How to turn on central heating in one room only

Ben1989

TRV's on all radiators - start there. It is now law to have TRV's on all radiators in new builds and when installing a new boiler.

Bendy_House said:

Good point, Theo. Many can be, including the Hive Mini.

It really is nifty, BUT needs the App - and therefore a Hub - for ease of use. 

I have the Hive Mini. It's great. A lot cheaper than the 'old' type as I think Hive realised most people use the app to programme so they stripped the mini thermostat of all that functionality making it cheaper.

[Deleted User]

Bear you power a single radiator with a large boiler, there are a few things to think about.

1.  You will end up with a continually cycling boiler which, overtime, could contribute to premature boiler failure.

2.  Boiler flow water has to have somewhere to go. You must either leave a single radiator fully open or fit an automatic pump bypass valve. 

3.  Water vapour also has to have somewhere to go. It will naturally condense on cold surfaces such walls and windows in unheated rooms.

My advice - feel free to ignore it - maintain a minimum temperature of 13C in unused rooms or you could end up with mould and mildrew.

Bendy_House

I 'think' all the OP wants to do is wake up to a warm sitting room, and presumably for the rest of the time they'll heat the house as required?

Anyhoo, any room that isn't being used/doesn't require heating just needs to be kept ventilated, that's all. Ie, crack open the windows to vent setting, turn the TRVs down to 'frost' or 6oC-ish so they'll hardly ever come on, and shut the doors to these rooms so the warm moist air from the house doesn't go on there. That will almost certainly be all you'll need to do. 

All modern boilers also have a built-in by-pass, so that shouldn't be an issue either, tho' the sitting room in question should have the room stat in it, and not a TRV, so it shuts the boiler fully off when warm enough.

abbas5001

Hi everyone,

Firstly, I am sorry for not replying sooner, unfortunately I’ve been dealing with a family emergency. 

Secondly, quite humbled by all the responses (and a bit overwhelmed!) thank you so much all for responding. 

I think we have just become used to our way so didn’t realise we had such a less than basic system! To clarify we have a Vokera Linea HE combo boiler. We had it fitted brand new although it was many years ago now (about 12 years ago). 

I know it sounds crazy but yes every time we go want to put the heating on we do need to go into the garage, though it’s not as bad as it sounds as our garage has an internal door to the house so it isn’t really bad. 

I have put up a better picture of the control which hopefully assists 

Bendy_House

Hi Abbas.

I hope your family issue is resolved.

That would appear to be a Salus EP101 (thank you, EssexE). If so, I understand it uses a 'standard' backplate, so what you require could be completely DIYable - the Salus lifts off (one or two wee screws), and the replacement WiFi receiver clips on. Then you have a Smart Programmable 'Stat in your house.

The addition of a Smart TRV on the living room rad will give you good control over that room too.

Cost? I can only speak of Hive as that's the one I'm familiar with (and like); ~£100 for a Hive Mini, Receiver, and Hub. ~£40 for a Hive TRV.

This will give you full control over your house's heating, tho' bear in mind that individual rooms would need to be adjusted separately via their manual TRVs. It will allow you to set individual heating schedules for each day - what temp you want, and at what time. It'll allow you to override these temps at any time, so you can turn your heating off when you leave home, and 'App' it to go on a half-hour before you get back, that sort of thing.

And it'll allow you to set an individual temp for the sitting room with the Smart TRV. This can work in two ways - just make the TRV control the rad temp, in which case the CH has to be already running for the house, or it can set the living room rad temp AND turn on the boiler, in which the rest of the house would come on too (to whatever temps the other TRVs are set to).

That make sense?

What do you think?!

(Any Prog Stat will almost certainly save you energy, as it prevents the heating from running when it's not required - ie when folk are slow or lazy to turn it down or off. For example, we are happy to click the room stat down a degree or two once we're snuggled under a sofa blanket - I just grab my phone. Not sure I'd bother if I had to get off my arris... And if you schedule it to turn the heating off (actually, you'd probably just turn it down to, say, 14oC), for overnight a half-hour before you actually head off to bed, instead of turning it off manually WHEN you go to bed, you'll immediately save a half-hour's heating each day. That sort of stuff).

BUFF

https://salus-controls.com/files/EP101-Manual-001-NCR.pdf
So, programmable for 3 on/off time periods per day (& comes with some pre-programmes) which should solve your initial query of having to get up in the morning in a cold house to put the heating on.

Having said that, I/we would strongly recommend that you fit a room 'stat & at least manual TRVs. The additional efficiency & control will pay for themselves over their lives & with gas at 10p/kWh probably much, much shorter than that. 
& tbh if you are doing that it probably makes good sense to update the programmer too to a Hive/Nest/Tado/Wiser etc. 
B_H likes Hive, my preference is for Tado or Wiser - they all have pros & cons so what suits us may not be the best for you/your system.

N.B. I would point out this current deal if Tado suits your system/needs https://www.screwfix.com/p/tado-v3-black-edition-wireless-heating-hot-water-smart-thermostat-starter-kit/701kg . I suspect it won't be around for long as it looks to me as if the black thermostat hasn't proved popular & Tado/Screwfix are clearing stock.

