Gas boiler No thermostat or timer

glennevis

jaydee121 said:

Thank you everyone who has replied.  I now think there never were any timers or thermostat installed with the new boiler in 2014.  I should have said this is a rental property. I just contacted the previous tenant who says they had no control other than switching the boiler itself to winter (radiators) or summer (no radiators).  I am a student and my girlfriend has lowish paying job. Last landlord gave us notice because he’s selling the flat.  Applied for dozens of flats and always too late or no students accepted. Then got lucky and were first to apply for our current flat so instantly took it.  We are frightened of asking our landlord to spend money on anything as he may think we are troublesome tenants and decide to give us notice - which of course he can legally do after 6 months for no reason at all. The under counter freezer in the flat stopped working after 2 weeks and he begrudgingly replaced it with a second hand one delivered by a rather intimidating Bloke who said this freezer was a gift from the landlord who wouldn’t repair or replace it in future.  The toilet rocked as not fixed to floor properly and landlord fixed with silicone but it still rocks….. . Whilst trying to find out about the boiler I looked up the EPC for the flat… there isn’t one as it expired 2 years ago. And no Electrical safety report either. Clearly our landlord is not a good guy but with 50 applicants to every advertised flat, we don’t want to upset him any more.  I’ll just have to buy a Wi-Fi timer thermostat myself and fit. I’ll also have a go at the tvr myself by watching the YouTube.  Thanks everybody 

The really money saving answer is to fit a good old fashioned mechanical thermostat. Cost from around £10-15 and readily available on that well known auction site. Googling the boiler model will tell you the correct part number.

ThisIsWeird

glennevis said:

jaydee121 said:

Thank you everyone who has replied.  I now think there never were any timers or thermostat installed with the new boiler in 2014.  I should have said this is a rental property. I just contacted the previous tenant who says they had no control other than switching the boiler itself to winter (radiators) or summer (no radiators).  I am a student and my girlfriend has lowish paying job. Last landlord gave us notice because he’s selling the flat.  Applied for dozens of flats and always too late or no students accepted. Then got lucky and were first to apply for our current flat so instantly took it.  We are frightened of asking our landlord to spend money on anything as he may think we are troublesome tenants and decide to give us notice - which of course he can legally do after 6 months for no reason at all. The under counter freezer in the flat stopped working after 2 weeks and he begrudgingly replaced it with a second hand one delivered by a rather intimidating Bloke who said this freezer was a gift from the landlord who wouldn’t repair or replace it in future.  The toilet rocked as not fixed to floor properly and landlord fixed with silicone but it still rocks….. . Whilst trying to find out about the boiler I looked up the EPC for the flat… there isn’t one as it expired 2 years ago. And no Electrical safety report either. Clearly our landlord is not a good guy but with 50 applicants to every advertised flat, we don’t want to upset him any more.  I’ll just have to buy a Wi-Fi timer thermostat myself and fit. I’ll also have a go at the tvr myself by watching the YouTube.  Thanks everybody 

The really money saving answer is to fit a good old fashioned mechanical thermostat. Cost from around £10-15 and readily available on that well known auction site. Googling the boiler model will tell you the correct part number.

Indeed.
But, to wire even a basic electro-mechanical room stat will be as 'complex' as fitting a more controllable device. And, if the boiler is in a room which doesn't relate, temperature-wise to 'living' areas, then having the stat in there will be less effective. To then run a physical cable to the living area would likely be even more complex, and cosmetically disruptive.
That's why I asked what room the boiler is in.
It's a tricky situation. Normally you'd ask your honourable LL to sort this glaring ommision, but the OP seemingly cannot. So they'll undoubtedly suffer from higher gas bills than they need to.
I'm not going to suggest that the OP does this job off their own bat, but if they were to do so - and seemingly have little option - then a wireless setup - so the receiver sits neatly positioned close to the boiler, and no running cables, would, I think, be less likely to rile the LL. 
Agree with eBay, and also FB Marketplace - keep an eye out for Prog Stats, even wireless ones. I replaced a friend's Honeywell manual digistat with their ProgStat equivalent recently, and found a brand new and unused one for £30 on FB - and the guy even dropped it off at my door. 
Horrible situation for the OP. They should begin a list of this LL's shortcomings, for any unpleasant eventuality.

molerat

I can't believe that it conforms to any sort of regulations to fit a boiler with only an on / off switch. Granddaughter's LL had a new boiler fitted a couple of weeks ago and there are only the TRVs and an on off switch on the boiler.  The previous boiler at least had a steam driven timer on the front.  I am going to suggest she bugs him for a smart controller.

Albermarle

Not sure it will sound right to the experts on here, but I have always managed OK with a programmable timer and TRV's, but no room thermostat ( or one turned up to highest setting) .
My logic has been that if the stat is in the living room ( usually the warmest room) or hallway ( Large and with big temp variations), then it would switch on and off regardless of the temperature in other rooms where people might be. So I rely on regular adjustments of TRV's and switching the heating on and off at appropriate times. The boiler is relatively new and will cycle down to about 4KW and the pump senses pressure in the system and as TRV's shut down it reduces the flow speed. One radiator TRV is always on full in the kitchen which is on the colder side of the house.

molerat

Albermarle said:

Not sure it will sound right to the experts on here, but I have always managed OK with a programmable timer and TRV's, but no room thermostat ( or one turned up to highest setting) .

But you do have some sort of automated control over when the boiler runs, not simply the winter / summer / off switch on the front which as far as the heating is concerned is manually switched on or off.

Albermarle

molerat said:

Albermarle said:

Not sure it will sound right to the experts on here, but I have always managed OK with a programmable timer and TRV's, but no room thermostat ( or one turned up to highest setting) .

But you do have some sort of automated control over when the boiler runs, not simply the winter / summer / off switch on the front which as far as the heating is concerned is manually switched on or off.

Yes a timer or something similar is a must.

molerat

Albermarle said:

molerat said:

Albermarle said:

Not sure it will sound right to the experts on here, but I have always managed OK with a programmable timer and TRV's, but no room thermostat ( or one turned up to highest setting) .

But you do have some sort of automated control over when the boiler runs, not simply the winter / summer / off switch on the front which as far as the heating is concerned is manually switched on or off.

Yes a timer or something similar is a must.

But seemingly not mandated.

ThisIsWeird

Pretty sure Building Regs do mandate a boiler 'interlock' - a device which will shut the boiler burner off when demand is met. Eg, a room stat.

FreeBear

molerat said:

Albermarle said:

molerat said:

Albermarle said:

Not sure it will sound right to the experts on here, but I have always managed OK with a programmable timer and TRV's, but no room thermostat ( or one turned up to highest setting) .

But you do have some sort of automated control over when the boiler runs, not simply the winter / summer / off switch on the front which as far as the heating is concerned is manually switched on or off.

Yes a timer or something similar is a must.

But seemingly not mandated.

Part L, section 6.2 - A comb boiler should have one of the following fitted -

a. Flue gas heat recovery.
b. Weather compensation.
c. Load compensation.

d. Smart thermostat with automation and optimisation.

System and heat only boilers require an interlock that turns the boiler off when the temperature is reached (i.e. a thermostat).

There are also other ancillary guidance & rules issued by government that require TRVs to be fitted to most radiators along with a programmable thermostat.

But these rules only apply to new boilers being fitted now, not back in 2014. Even so, the cost of even the most basic thermostat/timer is minimal, and there isn't really an excuse not to have one fitted. In a rental property, it will add a few points to an EPC which might be enough to lift it in to the next band.