Thermostats and Control heating

sva14

Hi,

I been told that I can reduce gas usage on my central heating (CH) by turning off the radiators in unused rooms. So I have done this and left only 3-4 radaitors on.

But after monitoring I cannot see any reduction in the meter units used.

The CH thermostat is in the Hall way and I set this to say 15C, but the the hall is generally cold as the heat escapes upstairs and outside doors etc. So is it that the CH is not getting to 15C and turning off and on ? I.e CH not working the way it should?

What other options?

Cardew

Turning off radiators will save fuel. Bear in mind it has been very cold recently.

You should have Themostatic Radiator Valves(TRVs) fitted on your radiators.(depending on you CH system you might have to have one without a TRV)

Trying to regulate the temperature for the whole house from a wall thermostat in a cold hall is very difficult.

If the temperature in the hall does not reach the point set on the thermostat the CH will keep operating - with the pump running. This means that without TRVs the other radiators will be hot all the time regardless of the temperature in the rooms in which they are situated.

I have my room thermostat in a large hall with a staircase leading up to a large landing. I turn the thermostat up high and control the temperature of each room with TRVs(with them off in some rooms)

It is a compromise solution - but the alternative is to heat a large hall and landing.

Without TRVs it is a question of experimenting with your hall thermostat.

sva14

Hi

Thanks

That's what I thought, do I get the hall and landing up to the right temp, but then that would be expensive to heat.

I have TRVs on some radaitors in some room, and some don't like bath/ ensuite. So the others have been turned off with the screw cap? is this ok?

If I did the same as you turn up the hall thermostat up high say 20C, and then control the rooms by the TVRs, this still means that the CH and pump is going to continue to run as the hall may struggle to get 20C?

Is the alternative to regulate the temp by me manually turning down and turning up the hall thermostat ?

Currently 1 hour with ch on at 15 is using around 0.80 units M2.

Magentasue

We have our thermostat (in hall) set to 20deg most of the time when we're sitting around. The house is warm enough - sitting room and bathroom TRVs on full, bedrooms on 2, other rooms between. Rest of the day it's 18deg and night 16deg which effectively stops the heating coming on. In our last house, the numbers were higher - we've just tried different settings to get it right for us - then the weather changes and we start again.

sva14

I have been doing some experiments with TRV on 3 and then on 9, both use the same amount of units in 1 hour. Is this because the hall thermostat does not reach the desired temp so the Ch stays on all the time?

Do you think for me to regulate the heating, it is just put the hall thermostat on high, turn off all unsed radiators and then when temp reach my desire level in lounge turn off thermostat and vice versa?

Also if i put the TRV on the lounge radiator high say 9, will this heat up the radiator quicker? Thus gets hot quicker, then I can turn off the CH.

Cardew

satish98 wrote: »

I have been doing some experiments with TRV on 3 and then on 9, both use the same amount of units in 1 hour. Is this because the hall thermostat does not reach the desired temp so the Ch stays on all the time?

Do you think for me to regulate the heating, it is just put the hall thermostat on high, turn off all unsed radiators and then when temp reach my desire level in lounge turn off thermostat and vice versa?

Also if i put the TRV on the lounge radiator high say 9, will this heat up the radiator quicker? Thus gets hot quicker, then I can turn off the CH.

Firstly - No the radiator will not heat up quicker or get any hotter with a setting of 9. The lower the setting on the TRV it will shut off the water to the radiator at a lower room temperature.

You can't measure the consumption of the boiler over a few hours for comparison purposes.

Yes your CH pump will run all the time when the hall temperature is below that set on the thermoststat - but so what? I turn off my hall radiator as I am only concerned about the temperature in the rooms I am using, and this is determined by the TRVs

Farway

Would it be possible to move the thermostat to say your lounge?

sva14

Cardew wrote: »

Firstly - No the radiator will not heat up quicker or get any hotter with a setting of 9. The lower the setting on the TRV it will shut off the water to the radiator at a lower room temperature.

You can't measure the consumption of the boiler over a few hours for comparison purposes.

Yes your CH pump will run all the time when the hall temperature is below that set on the thermoststat - but so what? I turn off my hall radiator as I am only concerned about the temperature in the rooms I am using, and this is determined by the TRVs

Thanks will keep TRV at 3 - 4 setting.

I have been measuring consumption on hourly as well as weekly for 4 weeks using spreadsheet and imeasure. On average my consumpltion per day is 10 units 110 kwp weekdays and 13-15 weekends 145 kwp.

If my CH pump is going to run all the time whilst i control room temp using the radiator TRV's , then the CH is going to be on all the time thus using MORE GAS and costing me more. I want to get to the desired room temp and then shut the pump and then on again when it gets colder again?

Answer to other post about moving room thermostat, no not planned to for short term until do decoration.

sva14

Ok, trying to understand this and TRV, so if the radiators are set to for e.g 3, then the radiator will swich off when it gets to its temperature and this will trigger the thermostat in the hall to switch off, even if the hall thermostat has not registered say 20C?

Is this correct?

Also I have TRV in bedrooms but not bathroom radiators, so will the above still happend ?

thanks

sva14

Ok, I get it now, however as stated earlier the Hall tends to stay very cold due heat loss upstairs and through doors. So my post was that the hall thermostat never triggers as even when setting to 15 c . But the lounge gets very hot , thus I tend to have to shut the CH down myself manually!

whats is yr view?

Ps listen to cardew advice I am considering turning off the Hall radiator?

Hall radiator does not have TRV

John_3:16

Your TRV valve on the rads are like a tap that turn on and off as the heat is needed. Why does your lounge get warm? have you no trv valve on this rad?