Mandatory Thermostats On Radiators

KTF

My boiler has packed up and I have arranged for a guy to come and give me a quote for replacing it on Monday.

He mentioned that if he went ahead and fitted the new boiler, new regulations meant that he would have to fit thermostatic valves to the radiators as well (or that I could buy and fit them myself).

Currently my radiators have a knob that you turn that regulates the flow of water (like a domestic tap) to control the heat they put out rather than a thermostat.

Is he right about having to have the thermostatic valves fitted as it seems a bit unusual to have then retrofitted to an existing system?

moneysavingplumber

It is correct that TRVs should be fitted to comply with Part L. On existing heating systems it is possible for the customer to sign a disclaimer saying they don't want them, which absolves the installer of the responsibility, but it may still be an issue in the future when you come to sell. It would be in your interests to have them fitted as they will increase the efficiency of your system and give you more positive control. Traditional radiator valves will eventually weep from the gland nut if turned on and off frequently, and cheaper ones are not repairable.

alanobrien

KTF wrote:

My boiler has packed up and I have arranged for a guy to come and give me a quote for replacing it on Monday.

He mentioned that if he went ahead and fitted the new boiler, new regulations meant that he would have to fit thermostatic valves to the radiators as well (or that I could buy and fit them myself).

Currently my radiators have a knob that you turn that regulates the flow of water (like a domestic tap) to control the heat they put out rather than a thermostat.

Is he right about having to have the thermostatic valves fitted as it seems a bit unusual to have then retrofitted to an existing system?

Unless the regs have changed very recently, like in the last 2 months, on a retrofit such as yours you only have to fit TRV's to the rads in the bedrooms.

I went through this myself recently.

I had a guy quote me who insisted they all had to be done including the towel rails. One of which it simply wasn't practical to fit a TRV to.

Anyway, having read the regs I knew this to be incorrect and just to be sure I checked with my local planning department who confirmed my thinking was correct.

In the end I fitted TRV's to all the rads except those in the room with the wall thermostat (you dont fit TRV's to rads in a room with a wall stat as they would conflict) and i recommend using TRV's where practical as i have already seen a drop in fuel costs after our system upgrade.

Haven't done the towel rails though