Electric Boiler with Thermal Store.

Helston_2

Hello,

Could anybody help? Last year we had a new heating system fitted to our home to replace a combination of a small open fire, gas fire ran from a propane gas bottle outside and night storage heaters. We opted for a log burner (Charnwood SLX45) with back bolier that is connected to a Gledhill Torrent Thermal Store (about 260L) to heat the water and then once hot enough a pump switches on to supply the radiators (currently x4), with one more in the bathroom used when the pump is off.

The system seemed to work well for the few weeks of cold weather we had before the summer kicked in. When winter came again it never worked as advertised. The problems we have encountered are that the log burner doesn't seem to be able to handle both the hot water and the radiators at the same time. Once on the hot water heats up to 75+ degrees celcius which is ideal but when the pump kicks in we seem to just get a warm supply of heat to the radiators. If the pump is on permantly the same happens, hot water heats up ok, radaitors just warm. This is not ideal through the cold winter months. We are currently using just logs but the burner is a multi fuel appliance.

We are not sure what the problem is and would like advice on a few things before we act again on the fitters of the sytem. The immersion which is permenantly on seems to get the water to 50 degrees celcius and that is it, however this is the third immersion we are on as two went unserviceable in the first few months (they heated the water to 70). Would anybody think that the hot water tank is just far too big for the system? Or should the wet supply for the radiators come straight from the thermal store rather the log burner?

The thermal store has the ability to add other systems to it. We are tempted to add an electric boiler to keep the hot water at a better temperature than the immersion heater can handle. Hoping that this will then enable the burner to work a lot better on the heating of the home.

Any help or ideas really would be gratefully accepted. Please, please, please!

muckybutt

You will get a better response if you post this in the Heating forum

keystone

Have you got the Torrent RE?

It sounds like a system set up issue rather than the store "not operating as advertised".

Your post is confusing. At one poiint you suggest that the woodburner operates the CH independently of the DHW and at another that the store is used to provide CH. Which is it?

I see absolutely no merit in clagging another boiler onto the store at this moment.

What does

before we act again on the fitters of the sytem.

mean?

Cheers

Helston_2

Thank you for the replies on the thread, been a little busy with the birth of our second child. I will put this in the heating thread. It took me long enough to find out how to post a thread, not very good with computers.

I do apologies for the confusing nature of the opening post. I don't think I understand it either. Hopefully this will help. The log burner has two inlets and two outlets. One for the DHW and the other for the CH. They both work through the Thermal Store so not indepent but once the DHW is upto the correct temperature the thermostat kicks in to start the pump for the CH. However we never get very hot radiators just warm ones. I have noticed that the store has a seperate outlet for CH, which is currently blanked off. The store is a Gledhill Torrent T280 DESP (delta?)

The fitters have been good in the repect that over the last year they have been back about three times to try and solve the problem. Yet the problem remains unsolved and I am not quite sure they know how to. This is why I am looking for advice to try and help them. If I cannot do this I will have to get another tradesman in to sort, which I do not want to do.

Hope this helps.

gas4you

As with any thermal store, I would expect the heat source to heat only the thermal store. The ch will then come off this store as will the hot water obviously.

I would however be more concerned at the fact a log burner is being used as the heat source, as from what I can ascertain, Gledhill state that the torrent is for gas or oil boilers.

A log burner will have no control over the temperature of the water going to the thermal store.

I would get a second opinion asap from another qualified local engineer.

keystone

The RE is designed for working with such as a woodburner (or any other "renewable energy" source. Currently they market the Multifuelstore OV to do the same job. I don't immediately recognise the DESP nomenclature. Is OP sure it isn't an RE?

Cheers