Heating messing up please help!

FunWithFlags

Hi everyone!

I hope I've chosen the right section for this! Apologies if not, I rarely venture out from the marriage and family section!

Basically, I'm having problems understanding my heating and radiators. My house has a combi boiler and individual thermostats on the radiators. To turn the heating on for the house, I press a button on the radiator. Right now that button is set to off. All the radiators bar two (kitchen and bathroom) are also off at their thermostat.

However, I've just popped into the bathroom and the radiator in there is on. At first I thought I must have hit the button accidentally so went to the kitchen to see if that one was on too and it's not, it's icey cold. So I checked on the boiler and the heating is set to off. I havent had a clue how long this has been happening but it does explain why the bathroom never seemed to get cold *face palm*.

Is there any reason this bathroom radiator is heating up despite the heating being turned off? I'm having nightmares now that the hot water I've been showering with is for some reason travelling through the radiator first due to bad plumbing or something.

Can anyone please offer any theories so I have a starting point before bothering my landlord?

alleycat`

Some systems have a pump overrun that takes heat away from the boiler after it shuts down and this, usually, outputs to the radiator in the bathroom via a bypass valve.

It stops the boiler from overheating i believe.

Typically that radiator on the bypass circuit should not have a thermostatic cutoff valve.

However i'm not an expert so that might not be correct behaviour for your setup.

FunWithFlags

Ooh, that would explain why it isnt constant and just happens every so often. When you say boiler shuts down, is that when its heated a bit of water and has a rest or do you mean when its switched off completely? The bathroom does have a thermostat on the radiator though. Arghm, I'm beginning to think this house is slowly thinking of new ways to annoy me haha!

alleycat`

It is when the boiler shuts down after doing something, typically heating hot water in the case you are describing.

I might be wrong about the thermostatic valve on the radiator in the bathroom but i was under the impression that a system with an overrun should have one radiator it can continue to send heat to that won't be impeded by the room "reaching temperature".

Own_My_Own

We have a combi boiler , and one of our rads is one. I think they tend to use the one in the bathroom, as that is the place you would need it most.

FunWithFlags

Thank you both, I feel much less worried about it now! Is it pretty unlikely then that I'm having baths in water that has been in the radiator? I'm such a germaphobe lol

Lgas

Don't worry it's impossible for central heating water to come out of your bath tap, it's on a completely separate circuit

macman

Are you sure that it's not an electric water-filled radiator that's been left on? Some are dual purpose, so that when the CH is off in the summer you can still heat the rad by electricity to dry towels etc. If it's got a cable running to an FCU then that is what it will be. A wet rad connected to your CH circuit will just have a flow pipe and a return.
If your bath water had been through the rad circuit, you would notice, as it would be black! The CH circuit is sealed, it doesn't flow out anywhere.

PaulF81

My guess would be you have a stuck central heating valve, meaning when the hot water heating comes on, the flow is also going round your radiator ch circuit. Turn on the rads and turn on your hot water heating on the timer.

Is it heatin up well outside of when the ch is supposed to be on?