Heat one room only, using gas combi boiler. Wasteful?

BUFF

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Astria said:

Another thing you need to remember is that rooms are typically very poorly insulated, but your property is typically very well insulated, so having one warm room and all the other rooms unheated, that room will lose heat very quickly. The higher the temperature of the other rooms, the less heat you'll lose in your heated room.

If your room is small and you radiators are old, they might only be outputting 500W.

Remember to think about condensation - the lower the temperature of a room, the less amount of water can be contained in that air, so you need to manage the humidity in that room to ensure condensation doesn't cocur.

I may well move to the kitchen for daytime life  from December as it has a solid floor and in the summer is the coolest room in the house therefore the best insulated

Mmm, it could be the coolest in summer because of that solid floor & therefore also coolest in winter ...?

Astria

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Today I’m trying the low level heat in each room and will look after 24 hours, suspect it will increase my gas use a lot even if the place is more pleasant to be in the lack of insulation to external walls means it will always leach heat out unless I refit the whole house, not something I can contemplate right now hence my one cosy room idea!

To be honest, that's the best way of finding out whats the best/cheapest way - every property is different so there's lots of theory about what "should" be best, but the only way of proving the best is to see how much gas you use in similar scenarios. Try both multiple times and average out the results. Always go for at least 12 - 24 hours as an hour means nothing and for comparison always try and ensure similar outside environment (same temperature, rain, wind).

[Deleted User]

Just a note of caution. Shutting off radiators is all well and good but water under pressure has to have a path back to the boiler. Best advice is to leave at least one radiator fully open or to have/fit an automatic bypass valve (ABV) to the pump. ABVs come in many forms from a variety of manufacturers but, once set up, they all do the following:

 Description of Honeywell Home Straight Automatic Bypass Valve DU144

The DU144 straight automatic bypass valve controls the water flow in the heating circuit, to maintain a minimum flow rate while the boiler is fired. The boiler return temperature is raised and this reduces the corrosion caused by flue gas condensation. In addition, when radiator valves are closed it also maintains flow over the temperature sensor on the boiler to ensure proper operation of external temperature compensating controls. On gas fired water heaters it guarantees a minimum flow circulation when thermostats or radiator valves are closed.

Yorkshire_Pud

BUFF said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Astria said:

Another thing you need to remember is that rooms are typically very poorly insulated, but your property is typically very well insulated, so having one warm room and all the other rooms unheated, that room will lose heat very quickly. The higher the temperature of the other rooms, the less heat you'll lose in your heated room.

If your room is small and you radiators are old, they might only be outputting 500W.

Remember to think about condensation - the lower the temperature of a room, the less amount of water can be contained in that air, so you need to manage the humidity in that room to ensure condensation doesn't cocur.

I may well move to the kitchen for daytime life  from December as it has a solid floor and in the summer is the coolest room in the house therefore the best insulated

Mmm, it could be the coolest in summer because of that solid floor & therefore also coolest in winter ...?

Fair comment but I’ve done the living in the kitchen thing in the past and it was always easiest to keep up to temperature in the Winter months  just prefer to be in my sitting room but not at ‘any cost’. Maybe just Saturday nights! And Christmas Day.

Yorkshire_Pud

Astria said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Today I’m trying the low level heat in each room and will look after 24 hours, suspect it will increase my gas use a lot even if the place is more pleasant to be in the lack of insulation to external walls means it will always leach heat out unless I refit the whole house, not something I can contemplate right now hence my one cosy room idea!

To be honest, that's the best way of finding out whats the best/cheapest way - every property is different so there's lots of theory about what "should" be best, but the only way of proving the best is to see how much gas you use in similar scenarios. Try both multiple times and average out the results. Always go for at least 12 - 24 hours as an hour means nothing and for comparison always try and ensure similar outside environment (same temperature, rain, wind).

And the results are in, last 24 hours CH with all radiators on a little except one turned up to comfort level in sitting room, cost £3.92.
My usual Sitting Room to comfort level and hardly any or rads off in other rooms £1.24 a day.

Will stick with my heat one room regime for now and spend more time in the kitchen which is easier to heat when it really turns cold.

I’ve always lived frugally but now it’s imperative.

Still a work in progress I don’t claim all the answers but I know this house very well and I’m canny.

I will do another 24 hour trial with my one room heat regime as it’s colder now than my average since October but it won’t be £3.92 I doubt!

Yorkshire_Pud

Dolor said:

Just a note of caution. Shutting off radiators is all well and good but water under pressure has to have a path back to the boiler. Best advice is to leave at least one radiator fully open or to have/fit an automatic bypass valve (ABV) to the pump. ABVs come in many forms from a variety of manufacturers but, once set up, they all do the following:

 Description of Honeywell Home Straight Automatic Bypass Valve DU144

The DU144 straight automatic bypass valve controls the water flow in the heating circuit, to maintain a minimum flow rate while the boiler is fired. The boiler return temperature is raised and this reduces the corrosion caused by flue gas condensation. In addition, when radiator valves are closed it also maintains flow over the temperature sensor on the boiler to ensure proper operation of external temperature compensating controls. On gas fired water heaters it guarantees a minimum flow circulation when thermostats or radiator valves are closed.

Yes thanks I recall a plumber fitting a thermostat to one radiator without one about 25 years ago telling me I should always have one radiator open when running the heating and although I could shut them all down I never have for the reasons cited and because I wouldn’t need the heating on if the radiators were all turned off. Hopefully the radiator turned up in the sitting room covers this situation.

[Deleted User]

Hopefully the radiator turned up in the sitting room covers this situation.

