BOILER TEMPERATURE

Postik

markin said:

Postik said:

oldagetraveller1 said:

"As the many adverts say - turn your boiler down to 60 degrees and save money."

Yes, it will, in theory, but what they fail to add is that doing it is not recommended for non combination boilers.

Why is it not recommended for non combination boilers?  I only ask because I don't have a combi any longer and I recently turned mine down to 60 degrees

hot water at 60c will always call for heat, Some are a little over worried about legionnaires risk if you set the water lower, but 55c will still kill it, It just takes more time.

I'm sure on my boiler the water is set to one temperature (which cannot be changed, probably for the reason you mentioned) but the heating temp can be changed independently.

MACKEM99

BUFF said:

MACKEM99 said:

markin said:

You have to manually whether compensate to keep the warm up time to within an hr, Its what some people have done for years, when really cold adjust it up 5c.

Do you have a condensing boiler? If not its a bit pointless lowering the temp, You also need modern radiators with fins on the back or have the heating on low 24/7 and boost when needed.

Yes its a condensing boiler only 3 years old.  Rads are old but still get very hot engineer who put in the boiler says rads are old but work well.  I will try what you suggest I have a small device which I place in the living room that allows me to set time/temp.  Should I set it to low overnight and then warmer when I need it during daytime?
.

Your rads were almost certainly sized for a higher flow temp., turn down the flow temp & their output drops. If you want to run at lower flow temp for higher efficiency then to get the required output you may need to replace some/all with ones sized for that regime.

Are you in all day or are you up & out & back late afternoon/evening?

In all day.

macman

Postik said:

markin said:

Postik said:

oldagetraveller1 said:

"As the many adverts say - turn your boiler down to 60 degrees and save money."

Yes, it will, in theory, but what they fail to add is that doing it is not recommended for non combination boilers.

Why is it not recommended for non combination boilers?  I only ask because I don't have a combi any longer and I recently turned mine down to 60 degrees

hot water at 60c will always call for heat, Some are a little over worried about legionnaires risk if you set the water lower, but 55c will still kill it, It just takes more time.

I'm sure on my boiler the water is set to one temperature (which cannot be changed, probably for the reason you mentioned) but the heating temp can be changed independently.

There will be a 'stat on the hot water tank: there has to be, or it would just keep calling for heat.

70sbudgie

Postik said:

oldagetraveller1 said:

"As the many adverts say - turn your boiler down to 60 degrees and save money."

Yes, it will, in theory, but what they fail to add is that doing it is not recommended for non combination boilers.

Why is it not recommended for non combination boilers?  I only ask because I don't have a combi any longer and I recently turned mine down to 60 degrees

There is a bit of confusion in the terminology here. It isn't recommended for non-condensing boilers. Condensing boilers can either be combination (hot water on demand and heating) or system boilers which have a hot water tank. 

If you have a modern gas boiler, it is almost certainly condensing. I can't remember when it was, but there was a cut off when all new boilers had to be condensing. Whether they were combi boilers or not.

Scot_39

A bigger effective radiator surface needed  - and any obstructions - to good air circulation - wont help - so make sure not obscured by curtains or 1" from the back of a couch or something.

There were posts suggesting using a radiator fan that will help boost the effective output - at a given temperature.

There are actually fans specifically designed to sit on top or on / in bottom of radiators - brands like speedcomfort - and blow air though the fins etc

But if you have a standard small desktop type fan ?
As in reality any forced air flow - even a small USB fan or desktop fan - in the vacinity should make a difference at minimal cost.

Put it on low - and use it to circulate the warm air away from the radiator - or drive colder air across radiator - to speed up the overall transfer.

There are some posts here referencing - and youtube videos etc. 

Posts like this one - use the search

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6411653/radiator-fans

wild666

MACKEM99 said:

As the many adverts say - turn your boiler down to 60 degrees and save money.

I have done that and its fine in the milder weather.

However, as the weather has been colder recently I have noticed that the boiler spends a lot more time on and takes all morning at least to get the room I use most (and where the temp monitor is) to the required temp 20 degrees.  

Do you clever people have any advice, other than try it, as to whether I should increase the boiler temp slightly, thus getting to the required temp sooner when the boiler will be on "idle"?

Thanks

M99

I turned the heating water temperature down to 38degrees with the thermostat set at 16degrees, the hot water temperature is set at 40 degrees and that suites me. 
The heating water temperature means I can have the heating on for longer at the lower temperature and use no more gas than if the water temp. for the radiators at 60 degrees or above would use in two hours, I have the heating on for 7 hours and it costs me the same as if the radiators water temperature was set at 60 plus degrees for two hours heating.

BUFF

MACKEM99 said:

BUFF said:

MACKEM99 said:

markin said:

You have to manually whether compensate to keep the warm up time to within an hr, Its what some people have done for years, when really cold adjust it up 5c.

Do you have a condensing boiler? If not its a bit pointless lowering the temp, You also need modern radiators with fins on the back or have the heating on low 24/7 and boost when needed.

