M
masopa
Grr… second time at this post after computer wiped the first one!
Right, I’ve just moved into a new house – the house is not new (30y/o) but it is to us, as of last weekend. I’ll be honest and say I know little/nothing about heating as I’ve always treated as a gas system (leave alone) rather than a water system (flood or electrocute yourself)… I am more scared of blowing other people up than the other risks!
The heating system has left me a bit daunted to be honest. I tried to post a picture but as a new user I’m not sure I’m allowed to. The image is saved at “i.*********/” and then “VY6B5Gn.jpg” (edit: pictures now attached in subsequent post) if anyone wants to look at it – if I can post a follow-up message which allows me to insert an image I will do so. What I’ve worked out as an “idiot” end user is the following:
1. 2 boilers (one Netaheat Potterton 16-22 and one Worcester 19/24CBi) which seem to work in parallel
2. 4 boiler controllers – one for each level of the house (3 floors) and one for hot water, so a simple zoned setup
3. No zone/whole house thermostat/temperature controller(s) that I can find anywhere. The only temperature control I’ve found is the frost thermostat in the garage next to the boiler controllers (which appears to be stuck!)
4. Every rad has a TRV (basic 0-5 analogue twist-type) and rad count is as follows: bottom floor 3, middle floor 9, top floor 8. A number of the middle floor and a couple of the top floor rads are double width. Hot water needs standard for two adults and two young kids I guess. 3 showers and 3 baths on top floor, a couple of further WCs (sinks) and kitchen hot water (sink+dishwasher). Washing machine is cold feed only
5. Changing the timings of the zones and water is all I can really do, as well as switch them between off/once/twice/constant. Obviously being able to do each floor independently is good, but switching from winter to summer etc. will be a pain as I have to do it four times (and for each day on each controller!)
The system appears to work, but I have a few questions for the assembled experts on here:
1. Is this a reasonable setup for this sort of house? We are two adults, two young kids with variable times at home/out… a few days a week when someone’s in all day, some days when it’ll be empty between 9am and 5pm, but generally pretty “random”
2. I don’t particular want to spend lots of money on changing something which works but an efficient heating system can save £££s pretty quickly
3. Is a maintenance/care plan a good idea for us, given I won’t be able to do any maintenance myself? Daft question I guess, to which the only answer is “yes!”
4. Is it worth having a local plumber come out and take a look at the system or just have the initial survey/service as part of the new maintenance care plan?
Any advice or thoughts very welcome! Sorry about the lack of pictures – will try to rectify asap. And sorry for the thick questions above... I'll try to listen and learn quickly.
Cheers
Right, I’ve just moved into a new house – the house is not new (30y/o) but it is to us, as of last weekend. I’ll be honest and say I know little/nothing about heating as I’ve always treated as a gas system (leave alone) rather than a water system (flood or electrocute yourself)… I am more scared of blowing other people up than the other risks!
The heating system has left me a bit daunted to be honest. I tried to post a picture but as a new user I’m not sure I’m allowed to. The image is saved at “i.*********/” and then “VY6B5Gn.jpg” (edit: pictures now attached in subsequent post) if anyone wants to look at it – if I can post a follow-up message which allows me to insert an image I will do so. What I’ve worked out as an “idiot” end user is the following:
1. 2 boilers (one Netaheat Potterton 16-22 and one Worcester 19/24CBi) which seem to work in parallel
2. 4 boiler controllers – one for each level of the house (3 floors) and one for hot water, so a simple zoned setup
3. No zone/whole house thermostat/temperature controller(s) that I can find anywhere. The only temperature control I’ve found is the frost thermostat in the garage next to the boiler controllers (which appears to be stuck!)
4. Every rad has a TRV (basic 0-5 analogue twist-type) and rad count is as follows: bottom floor 3, middle floor 9, top floor 8. A number of the middle floor and a couple of the top floor rads are double width. Hot water needs standard for two adults and two young kids I guess. 3 showers and 3 baths on top floor, a couple of further WCs (sinks) and kitchen hot water (sink+dishwasher). Washing machine is cold feed only
5. Changing the timings of the zones and water is all I can really do, as well as switch them between off/once/twice/constant. Obviously being able to do each floor independently is good, but switching from winter to summer etc. will be a pain as I have to do it four times (and for each day on each controller!)
The system appears to work, but I have a few questions for the assembled experts on here:
1. Is this a reasonable setup for this sort of house? We are two adults, two young kids with variable times at home/out… a few days a week when someone’s in all day, some days when it’ll be empty between 9am and 5pm, but generally pretty “random”
2. I don’t particular want to spend lots of money on changing something which works but an efficient heating system can save £££s pretty quickly
3. Is a maintenance/care plan a good idea for us, given I won’t be able to do any maintenance myself? Daft question I guess, to which the only answer is “yes!”
4. Is it worth having a local plumber come out and take a look at the system or just have the initial survey/service as part of the new maintenance care plan?
Any advice or thoughts very welcome! Sorry about the lack of pictures – will try to rectify asap. And sorry for the thick questions above... I'll try to listen and learn quickly.
Cheers
Last edited by a moderator: