Central Heating question

[Deleted User]

Fully appreciate being very thick but still have to ask to sort this out in my mind. Ex husband sorted out this kind of stuff and I'm getting blinded by lots of differing expert opinions!

Got gas central heating, combi boiler not very old.

Got elderly mother living with me - she is out Wed, Thurs, Fri.

Generally all up 6.45 and left house by 7.45. Home varying times but usually by 5pm.

I have generally been keeping my heating on low all the time but not convinced I'm saving money.

Here goes some thick bits!

In summer turn off heating switch on boiler but leave water on all time - cos presume as its combi that only heats what we use?

Heating now on low permanently. I have a thermostat in kitchen and I have a temp control in hall. Does turning the temp control in hall down very low at night to say 12 mean my boiler is off or is it still going, being paid for and will kick in if temp falls lower than 12. Or is only way boiler off is if thermostat has timer.

Suppose I'm asking can I control it from my temp control rather than setting thermostat to fixed times or is my boiler still working therefore I am paying?

Explanations need to be simple!

Thinking of buying radiator reflectors for my radiators on external walls is that worth it?

penrhyn

What do you mean by thermostat in the kitchen, do you mean programmer?
The temperature controller in the hall would that really be your thermostat?

Neil_Jones

A combi boiler heats water as and when needed, so basically when you turn a hot water tap on, it fires up.
The temperature control is what it says on the tin - controls the temperature. Higher you crank it up, the longer the boiler runs the heating.

The thermostat probably has a timer on it that you can set so it comes on automatically at a certain time of day, such as for example in your case maybe 6am-7am and 5pm-10pm. This is the easiest way to save money on it because by setting it correctly it will not fire up when you're not at home. If nobody's at home all day it's pointless leaving the heating on.

As what the temperature control does, when the boiler's off as per the timings, it depends on what sort of control you have. Some have a low temperature cut-off point, others just don't do anything while the heating isn't on.

With regards to radiator reflectors, more probably depends on the quality of the insulation of the wall it's currently on. If it's currently very good, refectors may be pointless.

macman

Yes, a combi only heats water on demand.
The boiler is 'on' with the temp at 10C, but it's only burning gas when the temp falls below that and the CH kicks in. However, this is overidden by the timer. If it's not on a timed period then it won't come on, regardless of the room stat setting.
All the boiler temp control alters is the temp of the the water flowing into the CH circuit.
Leaving the CH on 24/7 will cost you much more than using it on timed, and it should not be necessary to run it overnight, so for your pattern of demand, what you need to do is replace the room 'stat with a modern digital programmer, this will give you 7 day programming and with up to 6 timed intervals each day.
PS: By 'kitchen thermostat', I assume the OP means the boiler's CH temp control?