Vaillant v-smart settings-help!

YouCountthePennies

The Vaillant app is so complicated I have no idea how to use it or read it.

 There are 2 programmes comfort or eco.  Hot water release is enabled in on these.

i know how to set the temperature and a schedule but have no idea how to make up my own programme and get it right.

We have a tank and a Vaillant boiler.  The fitter said it’s smart but I’m sure we’re wasting money.

 The house is 30s so quite cold.

 Can anyone help with settings? 

FreeBear

Assuming this is a gas boiler, you might be better off having this post moves to https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/in-my-home-includes-diy-moneysaving

The v-smart looks like a programmable thermostat. So you can set different temperatures throughout the day/week. Whilst it won't do anything for efficiency, it will save a bit of money when the temperature is dialed back.

I'm in a late 1920s 3 bed semi and had a new boiler installed ~18 months ago. As part of the work, I fitted larger radiators all round as well as improving insulation levels (well worth having 300mm or more of loft insulation). As a result, can now keep the place warm without spending a fortune on gas. With the smart thermostat, night time temperature is set to 17°C and daytime between 18°C and 20°C. Having oversized radiators, I can run at a lower flow temperature which is key to boosting efficiency.

If you are cold with a new boiler, you can do one of three things -

1. Improve insulation levels and plug all the cold draughts - Loft insulation is cheap and has the highest return.
2. Turn up the flow temperature on the boiler - Bad for efficiency, and costs more to run.
3. Replace radiators with bigger ones - Not cheap (£50-100 each plus fitting), but does mean you can get better efficiency out of the boiler.

Also helps to have the radiators balanced properly and the pump speed reduced to suit.

ComicGeek

YouCountthePennies said:

The Vaillant app is so complicated I have no idea how to use it or read it.

 There are 2 programmes comfort or eco.  Hot water release is enabled in on these.

i know how to set the temperature and a schedule but have no idea how to make up my own programme and get it right.

We have a tank and a Vaillant boiler.  The fitter said it’s smart but I’m sure we’re wasting money.

 The house is 30s so quite cold.

 Can anyone help with settings? 

On the phone app, tap schedules in the bottom left corner. Tap the thermometer icon in the bottom right of the next screen. You can then set profiles to use - comfort and eco are the default settings, with only the temperature changed between them. I have set 'Night', 'Evening', 'Morning' and 'Daytime' as additional profiles. The profile only sets the target temperature and whether the hot water cylinder is to be heated in this profile.

Then go back one to the 'At Home' screen - click on the schedule bar near the top and you can then add programme times against the profile. I have:

'Night' profile (with temperature of 14 degrees and hot water release off) from 00:00 - 06:00
'Morning' profile (with temp of 21 degrees and hot water release off) from 06:00 - 08:00 - this gets our house warm by 6.30am when we get up, but your house probably needs longer to heat up
'Daytime' profile (with temp of 20 degrees and hot water release on) from 08:00 - 15:00
'Evening' profile (with temp of 21 degrees and hot water release on) from 15:00 - 22:00
'Night' profile again from 22:00 - 00:00

You can see that I've had to set 5 different profiles to get my preferred combination of temp and hot water operation. There is very little heat lost from a modern cylinder, so no need to heat it only just before needing it.

You can then tap the 3 dots in the right hand corner of the screen and duplicate/copy the schedule.

The app uses local weather data and heating curves/prediction to adjust the boiler flow temperature to the most efficient. I had to play with the heating curve for a few weeks to get it working properly - I found that the default setting was too cold in the depths of winter, and mine is at 1.5 at the moment.

YouCountthePennies

Thank you both.  I realised our hot water release is on permanently by default so going to get that changed asap!

 Thanks for all the other tips.  Much appreciated. 

YouCountthePennies

ComicGeek said:

YouCountthePennies said:

The Vaillant app is so complicated I have no idea how to use it or read it.

 There are 2 programmes comfort or eco.  Hot water release is enabled in on these.

i know how to set the temperature and a schedule but have no idea how to make up my own programme and get it right.

We have a tank and a Vaillant boiler.  The fitter said it’s smart but I’m sure we’re wasting money.

 The house is 30s so quite cold.

 Can anyone help with settings? 

On the phone app, tap schedules in the bottom left corner. Tap the thermometer icon in the bottom right of the next screen. You can then set profiles to use - comfort and eco are the default settings, with only the temperature changed between them. I have set 'Night', 'Evening', 'Morning' and 'Daytime' as additional profiles. The profile only sets the target temperature and whether the hot water cylinder is to be heated in this profile.

