Central heating tips required

JosephWarne42

Hi
We have just bought a new house and it does not have central heating so we are going to have to get an entire new central heating system put in.

Please can you let me know if you have any tips on what I should ask from a plumber?

For example any modern boilers, radiators, room thermostats (like NEST), or piping I should ask for.

Many thanks

Joe

Raxiel

Not a big one but:
If they're also running new hot water pipes to the bathroom sink/bath/shower, try to plan the pipe runs to be as short as possible, and with enough clearance to wrap an insulation sleeve around it (easier said than done). Means less waiting for hot water when you run the tap, and less waste.

Make sure you agree any other piping with them. When British Gas fitted my parent's system, they didn't tell him they'd need to lift the laminate floor in one room to lay new CH pipes, and came to do it the one day he wasn't there to clear the room. Rather than wait or ask him, they just ran the pipes under the ceiling of the room below, leaving it looking (in his words) like Das Boot, and it took the threat of withholding the last payment to get them to come back and box it in (which doesn't look much better in my opinion)

Thermostats - I have a smart one and I quite like it, nice to be able to turn up the heating from bed if you wake up early one morning. There are a few options in that regard, if you get a Worcester Bosch boiler, you should get one of their 'Wave' thermostats. Other brands work, but only that one talks directly to the boiler (via a proprietary protocol), rather than being a glorified switch.
If you go for another brand, such as Valiant, I believe they support the 'Opentherm' standard, that Smart thermostats like Hive can use.

System

Raxiel wrote: »

If you go for another brand, such as Valiant, I believe they support the 'Opentherm' standard, that Smart thermostats like Hive can use.

Valliant UK boilers are not Opentherm capable, and the protocol is not supported by Valliant UK. A number of knowledgeable people have though purchased an additional PCB from Germany which when fitted will allow the boiler to communicate with an Opentherm control.

UK boilers that currently work well with Opentherm controls are Atag and Intergas (but check the model number). Some owners of Viessmann and Ideal boilers have reported Opentherm control issues. The issues seem relate to the boiler manufacturer’s interpretation of the Opentherm Standard. The other problem that anyone thinking of going down the Opentherm route will encounter is finding an installer that has experience of these controls. Installers prefer the one stop strategy of boiler and controls from the same manufacturer.

AFAIK, Hive isn’t Opentherm compliant. Nest, Tado, Evohome and Atag One (and many others) are. Is Opentherm worth thinking about: most certainly. Opentherm controls are now mandatory in The Netherlands and have been for some years.

https://theevohomeshop.co.uk/content/21-What-is-OpenTherm-and-why-use-Honeywell-evohome-with-it