Yes its a condensing boiler only 3 years old.  Rads are old but still get very hot engineer who put in the boiler says rads are old but work well.  I will try what you suggest I have a small device which I place in the living room that allows me to set time/temp.  Should I set it to low overnight and then warmer when I need it during daytime?
.

Your rads were almost certainly sized for a higher flow temp., turn down the flow temp & their output drops. If you want to run at lower flow temp for higher efficiency then to get the required output you may need to replace some/all with ones sized for that regime.

Are you in all day or are you up & out & back late afternoon/evening?

In all day.

Well, what I do for my house & heating system (& ymmv, every house/system will be different) is "on" low* & slow through the day under control of the room 'stat** so that it maintains a comfortable temp. (albeit what is comfortable for me may not be comfortable for you & I wear layers not t-shirt & shorts ).
This does not mean that the boiler is actually firing all day!

Overnight the vast majority of the time it is off from 10pm & temp allowed to fall (don't need so warm when tucked up in bed) until it comes on again at 6am, if required according to room 'stat, as it does take time to come back up to temp in the morning.
Exception is if it is expected to be 0C or less overnight as some of my pipes run in the solum under the house & I have doubts about just how well insulated they are. Then the heating will be left switched "on" but with a lower temp set than during the day.
Again, if it does fire it will only fire for part of not the whole night.

Does your heating controller allow you to set different temps. for different times?


* typically flow temp is set to 53C
** I also have TRVs on rads with less used rooms set to lower temps

MACKEM99

BUFF said:

MACKEM99 said:

BUFF said:

MACKEM99 said:

markin said:

You have to manually whether compensate to keep the warm up time to within an hr, Its what some people have done for years, when really cold adjust it up 5c.

Do you have a condensing boiler? If not its a bit pointless lowering the temp, You also need modern radiators with fins on the back or have the heating on low 24/7 and boost when needed.

Yes its a condensing boiler only 3 years old.  Rads are old but still get very hot engineer who put in the boiler says rads are old but work well.  I will try what you suggest I have a small device which I place in the living room that allows me to set time/temp.  Should I set it to low overnight and then warmer when I need it during daytime?
.

Your rads were almost certainly sized for a higher flow temp., turn down the flow temp & their output drops. If you want to run at lower flow temp for higher efficiency then to get the required output you may need to replace some/all with ones sized for that regime.

Are you in all day or are you up & out & back late afternoon/evening?

In all day.

Well, what I do for my house & heating system (& ymmv, every house/system will be different) is "on" low* & slow through the day under control of the room 'stat** so that it maintains a comfortable temp. (albeit what is comfortable for me may not be comfortable for you & I wear layers not t-shirt & shorts ).
This does not mean that the boiler is actually firing all day!

Overnight the vast majority of the time it is off from 10pm & temp allowed to fall (don't need so warm when tucked up in bed) until it comes on again at 6am, if required according to room 'stat, as it does take time to come back up to temp in the morning.
Exception is if it is expected to be 0C or less overnight as some of my pipes run in the solum under the house & I have doubts about just how well insulated they are. Then the heating will be left switched "on" but with a lower temp set than during the day.
Again, if it does fire it will only fire for part of not the whole night.

Does your heating controller allow you to set different temps. for different times?


* typically flow temp is set to 53C
** I also have TRVs on rads with less used rooms set to lower temps

Yes I can set it to 3 lots of periods each day.  Currently experimenting with different methods.

vic_sf49

MACKEM99 said:

As the many adverts say - turn your boiler down to 60 degrees and save money.

I have done that and its fine in the milder weather.

However, as the weather has been colder recently I have noticed that the boiler spends a lot more time on and takes all morning at least to get the room I use most (and where the temp monitor is) to the required temp 20 degrees.  

Do you clever people have any advice, other than try it, as to whether I should increase the boiler temp slightly, thus getting to the required temp sooner when the boiler will be on "idle"?

Thanks

M99

I've been running boiler flow temps since late Dec...a bit haphazardly, I might add, as I don't always remember to record things like outside temps (feels like), indoor temps, and not running any hot water (combi boiler), during my heating session.

So far though, I've found a flow temp setting of 3.5* was too low for very cold outdoor temps, as the boiler needed to run an extra hour to get up to temp.

5.0* was maybe too high, and I need to sit and analyse results from the settings inbetween the two, to find the sweet spot. I'm a bit behind on my admin.

No weather compensate on my boiler, and it has a fixed temperature for hot water (from the taps).

So basically a few paragraphs of waffle, to say just give it a try. Every home is different in size, insulation, rads, & heating temperatures and preferences.

* cba getting up to check what flow temperature those settings equate to. Soz.

Zandoni

A lot of people say a boiler temperature of 60 degrees is too low on very cold days so you will definitely need to experiment. It’s nearly always more expensive to keep the heating on through the night, last year I had my thermostat at 20 when on, this year I’ve turned it down to 18.