central heating confusion. help needed please :(

[skuba]

i moved in to a new house just over a year ago and i've never really got to grips with the central heating system. i'm pretty much useless with central heating and i've just let it do it's own thing for the past 12 months but i'm now paying the consequences with hefty heating bills! i've started off by switching energy supplier, but i want to try and understand the system so i can make sure it's setup correctly. i've taken some pictures and i'm hoping someone can help me understand how it all works together. in addition to the stuff in the pictures, we have an old ideal boiler downstairs, a thermostat in the hallway downstairs, and thermostats on all radiators throughout the house

if you need any closer pictures or further info please let me know

thanks

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• skuba
• 5 Mar 2014
• 1

Untitled

• skuba
• 5 Mar 2014
• 2

 

[Whitespirit66]

The 'unsure' on front of cylinder is your hot water thermostat that controls hw temp. Should be set to 50 to 60 deg. C.

On the wall is the wiring centre/junction box where all electrical components (boiler, pump, thermostats, programmer, etc, etc) are wired into. Below it is the 3 port motorised valve - which probably means that you have a vented Y-Plan ch system.

This video explains better than I can, just ignore the end bit about valve wiring.

As it sounds like you have all the required controls (stats x 2 and rad TRVs) to comtrol you system as economically as poss, best advice is to make sure house insulation is as good as it can be. Always a good payback on investment, and some government-backed schemes will do it for free or subsidised.

 

[stardanny]

What you have is a fully pumped 3 port mid position system.

The one on the side of hot tank is thermostat, controlling how hot you want to reach before it switch off boiler and pump when it is hot enough.

The bit above the pump is 3 port mid position motorised valve, controlling flow of water to cylinder or heating or both at same time, Motörhead is controlled by cylinder thermostat and room stat.

The square bit on wall is where all wires from boiler, pump, valve, stat etc connected up.

The silver bit above cylinder is heater and only for when the boiler break down and you need hot water.

Dan.

 

[skuba]

thank you both for your replies. that really helps

the water thermostat on the tank was set to 60, but our water does get blisteringly hot! so i've knocked it down to 50 to see how we go

regarding the pump, that also has some settings. it's kind of like a volume button on a tv! you can increase or decrease it, but i'm not sure what that does???

our time is currently set to have the heating on constantly 24/7 (because we have a baby). the heating thermostat is usually around 21 in the day, and we knock it down to about 19 at night. the hot water is set to come on around 7am and goes off around 11pm 7 days a week. does this sound about right?

thanks once again

 

[twgas]

TRVs in unused rooms can be turned right down, even in occupied rooms try setting about 3 or 4, diferent makes vary slightly on number to temperature settings.
Hard to say ideal setting for room 'stat as it depends on several factors; draughts, proximity to rads etc. but 19 over night sounds a bit high, try it on 15, mine is set to 5 through the night.

 

[skuba]

sorry guys, i've got a bunch of additional questions...

- is it ok to have the hearing programmed to run 24/7 then? i seem to recall someone telling me it's better to leave it running on low throughout the night and when you're out etc rather than constantly turning it off and on

- our pump is a grundfos alpha 2. i'm unsure what the settings effect. here is a clipping from the manual but i don't really understand the consequences of changing the settings. will it impact how powerful our showers operate? how do the changes effect the radiators and hot water?

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• skuba
• 6 Mar 2014
• 1

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[rcssmb]

I believe that your hot water storage tank should be periodically heated to 60c to kill legionella bacteria

See here - http://www.wras.co.uk/PDF_Files/Preheated_Water_Report.pdf

Personally we have a 145l water tank and this is heated once a day - it is timed to come on for 50 minutes each night but is usually done in 20-30 minutes. You may need more depending on your demand and tank size.

For us dishwashers, washing machines are all cold feed so its really just showers.