What controls my GCH?

Dummie_2

I have a combi boiler and radiators that are heated by hot water. On my radiators I have thermostatic valves that have the options of off and then numbers 1-7. On my boiler I have a switch to turn CH off, on or auto. There is also a timer control which is like a 24hr clock and a CH temperture control.

My question is which one of these control my CH? At the moment I have the CH on auto which means the CH switches on and off according to the times I have set. But how about the temp? Is it controlled by the dial on the boiler or the thermostatic valve on the radiator?

I've got the dial quite low at the moment but no matter if I have the thermostatic valve on number 1 or number 7, it doesn't seem to make any difference! Is the dial on the boiler the max temp that each radiator can go to? Should I turn it up more? Is it better to have the dial on max and then the radiators on low or the dial on low and then the radiators on max?

Hope I've made sense!

Thanks for your help. Freezing my a**e off!

A_Nice_Englishman

The dial on the boiler controls how hot the water is heated to. The valves on the radiators turn them on when the temperature is below that set and off when it is above.

Set the dial on the boiler to the recommended temperature in the instructions (if you have them - otherwise perhaps somebody elese can advise what it should be). It sounds like you have it too low at the moment.

Set the valves on the radiators to 0 or off if you are not using the room, or to whatever keeps the room at a comfortable temperature.

crossleydd42

IF there's no other means of telling, set the dial to about 4/5ths of full on. If the radiators are also set to HIGH and still do not get hot, or are hot at the bottom and not at the top, you should consider bleeding them.

Dummie_2

OK. I've set the dial to 4/5ths of full. I've got the radiators on the minimum at the moment and will work my way up until I find the right temperture.

Does this mean I should have my CH switch to permanently switched ON? This will mean the temp valve on the radiators will switch on/off according to the set temperture, right? At the moment I've got it on auto which means the radiators swich on/off according to my timer and not according to the temp? Am I on the right track?

Thanks again. :T

A_Nice_Englishman

Adjust the timer so it only comes on when you want heat. i.e off while you are in bed and during the day if you are out at work.

Adjust the valves so the temperature is how you want it

Then the radiators will only come on when you want to heat the house AND the temperature is too low.

Hope that makes sense?

Dummie_2

:j

Totally understand it now!! Thanks a lot. :beer:

A_Nice_Englishman

You're welcome Dummie

Dummie_2

OK. Not as clued up as I thought

We need our CH to be on all of the time coz we work from home and coz we have a toddler who kicks off his covers.

Is it better to have the CH switched to ON all the time or should I set the timer to switch ON/OFF ON/OFF? At the moment I have it ON for 1hr then OFF for 1/2hr. This is repeated 24hrs. The radiators head up almost immediately when the timer kicks in and takes about 1hr to cool down completely.

Which way will be easier on the wallet?

Thanks again.

A_Nice_Englishman

As long as the thermostatic valves are doing their job properly the boiler will only fire up when it needs to so I don't think your on/off pattern will help and you may as well leave it switched on all the time.

I'm no expert in child care but I would have thought your toddler would find the bedclothes and get back under them if he/she gets cold. If you do want to heat his/her room at night, though, remember to switch off all the other radiators.

Dummie_2

I switched the CH to permanently ON now. Wow......I can now turn individual temp valve's on/off according to our needs. Like upstairs OFF during the day and downstairs OFF during the night. Hope this saves us some pennies. We're used to having ALL the heaters on as we never knew how to control them before. I can even turn the living room one OFF during early afternoon when the sun shines though our patio doors and turns it into an oven. We just used to open the doors to cool down.

Thanks again.

Dummie_2

Somethings wrong. I turned all the temp valves to OFF on our radiators because it's been a nice sunny day. Now 2hrs later 3 of the radiators are cold (our room, spare room and bathroom) but 3 of them are really hot (toddler's room, living room and kitchen).