The one radiator that needs to stay on all the time …

[Husk24]

Hi guys, I wanted to ask , im I right in saying that there needs to be one radiator that needs to stay on all the time, well in my case its the radiator in the hallway, however the installer ended up putting something like a non thermostat valve control which i can turn down or close it fully.

should i need to ensure this is open fully? or can I turn it down? Can the wall radiator in my downstairs loo room be the radiator that needs to stay on all the time instead?

my nest thermostat is in my lounge and not in the hallway.

thanks

 

[Chuck]

Hi guys, I wanted to ask , im I right in saying that there needs to be one radiator that needs to stay on all the time, well in my case its the radiator in the hallway,

Not true in general, it depends on the design of the system and the boiler type. On modern systems the 'always on' radiator is replaced by an auto-bypass valve and loop, which is better from an energy-conservation point-of-view.

You'll need to provide more information, in particular the boiler type and model, for a more specific answer.

 

[Husk24]

System boiler ideal logic s30, 2 year old

 

[Chuck]

System boiler ideal logic s30, 2 year old

Okay. The radiator in the hallway is not 'always on', it is controlled by the system thermostat, which should also be in the hallway. The 'lock-shield' valve you have found should (normally) be left fully open.

However, somebody seems to have moved the system thermostat from the hall into the lounge. They should also have swapped a TRV from a/the radiator in the lounge with the lock-shield in the hallway. This needs to be done to bring the system into line with Building Regs.

 

[Husk24]

you mentioned originally its not necessary but depends on the boiler make, but now you start talking about building regs, so does that mean there should be a open radiator it is because of the building regs or and also due to my type if boiler? I keep my valve fully open in lounge anyway. I have a nest thermostat which you can basically move anywhere easily

 

[Ric2013]

The point about building regs is that there must be a way of shutting the heating off via a thermostatic control. Since you only have the lounge thermostat, you could theoretically turn that radiator off and then the thermostat would have no way of monitoring the house temperature - so no thermostatic control. In practice, having the TRV always set to max (better still take the thermostatic head off) is much the same thing but isn't foolproof, and, as you say, a wireless thermostat makes the whole argument a bit redundant.

The separate issue is the boiler itself may need a minimum flow through it which won't be achieved if too many radiators shut down on their TRVs or manual controls. The boiler's internal bypass may be sufficient, so here it comes down to checking the manufacturer's installation instructions.