Turning off spare radiators = Cheaper Gas Bills???

Chrysalis

Actually his logic makes 'some' sense.

Unless each room is fully sealed of from others then when you have cold rooms then it will ultimately affect the temperature of the warm rooms.

Of course it doesnt make complete sense, the more the boiler has to heat the harder it has to work, but I wonder if the effect depends on the type of boiler.

If I turn my boiler on and watch it, I dont see it going on and off to control temperature it simply stays on until its turned off. I even hear pipes shake sometimes presumably with boiling water. Is too hot? well if I turn it to a lower setting things arent hot enough.

Biggles

Doors to rooms should always be shut (or, at least, pushed close to) as normal practice.

Different rooms will be set for different temperatures (especially the hall - where the thermostat usually is - and bedrooms etc) and unwanted 'leakage' of heat will apply then just as much as if you have a radiator off in a room.

pinkie_pie

How do you actually turn your radiators on and off?

Fleeting_Glimpse

As far as I know there is no 'correct answer' to this.

I am a registered Plumber and have been studying the best way to run my own central heating heating system I fitted a couple of Years ago (sad I know but I'm a perfectionist!)

I have it running like a clock now...this is only my personal view so please be nice to me!

I have a combi boiler and 8 radiators in a 3 bed detached house. All the radiators are sized slightly more than required for each room. I have 'Danfoss' TRV's fitted to all radiators which after trying lots of makes of TRV's over the last 20 Years, I find these to be the best.

I have a honeywell programmable roomstat in the hallway. No TRV on hallway rad or bathroom towel rail.

All upstairs TRV's are set to 19 degrees. Number 2 on the TRV. This an ok temp for bedrooms.

I have a small radiator on the landing to heat this 'dead space'. This helps retain heat in the bedrooms and hallway.

TRV's downstairs set to 2.5 which is about 21 degrees.

With TRV's set to these settings, if say the sun comes out or oven heats the kitchen...the rad will turn off till it cools.

The programmable stat in the hallway is set at 19 degrees in the day when the house is occupied and 16 degrees at night or when unoccupied.

Its set to 21 degrees in the evening.

The heating is only ever completly switched off if we are going away for more than one night.

The boiler stat is controlled by a 'weather compensator' outside. This adjusts the boiler temp as the temperature outside alters but you can turn the stat up and down yourself from low in autumn to near max when its REALLY cold. If you have a room stat that is correctly positioned, in theory, you could leave your boiler on MAX at all times and you wouldn't use any more gas. In fact I recon you would use more by having it set too low! The only thing you'd find by having it on MAX is the house would over heat and you'd get a bit sweaty!!

So.. get some TRV's...don't completly turn off radiators...just keep 'the chill off' rooms you don't use much and keep the heating ticking over all the while.

My gas bill is £45 a Month...4 of us, 1 bath, 2 showers a day and a gas range cooker.

katrina1979

Thanks for the info above. Do you know if this will work with an old style heating system. I have a back boiler to run my radiators and would definatley be interested in the TVRS if it will cut down my gas bill:T

spinningsheep

I too would like TRV's, I have 8 rads and a towel rail. very old Glow work fuelsaver F boiler circa 25-30 years old. How much would TRV's cost? Fitted.

dopester

spinningsheep wrote: »

I too would like TRV's, I have 8 rads and a towel rail. very old Glow work fuelsaver F boiler circa 25-30 years old. How much would TRV's cost? Fitted.

Maybe £300 (?) according to this boom-time, easy credit, money-galore, 2006 BBC article - unless economic conditions are changing and plumbers will soon begin to do such jobs at rates reflecting affordability in the economy. I think my Dad fitted ours.

I asked my friend Laurence, who's a plumber, to come round and give me an estimate. He was very sceptical that the switch was worthwhile.

I've already got valves on my radiators and Laurence's view was that I'd be replacing a perfectly good valve he'd have to charge me 300 notes for the service.

Of course there would be a small carbon saving because the thermostatic valves are easier to use but there'd be a carbon cost too - all the energy and materials needed to make the things.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2006/11/the_ethics_of_radiator_valves_1.html

And what of those thermostatic radiator valves (often called TRVs)? If you're new to them, the concept's simple. Fit one on each of your radiators and they'll detect when your desired temperature -20 degrees, say - has been reached, and then regulate the heating output so the temperature doesn't go above that. In short, they should require less gas to be burned, less carbon to be shoved into the atmosphere and fewer humans over-heated and drowsing into paperbacks.

Buying these for £5 each in B&Q (pictured left), the instructions looked like a DIY job. It's not. You'll need a plumber. And, as I discovered, you'll probably need that plumber for a couple of hours because they'll need to drain your entire central heating system, which at £80 an hour isn't cheap.

So unless you have some basic plumbing skills - which I don't - I'd recommend not bothering with thermostatic valves unless you're in the process of actually replacing the entire radiator. Otherwise, you simply won't make your money back. It's also worth noting the valves are fairly crude, as they're only measuring the temperature by the radiator - which might mean the wall by your radiator remains nice and toasty but your armchair's stays rather chilly. Generally, though, I've found they do what they say on the tin.

At some point I'll do the maths and post on whether this has had an impact on my gas bill (and accompanying carbon footprint).

http://thegreenguy.typepad.com/thegreenguy/2007/11/insulation-le-1.html

Fleeting_Glimpse

Yes you should be able to fit TRV's to an older system as long as its not a 'one pipe' system but this is rare now days.

Leave one radiator with out a TRV fitted.

I would charge about £320 for 7 danfoss TRV's including inhibitor when re filling.

If you wanted the lockshield valves renewing as well, then you would need to add about £60.

Gives you an idea.

Cardew

Fleeting_Glimpse wrote: »

As far as I know there is no 'correct answer' to this.

I am a registered Plumber and have been studying the best way to run my own central heating heating system I fitted a couple of Years ago (sad I know but I'm a perfectionist!)

.

Excellent post and gives a good appreciation of the the best way(as you say) to run heating for your house; and serves as an example for other houses.

However, with respect, that wasn't the 'exam question' that you answered!!

The OP simply asked if it would save money if radiators in rooms not in use were turned off - and the answer to that is 'Yes'.!!!

Turning the TRV down in bedrooms(as you do) saves some money; turning them off saves more.

I have a number of rooms in my house that are not in use much of the time, so I don't even need the chill taken off, so the radiators are off until the rooms are needed.

confuseddad_2

If you have radiators fitted with trvs. Should the other valve be fully open. Not sure my trvs are working, Can you check.

Turned it up on 1 rad from 2.5 rad was cool, to 3.0 rad was piping. Also by turning rads off are you inhibiting the system flow?

Is it not beter to have them on very low, so water is flowing? Pardon my ignorance but is central heating flow and return only as water is pumped around the whole system at the same time. If there is a rad of then is there is a blockage as no water is flowing????