Heating Problem

RebekahR

Our heating is kinda broke! It's hit and miss as to whether it does the job of heating the house up. Right now the heating has been on for over 2 hours and it's only risen 1 degree from 19.5 to 20.5. Thermostat set at 21. Some mornings through this cold spell it did the same. Struggled to hit the 21 after many hours of being on. Hubby said it's some wiring issue as the hot water is on at the same time. I'm not convinced as surely it would be the same every day and not just some days. It's weird! Anyone else had this and what was it? *FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS*

FreeBear

Do you need it to be as hot as 21°C, or would you be comfortable at 19°C (with a jumper on) ?

Dropping the temperature by a degree or two will save you a lot on gas, which isn't a bad thing in the current climate.

housebuyer143

I have a similar problem that if my heating is on my water comes on the same time. The hot water doesn't heat up hot and the radiators go warm. Could this be a similar issue your facing?

diystarter7

housebuyer143 said:

I have a similar problem that if my heating is on my water comes on the same time. The hot water doesn't heat up hot and the radiators go warm. Could this be a similar issue your facing?

Hi

Funnily, though are heating and water temps are set at the boiler, the hot water is hotter if we have the heating on.

Thnaks

housebuyer143

diystarter7 said:

housebuyer143 said:

I have a similar problem that if my heating is on my water comes on the same time. The hot water doesn't heat up hot and the radiators go warm. Could this be a similar issue your facing?

Hi

Funnily, though are heating and water temps are set at the boiler, the hot water is hotter if we have the heating on.

Thnaks

Mine is a system boiler and I am sure it's underpowered which is why it can't do both together. Will upsize when I change it.

ThisIsWeird

RebekahR said:

Our heating is kinda broke! It's hit and miss as to whether it does the job of heating the house up. Right now the heating has been on for over 2 hours and it's only risen 1 degree from 19.5 to 20.5. Thermostat set at 21. Some mornings through this cold spell it did the same. Struggled to hit the 21 after many hours of being on. Hubby said it's some wiring issue as the hot water is on at the same time. I'm not convinced as surely it would be the same every day and not just some days. It's weird! Anyone else had this and what was it? *FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS*

There are many, many folk - quite a few on here - who have just discovered how much their 'ok' systems struggle as soon as the outdoor temp drops a few degrees below.

Asking yours to go from 19.5 to 20.5 is a completely different kettle of fish to an 'equivalent' rise from, say, 15 to 16. The higher the temp you are asking of your system, the greater is the difference between your inside temp and the outside, and that's what makes the difference in it trying to raise the temp.

So, in this cold spell, it is no great surprise that many systems are struggling to go up that extra few degrees above, say, 18 (proviso - unless your house is super well insulated). 

And, yes, if the boiler is also trying to heat the hot cylinder, that's going to make it extra heard for the boiler to heat the rads.

In essence, there could well be nothing really 'wrong' with your CH system. To 'sort' it may well require a larger boiler, and that just ain't worth it.

As others have asked, why do you want/need it at 21oC anyway?! That is warm. If you really want that temp, then that's your call, but - wow - you will pay for it in your bills, a lot lot more than getting it up to 20 or even 19oC.

The other issue - that the hot water seems to be coming on at the same time as the CH when I presume you haven't asked it to - is a bit of a concern. To help answer this, we'll need to know:

1) Make and model of boiler

2) The controls you use for the CH and DHW

3) A pic of the hot cylinder cupboard, showing all the pipes and gubbins around it.

Section62

housebuyer143 said:

diystarter7 said:

housebuyer143 said:

I have a similar problem that if my heating is on my water comes on the same time. The hot water doesn't heat up hot and the radiators go warm. Could this be a similar issue your facing?

Hi

Funnily, though are heating and water temps are set at the boiler, the hot water is hotter if we have the heating on.

Thnaks

Mine is a system boiler and I am sure it's underpowered which is why it can't do both together. Will upsize when I change it.

Your problem sounds like a faulty or incorrectly specified/installed mid-position or diverter valve.

There will be an electrical valve either installed inside the boiler cabinet or externally which controls whether the heated water is directed to the central heating system, or to the hot water cylinder. In some cases a mid-position valve can be used to direct heat to both at the same time.

If a boiler isn't as powerful as it could be, it will take longer to heat both the radiators and the hot water together. So some systems are designed to prioritise either the CH or HW and get whichever is the priority to the required temperature before diverting the heat output to the other.

The hot water coming on when only the central heating should be (or vice versa) is a classic symptom of a faulty mid-position or diverter valve - it typically indicates the valve is stuck in a mid-position alowing heat to go into the system which isn't currently wanted.

Another possible fault is if the flow temperature thermostat on the boiler is set too low or is faulty - in which case the boiler could be shutting down too quickly and not giving the output required.

It would be worth getting a heating engineer to check your system over for faults before spending money on a new boiler, as the 'cure' could be a lot cheaper than a boiler replacement.

RebekahR

housebuyer143 said:

I have a similar problem that if my heating is on my water comes on the same time. The hot water doesn't heat up hot and the radiators go warm. Could this be a similar issue your facing?

Yes! Hubby went to Wickes yesterday after fiddling with it and brought some new box thing that needed replacing

miss-tified

Hi guys, for about 8 years I struggled with the issue of only having hot water when the central heating was on. Also, the water got hot but the radiators didn't. Annual British Gas safety checks suggested we needed a "power flush" for the radiators. About two years ago we got our annual check from an proper old skool heating engineer who found a brass tap just underneath the left hand side at the bottom of the pipes underneath the floor level boiler. Turned out that all we needed to do was turn the brass tap/key clockwise all the way and that gave us hot water without heating. Turning it anticlockwise gave us both heating and hot water. No more sweltering rooms in summer. Yay! No power flush needed. No radiator bleeding needed. He also explained the location and function of an almost invisible little dial that adjusted the "flow" of water... apparently needs to be at 'max' in winter to feed the rads, but 'min' in summer for the hot water. Simples! Changed my life!
Wish there were more old skool engineers (vs the newly qualified people who were probably born some years after our old boiler was fitted  
Don't know if that helps, but hope so