Nice People 13: Nice Save

tom9980

When it is all cold again PN just turn the hot water on and wait 20 mins then go feel radiators if any are hot you may have a problem with a diverter valve or zone valve depending on how the system is setup.

Which leads me onto tradesman i wanted a plumber to do a job at a house he arranged to go twice and didn't turn up, so i contacted another on Friday who accepted the job but hasn't called back to arrange a time/day as promised. I also contacted a guy to clean my gutters last week and he promised to call on Friday to arrange a day/time. Why is it so hard to get people to do what they say they will nowadays?

PasturesNew

In searching for an image of my controls, I found somebody on MSE asking how to use a system like mine. Although they're asking a different question, some of the replies are useful to know.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4861438

e.g. this handy nugget "It doesn't matter what water temperature you set on the boiler, the room temperature for a setting on the TRV of, say, '3' will be the same. The hotter the water temperature - the quicker the room will reach the required temperature. Normally each number is equates to an increment of 2C - with '3' being 20C."

I'd have not thought it worked like that.

michaels

AlexMac wrote: »

Agreed- when I were a lad in the 50's Central Heating meant the coal fire in the living room.

But then 'central locking' on my 1st car; a Citroen 2CV, in the '70's, meant being able to reach all 4 doors from the driver's seat.

And 'air cooled' didn't just apply to the engine, but to the passengers when you opened that flap under the windscreen.

and no on-board computer (or come to that, off-board ones...).

So are things better now they're more complex...?

Welcome Alex

Then again in those days you wouldn't have to spend over 1k failing to have the car fixed when it broke and the mechanics spending more time scratching their heads and throwing parts at it rather than fixing the problem.

PasturesNew

michaels wrote: »

Then again in those days you wouldn't have to spend over 1k failing to have the car fixed when it broke and the mechanics spending more time scratching their heads and throwing parts at it rather than fixing the problem.

No, back then mechanics repaired engines etc - even I was competent in the 80s at taking out various bits and bobs under the engine - even adjusting the float level of the carburettor by taking the top off and adjusting it with pliers at the roadside when petrol could be smelt inside the car. Or whacking the petrol pump under the rear of the car with a mallet when it stopped working, until I could hear it ticking again so could leap back in and drive another 20-30 miles before it packed up again.

These days they're fitters and plug it into a machine and simply swap out the new parts the machine tells them to.

PasturesNew

tom9980 wrote: »

When it is all cold again PN just turn the hot water on and wait 20 mins then go feel radiators if any are hot you may have a problem with a diverter valve or zone valve depending on how the system is setup.

I know you are trying to be helpful... but I'd reached the "happy as Larry" stage. Now you've put new worries/fears into my life!

tom9980 wrote: »

Which leads me onto tradesman i wanted a plumber to do a job at a house he arranged to go twice and didn't turn up, so i contacted another on Friday who accepted the job but hasn't called back to arrange a time/day as promised. I also contacted a guy to clean my gutters last week and he promised to call on Friday to arrange a day/time. Why is it so hard to get people to do what they say they will nowadays?

Yes, nobody ever actually comes, nobody actually ever calls back. It's a bummer. Not heard a thing from my potential handyman, who'd said "2 weeks and I'll pop round" four weeks ago.

PasturesNew

Masomnia wrote: »

Our central heating is very finely tuned. All the radiators set to the right level and so on. I must be a nightmare to live with at times

As a rule I am only interested in heating the living room. So I'll need to keep adjusting all the other rads until each one's at a really low setting, just above the frost setting, maybe setting them to 1.

It does take a long time though as you have to change the setting and you can't really check/see until the next day, when it's started from nothing and had time to get up to its temperature all on its own again.... then you can tell if it's too hot/too cold, or if the radiator's coming on at all.

Rads I've got are: kitchen, downstairs loo, hall, living room, bed1, bed2, bathroom.

GDB2222

Generali wrote: »

If I was thinking about a cancer joke I'd tell a funnier one ::p

My father in law would say something like "Was it 1947 or 1948 when I first heard a funnier version of that joke?"

Masomnia

PasturesNew wrote: »

As a rule I am only interested in heating the living room. So I'll need to keep adjusting all the other rads until each one's at a really low setting, just above the frost setting, maybe setting them to 1.

It does take a long time though as you have to change the setting and you can't really check/see until the next day, when it's started from nothing and had time to get up to its temperature all on its own again.... then you can tell if it's too hot/too cold, or if the radiator's coming on at all.

Rads I've got are: kitchen, downstairs loo, hall, living room, bed1, bed2, bathroom.

Mm I'd say start high and then turn down gradually until it's at the level you want. No point heating rooms you're never in.

lostinrates

Masomnia wrote: »

Our central heating is very finely tuned. All the radiators set to the right level and so on. I must be a nightmare to live with at times

Actually, that sounds wonderful. Come and live here, sort out the timer on ours. I just push the button every day

Today I'm just letting it be on. Although I can feel its not cold I feel cool and have a 'what the hell' or maybe ' who cares?' Sort of feeling about it.

michaels

PasturesNew wrote: »

e.g. this handy nugget "It doesn't matter what water temperature you set on the boiler, the room temperature for a setting on the TRV of, say, '3' will be the same. The hotter the water temperature - the quicker the room will reach the required temperature. Normally each number is equates to an increment of 2C - with '3' being 20C."

Mostly true but...your boiler will operate most efficiently if it turns on and off as few times as possible - ie if it is on for 3 hours per day it will use much less gas if it is on for 3 x 1hour bursts than 12 x 15 minute bursts. The boiler stat temperature is likely to influence this 'cycling' behaviour. This is particuarly important if your boiler is condensing and if it 'modulates'.

Our boiler has a little screen on which you can set all the temps, timings etc for different times, different days of the week, hot water seperate from heating, it modulates between 4kw and 20kw so it can operate in condesing mode as much as possible and there is no roon stat but instead an external stat which it uses to determine heat input requirement based on the outside temperature. There ais then a 'heating curve' which you can set the slope and intercept to choose the rad temp depending on the outside temp, the boiiler then modulates ot acheive the room temp with the least cycling possible subject to remaining within the condensing temperature range...did you all get that?!

Of more relevance is that if the top of some rads, most likely upstairs don't get hot they need bleeding, this is a DIY task.