# boiler thermostat?



## Jane Doe (3 Dec 2008)

I have a gas heating with boiler which has a timer but no thermostat. I would like to fit a thermostat so that the house will not need to be heated from cold each time and will be programmed to keep the house at say 20 degrees and will turn on until it reaches desired heat and then off again

I understand this is cheaper than heating from cold each time? Expensive to fit?


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## tosullivan (3 Dec 2008)

Jaen, have you got a wall thermostat anywhere in your house?

Check the hall as that is where they are normally put.  Small square box with a dial on it


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## Jane Doe (3 Dec 2008)

tosullivan said:


> Jaen, have you got a wall thermostat anywhere in your house?


no is that unusual in a new house?


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## Guest110 (3 Dec 2008)

If there is no Thermostat on the walls, which it should have , as they normally come as standard with a  new house, do you not have a thermostat on the bottom of each radiator  ? The thermostat is not something that you can miss on the radiator - it is a swivel knob with numbers from 0-5, 5 being the hottest the radiator will go to !


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## Jane Doe (3 Dec 2008)

alexandra12 said:


> If there is no Thermostat on the walls, which it should have , as they normally come as standard with a new house,


? 


> do you not have a thermostat on the bottom of each radiator ?


yes but that will not turn the boiler on and off. 

There is a swivel knob *but no numbers from 0-5,* there is just a + and an arrow showing which way + to turn for + i.e up. 

If there was a 0-5 do you mean the boiler should be on all the time and it would turn on and off to keep the heat steady?

Thanks


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## tosullivan (3 Dec 2008)

you can get wireless thermostats that you place one section in the main area of the house to monitor the temp and then the other section at the switching end that will switch on/off the device

Danfoss & Honeywell make them but they are not cheap.


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## DavyJones (3 Dec 2008)

Jane Doe said:


> ?
> yes but that will not turn the boiler on and off.
> 
> There is a swivel knob *but no numbers from 0-5,* there is just a + and an arrow showing which way + to turn for + i.e up.
> ...



It appears that you don't have thermostatic rad valves. 

IS your house new? I am nearly sure it is in the regs now that thermostats have to be fitted. More control over heating = more economical and enviormentally/energy efficient.

You could fit TRV to all rads or as tosullivan says get a wireless room thermostat.


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## Jane Doe (3 Dec 2008)

DavyJones said:


> IS your house new?


Yes I am only here since april this year




> I am nearly sure it is in the regs now that thermostats have to be fitted. More control over heating = more economical and enviormentally/energy efficient.


I don't know



> You could fit TRV to all rads or as tosullivan .


TRV?


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## DavyJones (3 Dec 2008)

Thermostatic radiator valve.


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## DGOBS (3 Dec 2008)

hi. Just to confirm. A new house has to comply with part L of the building regs. So yes there should be at least one thermosat (more depending on house size) seperate hot water thermostat and all should be zoned!

Get your builder/installer back!!!!!


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## Guest110 (3 Dec 2008)

The radiator valves wont turn the Gas on and off, all the radiator thermostats will do , is reduce the temperature coming out of them. For example - if you had them, you could turn them down to 2-3, then that would keep the heat low in the house and keep the gas at a constant level, which will save the spike in energy when you turn it from direct cold to hot ! It does not do exactly what you want- but it is the nearest you can get to without having to spend money. Not having the numbers from 0-5 means you dont have the latest gadgets on the rads, but turning the + or - valve does the same thing, except you have to guess how open and closed your rad is. You can only know this by playing around with it.....


My suggestion before you spend any money - is to prove to yourself how much of a gain you would be getting trying all your options.


1st - for one day- check the meter number and see what it is currently set at ( document it )and use the gas by turning it on and off as the place gets cold. Recheck the meter at the end of your experiment.   

2nd - on another day- check the meter number- turn the valves towards the - position, but untill your satisifed with the heat coming out of them and leave them like that for a 24 hour period. Again check and see what the meter number is

Check and see from your analysis which one uses the most gas and from that decide if you want to go with the alternate option of installing a wall thermostat and a timer....

