Very basic question about how boilers work

70sbudgie

FreeBear said:

Geography_rox said: Thanks, yeah to be honest even at max in the winter a couple of my rooms cant get up to 20, but im hoping this winter with the newborn being over 1 we can lower the temp in the bedrooms so the rest of the house gets a chance!

Worth checking to see if the radiators are properly balanced - You should be aiming for a temperature drop of around 12°C between the inlet & return pipes with any TRV set on max.

I picked up a couple of cheap LCD thermometers and clipped a sensor on to each radiator pipe. After tweaking the lockshield on every radiator, my house now gets up to a comfortable temperature in a reasonable time. Before hand, bedrooms were always cold.... (also been doing a bunch of other work which has contributed to warmth).

Where did you get your thermometers from? I tried balancing my radiators without one (couldn't find a suitable one), but that looks like it would do the trick nicely.

Mstty

northernstar007 said:

Mstty said:

northernstar007 said:

going off topic a bit, but i was wondering would them calor gas bottles cheaper than mains gas
i only use gas for heating and hot water 9500kw per year, the heating sys is a worcester 5yrs old and i know the internal settings can be changed (gas safe fitter) its a cpl of internal jumpers that need moving inside the sys to accept a change in gas type
putting the gas bottle outside and run a pipe from heating sys to the gas bottle

LPG and a tank was mentioned somewhere as becoming a cheaper option but you need space outside for the tank.

saying that i`m on a  low cost fix till feb24, but how big would the tank be, how large of a hole would be needed to dug out to put it underground in the garden, i dont think i would go to that lengths

https://www.calor.co.uk/home-energy/new-to-lpg/my-options/lpg-installation-options?tabname=below-ground-lpg-tank

FreeBear

70sbudgie said:

FreeBear said:

Geography_rox said: Thanks, yeah to be honest even at max in the winter a couple of my rooms cant get up to 20, but im hoping this winter with the newborn being over 1 we can lower the temp in the bedrooms so the rest of the house gets a chance!

Worth checking to see if the radiators are properly balanced - You should be aiming for a temperature drop of around 12°C between the inlet & return pipes with any TRV set on max.

I picked up a couple of cheap LCD thermometers and clipped a sensor on to each radiator pipe. After tweaking the lockshield on every radiator, my house now gets up to a comfortable temperature in a reasonable time. Before hand, bedrooms were always cold.... (also been doing a bunch of other work which has contributed to warmth).

Where did you get your thermometers from? I tried balancing my radiators without one (couldn't find a suitable one), but that looks like it would do the trick nicely.

Good old ebay - Bought from a Chinese seller and waited a month for delivery.

Used a couple of regular Talon type pipe clips to hold the sensor in place. Got a little creative with a 4mm drill bit so that the sensor would be in contact with the pipe.

QrizB

FreeBear said:

70sbudgie said:

Where did you get your thermometers from? I tried balancing my radiators without one (couldn't find a suitable one), but that looks like it would do the trick nicely.

Good old ebay - Bought from a Chinese seller and waited a month for delivery.

Used a couple of regular Talon type pipe clips to hold the sensor in place. Got a little creative with a 4mm drill bit so that the sensor would be in contact with the pipe.

I've got similar thermometers. My sensors are held in place with a couple of wraps of PVC electrical tape - it seems to work!

macman

Geography_rox said:

Ectophile said:

Going off on a tangent for a bit - there's a temperature knob on the front of the boiler that is set nearly to "MAX".  You can make the boiler run more efficiently by turning it down a bit.  You could keep turning it down a bit at a time, checking each time that hot water still gets hot enough, and the house is still warm enough.

Thanks, yeah to be honest even at max in the winter a couple of my rooms cant get up to 20, but im hoping this winter with the newborn being over 1 we can lower the temp in the bedrooms so the rest of the house gets a chance! Also hoping this idea of insulating the water tank might also help.

have to say im very lucky to have done a 3 year fix last summer when we moved, so 2 more years of 4.06p/kwh, but am trying to get into good habits in case this goes on beyond 2024

Babies were thriving long before the advent of central heating: a quick google suggest that anything between 16C and 20C is adequate for them at night.

BUFF

[Deleted User] said:

Below about 0.8Bars, your boiler will stop working. If you are having to top up the system pressure on a regular basis then you have a leak somewhere in your system. This could be from a radiator; a joint in a pipe or within the boiler itself. 

https://lcdheatingandgas.co.uk/blog/help-my-boiler-keeps-losing-pressure/

My guess would be a failed/failing diaphragm in the expansion vessel

Jyana

FreeBear said:

Geography_rox said: Thanks, yeah to be honest even at max in the winter a couple of my rooms cant get up to 20, but im hoping this winter with the newborn being over 1 we can lower the temp in the bedrooms so the rest of the house gets a chance!

