Central heating on all day or Timed?

You can have a three way valve, two single valves or even just one valve. In the one valve case, it controls the flow to the radiators and the hot water cylinder (not tank!) is gravity fed continuously.


Steve.
 
3 bed house, 5 years old. Heating on 24/7. Gas bill is around £30/35 a month
 
Comparisons aren't much good without actual kw/h usage figures. Everyone will be paying different amounts and DD amounts are particularly misleading as they spread out the cost of winter over the rest of the year and include standing charges.
 
DorsetDude said:
Care to expand?
Click to expand...

New house, everything's super insulated
New boiler, very efficient. I run a low water temp round the rads, 48'C, so I'm maximising efficiency of the cool return water being warmed as much as possible by the condenser.
 
RoddersUK said:
New house, everything's super insulated
New boiler, very efficient. I run a low water temp round the rads, 48'C, so I'm maximising efficiency of the cool return water being warmed as much as possible by the condenser.
Click to expand...
Impressive results.
Any problems with condensation anywhere?
 
Best I can manage with the CH when it's warmed through is usage of around 7 kw/h per hour during the day. This is without a stat and with a few rads missing a TRV. I've added some more TRVs and changed two radiators. I've also replaced the sticky TRVs with new drayton ones.

I'm going to be a sad muppet and calculate the hourly average with the Tado running averaged over about 5 hours later :)
 
My problem is old house, six bedrooms, eight fireplaces, high ceilings and not a scrap of insulation. My poor wallet. :D
 
Mart61 said:
My problem is old house, six bedrooms, eight fireplaces, high ceilings and not a scrap of insulation. My poor wallet. :D
Click to expand...
OUCH!!!!

I must admit, when I look at big houses now I don't think "I wish I could live in a house like that", I now think "I wish I had enough money to heat a house like that" :lol:
 
I think I worked out my total gas usage over the 12 months from August 2013 was approx 8,000 kW. That's combi boiler doing heating and hot water, plus the cooker. Radiators all have TRVs, wall cavities were insulated Dec 2013 (lots of walls, as it's detached and L shaped), loft fully insulated (lots of loft, as it's a bungalow). I like the house warm, so I run the CH to 10pm.
 
Average over 4 hours with Tado doing the heating, normal hot water usage, was around 3 kw/h per hour so under half the usage with the central heating just left to do it's thing. Last check I did showed about 33 kw/h of gas for 4 hours for similar times of day at similar temps... If it left it on. I'm also warm all day and not just briefly in the morning and in the evening as I was only using the CH for 2 hours in the morning and either the gas fire of an evening or the CH for several hours.
 
DorsetDude said:
Impressive results.
Any problems with condensation anywhere?
Click to expand...

Think we have a few dots in the girls room, but everywhere else is fine.

Should add, we run the house around 19 to 19.5 deg C.
 
I long for normal central heating agin, our new house has storage heaters and I have to predict what the weather will be like the following day, having said that we only use the one storage heater in the hall to heat the whole house and turn the heaters on in the 2 bedrooms when needed.
 
RoddersUK said:
Think we have a few dots in the girls room, but everywhere else is fine.

Should add, we run the house around 19 to 19.5 deg C.
Click to expand...

Thats bad news for a new house. And thats just the condensation mould damage you can see.
 
RoddersUK said:
3 bed house, 5 years old. Heating on 24/7. Gas bill is around £30/35 a month
Click to expand...

I tend to look at combined gas /electric as most suppliers give a better deal on dual fuel. I've been paying between £50 and £60 per month on dual fuel on a 2 bed flat for about the last 5 years which I think of as being quite expensive so I think I'll hold off from upgrading to a 5 bedroom house if it means £200+ per month just on heat & light!
 
We work from home & heating comes on for 7am & goes off at midnight. I like it cosy, so have the room stat, set at 22 deg during the day (& usually up it to 23 deg in the eve.)
Combi boiler running 16 rads + all hot water for 4 people.
We pay £150 per month for duel fuel atm & we're in credit.
 
It is likely to just be a mould --- Americans call it toxic mould and its not good if you suffer from any respiratory problems, may also be referred to by some as mildew, but generally whatever, proprietary mould killer or common bleach etc plus improved ventilation and increased heating to the room will usually eliminate it.

Is it near a source of incoming cold air like a wall vent?

Bedrooms do generate lots of moisture from humans breathing overnight and so bedrooms are as susceptible as bathrooms and kitchens.

Often develops on cold North East corners of a building or where there may be a 'cold thermal bridge', although a new house should have such things as thermal bridges designed out prior to construction.

http://www.nhbc.co.uk/NHBCPublicati.../HomeownerDocuments/filedownload,31929,en.pdf
 
OldCarlos said:
We work from home & heating comes on for 7am & goes off at midnight. I like it cosy, so have the room stat, set at 22 deg during the day (& usually up it to 23 deg in the eve.)
Combi boiler running 16 rads + all hot water for 4 people.
We pay £150 per month for duel fuel atm & we're in credit.
Click to expand...
Im out all week so have 2 hours in the morning, 3 hours in the evening then gas fire in the lounge til bedtime (11ish) if really cold. 2 bed bung, 8 radiators in total and I pay £100 a month dual fuel. Cant help thinking this is way too high but thats what the meter readings come out as. Weird.
 
shreds said:
It is likely to just be a mould --- Americans call it toxic mould and its not good if you suffer from any respiratory problems, may also be referred to by some as mildew, but generally whatever, proprietary mould killer or common bleach etc plus improved ventilation and increased heating to the room will usually eliminate it.

