Central heating

[wendy]

I wrote a long post and it disappeared so I need to be quick or will get timed out again


I just want every rad to be warm. All have thermostatic valves.

Bedroom 1 needs to be up high now but last year was kicking out heat even when valve on star. Not anymore.
Bedroom 2 the same.
Bathroom okey dokey.
Landing. Cold or melting us.
Dining room. Cold or melting us.
Sitting room. Depends what mood its in.

Just want warm :biggrin5: everywhere. Is that not reasonable?
I can't use the timer. I'd need a uni degree :mad2:
So I turn it on and off from the boiler. That OK?

 

[wendy]

:thinking: also with some rads (never really know which one t'will be) it can be cold on 2 then you turn it to 3 and it gets all lary and scares me, it comes whooshing through the pipes and you can feel the pressure in the valve. Is that normal?
Ta muchly :bow:

 

[jtsplumbing]

I think as you don't seem to fully understand how your system works, you need to call someone in just to check it over and explain how it works, if programmer is to complicated to understand, ask about replacing it with a more basic unit, could be a simple swap.

 

[Best]

Hi Wendy. As above, - it would be better you get the whole system checked and explained to you.
Just set your valves to the required temperature for each area and leave them. The thermostatic radiator valves work the radiator full on or full off. That is them working correctly. The rad will feel very hot while the thermostatic valve is letting hot water through the rad, but will feel luke warm while the thermostatic valve has shut down when the room is up to heat. Some thermostatic valves can be seized open or closed though, especially if old.

 

[wendy]

Awwww this is bad news guys :sad: it was serviced a few months ago and given the all okey dokey then Mr AA boiler insurance man came last month to do his checks and was happy. I'm in rented property and I hate to be a nuisance. Its most likely that I am just too stupid to understand it :sad:
Plus I saw my landlady yesterday in the pet shop and her boiler has just gone up the swanny in her own house. She asked about mine and I said "yeah great, no probs" now I'm gonna look silly :uhoh2:
Pretty please just a few different tips so I can sort it.
Wonder why its working so different from last year?
Also will I do damage if I keep turning on/off from boiler instead of the timer?

 

[wendy]

OK :smilewinkgrin: I will set them all on 2 and then just leave them alone. Or maybe 3.
I do have a tendency to mess about with them. The poor things probably don't know whether they are coming or going.
I will try this. But only at night when its cold. I can't afford to have it on all day! Well I could, but I begrudge paying the bill :sad: ok thanks peeps.

 

[wendy]

One more thing :confused5: sorry.

If I do set them all to 2 or 3 then some of them have this big pressure build up which shoots out when turned up to 5 or 6.
Is it ok to leave them on 2 or 3 with all that pressure.
Pressure gauge is currently on less than1 and drops to near 0 when turned on! Eh? :confused5: that doesn't sound a lot so where is all the pressure coming from? Showing in the red not green.
Oh dear oh lord. I will have to ring them :sad:

 

[wendy]

I'm all sorted :smilewinkgrin: I phoned the plumber directly and used my charm.
He said the same as you about the rad valves and obviously the feel of the rad will change depending on the heat of the room. I was focusing more on the rad and not the room temp.
He said the pressure needs topping up a bit and he will sort that no worries.
Just glad I don't have to go through the agency or landlady. She has enough on her plate.
All sorted and will be toasty warm now.
Thank you. Sorry I went on. I get in a tizz

 

[Best]

Wendy you normally find the thermostatic rad valves need set for living rooms at about number 4 setting and that will give you a room temperature of approx 21 degrees or more if heating system okay. For bedrooms number 3 or less.
Your service man could have advised you about pressure in the system. It needs topped up occasionally and is normally 1bar cold which will rise a bit while the heating is going.

 

[wendy]

Thank you so much. Yes I think I was being tight and having them too low.
He will show me the pressure tonight. I will watch him this time when he shows me :28: he showed me last time but I thought yeah yeah it'll be fine.
I will pay him :biggrin5: thankfully he lives down the road.
Bills for gas are so eye watering though so I was trying to keep them low and then freezing and turning everything up and melting. I have a hot water bottle for bedtime and turn it all off but will just leave it on all the time soon I think.

 

[Best]

To save money on your heating, try to avoid switching it on & off.
It is the first hour that the boiler fires at its longest overall period. After that each hour the boiler hardly fires much & in diminishing amounts.
In other words, turn heating on once or maximum twice a day & for the period you need heat.
Keep the boiler reasonably high on its stat, but if you have any wall stats, - turn them to a comfortable temperature.
Insulation in the property is also critical

 

[wendy]

To save money on your heating, try to avoid switching it on & off.
It is the first hour that the boiler fires at its longest overall period. After that each hour the boiler hardly fires much & in diminishing amounts.
In other words, turn heating on once or maximum twice a day & for the period you need heat.
Keep the boiler reasonably high on its stat, but if you have any wall stats, - turn them to a comfortable temperature.
Insulation in the property is also critical

Oooh I'm glad you said that coz I had just turned down the stat on the actual boiler from 5 to 4! Now I've turned it back to 5 :smile5: I think it was another attempt at being tight coz I was turning the valves up now.
Its a great house, but a big one for 2 beds, she spent a bomb on it after her parents died to get it up to scratch for renting and its a good heating system and it is all insulated. I just get cold :smiley2:
I think I'm just going to leave it all on now. It is nippy now even with a bit of sunshine and always washing to dry.
I can pay the bill easy enough so no major worries. Just don't enjoy handing it over to the robdog gas people.
Fatcats :30:

Here you go best I found some flowers for helping me :flowers: thank you

 

[rpm]

I do have a tendency to mess about with them. The poor things probably don't know whether they are coming or going.