Worth checking to see if the radiators are properly balanced - You should be aiming for a temperature drop of around 12°C between the inlet & return pipes with any TRV set on max.

I picked up a couple of cheap LCD thermometers and clipped a sensor on to each radiator pipe. After tweaking the lockshield on every radiator, my house now gets up to a comfortable temperature in a reasonable time. Before hand, bedrooms were always cold.... (also been doing a bunch of other work which has contributed to warmth).

I still have to redo mine as the outside (oil) boiler was moved earlier in the year so that work could be completed on the exterior of the property and I'm still waiting on the company to resettle it back in place again. It's still on its extension pipe at present, and when it was turned on for it's service a few weeks ago, nearly every radiator was out of wack and running cold.

I did give them a bit of a bleed to get some of the air out, but I'm thinking that there isn't really much point in messing about with them too much until the boiler is moved back as more air will probably be introduced again, at a guess? 

Mister_G

I use one of these (or similar) for balancing radiators. No need to fix anything to the radiator.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374167658623?hash=item571e21607f:g:fz4AAOSw5lFixn~g&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAoN2pW8nGNDCIFA5OXXcqCzEoCPjQ0f63VLOsdofZLRlkohmQfPZ12e1FVLLaB7T9f5Fj/7heVEAwmTDeOACtnCl2wsxe2ulUJ8VHFyfSUnIvCMmGffMr1rITs7UbeXub9Yk63fvAm3UL0i+QRfgz9CRrs5fcE6Sc0syS8/93cQLi2u7FcWH5gjIfVmOMuCh6gFWdV5Y71W8OGBE7b8pckaE=|tkp:Bk9SR5j63oLhYA

 I've checked it with a thermocouple contact thermometer and it's within 1 degree C.

tux900

Mister_G said:

I use one of these (or similar) for balancing radiators. No need to fix anything to the radiator.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374167658623?hash=item571e21607f:g:fz4AAOSw5lFixn~g&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAoN2pW8nGNDCIFA5OXXcqCzEoCPjQ0f63VLOsdofZLRlkohmQfPZ12e1FVLLaB7T9f5Fj/7heVEAwmTDeOACtnCl2wsxe2ulUJ8VHFyfSUnIvCMmGffMr1rITs7UbeXub9Yk63fvAm3UL0i+QRfgz9CRrs5fcE6Sc0syS8/93cQLi2u7FcWH5gjIfVmOMuCh6gFWdV5Y71W8OGBE7b8pckaE=|tkp:Bk9SR5j63oLhYA

 I've checked it with a thermocouple contact thermometer and it's within 1 degree C.

For best results with an IR thermometer put some black insulation tape on the surface you're measuring as this will match the 0.95 emissivity value the device will be set at. Pointing it at a shiny metal surface will otherwise produce very inaccurate results. Also important to hold them close to the pipe as they 'see' a cone-shaped view hence the further you are away the more the temperature of the surroundings affect the reading. Handy tools to have when used properly though, particularly given the instantaneous readings they give unlike a conduction-based contact thermometer. 

Mister_G

tux900 said:

Mister_G said:

I use one of these (or similar) for balancing radiators. No need to fix anything to the radiator.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374167658623?hash=item571e21607f:g:fz4AAOSw5lFixn~g&amdata=enc:AQAHAAAAoN2pW8nGNDCIFA5OXXcqCzEoCPjQ0f63VLOsdofZLRlkohmQfPZ12e1FVLLaB7T9f5Fj/7heVEAwmTDeOACtnCl2wsxe2ulUJ8VHFyfSUnIvCMmGffMr1rITs7UbeXub9Yk63fvAm3UL0i+QRfgz9CRrs5fcE6Sc0syS8/93cQLi2u7FcWH5gjIfVmOMuCh6gFWdV5Y71W8OGBE7b8pckaE=|tkp:Bk9SR5j63oLhYA

 I've checked it with a thermocouple contact thermometer and it's within 1 degree C.

For best results with an IR thermometer put some black insulation tape on the surface you're measuring as this will match the 0.95 emissivity value the device will be set at. Pointing it at a shiny metal surface will otherwise produce very inaccurate results. Also important to hold them close to the pipe as they 'see' a cone-shaped view hence the further you are away the more the temperature of the surroundings affect the reading. Handy tools to have when used properly though, particularly given the instantaneous readings they give unlike a conduction-based contact thermometer. 

Indeed, totally agree.