Is it near a source of incoming cold air like a wall vent?

Bedrooms do generate lots of moisture from humans breathing overnight and so bedrooms are as susceptible as bathrooms and kitchens.

Often develops on cold North East corners of a building or where there may be a 'cold thermal bridge', although a new house should have such things as thermal bridges designed out prior to construction.

http://www.nhbc.co.uk/NHBCPublicati.../HomeownerDocuments/filedownload,31929,en.pdf
Click to expand...

I gave it a good bleaching and it hasn't come back yet. There's evidence of the dots on the paint still, but no mould growing off.

I took a powerful eyepiece home from work and could actually see mould spores growing. Now they are not.

Its around the window of a north facing wall and mainly behind the curtains, in the area where they are pulled back.

I checked in the loft and all the soffits and they are bone dry.
 
DorsetDude said:
Im out all week so have 2 hours in the morning, 3 hours in the evening then gas fire in the lounge til bedtime (11ish) if really cold. 2 bed bung, 8 radiators in total and I pay £100 a month dual fuel. Cant help thinking this is way too high but thats what the meter readings come out as. Weird.
Click to expand...

It does seem a tad high, Keith.
Maybe it's because the initial start up uses the most fuel, to get up to temp? Also, i'll bet the gas fire alone uses a fair amount, just heating the one room.

3 or 4 years ago I tried for a few days using the gas fire alone during the day for several hours & checked the meter daily (after heating had been on for a couple of hours first to warm the house) but, apart from all the other rooms being cold, found it wasn't a lot more to just keep the heating ticking over, so ditched using the gas fire. tbh it hardly gets used at all now, except for the odd time during cooler Summer nights.

The previous year or so we were paying the same amount as we do now, before the last fuel price increases, but we got one of the remote thermostat/temp controllers, which seems to have made a difference.
 
We live in a single brick wall cottage so there is absolutely no insulation, and we have discovered it's just best to leave it on all day, otherwise it gets too cold. We have compromised by running it on for an hour, off for an hour etc which will half the bill but keep it liveably warm.


Sent from my iPad using Talk Photography Forums
 
It is not on or off for me, that seems alien...My thermostat(s) control the heating by temperature, the boiler will be off at temperature and goes on below temperature. They are smart ones and figure out how long it will take to get up to temperature etc...I don't really think about it any more.
 
RoddersUK said:
I gave it a good bleaching and it hasn't come back yet. There's evidence of the dots on the paint still, but no mould growing off.

I took a powerful eyepiece home from work and could actually see mould spores growing. Now they are not.

Its around the window of a north facing wall and mainly behind the curtains, in the area where they are pulled back.

I checked in the loft and all the soffits and they are bone dry.
Click to expand...

That sounds good. The staining will probably only be completely removed when you redecorate, such staining is normal. Ensure there is a good flow of air behind the curtains and you should have resolved the problem.
 
If anyone has original floorboards adding underfloor insulation makes a huge difference to the room heating up.

We moved our bathroom in our 2 bed Victorian maisonette that meant the floorboards had to be taken up to add the soil pipe under one of bedrooms. As they were up we asked the builders to add insulation. It's easily the room that heats up quickest now and we even have had to turn the radiator down.
 
dejongj said:
It is not on or off for me, that seems alien...My thermostat(s) control the heating by temperature, the boiler will be off at temperature and goes on below temperature. They are smart ones and figure out how long it will take to get up to temperature etc...I don't really think about it any more.
Click to expand...

Ma I ask what make and model is it?

I'm thinking about investing in one for next winter. My current one is a basic thermostat and a basic push-pin timer, weekends we wake up cold and I always have to nip downstairs to turn CH to always on.

I'd want something that learns how long it takes to heat up the house, and I set multiple target temperature for set periods over 7 days (or weekday and weekend). Also smart phone control so no more "forgot to turn CH off" during weekend away.
 
wuyanxu said:
Ma I ask what make and model is it?

I'm thinking about investing in one for next winter. My current one is a basic thermostat and a basic push-pin timer, weekends we wake up cold and I always have to nip downstairs to turn CH to always on.

I'd want something that learns how long it takes to heat up the house, and I set multiple target temperature for set periods over 7 days (or weekday and weekend). Also smart phone control so no more "forgot to turn CH off" during weekend away.
Click to expand...

Tado thing I have would do that. You set it a home temperature and night time one then it just does its thing. You can set different schedules for each day and when everyone is out it turns down the temperature. It assumes you want to be the same temperature when at home and works out the an optimum set back temperature when you're out.

They do a rental option so it would cost £60 + installation to find out. If you have timed hot water you'd need the connector box so you have to spend a bit more.
 
wuyanxu said:
Ma I ask what make and model is it?

I'm thinking about investing in one for next winter. My current one is a basic thermostat and a basic push-pin timer, weekends we wake up cold and I always have to nip downstairs to turn CH to always on.

I'd want something that learns how long it takes to heat up the house, and I set multiple target temperature for set periods over 7 days (or weekday and weekend). Also smart phone control so no more "forgot to turn CH off" during weekend away.
Click to expand...
Mine is a wireless Honeywell. It is about 13 years old now. Does everything these new systems do, just not with Internet access and a user interface made a an engineer called Kevin :)

I've also got mine wet zoned. I think I may upgrade to a Honeywell evohome system to provide a greater level of granularity for control and internet integration.

For just a single zone or one setting then taco/hive etc can be ok.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top