Turning off radiators to heat one room?

PopeSock

Thanks for the info so far. My house is actually kind of thin so I've got lounge on the top floor, bedroom and bathroom on the middle floor and kitchen on the bottom floor. The kitchen is where the thermostat is, but I didn't realise leaving the radiator low - which is what I'd previously done - in that room wouldn't be money saving.

EDIT: Also, the kitchen doesn't have a door to separate it from the upstairs and the upstairs hallway, so any heat from that radiator will be spread to the hallway.

boliston

I've always found the hall thermostat to be pretty useless and just use it as an "on/off switch" (min=off max=on)

The thermostat on the boiler itself however gives an excellent level of control and keeps the radiators at a more even temperature.

With the weather being so warm this year I have not yet had to use the central heating since springtime.

windup

PopeSock wrote: »

I didn't realise leaving the radiator low - which is what I'd previously done - in that room wouldn't be money saving.

what do you mean by leaving it low, the normal meaning would be a lower trv or thermostat value, and that is very definitely money saving

If you follow the advice about turning things up, your bill will be higher.

Zandoni

The best and most economical way to use your central heating is this.

A thermostat (preferably wireless) in the main room usually the lounge. All radiators in the room with the thermostat should not have TRV's fitted.

All the rest of the house should have TRV's (maybe excluding the bathroom). This means unused rooms can be left on a low setting.

The boiler thermostat should be left on high and should be controlled by a time switch of some sort.

Better sill the new Hive type systems work very well.

Cardew

st999 wrote: »

The pump is still circulating water, it never turns off, just like my old smokeless coal heating when the fire died down. No hot water but the pump still ran.

.

That is exactly what I wrote in post #11.

The pump will run continuously in the scenario described in your quote. However the boiler will switch on and off(cycle) as the water reaches the temperature set on the boiler thermostat.

In houses with an old CH system(like Shrimply - post#18) without a wall thermostat, the pump will run continuously whenever the CH is switched on.

What I stated was that turning the CH up to max(30+C) and using a TRV in that room will create exactly same situation. i.e. the pump will run continuously and the boiler will turn on/off as dictated by the water temperature.(or the timer)

Biggles

windup wrote: »

what do you mean by leaving it low, the normal meaning would be a lower trv or thermostat value, and that is very definitely money saving.

Not if the wall thermostat, which is in the same room, decides to keep the heating running throughout the rest of the house because the kitchen is cold!

Cardew

Zandoni wrote: »

The best and most economical way to use your central heating is this.

A thermostat (preferably wireless) in the main room usually the lounge. All radiators in the room with the thermostat should not have TRV's fitted.

All the rest of the house should have TRV's (maybe excluding the bathroom). This means unused rooms can be left on a low setting.

The boiler thermostat should be left on high and should be controlled by a time switch of some sort.

Better sill the new Hive type systems work very well.

With a condensing boiler the water temperature(boiler thermostat) set on the boiler should be as low as possible, obviously provided it is high enough to heat the property. This enables the boiler to run more readily in condensing mode.


Your 'best and most economical way to use your central heating' has the disadvantage that the room that has the wall thermostat controls the heating in the rest of the house. If that room is at the temperature set on the wall thermostat, there is no heating to the rest of the house as the boiler is off.


What if you want to use and heat a room other than the room with the wall thermostat? e.g. another reception room/kitchen/bedroom. Your system means that you have to heat the room in which the thermostat is situated - even though it is not being used. What is economical about that?


As said above there is 'no one size fits all' solution for heating a house.

Zandoni

Cardew wrote: »

With a condensing boiler the water temperature(boiler thermostat) set on the boiler should be as low as possible, obviously provided it is high enough to heat the property. This enables the boiler to run more readily in condensing mode.


Your 'best and most economical way to use your central heating' has the disadvantage that the room that has the wall thermostat controls the heating in the rest of the house. If that room is at the temperature set on the wall thermostat, there is no heating to the rest of the house as the boiler is off.


What if you want to use and heat a room other than the room with the wall thermostat? e.g. another reception room/kitchen/bedroom. Your system means that you have to heat the room in which the thermostat is situated - even though it is not being used. What is economical about that?


As said above there is 'no one size fits all' solution for heating a house.

Point taken that a condensing boiler shouldn't necessarily be set to it's highest temperature, although some manufacturers seem to have different opinions.

Your point about not heating the lounge would be unusual but is easily solved with a wireless thermostat and having a TRV fitted. Although there needs to be one radiator in the house without one.

Cardew

Zandoni wrote: »

Point taken that a condensing boiler shouldn't necessarily be set to it's highest temperature, although some manufacturers seem to have different opinions.

Your point about not heating the lounge would be unusual but is easily solved with a wireless thermostat and having a TRV fitted. Although there needs to be one radiator in the house without one.

Agreed about wireless thermostat, that is why I got one. However when two or three rooms are being used it can still mean moving the thermostat around.


To repeat that there is not a 'one size fits all solution' it is not always necessary to leave one radiator without a TRV. I have posted this several times:

This has come up many times. I have a TRV on every radiator and towel rail and an Automatic Bypass Valve(ABV). Without repeating the discussions in these threads below, wherever you have a wall thermostat sited is just a compromise. Why should my hall or a living room determine the heating in other rooms? e.g. my living room is up to the set temperature on the wall stat, there is no heat in other rooms if I go and switch on the radiators.

Why should my large hall(where my stat is situated) determine etc etc
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3059128


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/38684538#Comment_38684538




This is from the latest Myson website: http://www.myson.co.uk/products/1207_1625_ENU_HTML.htm

Quote:
Automatic Bypass Valve
What is an automatic by-pass valve?
An automatic by-pass valve is designed for use in domestic central heating systems. Its purpose is to maintain constant pump pressure within the system.
Back to top
What are the advantages of an automatic by-pass valve?
An automatic by-pass valve ensures minimum water flow rates through the boiler. It reduces system noise associated with high pressure pumps. It eliminates the need to fit an uncontrolled radiator to act as a system by-pass and it also increases system efficiency.(my bold) The automatic by-pass valve also aids the operation of thermostatic radiator valves.

Pincher

The issue is always keeping the boiler ON, so that the one room to be kept warm will be actually heated. This means turning the thermostat UP, beyond what the temperature is where it is positioned. With a click On/OFF relay thermostat, there is no effect on how hard the boiler works once it's on.


With my boiler, it will monitor the return flow temperature, and simmer the flame down. With a 30 year old dumb boiler, it is better to turn the output down manually, otherwise it will go full blast: I don't think you can turn it down low enough, though.