Weather Compensator on heating leave it on 24/7??

Jems74

Hello there :j

Im new to this to please be gentle :A I have a vissman (think its spelt) boiler and have a weather compensator fitted. I have a 1988 4 bedroom detatched home. At present I pay £60 Gas a month. I got my bill yesterday and owe £60 (so Ive now upped my monthly payments to £70 a month).

I have been advised to leave my heating on 24/7 as I have a weather compensator which Ive been told over rides any thermostats and just "kicks" in, in small bursts to maintain a comfortable temp. We do turn down the TSV on some of the rads in rooms we dont use too often. Im so worried about getting a massive bill from having my heating on 24/7 as this 24/7 thing is new to me.

I know I can monitor it myself over time but wondered if anyone on this forum knew anything about these and if I am really best to leave my heat on 24/7?? I have a small child and a mahoosive bill isnt something that I need :O)

Many Thanks in advance :santa2:

Jem x

HappyMJ

Yes you leave it on 24/7 but you set the programmer to the temperatures that you want the house to be at certain times of day and night. So during the day when you are in on the weekends you might want to set it to 18-20 degrees and during the night you might want to set it at 12-15. During the day when you are at work and no one is home you might want to set it to 7-10 degrees which in a well insulated house is effectively off. You can decide on the most comfortabe temperature for yourself. Turn it down as much as possible and you will save more. Children/babies in particular only require rooms to be between 16 and 20 degrees. See NHS for more details. http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/getting-baby-to-sleep.aspx Any hotter and baby can't cool down and 16 is a nice temperature anyway.

Jems74

Unfortunatly I dont have temp controls on my timer on my heating system so cant set the temp at certain times of day and night. I thought the whole idea of a weather compensator is that this overrides any temp control inside the house as it decides what temp to set the house at according to the outside temp. I can however turn the TSVs down or up.

I dont have a baby so dont have to worry about the temp, he is over two years old.

Thanks very much for your reply x:A

espresso

Jems74 wrote: »

Unfortunatly I dont have temp controls on my timer on my heating system so cant set the temp at certain times of day and night. I thought the whole idea of a weather compensator is that this overrides any temp control inside the house as it decides what temp to set the house at according to the outside temp. I can however turn the TSVs down or up.

I dont have a baby so dont have to worry about the temp, he is over two years old.

Thanks very much for your reply x:A

You need to give more details about your system/controls etc. but running it 24/7 will cost you more money than necessary, compared to setting the timer for when you require heating.

Jems74

I have a Vissmann 16 kilowatt Boiler with a weather compensator fitted to it. This is fitted to the north facing wall. I also have duel zones (upstairs and downstairs can be controlled and timed separately). I do have thermostats fitted but was advised by the fitters that these are just a build regs requirement and arent actually needed with a weather compensator fitted.

Vissmann have recommended with the fitting of a compensator that heating is to be left on 24/7, their theory is that heating is like a bucket of water. If it goes off then some of the water is tipped out and then the boiler has to work alot harder when it comes on to fill the bucket and if left on it just keeps topping up a little.

But I just wanted to post on here to see what the masses thought? and what advice would be best for us.

penrhyn

Weather compensator:
The boiler is connected to a small sensor on the outside of the building. When the temperature changes outside, the boiler responds and starts to increase or decrease the radiator temperature, to compensate.
This pro-active mechanism means that people inside the building won’t even notice that the temperature outside has changed.

These constant small changes also mean that the boiler is able to operate at the minimum temperature required to keep the rooms warm. This keeps the return temperature as low as possible and a return temperature of 57°C or less means the boiler can condense as it is designed to. Weather compensation
maximises the condensing period of the boiler and results in significant fuel savings.

For all practical purposes you can ignore the device, and set the times for your heting to be on as normal. Do you have programmable thermostats, TRVs or both.

HappyMJ

Jems74 wrote: »

I have a Vissmann 16 kilowatt Boiler with a weather compensator fitted to it. This is fitted to the north facing wall. I also have duel zones (upstairs and downstairs can be controlled and timed separately). I do have thermostats fitted but was advised by the fitters that these are just a build regs requirement and arent actually needed with a weather compensator fitted.

Vissmann have recommended with the fitting of a compensator that heating is to be left on 24/7, their theory is that heating is like a bucket of water. If it goes off then some of the water is tipped out and then the boiler has to work alot harder when it comes on to fill the bucket and if left on it just keeps topping up a little.

But I just wanted to post on here to see what the masses thought? and what advice would be best for us.

Turn it off when you don't want heat and you will save money. Ignore their theory. Yes the boiler works harder (and slightly less efficient) when the house is cold to bring it up to temperature quickly but it's cheaper to have the boiler a little less efficient for a half hour or so bringing the house up to temperature rapidly compared to having the house at a comfortable temperature 24/7. The boiler should adjust it's output automatically down to the most efficient setting once the house is up to temperature to maintain the temperature. If you don't have a programmer then it'll just assume you want the desired temperature straight away when the timer starts the boiler and start on maximum for a little while before changing to minimum.

rogerblack

Jems74 wrote: »

Vissmann have recommended with the fitting of a compensator that heating is to be left on 24/7, their theory is that heating is like a bucket of water. If it goes off then some of the water is tipped out and then the boiler has to work alot harder when it comes on to fill the bucket and if left on it just keeps topping up a little. .

Essentially complete rubbish.
This will let the boiler operate at its maximum efficiency.

However - this perhaps saves 1 to 3 percent - absolute tops.

Turning off the boiler when heat is not required, and allowing the property to cool can in some cases save over 50%.

The number of kWh required to heat a property is broadly the simple sum of the total required to heat it every hour.
It takes about the difference between inside and outside temperature times some factor to heat it every hour.

If you don't heat at all some hours, the stored heat from the house does indeed dissipate through the walls, and need replenished when you come to heat again, but importantly - once the property has cooled somewhat, less heat (which you have to replace) leaks out.

Wywth

Jems74 wrote: »

Hello there :j

Im new to this to please be gentle :A I have a vissman (think its spelt) boiler and have a weather compensator fitted. I have a 1988 4 bedroom detatched home. At present I pay £60 Gas a month. I got my bill yesterday and owe £60 (so Ive now upped my monthly payments to £70 a month).

I have been advised to leave my heating on 24/7 as I have a weather compensator which Ive been told over rides any thermostats and just "kicks" in, in small bursts to maintain a comfortable temp. We do turn down the TSV on some of the rads in rooms we dont use too often. Im so worried about getting a massive bill from having my heating on 24/7 as this 24/7 thing is new to me.

I know I can monitor it myself over time but wondered if anyone on this forum knew anything about these and if I am really best to leave my heat on 24/7?? I have a small child and a mahoosive bill isnt something that I need :O)

Many Thanks in advance :santa2:

Jem x

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4327195