Why are my upstairs radiators always on??

PeteW

Hello,

I've recently bought and moved into a new house, and amongst the various curiosities to get used to is the heating.

The boiler can be set to 'Off', 'Hot water only', or 'Hot water and Heating'.

I would have expected that when on 'Hot water only' this means I would get hot water out my hot tap, but the radiators would be off - which is exactly the case downstairs... upstairs however all the radiators seem to be permanently on and I've no idea why..

Any suggestions?

Cheers

Pete

ariba10

It is probably caused by Thermal convection. ( I think that's the term)

It is the same principle that allows the water to circulate without a pump to the Hot water cylinder.

There is an automatic valve that can be fitted to stop it.

deanos

We have the same problem in our house, the plumber told us it needs a pipe going back to the boiler to prevent it happening which would involve ripping up floorboards and the like so isnt worth it, we just turn them all off in the summer.

Jonesya

The exact cause will depend on the type of system you've got.

We had same problem on a gravity hot water, pumped CH system. The check valve (valve with a sprung flap allowing water to flow in one direction only) in the central heating circuit had failed allow the hot water to circulate when the pump was not running. Changing the check valve fixed the problem.

PeteW

OK, sounds like it's a case of getting a plumber out then! Now, I wonder what is cheaper - getting a plumber round, or wasting money on hot water that's not being used...!

latecomer

If you dont have them already you could fit thermostatic valves which would close off once they reach the desired temperature and hence prevent the water being drawn from the boiler.

PeteW

Well the thermostat idea doesn't really work as I've turned it right down and the radiators are still on. I guess it's measuring the temperature downstairs though it's upstairs heating up!

So does anyone know how much would be a fair price to fix this properly?

Pete

deanos

Is your hot water on by any chance ?

Our rads upstairs heat up when the hot water is on

Pyewacket338

What heating set up have you got?
In an indirectly heated hot water tank, a coiled water pipe inside has hot water pumped through it from the boiler to heat the stored water, this is the same hot water that heats your rads, when you select the hot water only, a motorised valve will shut off the flow to the rads so it only flows through the heating coil in the stored hot water tank, if this isn't closing properly, you may have hot water entering the central heating system and heating the radiators.

PeteW

No idea what the heating set up is to be honest!

vinr

Like deanos says, just turn the unwanted radiators off, although the 'bypass' pipework will still get heat.