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Central Heating System - No thermostat ?!
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I had a similar revelation when I moved into my house earlier this year. I at least had the timer unit though so I bought a wireless room thermostat online (about £50) and wired it in myself. It basically just acts as a switch on the "central heating on" wire from the controller box to the boiler. I was advised by an ex British gas fitter that I didn't need to remove the radiator valve in the room with the thermostat, but I should just leave it set to max...0
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Googler, the temp control on the boiler is a safety feature, and is not to be relied on to contol room temperature. There are a few safety features to help prevent accidents and damage from occuring. If one fails it is ok because another will take over. You are using one of your safety features as a control, I believe they are called interlocks. Get a remote room thermostat or a wired thermostat fitted and have one of your TRV's removed where you situate your thermostat. I recommend a Honeywell CM921.
I know its works for years and the cost is gona sent you back around £300 minimum but its really worth the cost. If you send me the boiler spec I might be able to recommend a more specific thermostat.
Yes, I know there's a safety feature on the boiler.
You're failing to convince me why the WHOLE house should be switched on and off based on the ambient temperature of one room. 13 rooms, 14 radiators - you're suggesting for instance that all the radiators on the upper floor (7) should be starved of heat when the lounge downstairs heats up?
THIS is our boiler, and the manual describes the temp control as just that - not a safety limit, not a max temp control, merely a temp control. Para 2.3(ii) suggests merely setting this at a high point and leaving the TRVs to do the work. Also suggests in para 3.2 that if the temp limit is reached, the boiler will need to be reset - never had to do this.
Why would it be 'worth the cost'?0 -
Our system was fitted around 10 years ago - the boiler has integrated timer and temperature controls, each radiator has a thermostatic valve, and there's no wall-mounted thermostat to be found anywhere.We leave the boiler on full-time and regulate room temps with the thermo valves. If there's no 'call for heat' from the radiators, the boiler stops running, obeying its own temp control.
HTH
CheersThe difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits. - Einstein1 -
You're failing to convince me why the WHOLE house should be switched on and off based on the ambient temperature of one room. 13 rooms, 14 radiators - you're suggesting for instance that all the radiators on the upper floor (7) should be starved of heat when the lounge downstairs heats up?
None of the above means you are running your system incorrectly of course.
HTH
Cheers
CheersThe difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits. - Einstein0 -
I'm curious to know how the boiler restarts after it shuts down. I'm going to investigate the manual and get back.
cheers0 -
It won't until it cools sufficiently for the boiler stat to operate again and allows the boiler to run which it will only do if the programmer is still allowing it to. This may take some time because the hot water will be continually circulating in the pipework as the TRVs will already have closed and it will not be cooled by passage through the rads. The rooms by then may have cooled off to the point where the TRVs open but the boiler will not be started by that event. Thats why its inefficient.
Cheers
Edit - that sounds slightly gobbledegook but I hope you can see what I'm trying to say.The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits. - Einstein0 -
Hi all, thanks for your input and advice.
As far as I know it is a Ferroli which is sold at Wickes - I will have to go into the garage and get the model number.
We just found it strange that there was no thermostat at all but it appears it is a regular occurence in some households (which is comforting thank you) - its just something we got used to having newer homes.
There is a timer which OH has gratefully understood and programmed but if it is a little warmer some days and the radiators come on unwanted we have to go into the garage to "override" the system for that particular event and then the boiler kicks back into the default timer for the next setting of heat - its either that or we go around the whole house turning each radiator off !!!
It was just a thought to see how easy it is to instal a thermostat rather than having to go outside each time to access the boiler (not an integral garage currently but that is another story as we want a conversion and then the boiler will be in the utility room so thermostat may not even be needed !!! .... phew !!).:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:0 -
even though all the TRVs are shut down the boiler will continue running and heating the pipework until the boiler stat kicks in. This is actually quite an inefficient way of running your central heating.
Well, we used to have the boiler on for a short session in the morning, then off during the day, then back on in the evening, and we changed to have it running full time throughout the year, and controlled the rooms with the TRVs; this gave us considerable savings on our fuel bill.
Yes, I realise that if all the TRVs close, that the boiler will merely heat a small section of pipework until its internal thermostat shuts it down, but it seems to work fine.....
I'm still not convinced that a single thermostat in the coldest room of the house will work. If it's in the hall, someone opens the front door, the heating kicks in, even though the temp may be fine in all the other rooms. However, if the hall heats up and is at an optimum temp, and another room is below optimum, that room won't get heated as the hall thermostat won't tell the boiler to start.0 -
I can see your reasoning as to why you think your system is efficient. In fact around the time you had it installed, it was the norm to have only trv's fitted and no room thermostat. It was thought of then as the most economical way to heat a property.
Now, those in suits sitting behind a desk, and having never lifted a tool in anger, have deemed that it is more efficient to go back to having a room stat and trv's. The room stat and if you have one, the cylinder stat, are what is now refered to as the boiler interlock, which sounds grand, but in effect is a virtual switch.
I have my doubts over all methods, but I have to conform to the latest regs when doing my installs.0 -
I'm still not convinced that a single thermostat in the coldest room of the house will work. If it's in the hall, someone opens the front door, the heating kicks in, even though the temp may be fine in all the other rooms. However, if the hall heats up and is at an optimum temp, and another room is below optimum, that room won't get heated as the hall thermostat won't tell the boiler to start.
So at the end of the day (sorry - 'orrible, 'ackneyed expression) it boils down to what is sensible and cost effective. Nothing will ever be perfect and what works for you, works for you.
Current regs require a stat. Until the regs are changed thats the way its got to be otherwise the installer gets in the clarts.
CheersThe difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits. - Einstein0
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