Getting My Central Heating Right...Help

adzy77

Hi,

So after moving into my first home earlier this year this will be the first winter that i've lived in my own home so not quite used to getting my central heating perfect yet, so was wondering if anyone could offer some tips to get the house nice and warm quickly whilst being as economical as possible.

So I have a 3 bed detached, cavity walls, loft insulation, all downstairs is tiled/laminate floors so no carpets. Upstairs is carpeted and that is also where the thermostat is.

There is a radiator in the kitchen, living room and at the bottom of the stairs and then one in each room upstairs. All have been balanced and are red hot to touch.

Combi boiler temp is set to about 72 degrees.

I have the thermo timed to come on at 5:30am until 6:20am set to 19 degrees at which point it will go off for the rest of the day until about 5pm where it is time to kick in again at about 20 degrees.

Now using today as an example (the coldest day by far!!) the heating has now been on for just over 3 hours and the thermostat still hasn't reached 20 degrees. Is this normal?

Im just worried that the boiler is constantly working for hours on end and don't want the bills to be sky high. I did my meter reading yesterday for the previous month and I had used 91kwh which is over double what I have used in previous months. I know its to be expected as the heating was not on in summer but just wondering if it should be this much of an increase?

Would i be better off setting the heating to come on at some point during the day so that when it kicks in at 5pm it isnt with the temp something low like 14 degrees? or will this be pointless and just cost more in gas?

Any ideas would be appreciated, just want to make sure im getting it setup correctly without paying through the roof. If it all sounds normal then I will feel better but cant help but think I could improve in one way or another.

Appreciate you reading this.

Nada666

If your boiler only used 91 kWh last month you should be delighted. But it didn't - it used 91 meter units which is about 1019 kWh on a metric meter and 3,000 kWh on an imperial one.

JJ_Egan

Red hot has to be to hot .

Cardew

I am surprised the thermostat is upstairs.


In most houses the radiators are sized so that the bedrooms are cooler than the reception rooms, e.g. when reception rooms are 21C the bedrooms are 18C.


As said above, you would have used about 1,000kWh last month - around £40 - which for a 3 bed detached is excellent. Many will use half that for Hot water(from taps etc)

matelodave

Your problem is that the hall radiator is too small to heat the hall, the stairs and upstairs landing where the thermostat is situated. That will cause the boiler to run continuously and all the radiators in the house to get too hot. You could try setting it to 17 or 18 and then checking that the other rooms in the house get warm enough.

Ideally you need to move the thermostat to either the downstairs hall or the living room (assuming you don't have a fire or heater in the living room) where it can actually sense when the room is hot enough.

The room with the stat should have a radiator without a thermostatic valve (or with it fully open) so that the room gets heated by the boiler.
It's easy to get a wireless thermostat (or even better a wireless programmable stat - about £50) and wire the receiver unit in place of the existing thermostat. You can then move the wireless stat around until you find the best place for it to control your heating

adzy77

matelodave wrote: »

Your problem is that the hall radiator is too small to heat the hall, the stairs and upstairs landing where the thermostat is situated. That will cause the boiler to run continuously and all the radiators in the house to get too hot. You could try setting it to 17 or 18 and then checking that the other rooms in the house get warm enough.

Ideally you need to move the thermostat to either the downstairs hall or the living room (assuming you don't have a fire or heater in the living room) where it can actually sense when the room is hot enough.

The room with the stat should have a radiator without a thermostatic valve (or with it fully open) so that the room gets heated by the boiler.
It's easy to get a wireless thermostat (or even better a wireless programmable stat - about £50) and wire the receiver unit in place of the existing thermostat. You can then move the wireless stat around until you find the best place for it to control your heating

Thank you, you know that did actually cross my mind!

Can you explain a bit more about my options for a wireless thermostat? I know you can get units where one part will fix to the wall in its place and then i can carry the wireless bit around with me but what is the difference between the two you mention? Also can you link to anything around the £50 mark, i thought they were all over £100+

Also, if i get a wireless thermostat and put the wireless part by the radiator without TRV downstairs, will upstairs not get colder?

much appreciated

matelodave

Here you go http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salus-RT500RF-Programmable-Frequency-Thermostat/dp/B003ERP1LE less than £40.


The receiver unit can be installed either where the old stat was situated or better still next to the boiler.

There are only 2 or 3 wires to connect so it's an easy DIY job although it helps if you've got enough knowledge to change a light switch.

The room stat then goes where you want it, not near a radiator but in a room that's heated by the central heating so it can control the heating.

Try moving it around to find the position that suits - it doesn't have to be on a wall, ours is on a shelf in the lounge.

adzy77

matelodave wrote: »

Here you go http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salus-RT500RF-Programmable-Frequency-Thermostat/dp/B003ERP1LE less than £40.


The receiver unit can be installed either where the old stat was situated or better still next to the boiler.

There are only 2 or 3 wires to connect so it's an easy DIY job although it helps if you've got enough knowledge to change a light switch.

The room stat then goes where you want it, not near a radiator but in a room that's heated by the central heating so it can control the heating.

Try moving it around to find the position that suits - it doesn't have to be on a wall, ours is on a shelf in the lounge.

Thanks, im just confused now as im being told elsewhere that I cannot just do a direct replacement as the wired thermostat I currently have on the wall does not currently have a neutral, and possibly not a line/live.

My current thermostat has batteries in to get round this

Read more: http://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/quick-thermostat-wiring-question.419452/#ixzz3KDfiT3Pz

matelodave

adzy77 wrote: »

Thanks, im just confused now as im being told elsewhere that I cannot just do a direct replacement as the wired thermostat I currently have on the wall does not currently have a neutral, and possibly not a line/live.

My current thermostat has batteries in to get round this

Read more: http://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/quick-thermostat-wiring-question.419452/#ixzz3KDfiT3Pz

If you don't have a live & neutral where the existing thermostat is located then you can install the receiver unit adjacent to the boiler and get the live and neutral from the boiler supply or connect it into the heating wiring centre if you've got one.
It doesn't actually have to be screwed on the wall where the previous stat was situated just located where you can connect it into the heating system wiring.
The thermostat is then battery powered and can be located where you like.


It's not as difficult as the thread you quoted makes it seem - some people can produce confusion out of anything