Wall mounted thermostats !

idunno1

Does anyone know if you must have a wall mounted thermostat if your radiators are fitted with individual ones ?...............Just had a new regular condensing boiler fitted by british gas and the wall one was fitted with it.

The reason i ask is that i want to heat the bathroom towel rail only yet they fitted a standard valve in the hallway ( so as to not conflict with radiator one in the hallway ) so thats blasting out max heat and wasting gas and money when i only want to take the chill off the bathroom.

Thanks for any help :beer:

ziggyman99

Yes you need a room stat and thermostatic radiator valves. The TRV's should be fitted to all radiators apart from the rad(s) in the room were the roomstat is. If you have a regular boiler, another option is to put bathroom radiator on the hot water circuit so it comes on when tank is heating up.

Cardew

There is a considerable difference of opinion about the merits of a wall thermostat.

The post above is quite correct that it is mandatory to have a room thermostat fitted these days - it didn't used to be.

Of course there is nothing to stop you now disconnecting the wall thermostat!!

I simply turn up my wall thermostat - also in the hall - to maximum(so the hall never achieves the required heat) and turn off the radiators in all the rooms I don't require to heat - including those in the hall. The 'downside' is that the pump is always running when the CH is switched on by the timer - but that is a small price to pay, rather than having unwanted heat from a radiator.

In fact all my radiators have TRVs, which isn't a problem if you have an ABV.

Reading on some Plumber's forums they do exactly the same. Personally I can't see the sense of the stipulation that a wall thermostat be fitted.
I don't want to heat a large hall(with a stairway leading off it) to enable heating in other rooms to be controlled by the temp in the hall. Similarly if you situate the wall stat in a living room, why should the temperature of that room govern the temperature of other rooms - it is always a compromise.

ziggyman99

The only way to lose the thermostat is to fit a weather compensator (if your boiler will take one). These are state of art but I think these will be a legal requirement within the next 10 years.

Pincher

The towel radiators are traditionally non-TRV, as a guaranteed path for the central heating circulation, otherwise the pump could be pushing but the water has nowhere to go, leading to pump failure.
That's why you have an auto-bypass these days to prevent pump failure.

Since your hallway radiator is the only one in the house that is never closed, you must not close it, but you can turn it down.

Change the towel radiator valve to a manual one.
The only problem is, with the total output of the boiler going through it, it will be very hot.

idunno1

Forgive my ignorance but what exactly is an ABV ? it would be no problem having the wall mounted thermostat disconnected and a TRV refitted on the hall radiator if that could solve my problem.

Thanks for all your replies everyone much appreciated.

Premier_2

idunno1 wrote: »

Does anyone know if you must have a wall mounted thermostat if your radiators are fitted with individual ones ?...............Just had a new regular condensing boiler fitted by british gas and the wall one was fitted with it.

The reason i ask is that i want to heat the bathroom towel rail only yet they fitted a standard valve in the hallway ( so as to not conflict with radiator one in the hallway ) so thats blasting out max heat and wasting gas and money when i only want to take the chill off the bathroom.

Thanks for any help :beer:

The hallway radiator may not be fitted with a TRV, but it should have a manual valve fitted.
Use it to turn the radiator off - problem solved

ziggyman99

idunno1 wrote: »

Forgive my ignorance but what exactly is an ABV ? it would be no problem having the wall mounted thermostat disconnected and a TRV refitted on the hall radiator if that could solve my problem.

Thanks for all your replies everyone much appreciated.

I think he means ABPV - Automatic Bypass Valve - A spring loaded valve which allows hot water to circulate if all rad valves are closed. There should be one fitted to your system if it's been done correctly.
It is a requirement of the building regulations Part L to have ALL radiators ( there are no exceptions), apart from the room were the room thermostat, fitted with TRV's.
One alternative is to fit a wireless roomstat and then move it as you wish. Then all you do is screw off the TRV head so it doesn't clash. Job done. The Honeywell CM927 would be suitable as it can be just stood on a shelf.

Cardew

ziggyman99 wrote: »

I think he means ABPV - Automatic Bypass Valve - A spring loaded valve which allows hot water to circulate if all rad valves are closed. There should be one fitted to your system if it's been done correctly.

No I meant to use 'ABV' which is the abbreviation Myson and other plumbing manufacturers use; see:

http://www.myson.co.uk/products/1207_1806_enu_html.htm

Personally I have never seen the abbreviation 'ABPV' Albeit we are talking about the same thing!;)

Idunno1,

This is what Myson say about a ABV

Automatic Bypass Valve
What is an automatic by-pass valve?
An automatic by-pass valve is designed for use in domestic central heating systems. Its purpose is to maintain constant pump pressure within the system.
Back to top
What are the advantages of an automatic by-pass valve?
An automatic by-pass valve ensures minimum water flow rates through the boiler. It reduces system noise associated with high pressure pumps. It eliminates the need to fit an uncontrolled radiator to act as a system by-pass and it also increases system efficiency.(my bold) The automatic by-pass valve also aids the operation of thermostatic radiator valves.

I think things are getting a little confused.

As stated above, wall thermostats are mandatory for installations these days; as are TRVs on all but one radiator in the room where the wall thermostat is fitted.

However that doesn't mean that you cannot fit TRVs to every radiator(as in my house). As stated in the quote above with an ABV you don't need an uncontrolled radiator. So you can fit a TRV or simply turn off the radiator in your hall.

Again as I stated above, I simply don't use the wall thermostat to control the temperature in any room in my house.

Cardew

ziggyman99 wrote: »

One alternative is to fit a wireless roomstat and then move it as you wish. Then all you do is screw off the TRV head so it doesn't clash. Job done. The Honeywell CM927 would be suitable as it can be just stood on a shelf.

How would taking off the TRV head solve the OP's problem?

He doesn't want any radiator on, just the heated towel rail.

ziggyman99

Cardew wrote: »

How would taking off the TRV head solve the OP's problem?

He doesn't want any radiator on, just the heated towel rail.

Exactly. So he takes the head off the TRV in the bathroom and puts the wireless roomstat in there. This would ensure the boiler is fully interlocked, as per the minimum requirements of Part L1, BS5449 and the Benchmark scheme.
Alternatively, a weather compensator is fitted.