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Should I turn my boiler up to the maximum?
Comments
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Still trying to imply it is a high temperature, sigh.captainhindsight wrote: »Each boiler has its own temperature setting that is runs at its most efficient. This can be looked up, and then set the boiler to that high temperature.
It isn't. It is the lowest you can get away with. If you have lots of massive rads it will be higher, as those rads will drop a hot of heat and the return will still be low enough.
Generally you want to aim for a return of <50c so if you can drop 20c across all your rads, then you can set at 70c or lower.0 -
So.. your point is nobody should bother?What percentage of the general public have any indication, any means of control, any idea what the return flow temperature is in a constantly changing household temperature environment with trv's shutting down, door opening etc ... zero percent perhaps.
Nobody expects the average user to stand at the boiler constantly adjusting it to maintain a set temperature at the return. The point is, set it as low as you can and the boiler will save you money. Is that easy enough to grasp?
I assume it is of interest to the OP, and other people who like to save money (that's the typical reader of this forum btw;)), and it was of interest to me which is why I researched the subject.It may be of interest to an engineer perhaps, but isn't to a user.0 -
This is an excellent post from the FAQ section on DIYnot, all credit to the original poster. Highlighting is my own.25) BOILERSTAT, ROOMSTAT, TRV AND YOUR GAS BILL
Thanks to Bengasman
C H controls will only work properly when the rads are large enough to heat the space where they are, and the draught is controlled to normal ventilation levels. If there is draught, or the radiator is too small for the space it is in, it will not work. With modern controls, radiators can not be too large as they will be automatically turned off when the room is warm enough.
A Thermostatic Radiator Valve is an auto opening and shutting valve that opens when the room gets below the set temperature, and closes itself when the room is warm enough. It does NOT make the radiator hotter or colder, and setting them higher does NOT warm the room up quicker.
A TRV is not a calibrated thermometer, hence the number/setting on it is a mere indication.
The optimum balance between comfort and saving gas/money is by finding the appropriate setting for a room, and leaving it at there.
Comfort levels are personal and subjective; the actual temperature is not particularly important.
After installing a system I tend to set them as follows:
Spare room and utility room: 1.
Bedroom, hallway and landing: 2
Kitchen and dining room: 3
Bathroom: 4
This is a only a DEFAULT setting, acceptable for most people as a starting point.
How and when we feel comfortable changes under influence of things like being hungry and tired. There is no point in adjusting trv settings constantly, and I recommend to all my clients to adjust trv’s no more than once a day by half a point.
After two or three days the temperature in each room will have been found, and you never need to look at it again.
The roomstat controls the temperature in the room where it is installed, NOT by the average temperature in the house. It turns the boiler on and off, it does NOT set the boiler higher or lower.
In the old days when there were no other controls, the roomstat was often installed in the hallway because that was the central point in the house. Although this works, a roomstat in the lounge gives higher comfort levels.
A separate old fashioned fire in the lounge will influence the temperature in the room. When the fire is off, the flue will still suck warm air out of the room and reduce the temperature in the room by doing that, 24 hours a day.
When the fire is on, it will add to the heat output and could leave the rest of the house cooler than planned.
Fires are extremely wasteful when combined with modern central heating systems; sometimes so much that the heat lost through the chimney is more than what they produce!
This may sound impossible, but remember that the chimney will still pull heat out that is produced by your central heating system when the fire is off.
For people who insist on keeping the old fashioned fire, it is advisable to locate the roomstat in another room. The decorative fires are mainly just that; they look nice but produce little extra heat and will be of little influence on the working of the roomstat.
Conventional roomstats, the round dial on the wall, are quite inaccurate. They usually have a couple of degrees between on and off, and also one or two degrees difference between the temperature set to come on, and when they actually do so. Therefore the temperature indicated on the dial can easily be 3 degrees off from what it actually is.
Digital roomstats are more accurate; the popular Honeywell 0.5 degrees and the Siemens 0.2 Celsius.
The boiler stat (boiler control) determines how hot your radiators get. It does NOT control the temperature in the house.
On older boilers, the non-condensing, lowering the boilerstat does not bring any noticeable savings in the gasuse, and is best left at a minimum of 70 degrees.
Condensing boilers are more efficient when operating at lower temperatures, and turning them down can bring savings of up to 10% compared to running at maximum. For optimum savings, set the boiler at a low rate, and only turn it up when the house is frequently too cold, or often takes too long too warm up.
Balancing a central heating system with a condensing boiler, trv’s and a digital roomstat, is a complex process requiring in depth knowledge and testequipment to get it fully right. When installed properly by a good RGI, should not need adjusting between services and is best left to the installer.
The above is the basis for small and medium sized houses using gas central heating. large systems, 20 radiators or more and dual fuel can more be complex and different.
http://www.diynot.com/forums/plumbing/boiler-central-heating-faqs.175736/page-20 -
Unknown by me.The return temp (which isn't a constant) of the op's boiler is?
Unknown, but even if it were 10p, that would be 10p more than if it were left alone.The amount the op may save by fiddling with the boiler thermostat is?
The government tell the public they will save money by turning their room stat down a few degrees, they don't need to break it down into exact amounts, the fact there is a saving is enough.0 -
Well i want to know as i am setting up from zero rather than a system that is in use already .0
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I don't understand. The question was asked and I provided an answer.Exactly, unknown by everyone, and uncontrollable by everyone, so little point mentioning it to someone who appears to have the correct trv settings for comfort and economy already.
You don't seem to be saying that my answer is wrong, so is it just the fact that I answered that you have a problem with?
I guess I could just post "leave it alone, it's far too complicated for the likes of you" in every thread, but I don't think that would be very helpful.
I'm sorry, I don't think you understand the point of this forum.
Hopefully JC1440 & JJ Egan the information I posted was at least useful to one or both of you.0 -
Not zero percent: I have thermometers fitted to my boiler flow and return. :eek:What percentage of the general public have any indication, any means of control, any idea what the return flow temperature is in a constantly changing household temperature environment with trv's shutting down, doors opening, wind blowing etc ... zero percent perhaps.
It may be of interest to a boiler engineer or manufacturer perhaps, but isn't to a user.
Scrounger0 -
No, there are two. I also have thermometers fitted and plots of the temperatures of the flow and return plotted at 5 minute intervals.There's always one
I think lstar deserves thanks for his useful and correct answers. However, it seems to me that having one roomstat that overrides everything else (when it says off, the boiler goes off so all the tvrs are ineffective) is not what is wanted. I am considering whether doing away with the roomstat and keeping the boiler running "all" the time is sensible, then all the rooms will reach their programmed state and stay there - taking heat when needed. This assumes that the boiler will regulate down as less power is demanded when the rooms are all at temperature and turn itself off when it reaches the bottom of its operating range. Also, by "all" I mean some timeclocked period that matches when I am in the house and want it to be warm - not for ever.0
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