Fitting TRV's and shutting them down in Unused Rooms 29 November 2014 at 11:32PM in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving 10 replies 1.3K views

yaz2010

Hi members,
Need advice on what i am thinking is a good idea.
I have got 2 unused bedrooms on first floor and 1 bedroom and 1 reception room downstairs which are not used at all.
These rooms dont have trv's on them.
Is it a good idea to put trv's on them and keep them off and let the heating be available only in kitchen, master bedroom, bathroom, hallway and living room to save money.

I thought about getting Evohome but restricted on cash due to Christmas.

Based on my calculations I have used gas worth £34 for last 15 days for just running heating and hotwater for 2 hours in a day.
House has solid walls and I cant afford £6-8 grand for external insurance.

So my plan is to get cheap £5 ish trv's and get them fitted in unused rooms.

Any advice ?

Am I going in the wrong direction?

jhs14

yaz2010 wrote: »

Is it a good idea to put trv's on them and keep them off and let the heating be available only in kitchen, master bedroom, bathroom, hallway and living room to save money.

Yes. But be aware that the risk of condensation will increase, especially as you have solid walls. If you want the rooms to be completely unheated then go ahead, but keep an eye on it.

Of course, you could get the same result (shut radiator off) by closing completely one of the existing valves on the radiator. But TRVs are a good idea, in all rooms regardless of use.

Johnandabby

You could install trvs and turn them down, but don't turn them completely off. Risk of condensation but you'll also pull heat from the occupied rooms. You may not actually see any cost savings by doing this, but affect comfort in the occupied rooms.

setting 2 on the trv is around 16 degrees celsius, which is as low as i would do it.

Jonesya

That's exactly what I do, turn the TRV in the spare room down to the frost setting which I think is around 10 degrees.

Only thing I'd suggest is, a - buy a decent quality trv for around a tenner given the hassle factor if a cheap one fails or needs changing.

Do you have a radiator that's permanently on, without trv? You need to ensure you have at least one radiator that is always open so there's always water flow through the heating system.

MillicentBystander

I know where the previous poster is coming from regarding cheap TRVs but it would appear from your OP that Evohome is a definite possibility when finances are less stretched and the fact that you will already have a TRV fitted on each radiator means the installation of Evohome will prove much cheaper due to the lack of any real plumbing in replacing your existing (cheap!) TRVs. In fact, you could easily fit the Evohome TRVs yourself in such a scenario and just get the plumber to fit the boiler relay box. A 30 minute job.

PasturesNew

yaz2010 wrote: »

I have got 2 unused bedrooms on first floor and 1 bedroom and 1 reception room downstairs which are not used at all.
..... to save money.

In most/many areas, that many unused rooms would mean your house cost you £60-200k more than a house without those rooms.

Ever thought of selling and downsizing?

yaz2010

Well, just moved from a studio to this house 2 months ago as mrs wanted a bigger place.
I was thinking of maybe getting half the radiators fitted with evohome and let some of others remain as they are but that defeats the purpose of saving on bills. I dont even know how much a plumber would charge to fit trv's worth a tenner in Ruislip area.
I feel embarrassed to ask a plumber for a quote for such a thing. Am I just being stupid or is asking a quote for such a small job makes sense since I do not have loads to spend?

Errata

If you're handy it's a staightforward DIY job https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOy1cB5XZPA
If you're not handy a handyman could do it far more cheaply than a plumber

gmgmgm

jhs14 wrote: »

Of course, you could get the same result (shut radiator off) by closing completely one of the existing valves on the radiator.

jhs14 has the right idea: just turn the taps off on the side of the radiator. TRVs are a good idea in general, but you don't NEED them. You can turn the radiators off right now.

yaz2010

I will try turning the radiators off. With regards to condensation , what should be my approach. Open windows during the day in those rooms? or something else?

jhs14

Just keep an eye on it for now. If you don't have any condensation problems at the moment, just be aware that the colder the rooms are, the colder the interior wall surface will be, and the risk of condensation will increase. But you might be fine.