Radiator question

ThisIsWeird

jvjack said:

Nice one.  Also thermometers don't always give exact temperature to each other. I have 4 and they are all 0.5 to1 degree below the thermostat one when put side by side.  Just a thought but 18 degrees behind that sofa would suggest in front of sofa temperature is lower. Maybe quite a bit. 
Edit: just to add . Found out my hall radiator can't be turned up or down.  Its a safety feature in case all other radiators are turned off and so allows hot water to flow.

That's unusual, in that they cannot be adjusted. Yes, it's good to have a by-pass in a system to always allow some flow of water, but best if that's a dedicated auto-by-pass that only operates if needed, or else one built into the boiler.

But to have valves that physically cannot be closed off, that's weird.

ThisIsWeird

breaking_free said:

Great stuff all, I'll look at moving the thermostat tomorrow (busy today). Last night I turned the thermostat in the hall up a click and - who would have thought it - the lounge temperature got above 18   So that's one problem sorted. 

Cool - I think you've cracked it.

Moving the 'stat into the sitting room is the best overall solution. That way the most important room will have the best temp control, and also determine the rest of the house.

We can go over this in more detail afterwards, but once you move the 'stat, your sitting room rads should have any TRV heads removed, or positioned on 'max'. The 'stat then does the temp-control job.

Ideally, the hallway rad would then have a TRV fitted, but if that's too much hassle, it should be ok to manually adjust it up or down in order to get a suitable 'hallway' temp, when the sitting room is at its desired temp. I suspect that the hallway rad valves are currently slightly too far open, so if you get the sitting room up to, say, 20oC, the hallway will do the same, which is unnecessary.

Anyway, one step at a time. Chose the new wall-mounting position carefully.

jvjack

Thanks @thisisweird . Having a read on TRV's (thermostatic radiator valves) 
This was posting about my hall radiator with pictures of it. (the bit of mould on was just wiped away) There was another one somewhere , maybe on another forum where i also got advice that it can't be turned up or down as well. 

radiator turn down on heat no trv. — MoneySavingExpert Forum

ThisIsWeird

Yes, they can be turned down - they are normal rad valves.
Could you post clear photos of them both, please?
You most likely will want to turn them down a tweak, so the hallway rad becomes 'smaller' in output, and heats the hallway less. Since you don't have a TRV on it, it will always be 'on' whenever the boiler is running, so you just need it to emit less heat in general.
Post the photos, and we'll guide you.

jvjack

Thanks. Would i need to add a TRV.  (meant to put above pic below other) But is that a TVR? That's on all my other radiators.
breaking_free  I have sofa 1.7 feet in front of radiator blocking about half of radiator . Just put thermometer behind and it's 22 degrees and in front is 19 degrees. No wonder i get up and stand behind sofa every now and then. Going to rearange the sofa. 
 breaking_free says no trv in hall like me but also non trv in living room. My only non trv radiator is in hall. On top of white knob it says Myson Machmate 10 bar. Same on both sides of radiator. They turn but dont do anything.

ThisIsWeird

jvjack said:

Thanks. Would i need to add a TRV.  (meant to put above pic below other) But is that a TVR? That's on all my other radiators.
breaking_free  I have sofa 1.7 feet in front of radiator blocking about half of radiator . Just put thermometer behind and it's 22 degrees and in front is 19 degrees. No wonder i get up and stand behind sofa every now and then. Going to rearange the sofa. 
 breaking_free says no trv in hall like me but also non trv in living room. My only non trv radiator is in hall. On top of white knob it says Myson Machmate 10 bar. Same on both sides of radiator. They turn but dont do anything.

Confused.
Which rad is that first one with the TRV?
And, is that a one-pipe system?
That second pic - is that a hallway rad? And you say it turns but does nothing? And the other end is identical?
Ok, that valve will adjust, but if the white cap is loose and just spins freely, it'll need pulling off first.
Can you confirm which rads you have photographed here, first?

jvjack

Ah. yes the first pic is of what i think is a TRV in my kitchen just to show what is on all the other radiators.
Second pic is the hallway radiator with one pipe. And the knobs on top just spin.
Ah dont want to hijack breaking_free thread. could start it again in another.

ThisIsWeird

jvjack said:

Oops, hadn't realised it was BF's thread.

Yes, the other valve is a TRV. The one above is adjustable by first pulling the cap off firmly upwards.

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said:

jvjack said:

Oops, hadn't realised it was BF's thread.

Yes, the other valve is a TRV. The one above is adjustable by first pulling the cap off firmly upwards.

But do not go fiddling with this valve (lockshield) unless you know what you are doing. Randomly opening/closing this valve will mess up the balance of the system and could cause other radiators to run cold or result in the boiler short cycling.

jvjack

Much appreciated thisisweird  and freebear  I'll leave it as it is for now.
But having said that will have a go at pulling the cap off tomorrow and do nothing else. lol