If it is a radiator rather than an ABV, then the open radiator is usually the closest radiator to the pump on its own flow/return circuit. Often systems also had a gated valve on a pipe that looped around the pump. 

This link offers a boiler manufacturer’s view on the need to maintain a flow through a boiler:

https://www.ferroli.co.uk/news/automatic-bypass-valves-essential-healthcare-for-boilers/

Yorkshire_Pud

Dolor said:

Hopefully the radiator turned up in the sitting room covers this situation.

If it is a radiator rather than an ABV, then the open radiator is usually the closest radiator to the pump on its own flow/return circuit. Often systems also had a gated valve on a pipe that looped around the pump. 

This link offers a boiler manufacturer’s view on the need to maintain a flow through a boiler:

https://www.ferroli.co.uk/news/automatic-bypass-valves-essential-healthcare-for-boilers/

New combi boiler installed 2018 to existing heating system. I’d hope the installer would have fitted an ABV at that time if it’s an essential safety and operational requirement. Will ask plumber about it when boiler serviced. 

I’d also like to believe that in the event of a problem with flow the boiler would switch off the operation of the heating circuit but I don’t know as I just use the system like most folks do!

Yorkshire_Pud

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Astria said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Today I’m trying the low level heat in each room and will look after 24 hours, suspect it will increase my gas use a lot even if the place is more pleasant to be in the lack of insulation to external walls means it will always leach heat out unless I refit the whole house, not something I can contemplate right now hence my one cosy room idea!

To be honest, that's the best way of finding out whats the best/cheapest way - every property is different so there's lots of theory about what "should" be best, but the only way of proving the best is to see how much gas you use in similar scenarios. Try both multiple times and average out the results. Always go for at least 12 - 24 hours as an hour means nothing and for comparison always try and ensure similar outside environment (same temperature, rain, wind).

And the results are in, last 24 hours CH with all radiators on a little except one turned up to comfort level in sitting room, cost £3.92.
My usual Sitting Room to comfort level and hardly any or rads off in other rooms £1.24 a day.

Will stick with my heat one room regime for now and spend more time in the kitchen which is easier to heat when it really turns cold.

I’ve always lived frugally but now it’s imperative.

Still a work in progress I don’t claim all the answers but I know this house very well and I’m canny.

I will do another 24 hour trial with my one room heat regime as it’s colder now than my average since October but it won’t be £3.92 I doubt!

Done the next 24 hour period heating one room and a little in hallway and kitchen.
£2.73.

Obviously the mild weather average for October to 20th November of £1.24 was because it wasn’t that cold!

£3.92 previous 24 hours with all 8 rads on a little and one room turned up to comfort level, that is good for boiler health by not having to cycle and better for the building fabric, cost +£1.19 a day for the privilege but objectively it did make the whole house feel more comfortable and not such a pronounced jolt leaving a warm sitting room straight into the ice age which is crap when you own a house and can’t use parts of it unless you freeze or have to plan things if using other rooms with no spontaneity.

I thought it would be a bigger differential. My only hope to reduce costs is to swap the difficult to heat sitting room for more time in the kitchen until March/April. Done it before, it’s OK.

The ‘extra’ cost to keep all rads on at least a little isn’t that much more for what you get, it’s simply the price of gas is stupidly crushingly high due to the energy ‘market’ and the way it’s been set up and run which we have no real control over.

BUFF

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Astria said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

Today I’m trying the low level heat in each room and will look after 24 hours, suspect it will increase my gas use a lot even if the place is more pleasant to be in the lack of insulation to external walls means it will always leach heat out unless I refit the whole house, not something I can contemplate right now hence my one cosy room idea!

To be honest, that's the best way of finding out whats the best/cheapest way - every property is different so there's lots of theory about what "should" be best, but the only way of proving the best is to see how much gas you use in similar scenarios. Try both multiple times and average out the results. Always go for at least 12 - 24 hours as an hour means nothing and for comparison always try and ensure similar outside environment (same temperature, rain, wind).

And the results are in, last 24 hours CH with all radiators on a little except one turned up to comfort level in sitting room, cost £3.92.
My usual Sitting Room to comfort level and hardly any or rads off in other rooms £1.24 a day.

Will stick with my heat one room regime for now and spend more time in the kitchen which is easier to heat when it really turns cold.

I’ve always lived frugally but now it’s imperative.

Still a work in progress I don’t claim all the answers but I know this house very well and I’m canny.

I will do another 24 hour trial with my one room heat regime as it’s colder now than my average since October but it won’t be £3.92 I doubt!

Done the next 24 hour period heating one room and a little in hallway and kitchen.
£2.73.

Obviously the mild weather average for October to 20th November of £1.24 was because it wasn’t that cold!

£3.92 previous 24 hours with all 8 rads on a little and one room turned up to comfort level, that is good for boiler health by not having to cycle and better for the building fabric, cost +£1.19 a day for the privilege but objectively it did make the whole house feel more comfortable and not such a pronounced jolt leaving a warm sitting room straight into the ice age which is crap when you own a house and can’t use parts of it unless you freeze or have to plan things if using other rooms with no spontaneity.

I thought it would be a bigger differential. My only hope to reduce costs is to swap the difficult to heat sitting room for more time in the kitchen until March/April. Done it before, it’s OK.

The ‘extra’ cost to keep all rads on at least a little isn’t that much more for what you get, it’s simply the price of gas is stupidly crushingly high due to the energy ‘market’ and the way it’s been set up and run which we have no real control over.

Also bear in mind that your £2.73 was in a house that had already been brought up to temperature by the previous 24hrs with all 8 rads on. If you had been doing it from a cold house that hadn't had that previous heatng chances are that the figure would have been higher i.e. the differernce would have been even less..