Help understanding my heating system

avoidtheupsidedownbottles

Slinky said:

Do not get a vaillant smart controller. We had one in our previous home. My OH does rocket science, but programming that blasted thing was a nightmare! We never really got the hang of it and I will certainly not allow another to be installed when we replace our ancient boiler in our now home.

I wonder if they already do have the smart controller thing fitted -- OP talks about the boiler having its own set of programming controls as well as the Drayton programmer.

neilmcl

Hasbeen said:

Op Just keep it simple for yourself and get a Combi boiler installed. Probably more energy efficient and user friendly to what you currently have.  

Nothing MSE about that suggestion. Even if it is more energy efficient the OP would unlikely see any benefit from the expense of changing from the perfectly adequate and working system that he already has for a new one.

Ectophile

If you want to save a bit of money heating hot water, fit the jacket properly around the tank, or get a new jacket that fits snugly all the way round.

raxx99

Thanks for all the suggestions. Tbh I was just thinking about getting a combi boiler installed but think i will hold fire a few years once Im ready for a complete home renovation. I think the jacket for the boiler makes sense, even doubling up on it. Ive also turned down the thermostat on the tank which was set to 70.

And no, the boiler doesnt have programmable settings, only a single min-max dial. The drayton programmer is what controls the timer etc.
Are there any more hacks/tips/tricks I should know about for old heating systems? Is it worth insulting pipes etc? 

pramsay13

Sounds like we have a similar set up.
Basically the boiler heats the hot water. 
If the central heating is on the water goes around the radiators. 
Otherwise it just goes straight to the hot water tank.
You don't get hot water 'on demand' but if you use it correctly it is almost always fine, except for example when one person has a bath and drains the hot water tank and the other person wants a shower straight away (assuming shower is mains water rather than electric).
For the controls we currently have heating and hot water to come on for one hour in the morning, and then again at around 7pm to 9.30pm in the evening. In a month or so we will turn off our heating completely and just have water heating for around an hour morning and evening.
On the timer on the wall you can either have timed so it uses that timer system, off so everything is off, on so everything is on all the time, or advance when it will come on until the next timer slot and then go off when it should. Some also have boost where it comes on for just an hour and then off again. Depending on your system you might have all of these options or some of them.

FreeBear

raxx99 said: Is it worth insulting pipes etc? 

Always worth insulating pipes. It doesn't cost much, and is something that you can do yourself.

One tip - Give those red handled taps a turn each way every now and then. If they are left undisturbed, they can seize up over time (20y+).

silvercar

You need to experiment with the timings. Try having the hot water timed to be on for an hour or two in the morning and the same at night. That should be enough for showering and washing dishes etc. I have never had a hot water system set to On constantly.

avoidtheupsidedownbottles

raxx99 said:

I think the jacket for the boiler makes sense, even doubling up on it. Ive also turned down the thermostat on the tank which was set to 70. 

Since your hot water cylinder is having to feed a power shower, you may find you don't have enough hot water when its temperature reduced even further, so you might want to keep it at 70C.  (Fitting an economising shower head that passes less water could help with that.)   Since you will be using the hot water soon after heating it in the morning, you won't be wasting much energy, and the extra insulation will of course help too.

FreeBear

avoidtheupsidedownbottles said: Since your hot water cylinder is having to feed a power shower, you may find you don't have enough hot water when its temperature reduced even further, so you might want to keep it at 70C.

Water at 60°C can scald in seconds, at 70°C, it will scald even faster - A real danger if you have small children or caring for the elderly. The water in the tank needs to be kept at a minimum of 50°C to kill bacteria such as Legionella. Another advantage of having a lower temperature is gas consumption is reduced a little - Every little bit helps.

If one is using a full tank of water for a single shower, then the dousing of cold will encourage the user to get out. Five to ten minutes should be long enough for most.

Mutton_Geoff

Paula_Smith said:

The boiler heats the water in the hot water tank - it stays hot in the tank due to the insulation surrounding it and will refill it with hot water when the timer tells it to.
You only need the immersion heater to heat water if, for example, you fill the bath up with hot when the hot water timer on the boiler is off and you need more hot water before the timer sets to on again.

I would not use the immersion heater to top up when the gas boiler is working. Electricity costs roughly four times as much as gas per kw hour of heat. If you need the hot water on for a shower at a time when the programmer is not going to switch the boiler on, then press the advance button to make the boiler available.

pramsay13 said:

Basically the boiler heats the hot water. 

If the central heating is on the water goes around the radiators. 
Otherwise it just goes straight to the hot water tank.

That statement is not correct. The timer (the Drayton LP241 - manuals link at end of my post) has overriding control of whether the heating/and or/hot water can be heated. Assuming the timer is "on" for both, then the heating will come on when a "call for heat" signal is sent from the room thermostat (on wall) is set to a temperature warmer than the room at that moment.

Similarly, the hot water cylinder thermostat will "call for heat" if the temperature of the water in the storage cylinder is less than the stat temperature set.

On the left of the OP picture is the three port valve which has hot water in from the boiler then a flap that moves the water left or right to the hot water cylinder or radiators depending on which one is calling for heat. If both water and room are calling for heat, the valve can either sit in the middle position or the be set for hot water priority so the water is quickly heated first before the water is then passed back to the radiators.

https://www.draytoncontrols.co.uk/documentation

Adding a power shower pump to an older stored HW system soon reveals the limitations of the system, ie not enough hot water.

Those pumps are also very noisy, I would buy a small sheet of 12mm neoprene rubber and gently lift the pump and place the rubber under the pump to reduce noise transmission through the floorboards.

I'd also lag that cylinder more as others suggested.