Central heating thermostat

ambler

My wall mounted thermostat only switches on at 5 degrees above the set temperature and cuts out at 5 degrees below. This means the place is either like a greenhouse or a fridge.

Apart from being uncomfortable can anyone tell me if this is wasteful of energy and if I should get a more accurate digital thermostat?

Thanks

oldskoo1

5c ?

Or 0.5c

If it's 5c that's a monumental miscalibration. How are you measuring this?

You need to get it swapped out they are only cheap and possible to fit yourself if you are confident. Most people only need the manual dial style.

I wouldn't say it's a massive waste of energy as it's not clicking on during the time it falls 5c. But if it's heating up 5c above what you set this is a waste.

I would be super surprised if a house could loose 10c in this climate right now.

DragonQ

Wall thermostats are like £10, the difficulty is fitting it. My letting agent recently paid ~£150 to fit a wireless thermostat. It might be the settings on the boiler rather than the thermostat though.

ambler

Thanks for your replies. The boiler settings were done by the heating engineer who fitted the new Combi boiler and he told me that it was his experience that you should not need to change these settings for the most economical use.

Because the temperature rarely changes by 10 degrees the heating spends a long time either on or off.

I am above average at DIY, could I fit a digital thermostat myself?

Thanks

ollski

you can fit a digital thermostat in place of your mechanical one I expect. Most Digital stats are advertised with a hyseresis of 0.5 degrees.

iancrt

They are not difficult to fit if you can wire a plug and know how to safely test for live wires, but you need one that works with your boiler so some research is needed.
Typically you need to power the unit and trigger the boiler - four wires but the boiler requirements will determine voltages. Some are at mains voltage for switching so you must take care!

My advice would be to fit a wireless unit that controls temperature and has multiple time controls. The receiver is connected to the boiler using existing wires, keep the sensor bit mobile and put it in the room you are using at that time - after all whats the point in trying to get the hallway to 21 degrees if you are sat in the living room thats reached 23 degrees?

ValHaller

ollski wrote: »

you can fit a digital thermostat in place of your mechanical one I expect. Most Digital stats are advertised with a hysteresis of 0.5 degrees.

Hysteresis is the key word here. Mechanical thermostats generally have a tiny 'anticipator' heater inside to reduce the hysteresis to around the same as that of a digital thermostat. This heater is connected to the Neutral of the supply. Many people fit these thermostats and don't understand the role of the heater, so they omit the neutral connection.

ambler

Thanks for all the helpful replies to my post. I think I have all the info that I need now.

Thanks a lot to everyone.