Water heat control

[con1_uk]

Hi,

I have an Ideal Classic LX boiler and a big water tank upstairs. the boiler has a knob on it which I guess is for CH controls, it goes from 1 - 6, the manual recommends I set this to 3 in the summer which I have.

How do I control the hot water temp and frequency please? I seem to be using a lot of gas which is all going on heating water for showers. In my room with the tank there are 2 X pumps (Grundfos Selectric UPS 15-50) these both have white dials on, on the HW one is the dial used to control the temp and frequency of the hot water?

Sorry for the newbie questions...

Ta

 

[dilalio]

Photos of the installation would help.

 

[con1_uk]

Ta

 

[arkie]

The control's on the pump is just the pump speed that pushes the water around the pipes and should not need adjusting from when it was set up.

How many showers a day?

Most of the Ideal Classics are under 79% efficient.

 

[con1_uk]

4 maybe 5 showers a day and occasionall bath, reluctant to change it whilst it is still working, I will save some pennies for a new one eventually.

How is the HW controlled then please?

If I did replace the boiler in time is it just the actual boiler unit I need to replace?

Ta

 

[arkie]

The should be a thermostat on the water tank that controls the HW temp out the tap, normally set at 55/60c i would think.

The one on the boiler is the Flow Temperature 1.54c, 3.66c, 6.82c, set it too low and the HW will take a while to heat up and may be more or less inefficient, maybe an expert can answer that one.

The boiler can be replaced almost like for like with a heat only or system boiler.

If you think the gas usage is really high you could turn the HW off over night and count the gas meter to see the numbers don't go up over night, to check for a small gas leak.

 

[Dan Robinson]

you think the gas usage is really high you could turn the HW off over night and count the gas meter to see the numbers don't go up over night, to check for a small gas leak

That wouldn't be a small leak

 

[stem]

The boiler has a knob on it which I guess is for CH controls, it goes from 1 - 6

It's not for CH control. That knob controls the temperature of the water leaving the boiler [aka Flow Temperature] as follows:

When set to number 3, water at 66 degrees C will leave the boiler regardless of its final destination, be it the radiators or hot water cylinder.

The higher the number, the hotter the radiators will be to the touch, and the quicker your house will heat up. But the boiler dial doesn't control the final room temperature. There should be a room thermostat that switches the radiators 'on' and 'off' as required to maintain the temperature selected on the dial. (eg 21 degrees C) It will look something like this, and be wall mounted usually in an entrance hall or living room. [Digital versions are also available]



There should also be a thermostat strapped to the hot water cylinder about a third of the way up from the bottom, that will maintain the temperature of the hot water in the cylinder, (eg 60 degrees C) they look something like this:

Untitled

• stem
• 21 Dec 2010
• 3

Finally, there should also be a programmer that provides timed on /off control of the heating and hot water, something like this:



If your system doesn't have these controls you won't be able to regulate it properly.