Then go back one to the 'At Home' screen - click on the schedule bar near the top and you can then add programme times against the profile. I have:

'Night' profile (with temperature of 14 degrees and hot water release off) from 00:00 - 06:00
'Morning' profile (with temp of 21 degrees and hot water release off) from 06:00 - 08:00 - this gets our house warm by 6.30am when we get up, but your house probably needs longer to heat up
'Daytime' profile (with temp of 20 degrees and hot water release on) from 08:00 - 15:00
'Evening' profile (with temp of 21 degrees and hot water release on) from 15:00 - 22:00
'Night' profile again from 22:00 - 00:00

You can see that I've had to set 5 different profiles to get my preferred combination of temp and hot water operation. There is very little heat lost from a modern cylinder, so no need to heat it only just before needing it.

You can then tap the 3 dots in the right hand corner of the screen and duplicate/copy the schedule.

The app uses local weather data and heating curves/prediction to adjust the boiler flow temperature to the most efficient. I had to play with the heating curve for a few weeks to get it working properly - I found that the default setting was too cold in the depths of winter, and mine is at 1.5 at the moment.

Just one question, if you have hot water release off from 6-8.30 do you still have hot water for a shower if it’s been off overnight as well?

ComicGeek

YouCountthePennies said:

ComicGeek said:

YouCountthePennies said:

The Vaillant app is so complicated I have no idea how to use it or read it.

 There are 2 programmes comfort or eco.  Hot water release is enabled in on these.

i know how to set the temperature and a schedule but have no idea how to make up my own programme and get it right.

We have a tank and a Vaillant boiler.  The fitter said it’s smart but I’m sure we’re wasting money.

 The house is 30s so quite cold.

 Can anyone help with settings? 

On the phone app, tap schedules in the bottom left corner. Tap the thermometer icon in the bottom right of the next screen. You can then set profiles to use - comfort and eco are the default settings, with only the temperature changed between them. I have set 'Night', 'Evening', 'Morning' and 'Daytime' as additional profiles. The profile only sets the target temperature and whether the hot water cylinder is to be heated in this profile.

Then go back one to the 'At Home' screen - click on the schedule bar near the top and you can then add programme times against the profile. I have:

'Night' profile (with temperature of 14 degrees and hot water release off) from 00:00 - 06:00
'Morning' profile (with temp of 21 degrees and hot water release off) from 06:00 - 08:00 - this gets our house warm by 6.30am when we get up, but your house probably needs longer to heat up
'Daytime' profile (with temp of 20 degrees and hot water release on) from 08:00 - 15:00
'Evening' profile (with temp of 21 degrees and hot water release on) from 15:00 - 22:00
'Night' profile again from 22:00 - 00:00

You can see that I've had to set 5 different profiles to get my preferred combination of temp and hot water operation. There is very little heat lost from a modern cylinder, so no need to heat it only just before needing it.

You can then tap the 3 dots in the right hand corner of the screen and duplicate/copy the schedule.

The app uses local weather data and heating curves/prediction to adjust the boiler flow temperature to the most efficient. I had to play with the heating curve for a few weeks to get it working properly - I found that the default setting was too cold in the depths of winter, and mine is at 1.5 at the moment.

Just one question, if you have hot water release off from 6-8.30 do you still have hot water for a shower if it’s been off overnight as well?

Yes, our cylinder gets fully heated up by 10pm the night before - we only have a 180litre cylinder, but that's enough for our 3 showers in the morning. The cylinder then gets heated up again after 8am.

Modern cylinders lose hardly any heat when not being used as they are insulated. 

It will depend on the size of your cylinder, storage temperature and how hot/long you have your showers - but a fully heated up cylinder should last most households for 24 hrs before it needs reheating. But it doesn't really lose heat, so doesn't cost any more topping it up twice a day compared to only heating up fully once. I don't ever want to worry about running out of hot water, so just keep it topped up during the day. 

ComicGeek

YouCountthePennies said:

Thank you both.  I realised our hot water release is on permanently by default so going to get that changed asap!

 Thanks for all the other tips.  Much appreciated. 

That's not necessarily a problem, as won't cost you any more money to run that way. I only turn our hot water heating off at night because I'm a light sleeper and would wake up if the boiler started in the middle of the night. Our cylinder is next to our bedroom, and even the valves opening wakes me up!

Albermarle

es, our cylinder gets fully heated up by 10pm the night before - we only have a 180litre cylinder, but that's enough for our 3 showers in the morning

I do it the other way. Hot water on for 35 mins in the morning before the heating comes on, and then 20 minutes in the afternoon as sometimes somebody has a late shower/bath.

From other threads what is more important is how long the showers are. Some people seem to be in there 20 mins, in which case you will run out of hot water whichever time schedule you use for heating the cylinder.