I dont know if the variation usage is what you are trying to reduce , or if it is overall gas usage. I know Bord Gais charge companies a specific amount dependant on variation alonside usage- but I dont know if it takes much of a hit to a home owner- I know that for our company we have an SPC Hit and a variation hit ontop of the normal bill aswel as other stuff.

Check and see what your ROI will be on such and item and see if it ways up your spending. Heating your home while no-one is there is wasted heat, but I am no - one to argue if it reduces your bills. 

For simplicty in what you are trying to do you need to put a thermostat on the wall and a timer with it. 

The worst thing about the gas in my place is that when I turn my gas on for heating it heats the rads but does not heat the water, which seems ridiculous to me, but the builder said it was the way it was designed. I know I need to get someone in to take a look at it - as it is wasted heat and money in my eyes. I have to heat the water separatley through the gas via another button.


Hope this helps.


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## Guest110 (3 Dec 2008)

Sorry , I just re-read that you do have a timer, so turning the rads down should roughly do the same thing in around about way, but the heat will be constantly at the same temperature and it wont knock itself on and off when it is not at the required heat.


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## DavyJones (3 Dec 2008)

alexandra12 said:


> Sorry , I just re-read that you do have a timer, so turning the rads down should roughly do the same thing in around about way, but the heat will be constantly at the same temperature and it wont knock itself on and off when it is not at the required heat.




The OP has regular lockshield valves. these are nothing like TRV and work in a very different way. A lock sheild valve can only restrict flow of water through a rad, they do in no way regulate heat. 

A TRV will open and close automatically, to allow hot water to enter rad and "top it up". They regulate the flow of hot water through rad depending on demand.

I think you are referring to balancing a system, where each rad on system is getting an equal flow requirement.


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## Jane Doe (3 Dec 2008)

DGOBS said:


> hi. Just to confirm. A new house has to comply with part L of the building regs. So yes there should be at least one thermosat (more depending on house size) seperate hot water thermostat and all should be zoned


well there is a thermostat on the boiler itself. That can set the heat but what i am trying to do is have the boiler come on when the house cools beyond a certain point cos i have read it saves more money than heating it from cold all the time.

to use a trv the boiler woul have to be on all the time wouldn't it and that woul be using gas?

Thanks for the responses


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## tosullivan (4 Dec 2008)

what you really need to do is wire a 7 day/24hr timer in to the boiler or use a combined timer/thermostat that will switch on/off at set times by you and also not let the house get below a certain temp.

By the sounds of some of the posts above you should at least have a room stat in your house somewhere on the wall.

If not, then you should get the builder back to put one in for you.


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## davidoco (4 Dec 2008)

Jane Doe said:


> .......what i am trying to do is have the boiler come on when the house cools beyond a certain point .......to use a trv the boiler woul have to be on all the time wouldn't it and that woul be using gas?


 
Just get a programmable stat with a setback temperature option.

Programmable thermostat in centre of house
TRV on most rads (optional but obviously worthwhile)
21 degrees from 7:30 to 9:00 am & 5:30 to 11:00 PM 
16 degrees setback temp which will bring the heat on outside the above hours if it gets very cold.

Personally I use Heatmiser products not just for looks but for the features.

You would then put your timer (which I'm assuming is in gas boiler) on constant and have an electrician wire the programmable stat to only send power to boiler when it wants heat.


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## tosullivan (4 Dec 2008)

davidoco said:


> Just get a programmable stat with a setback temperature option.
> 
> Programmable thermostat in centre of house
> TRV on most rads (optional but obviously worthwhile)
> ...


 I second this idea.....I have my high setpoint for 20.5 degrees and my low setpoint for 18.5 degrees but only because the house is occupied for some of the day.

Also get one that has a Holiday mode so you can set it for a frost setting (typically 6 deg) while you are gone and it will then click on your heating back to normal mode the midnight prior to your arrival.

I have a few in my house for zoned rooms so I'll get the name of them and let you know.  It worked out cheaper than getting the Danfoss or Honeywell units and they are just as good.


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