Any negative (mechanics) to not using a boiler/heating?

JustAnotherSaver

southcoastrgi wrote: »

the setting on the room stat is the temp that the heating switches off at, most people switch the heating off in the summer on the programmer but even if you didn't your house is not gonna be at 5d in the summer

Yeah that's what i thought.

What's the difference between that thing we have on the wall in the hall which is a digital display where you can set the temp in 0.5c increments...
...and the twisty dials on the radiators themselves? There seems to be 5 levels on these things & they were left on level 5 & got roasting.

Just wondering (not worrying) so i can set these dials to whatever it is we're wanting. Maybe a mid setting would be better? Or are these dials pointless if you have one of those digital things installed?

southcoastrgi

the trv (thermostatic radiator valve) will control the temp of the indiviual rads (not the temp the rad gets to but the room it's in), some people like a cool bedroom so they set the trv to 1,2 or 3, each number = a temp, when the area around the trv gets to that temp it will shut down the rad until the temp drops then open the valve again, the room stat on the wall controls the whole of the heating system, when this gets to the temp you set it to it will turn off all the heating which is why the rad wherever you have the room stat shouldn't be fitted with a trv

giraffe69

I would have thought that the biggest downside of setting the thermostat to a very low temp. would be the damp that would ensue in the property. The costs of drying it out plus redecoration would offset any savings.

When I went away for 4 weeks in deepest winter a couple of years ago I left it at 14 to a. ward off any frozen pipes and b. not let it get damp

JustAnotherSaver

giraffe69 wrote: »

a. ward off any frozen pipes

The boiler is set so that when it drops below 5.0c it kicks in to avoid things getting frozen (apparently).

The missus had a question - what do you do when you're opening the windows to let air circulate?
In a way, having the heating on would be pointless as all the heat would escape out of the windows, but then there's the reasoning that you guys are putting to me. So what do you do in this case (with opening the windows) - leave the heating as it is?

JustAnotherSaver

Right ... the missus goes to the house every morning to open the windows to let air circulate (top floor windows anyway). Without this, the only time fresh air would be getting into the house would be a weekend when we're there decorating.

On that note - what would you do with the heating system since the windows would be open? Knock it off or leave it as is? (i reset the control to 12.0c when we went there today).

Kernel_Sanders

giraffe69 wrote: »

I would have thought that the biggest downside of setting the thermostat to a very low temp. would be the damp that would ensue in the property. The costs of drying it out plus redecoration would offset any savings.

This is nonsense; cold does not cause damp! If nobody is living there then there will be nothing producing moisture in the air. If there is damp coming through the walls/floors/ceilings then this is a different cause, although heating will alleviate the symptoms.

Mr_Ted

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

This is nonsense; cold does not cause damp! If nobody is living there then there will be nothing producing moisture in the air. If there is damp coming through the walls/floors/ceilings then this is a different cause, although heating will alleviate the symptoms.

It may appear nonsense if you take what was said out of context, as you have, and to be honest what you have stated is BIGGER nonsense

There is always moisture in air where do you think frost and snow comes from, MAGIC?

True if it is totally and equally at zero degrees, everywhere and everything, then the moisture content is not released, how ever that scenario is seldom reached, BUT everything will be ICED!
Introducing the slightest rise in temperature will cause condensation when the warmer air meets the cold surface!
If it is damp outside then the moisture content of the air will also be higher and so will the amount of condensation!
Also COLD creates freezing, freezing creates burst water pipes, burst water pipes creates, not only a BL**DY MESS, but water everywhere which increases the humidity in the air and more condensation on cold surfaces!

AND if there is damp ingress, though seepage or leaks, in walls, ceilings, or floor then heating the air will cause MORE condensation and encourage mould growth!

So back to the drawing board for you

So IF a property is sound, then to leave it without heat is likely to encourage problems, leaving it at 14 degrees will alleviate problems, if there are no other issues, and will prevent further problems

DTDfanBoy

Mr_Ted wrote: »

It may appear nonsense if you take what was said out of context, as you have, and to be honest what you have stated is BIGGER nonsense

There is always moisture in air where do you think frost and snow comes from, MAGIC?

True if it is totally and equally at zero degrees, everywhere and everything, then the moisture content is not released, how ever that scenario is seldom reached, BUT everything will be ICED!
Introducing the slightest rise in temperature will cause condensation when the warmer air meets the cold surface!
If it is damp outside then the moisture content of the air will also be higher and so will the amount of condensation!
Also COLD creates freezing, freezing creates burst water pipes, burst water pipes creates, not only a BL**DY MESS, but water everywhere which increases the humidity in the air and more condensation on cold surfaces!

AND if there is damp ingress, though seepage or leaks, in walls, ceilings, or floor then heating the air will cause MORE condensation and encourage mould growth!

So back to the drawing board for you

So IF a property is sound, then to leave it without heat is likely to encourage problems, leaving it at 14 degrees will alleviate problems, if there are no other issues, and will prevent further problems

Kernal Sanders is on the Money

Speaking as the owner of a house which is left unused for the vast majority of the winter without heat, I've never experienced problems with damp. Providing the building doesn't have underlying problems with rising damp, leaking roof etc you won't find damp suddenly appearing :cool:

You'll probably also be surprised by how cold it can get outside and still not cause pipes to burst, we had a low of -8.2c outside and -0.4c inside last winter, still no burst pipes when we arrived back in the Summer

SuzieSue

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

Kernal Sanders is on the Money

Speaking as the owner of a house which is left unused for the vast majority of the winter without heat, I've never experienced problems with damp. Providing the building doesn't have underlying problems with rising damp, leaking roof etc you won't find damp suddenly appearing :cool:

I'm not sure who is correct about the cold causing or not causing damp, but a lot of insurance policies insist on the heating system being drained if the property is unoccupied for any length of time, so the house would not get any heat at all. I assume that they wouldn't insist on that if it damaged the property.

Mr_Ted

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

Kernal Sanders is on the Money
Speaking as the owner of a house which is left unused for the vast majority of the winter without heat, I've never experienced problems with damp. Providing the building doesn't have underlying problems with rising damp, leaking roof etc you won't find damp suddenly appearing :cool:
You'll probably also be surprised by how cold it can get outside and still not cause pipes to burst, we had a low of -8.2c outside and -0.4c inside last winter, still no burst pipes when we arrived back in the Summer

:rotfl: All I can say to that is that you've been EXTREMELY LUCKY THEN

I sure many a tradesman, including myself, have had to go in to make repairs in properties that have actually had the heat ON and STILL had frozen and damaged pipes and a complete mess made due to that, so take a chance, IF YOU FEEL LUCKY

However that's the damage issue, but I stand by my statements in respect of condensation issue, if you don't agree then learn about relative humidity and how to use a psychometric chart