Combi-boiler question

hiphopopotamus

Hi all,

This might be a stupid question, but I've just bought a house with a combi-boiler and I've never used one before.

Each of the radiators has a control. Should I leave the boiler on all the time and control the temperature with the radiators? - If I turn all the radiators off, will the boiler still be costing me money?

matelodave

A combi boiler should be left on all the time and you will get your hot water on demand just by turning the hot tap on.
The heating should be controlled either by a timeswitch and room thermostat or better still a programmable thermostat which will allow you to have different temperatures at different times of the day.
The room stat will turn the boiler & pump on an off according to the temperature set on it and any thermostatic valves on radiators in the room with the stat should be left fully open. It will only run the boiler and pump when you need heat.
The radiator stats in the other rooms can then be set to control the temperatures in those rooms.

hiphopopotamus

Awesome thanks!

There isn't a room thermostat, but there is a programmable timer on the front of the boiler unit. Also the radiator controls are just off-1-2-3 dials, not thermostats.

So I guess I'm all right to just ignore the timer controls, leave the boiler on and turn the radiators on/off as required?

hiphopopotamus

BTW when I say leave it on, I mean the heating.

What I'm getting at is... let's say I need heating 6AM-8AM and 6PM-11PM.
At the times when I don't need heating, which of the following should I have set..

Radiators on & heating off
Radiators off & heating on
Radiators off & heating off

:-)

Thanks!

Linton

Probably a good idea to set the timer so that the heating but not the water goes off at night. There's no point in paying to keep the house warm whilst you are asleep.

But you would be much better off with a room thermostat. A plumber/heating engineer would have no problem fitting one. They dont cost that much, but will save you a lot in gas bills.

matelodave

If I were you I'd get a plumber or electrician to fit a wireless programmable thermostat. They are only about £45-£50 to buy and really easy to fit. You can then locate the thermostat where it works best and significantly better control which should save you money.

hiphopopotamus

Ah OK. So even if the radiators were all off, it would still be costing me money.

Thanks all.