Bendy_House

The Tado and Wiser both look very good. I only comment on the Hive as it's the only one I have experience of.

abbas5001

Thanks guys, think I I am understand this a bit better now, I’m looking into the different pros and cons of Hive/Nest/Tado etc. 

I currently have manual TRVs on all the radiators in the house and have them set on high/medium/low depending on how much that room gets used..

My main focus is having the heating come on for our living room say an hour before we get up so it’s not freezing. So if I am understanding right I should get Hive/Nest/Tado and replace the manual TRV on the radiators in the living room with a smart TRV and this will allow me to do that? 

Presumably I’d need a professional to fit Hive/Nest etc? Would they work with my boiler as it’s not new?

Also just so I am understanding I could make the Salus control ‘smart’ with the WiFi receiver but how would I use it ‘smart’ - does it have an app as it’s quite old? Presumably This method wouldn’t allow me to do what I’m looking to do which is have the living room heated only?

Sorry for all the questions!

BUFF

abbas5001 said:

My main focus is having the heating come on for our living room say an hour before we get up so it’s not freezing. So if I am understanding right I should get Hive/Nest/Tado and replace the manual TRV on the radiators in the living room with a smart TRV and this will allow me to do that? 

Presumably I’d need a professional to fit Hive/Nest etc? Would they work with my boiler as it’s not new?

Also just so I am understanding I could make the Salus control ‘smart’ with the WiFi receiver but how would I use it ‘smart’ - does it have an app as it’s quite old? Presumably This method wouldn’t allow me to do what I’m looking to do which is have the living room heated only?

Sorry for all the questions!

The Salus is already capable of bringing your system on an hour before you get up but as it stands it will be the whole system until the respective TRVs in rooms hit their set limits & shut those rads off.
If you really want just the 1 room heated at that time then you are going to need smart TRVs on all the others so that you could schedule them to be off for that time - you wouldn't even need to replace the Salus - but that will get expensive at typically ~£50/head.

Hive/Tado/Wiser are all reasonably  DIYable depending upon your level of confidence/skill. You may be able to simply reuse the cable from the Salus to the boiler  but if you can't & need to open the room-sealed part of the boiler to wire back you will need a gas-safe installer.

If you are going to go "Smart" I wouldn't bother with keeping the Salus.

Bendy_House

abbas5001 said:

I currently have manual TRVs on all the radiators in the house and have them set on high/medium/low depending on how much that room gets used..

My main focus is having the heating come on for our living room say an hour before we get up so it’s not freezing. So if I am understanding right I should get Hive/Nest/Tado and replace the manual TRV on the radiators in the living room with a smart TRV and this will allow me to do that? 

Presumably I’d need a professional to fit Hive/Nest etc? Would they work with my boiler as it’s not new?

Last point first - I think your Salus has a 'standard' backplate, so fitting a Hive (I can only speak for Hive...) is a DIYable job - no wires need to be unscrewed, for example. IF it's a standard backplate.

Ok, to get your living room coming on an hour before folk wake up... The simple way is as BUFF says - set your Salus to turn on the boiler one hour before you get up :-) Make sure your LV's TRV is 'on' - say at '3' - before you go to bed, and that the Salus turns off the boiler before you head upstairs of an evening.

Jobbie-jobbed - the boiler comes on one hour before wake up time, the sitting room rad comes on, you get up, and as soon as you no longer need the sitting room warm, you turn its TRV down. Why DON'T you do this already?

If you fit, say, a Hive, then you'll already have FAR better control over your house's heating. You will program it to turn the heating down to, say, 14oC for overnight, 20oC at 6am, 16oC at 8am, 20oC at 5pm, 14oC at 10pm etc etc - whatever you want for a comfy and economical house. And you'll be able to override this at any time, within the home or out via your phone App.

In addition, if you fit a Smart TRV on your living room, you can tell THAT rad to heat THAT room to whatever you want and at whatever time.

BUT, there are two ways to do this! The first is that the LR's Smart TRV just controls the temp in the LR, but has no control over the actual boiler. Ie, the Smart TRV in the LR is just turning the rad on and off like a robot, and the boiler has to be already running for that rad to heat up. The boiler will be following the timings and temps set by the main Hive - come on at this time, and off at youknow. That in turn means that every other rad that's 'open' will ALSO come on. Yes?

The other way is that the Hive is NOT timing the boiler to come on that one hour before wake up, but the SR's Smart TRV CAN do this. So, the SR's TRV opens up AND tells the boiler to come on. That, in turn, will also heat up any other radiator that happens to be on!

In practice, I imagine your boiler IS set to come on an hour before wake up, so that folk have unchilled bedrooms? So, the SR will be no exception.

Again - why aren't you doing this already?! Ie, the boiler goes off for the night, bedroom folk leave their TRVs on, and you also leave the SR TRV on. The boiler comes back on in the morning, and the bedrooms and the SR warm up. You get up, and then either turn the boiler off for the day, or just turn down each rad as required. Lather, rinse, youknowwhat.