New to GCH advice please

[smallplane]

Hi
Recently moved into a new house which in march had a new boiler and radiators, we are new to GCH as our last house was storage heaters/underfloor heating

We have a wireless thermostat.
The problem we seem to have is, if we put the thermostat in the living room the room warms up quick, shutting the boiler off before the bedrooms have time to get warm/take the chill off.
We've gone to putting it in the kitchen with the TRV set to 5 which seems to work better with the bedroom getting warmer but the heat from when we start cooking etc seems to interfere with it.

We have a inner hallway (no external doors or walls) with no radiator which does seem drafty
I was thinking of having a radiator fitted in there with no TRV and putting the thermostat in there.
Would this be a better idea?
Also what would is cost to have a radiator fitted, not inc the radiator Itself??
Area East Midlands

Any advice would be great

 

[Doggit]

There are 2 schools of thought on the forum. One being the hallway, as it needs warming up when the door opens, and the other being the living room, as that's where you spend most of your time. But the kitchen is a definite no no, as other heat sources affect the whole house.

In your situation, the system hasn't been balanced, as some rooms are warming up quicker than others, and you do this by adjusting the lockshield valves to let more or less water into the rads so that all the rooms warm together. Then you let the TRVs take over after that.

I'd put the thermostat in the living room, with no TRV on the rad, then fit a radiator in the hallway with TRV, and then open up the bedroom lockshields a bit, and turn the living room rad lockshield down a bit. This means it'll take a little longer to heat up, but should sort the problems out.

 

[flameport]

The thermostat is intended to switch the boiler off once the house as a whole has reached whatever temperature is desired.
The TRVs are intended for some degree of control over individual rooms.

The thermostat should be located somewhere which does not have other heat sources, so the kitchen is no good.
If the thermostat location does have a radiator, it must not have a TRV or any other controls.

Suggest you start by locating the thermostat in the hallway - it's not necessary to have a radiator there for the thermostat to operate, as heat will inevitably end up there from the other rooms.
If you do get a radiator installed in the hallway, it must be located in a position where the radiator will not affect it.

Once a suitable location has been found for the thermostat, it should be permanently fixed there - the fact it is wireless does not mean it is intended to be moved around.
It should not require adjustment often or at all - plenty of people have a habit of turning up the thermostat because it's cold outside which is total nonsense.

TRVs are crude devices and slow to operate - in terms of adjustment do not alter them often or at all.
Initially set them to a mid position, and then if the room is too cool/warm, adjust by 1 number at a time, and only adjust them once a day.
When the desired setting is found, they can be left at whatever that is pretty much permanently.

 

[Doggit]

Very nicely put Flameport; about the best description I've ever seen. I'd almost hold on to that as a template.

But if the stat goes in the hallway with no rad, then I suspect the boiler will be running for a lot longer with the TRVs operating before the hallway gets warm enough, and that won't be as efficient.

 

[smallplane]

Thanks for your replies, any advice is grateful.
I'm slowly getting there with boilers and radiators.

 

[smallplane]

There are 2 schools of thought on the forum. One being the hallway, as it needs warming up when the door opens, and the other being the living room, as that's where you spend most of your time. But the kitchen is a definite no no, as other heat sources affect the whole house.

In your situation, the system hasn't been balanced, as some rooms are warming up quicker than others, and you do this by adjusting the lockshield valves to let more or less water into the rads so that all the rooms warm together. Then you let the TRVs take over after that.

I'd put the thermostat in the living room, with no TRV on the rad, then fit a radiator in the hallway with TRV, and then open up the bedroom lockshields a bit, and turn the living room rad lockshield down a bit. This means it'll take a little longer to heat up, but should sort the problems out.

This morning I went round and found all lockshields open in the system to be fully open, I turned down the first two which are living and kitchen, I closed them and then opened them 1/4 - 1/2 turn each.
The bedrooms did feel warmer but just to make sure it wasn't me wanting them to feel warmer, I'll now leave alone for a few days to wait and see.
Plan now is thermostat is living room with TRV are 5 to leave the radiator open

 

[Doggit]

Start all the rads at about half to 3/4 of a turn, and that'll give you the flexibility to adjust upand down from that. It's not only about getting the bedrooms warmer, but about getting them all up to the same level, in about the same amount of time. The everything works in unison. Best of luck with the running around.