How to operate GAH Electastream

[GAH owner]

Hello, I have a GAH Electrastream on an economy 7 tariff. I have the user manual but it doesn’t really cover the day to day user controls. On the unit itself it says recommend water set to ON and heating to AUTO, which I have done. I also use a room thermostat to control room temperature.

My question is this: with the water ON and the heating on AUTO, when the heating is in a programmed off period and the room stat calls for heat, should the heat kick in? The pump and valve do not seem to activate. If this is the correct operation, how do you keep a minimum room temperature and/or frost setting? Or should the heating control be set to ON when you’re using a room thermostat?

 

[steadyon]

1. It is working correctly.
2. With the heating control at "AUTO" will only come on if:
2a. The programmer is in an "on" period for central heating AND
2b. The room thermostat is calling for heat.
3. The room thermostat does not override the programmer.
4. If you want to keep a definite temperature at all times, you will need a programmable thermostat.

 

[GAH owner]

1. It is working correctly.
2. With the heating control at "AUTO" will only come on if:
2a. The programmer is in an "on" period for central heating AND
2b. The room thermostat is calling for heat.
3. The room thermostat does not override the programmer.
4. If you want to keep a definite temperature at all times, you will need a programmable thermostat.

thank you for the reply. My room thermostat is programmed to 19 degrees as the ‘on’ temp and 15 degrees as the off/fall back temperature. So to keep 15 degrees as the minimum temperature does that mean the boiler heating needs to be set to ON all the time?

 

[steadyon]

1. Yes it does, although the boiler will only run when the temperature drops below whatever is set on the thermostat.
2. 15 degrees seems a little high for a set back temperature. Provided you are warm when you go to bed, you may find you need no heating at all until the morning. Also, for frost protection, 5 to 8 degrees is sufficient.
3. The Electrastream does not have inbuilt frost protection. You can do as currently and leave it on with the thermostat left low. Alternatively you could have a frost protection thermostat together with a pipe thermostat wired in to force the boiler on when the temperature drops too low (say 5 degrees). The pipe thermostat monitors the temperature of the pipes and turns the boiler off again when they have warmed.

 

[GAH owner]

1. Yes it does, although the boiler will only run when the temperature drops below whatever is set on the thermostat.
2. 15 degrees seems a little high for a set back temperature. Provided you are warm when you go to bed, you may find you need no heating at all until the morning. Also, for frost protection, 5 to 8 degrees is sufficient.
3. The Electrastream does not have inbuilt frost protection. You can do as currently and leave it on with the thermostat left low. Alternatively you could have a frost protection thermostat together with a pipe thermostat wired in to force the boiler on when the temperature drops too low (say 5 degrees). The pipe thermostat monitors the temperature of the pipes and turns the boiler off again when they have warmed.

Thank you for getting back to me again.

 

[Patterson]

Hi, I have just moved in to a flat with this system and it’s very confusing to get the best out of it.

If I turn it to on and leave it to keep a temp, is this more cost effective then using the Auto setting?