? Is it well insulated?

The idea is to not put the heating on to heat the pigeons!

My home has cavity wall insulation,all round quality double glazing,loft insulation,a fully pumped heating system (with stored HW). Admittedly the boiler is a bit old (50k Btu CF), i recently flushed the whole system and refilled it and it just sits on min setting and hardly fires yet the house is warm and the HW is hot.

Cardew

To have different temperatures in different rooms, the normal method is to fit Thermostatic Radiator Valves(TRV) to each radiator; are you sure these are not fitted?

Without TRVs the temperature of all other rooms is governed by the thermostat in your living room. When the living room is at the set temperature, the CH goes off.

It is relatively simple to replace the 'mechanical' timer in the kitchen with a digital timer. However that will not allow you to set "different temperatures at different times of the day"; it will simply switch on the CH and/or HW and the living room thermostat will determine the temperature of the house.

You can get a fully zoned system fitted(which your old flat had by the sound of things) but that will be an expensive undertaking.

spookylukey

Thanks for the replies

Pssst wrote: »

The fact that your existing old timer has the options HW or HW/CH indicates that you may well have gravity hot water circuit, i.e the system is not fully pumped.

I have a water tank in the airing cupboard (that can also be an immersion heater), there is definitely a pump in the airing cupboard so I'm not sure what type of system this means I have

Pssst wrote: »

This leaves you with the option of fitting a timer which simply gives you more on/off options and different times for different days.

This is what my ultimate aim is, only having the option of coming on/off twice a day is not really flexible enough for me. I'd also like to be able to have different 'on/off' patterns on different days.

Pssst wrote: »

It may be better to concetrate your efforts in making the existing system and your home more emergy efficient. Have you had a look at the energy efficiency of your home? Is it well insulated?

I have loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, the water tank in the airing cupboard is insulated as are all the pipes.

Cardew wrote: »

To have different temperatures in different rooms, the normal method is to fit Thermostatic Radiator Valves(TRV) to each radiator; are you sure these are not fitted?

Sorry, I don't think I was very clear in my first post. The radiators in the bedrooms and living room do have TVR's. The reason I mentioned different temperatures was that my old sytem used to, for example, turn the heating on in the morning at 22 degrees, it would drop down to 16 degrees after 9am, turn back up to 21 degrees at 4pm before turning down to 18 degrees at 10pm.

I liked this but ultimately if that is not possible without great expense then I'd like a timer that gives me more on/off options and that I can program to a different pattern on different days of the week.

So this involves replacing the one in the kitchen with an electronic one rather than replacing the thermostat in the living room with an electronic one?

Pssst

Does your pump in the airing cupboard have any kind of electrically powered valve in its vicinity? The pump could be just for the heating only.

spookylukey

It has a wire going into it but don't know what that means - this is what it looks like

Cardew

Electronic programmers cost from £40 upwards. This type:

http://www.discountedheating.co.uk/shop/acatalog/Honeywell_Programmers.html

Have more facilities than most.

However they will only switch on the CH/HW. The setting on your living room thermostat will determine the temperature of the room.

Keleva

I'd also be interested in any recommendations for new timers too. I have the same type of system as the OP, but my timer is on the way out (it still works but is very noisy and tbh I'd like more flexibility in the times I can chose and maybe a 1 hour override button)

Is it just a matter of wiring a new one in or do I have to look for a particular type?

Sorry if I've hijacked your thread lukey, just thought our problems were very similar

spookylukey

Thanks, I'll look into getting the thing in the kitchen replaced then. I wasn't sure whether it was that or the thermostat that needed changing as like I said my old timer changed the temperature too.

Keleva wrote: »

I'd also be interested in any recommendations for new timers too. I have the same type of system as the OP, but my timer is on the way out (it still works but is very noisy and tbh I'd like more flexibility in the times I can chose and maybe a 1 hour override button)

Is it just a matter of wiring a new one in or do I have to look for a particular type?

Sorry if I've hijacked your thread lukey, just thought our problems were very similar

I asked a similar question a few months back, I never got round to doing anything about it and it was only recently it dawned on me that I might be getting the wrong thing replaced hence this thread!

Here's my old thread before I had my lightbulb moment about which thing needed replacing!

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=756347

Cardew

Keleva wrote: »

I'd also be interested in any recommendations for new timers too. I have the same type of system as the OP, but my timer is on the way out (it still works but is very noisy and tbh I'd like more flexibility in the times I can chose and maybe a 1 hour override button)

Is it just a matter of wiring a new one in or do I have to look for a particular type?

Sorry if I've hijacked your thread lukey, just thought our problems were very similar

They normally fit on a standard back plate.

The wiring is normally quite simple and the leaflet explains which wire goes where.

The best thing is to write down the exact make and model of your current programmer and ask the supplier which digital models are a direct replacement

spookylukey

I've just been looking at this - I think it's what I'm after. It's a replacement for the thermostat rather than the timer but from reading the blurb it looks like it will do what I want it to.

http://www.heatmisershop.co.uk/Programmable-Digital-Room-Thermostat-Heatmiser-PRT-p-16135.html