Radiators on but central heating is not on- help!

goodylee

Morning all,

Can i have some advise please? Why are my radiators feeling warm this morning yet my central heating is switched to off?

Am i looking to much into this, is it to do with the hot weather?

I have had some electric works done in the past few days changing of light sockets and switches, assume that isn't anything to do with it.

Thank you in advance.

Browntoa

Do you have a seperate hot water tank or is it a combination boiler ?

goodylee

Hi, i have a separate hot water tank.

Browntoa

May be a partially stuck valve , when the system heats the water tank it should isolate the radiators . Sounds like a partial flow through the radiators.

I take it any thermostat for heating is turned right down ?

Ebe_Scrooge

My first guess would be a faulty diverter valve. In most heating systems, you've got the boiler which heats the water, that water then gets sent to either the radiators, or to the hot water water tank coil to heat your water. There's a motorised diverter valve that sends the heat to the appropriate place, controlled by your programmer. It's not uncommon for the valve to get stuck part-way - so if you've got your hot water programmed to come on, some of the heat from the boiler that's supposed to be going to the hot water tank is actually "leaking" into the radiator circuit.

Sometimes it just needs a bit of a clean up, but even if it needs replacing it's not a hugely expensive job. That would be my first thought, but any plumber worth his salt should be able to have a look and fix it for you - it's not a particularly difficult DIY job if you're fairly comfortable with basic plumbing. At the very least you could have a look at the valve and just see if there's anything obviously snagging on it, or if it's gummed up with dirt.

goodylee

Thank you for the replies everyone.
The electrician we had around fitted us a new thermostat controller as the old one was extremely dirty from previous occupants.

He also fitted a new immersion switch just a straight swap.

Sorry for maybe asking a stupid question but where is the diverter valve situated to check

Ebe_Scrooge

goodylee wrote: »

Sorry for maybe asking a stupid question but where is the diverter valve situated to check

It's often just near the hot water tank. It could be near the boiler, but in my experience it's often near the tank. If you google for diverter valve, you'll see the sort of thing you're looking for - you'll see a pump and a valve, usually very close to each other.

goodylee

As i have no experience or knowledge in plumbing how much would this sort of job cost? Replace the valve + labour?

pramsay13

If you've had someone out working on the system recently and this has happened since it sounds as if they are related.
I would say to the electrician and see what he is saying.

angela110660

Might be worth just switching on the heating for a couple of minutes and see if the valve moves of its own accord. Then switch off the heating and put back to just hot water and hopefully it will reset itself. We had this prob a few years ago and it would reset again but then it didn't after a while. We replaced it as we put in a new boiler so can't say how much for just the valve. HTH

Ebe_Scrooge

goodylee wrote: »

As i have no experience or knowledge in plumbing how much would this sort of job cost? Replace the valve + labour?

Depends on the type of valve and how your system is set up. This link will give you a rough idea of the cost of the part : https://www.screwfix.com/c/heating-plumbing/motorised-valves/cat831028

You're looking at no more than half an hour's labour to actually change the valve, but the system may need to be partially or completely drained before-hand, which obviously will take more time.

I'm not saying 100% it is the valve - it's just the most common cause of this symptom. But at least this will give you a very rough idea of the cost, if it does turn out to be that.