Mystery always on towel rails

oniongirl

theoretica said:

And the things at the bottom definitely don't twiddle?

No, they do twiddle, and they do turn the heat down. But if they're electrical, there should be an "off" switch somewhere, and if they're not, something weird is going on because the programmer for the boiler is saying it's calling for neither heat nor hot water.

However. I've gone to look at the boiler now and neither heat nor hot water is being called for according to the programmer, bit the boiler is whirring away. I'm very confused.

Ajmason42

I’m going to guess plumbed into the hot water system and not the heating circuit if the rest of the rads are cold in the day and the towel warmers are hot. 

oniongirl

Ajmason42 said:

I’m going to guess plumbed into the hot water system and not the heating circuit if the rest of the rads are cold in the day and the towel warmers are hot. 

That's what our old house was like. But neither hot water nor heating are on right now but the towel rails are hot and the boiler is whirring away 

oniongirl

cymruchris said:

It looks like it is a water one rather than an electric one from my limited knowledge - there might be more experts than me - but an obvious and maybe silly question - you've mentioned there are no switches - but have you looked around the walls outside the toilet? not necessarily inside the toilet? Sometimes they have a habit of putting switches outside rather than inside. 

I don't have a clue in reference the boilers - but seems like others are giving some good advice - and I do think it's water not electric as mentioned. 

Yes, I've looked everywhere. My parents' house had the switch for the rail on the same wall but in the adjoining bedroom. There's no random power switch that isn't associated with a plug socket.

Although there is a mystery switch in the boiler cupboard downstairs with the word "heating" sharpie-d on. I am too scared to turn it off in case it's for the boiler and then the boiler doesn't turn back on. I have no idea how boilers light themselves. Just that I probably don't want to break it at midnight when the next day is Sunday!

Maybe I should give it a go. Live recklessly.

...but if it DOES turn the towel rails off, it doesn't explain why the boiler is still whirring when heating and hot water turned off hours ago.

fenwick458

They are definitely plumbed in. elements for towel rails are 300-600mm long and the cable is on the end of them, so theres just no way or a rear entry thats hidden.
I'd guess that the towel rails are on the hot water loop (separate loop to the radiators), and the hot water is always on and the cylinder stat fires the boiler as necessary to keep the water up to temp

coffeehound

oniongirl said:

Although there is a mystery switch in the boiler cupboard downstairs with the word "heating" sharpie-d on. I am too scared to turn it off in case it's for the boiler and then the boiler doesn't turn back on.

That could be the electric immersion heater switch.  You definitely don't want that switched on if so.  Perhaps more likely to be the power to the boiler / programmer judging by the label though.

It could also explain why the towel rails are warm when the boiler isn't heating the hot water.   As above if the TRs are plumbed into the primary circuit to the tank, the hot tank could be causing convection flow in the primary circuit, thus sending a constant flow of warm water to the TRs.  Maybe.

Hasbeen

The towel rails appear to be plumbed into the central heating system. 

Turn the boiler completely off to check, they should go cold.

If fed by immersion?? then turn off immersion? never seen that before, you do not want it on if you have a boiler.

Please post a picture of this "boiler"

grumbler

Hasbeen said:

Please post a picture of this "boiler"

"Central heating is provided by a Vaillant Ecotec plus 618, gas fired boiler located in the utility room. This is understood to have been provided in 2010. "

https://www.google.com/search?q=Vaillant+Ecotec+plus+618&client=firefox-b-d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjGgOq0zfruAhVOXMAKHRRbCXQQ_AUoAnoECBcQBA&biw=1200&bih=779

coffeehound

Is the hot tank on the ground floor, OP?

Jeepers_Creepers

oniongirl said:

Although there is a mystery switch in the boiler cupboard downstairs with the word "heating" sharpie-d on. I am too scared to turn it off in case it's for the boiler and then the boiler doesn't turn back on. I have no idea how boilers light themselves. Just that I probably don't want to break it at midnight when the next day is Sunday!

Maybe I should give it a go. Live recklessly.

Yes, live recklessly. :-)  The boiler will turn itself back on happily enough whatever you do.

First - this is good stuff. You are very lucky. It means you can have warm dry towels when you want even in summertime. But, of course, you'll want to be able to turn them off too.

You say you have DEFINITELY turned off the DHW - the heating of the hot tank? And DEFINITELY turned off the CH - the rads? And even after they've been off for - ooh - a good half hour, the towels rails are still HOT?

If that's the case, then they must have been plumbed in on a separate circuit, and - really - that is great, a real luxury. You just need to find out how to turn them off. You could just turn them off by their own valves, but you don't want the boiler still to be trying to heat them up, which it will be if they have a separate control.

That switch with 'heating' could be one of a number of different things, including the main isolator for the boiler itself - so turning it off will turn off everything, controls an' all. Could, but we don't know.

We need nice wide shots of the boiler and all the pipes and controls that surround it, and ditto of the hot cylinder and everything that surrounds that. And some close-ups of anything important that doesn't show up clearly in the 'wide' shots.

If you do find a switch that stops the towel rads getting hot, then the boiler will almost certainly shut down too (unless the other rads and hot tank are still calling for it).