Or Been and on the way back ! lol

 

[Sparkgap]

Oooh I'm glad you said that coz I had just turned down the stat on the actual boiler from 5 to 4! Now I've turned it back to 5 :smile5: I think it was another attempt at being tight coz I was turning the valves up now.
Its a great house, but a big one for 2 beds, she spent a bomb on it after her parents died to get it up to scratch for renting and its a good heating system and it is all insulated. I just get cold :smiley2:
I think I'm just going to leave it all on now. It is nippy now even with a bit of sunshine and always washing to dry.
I can pay the bill easy enough so no major worries. Just don't enjoy handing it over to the robdog gas people.
Fatcats :30:

Here you go best I found some flowers for helping me :flowers: thank you

Just a thought, have you got a bypass valve on the system? if not and you've a load of TRVs and they shut down, the pump would be trying to shove it all through the remaining rads and as the TRV opens it could get noisy.
As for boiler temp, I think my combi is set at about 60C at the moment as I don't need full heat as it's pretty mild. Means it runs in condensing mode a bit longer and is more efficient. (I also keep my room stat at about 14.5C as I don't tend to feel the cold, that's what living on the edge of the ***brian fells for several years does to you!)

 

[wendy]

Just a thought, have you got a bypass valve on the system? if not and you've a load of TRVs and they shut down, the pump would be trying to shove it all through the remaining rads and as the TRV opens it could get noisy.
As for boiler temp, I think my combi is set at about 60C at the moment as I don't need full heat as it's pretty mild. Means it runs in condensing mode a bit longer and is more efficient. (I also keep my room stat at about 14.5C as I don't tend to feel the cold, that's what living on the edge of the ***brian fells for several years does to you!)

All seems to be working rather well now I've stopped messing about with it
I have finally got it into my head that its the room temp I need to concentrate on and not the feel of the rad :20:
***brian fells? :smile5: sounds good.
I used to be tough as old boots when I was working with horses in all weathers. I'm a bit of a wimp now. I like my comfort.
Mind you I'm back with the horses after October so I will harden up again.

 

[Sparkgap]

All seems to be working rather well now I've stopped messing about with it
I have finally got it into my head that its the room temp I need to concentrate on and not the feel of the rad :20:
***brian fells? :smile5: sounds good.
I used to be tough as old boots when I was working with horses in all weathers. I'm a bit of a wimp now. I like my comfort.
Mind you I'm back with the horses after October so I will harden up again.

The number of times I've been called out to schools because 'the heating's not working' and it turns out it's either gone off on temperature or compensated down. Teacher puts hand on rad, it is cold therefore they are cold! :confused5: Best one I had was a school where the teacher complained the heating in her classroom never got above 60F until late afternoon. Turned up with my trusty digital thermometer, first classroom I walked in 85F! next class 85F! Went into her classroom 85F! Turns out she had one of those cheap 'present from Clacton' thermometers on her desk and the bulb had dropped 1/4". Pushed it up and stuck it in place with a bit of tape and never heard another problem from that school!

When I used to go down from ***bria to visit the folks in Wiltshire it was at least 5C warmer down south and I'd be walking around in shirt sleeves while they were moaning about how cold it was :lol:

 

[wendy]

The number of times I've been called out to schools because 'the heating's not working' and it turns out it's either gone off on temperature or compensated down. Teacher puts hand on rad, it is cold therefore they are cold! :confused5: Best one I had was a school where the teacher complained the heating in her classroom never got above 60F until late afternoon. Turned up with my trusty digital thermometer, first classroom I walked in 85F! next class 85F! Went into her classroom 85F! Turns out she had one of those cheap 'present from Clacton' thermometers on her desk and the bulb had dropped 1/4". Pushed it up and stuck it in place with a bit of tape and never heard another problem from that school!

When I used to go down from ***bria to visit the folks in Wiltshire it was at least 5C warmer down south and I'd be walking around in shirt sleeves while they were moaning about how cold it was :lol:

I was too hot earlier. Now I'm cold :biggrin5:
When I'm busy I'm melting :willy_nilly: when I stop I'm like an ice cube.
Stupid weather :uhoh2:

 

[wendy]

The number of times I've been called out to schools because 'the heating's not working' and it turns out it's either gone off on temperature or compensated down. Teacher puts hand on rad, it is cold therefore they are cold! :confused5: Best one I had was a school where the teacher complained the heating in her classroom never got above 60F until late afternoon. Turned up with my trusty digital thermometer, first classroom I walked in 85F! next class 85F! Went into her classroom 85F! Turns out she had one of those cheap 'present from Clacton' thermometers on her desk and the bulb had dropped 1/4". Pushed it up and stuck it in place with a bit of tape and never heard another problem from that school!

When I used to go down from ***bria to visit the folks in Wiltshire it was at least 5C warmer down south and I'd be walking around in shirt sleeves while they were moaning about how cold it was :lol:

Your post got me thinking. Isn't it remarkable how so called intelligent people like moi and the teachers you mentioned earlier can turn into complete twits with no common sense whatsoever when it comes to heating :biggrin5:
I do feel a complete doughnut now :thinking:
I love all the little emoticons on here lol they make me chuckle. You can shoot people and everything :59: how cool is that? Oh hold on though :bobby: maybe not.