How to heat empty house

UncleZen

I have an empty house to heat. The property has TRVs on the rads with the following settings; 5 4 3 2 1 * 0. The * is a snowflake. So I asssume zero is off, snowflake is defrost and the rest are different temperatures from lowest, 1 to highest, 5.
The room thermostat is set to 15 deg C. The CH and HW are set to come on 2x per day. But I intend to change this to be constant when the weather gets colder, and it's this I'm struggling to get my head around.
If the CH is setup to come on when the temperature drops below 15. What settings should the TRVs be set to? I cant imagine that the snowflake setting is that high.
Advice please?

[Deleted User]

You'll want them appropriate to each room.

Once the thermostat reaches 15, the CH should shut off. So if the radiator that heats that area is set very high, it might shut off before the other rooms get warm and vice versa.

The lower you set the TRV, the longer (if at all) it will take to reach the set temperature.

Short answer, set them all to about 3.

coffeehound

I'd suggest also setting the temperature dial behind the flap on the boiler to about one-half of maximum to ensure that it's running in condensing mode.

cranford

If you have not already contacted you insurance company you may need to do so. Many don't allow you to leave a house empty for more than 30 days and stay insured. They also give advice on heating and turning off water etc.

UncleZen

@coffehound the boiler remains a mystery to me , I have no idea what the controls do or display means

@zx81 (I remember them) thanks for the suggestions, I'll make the changes.

coffeehound

What is the brand and model of boiler?

Tojo_Ralph

coffeehound wrote: »

What is the brand and model of boiler?

Having to do the same as the OP with leaving a one bed flat empty, it’s interesting that you mention the boiler at 50%.

I have had to learn the basics quickly and the good people of MDE tell me the flat has a C Plan (partially pumped) system (4 radiators) which runs off a Potterton Promax SL boiler, without a thermostat. So an old system with a newly installed boiler approx4 years ago.

When I removed the boiler cover the flow control was cranked up 100% and will always have been!! But being just a stem with no “dial” I have experimented. The problem with recommended temp ranges for efficiency is how does one measure? I think I am nudging up towards 50% with temp of hot water at nearest tap 49 Deg C.

As it is, I have the flat left with all internal doors open, radiators on 0.5, hot water tank on frost and with temps around zero outside, it’s 18 Deg C indoors.

I will however look to get a wireless thermostat fitted, one not needing WiFi.

TELLIT01

Wouldn't the simplest solution be just to set the thermostat to about 12/15 degrees and leave doors slightly open? Warm air will then get to all rooms even if a radiator didn't kick out enough heat in that room.

thorganby

UncleZen wrote: »

I have an empty house to heat. The property has TRVs on the rads with the following settings; 5 4 3 2 1 * 0. The * is a snowflake. So I asssume zero is off, snowflake is defrost and the rest are different temperatures from lowest, 1 to highest, 5.
The room thermostat is set to 15 deg C. The CH and HW are set to come on 2x per day. But I intend to change this to be constant when the weather gets colder, and it's this I'm struggling to get my head around.
If the CH is setup to come on when the temperature drops below 15. What settings should the TRVs be set to? I cant imagine that the snowflake setting is that high.
Advice please?

The first question is why?

I don't know why you have come up with an arbitrary figure of 15 degrees for heating an empty house when some occupants have it set to this figure when living in the property!

My room stat has a frost setting of 5°C and TRV's typically have the following setting:

0 = Off
* = 7°C - Frost
1 = 10°C
2 = 15°C
3 = 20°C
4 = 25°C
5 = 30°C

A temperature of 15 degrees is simply not necessary to prevent burst pipes if that is the reason, use the frost setting with the boiler on 24/7.

mchale

If i have a empty house in the winter I leave rad in hall on & switch off all other rads and leave all internal doors open, have boiler set to come on for 1 hour at a time 4 times per day, never had a problem.

silvercar

What floor is the flat on?

Are the flats above and below occupied?

What part of the country?