My New Combi Boiler, Help And Advice, Please

[barry1010]

Bit of background - my old boiler was over 40 years old.  It was either on or off, temperature controlled by a knob on the boiler.  I could programme the times it turned on and off but that was all.

My new boiler has a programmable thermostat in the hallway that I have programmed to 21 during the day and 17 at night.  It seems to be working well and is switched off for most of the night and parts of the day.

My average three bed house has to be kept warm 24/7 because of my oldsters.

When I first put it on I had to turn the dial on the boiler up a bit as the house wasn't reaching 21.   I have the valves on all the radiators at the highest setting apart from my bedroom where it is turned off.

This is all very new to me and I'm not sure I am using my thermostat, valves and boiler correctly.  I read the manuals that came with it but they aren't particularly clear.

How much should I expect the central heating and hot water to cost me per day?  

Thanks

[The Builder]

Miser: yes, that is an issue. Mainly because of tradition. That's where 'heat-leak' rads have always been placed.

The 'heat-leak' rad could easily be put somewhere else near the boiler. Somewhere where the 'excess' heat would be welcome.

[New Judge]

 The TRVs will simply shut off.

Provided, of course, they are set below maximum! 😊

[nicebloke1]

Theres also dispute with many at what temp to set the boiler at for the radiators. Some say 60 some higher, if you set it higher the radiators will heat up quicker and the central thermostat will cut out quicker. Again some say you use more gas this way other tend to beieve not. When its very cold I tend to go for the higher setting. I'm sure builder will either agree or not, I don't mind learning if I have it totally wrong. :0)

[nicebloke1]

opps just seen your post builder me a bit slow. :0)

[miser]

Five years ago I was lucky enough to purchase a 'doer- upper' before selling my existing home. As part of the renovations a new combi and new radiators were installed. The hall radiator is only a 800 mm single. I set my wallstat to 19 degrees and by the time the hall has reached this all TRVs in the house have done their job and I do not have an overheated hall.

 

 

[The Builder]

Combining what Miser and Nicebloke have said:  opinions will differ. BUT, the thing to take away from all this is that no two houses or layouts are the same . There is NO standard set-up.

Miser's 19 degrees means that other rooms are unlikely to reach beyond 19 degrees. It wouldn't do for me.  😋

I do understand why setting boiler temp higher must initially use more gas...  but nothing like as much as the waste from a low-set boiler flogging itself to death trying to reach a temp. it can never achieve.

It's trial and error Barry.  😎

[barry1010]

Thanks for advice, much appreciated, will turn boiler up to 65

[miser]

The Builder, you are simply not correct. By the time the hall reaches 19 degrees all the other rooms have reached the temp decided by the TRVs. 

[Atheist]

miser; that's possible if your hall rad is undersized, but all houses and systems are different.

[barry1010]

My gas is costing me between £2.80 and £4 per day, averaging £3.40 per day.

Good or bad considering we are home all day, every day?

[nicebloke1]

Yep, very true no two houses are the same. Good example with mine. Why I didn't click some time back god knows. My rad in the all is the safty one ( without the themo valve) 2 meters away is my central thermo, so needless to say it more or less controlls when my c/ thermo cuts in and out. I have a very high ceiling going up the stairs and a lot of the heat from the hallway is shooting up into that space, so in my view I need a small radiator just at the top of the stairs, single pannel to combat the loss of heat from  the hallway, balance it up a little if you like, then the whole area should hold its heat for longer, hence the thermo won't be kicking in so offten if that makes sense. So come spring come the plumber :0)

[The Builder]

Miser: you are quite right. I was being flippant and over-simplifying. The point I was trying to emphasise is the innate inefficiency of a 'central' regulator (the hall stat.)

If you want to open up another 'can of worms', there's a school of thought that says we don't even need a 'heat leak' at all with a modern combi. It's a hangover from gravity systems. 

Having said that, some boiler manufactures insist on one. Others don't. It's a moot point.

 

[miser]

The Builder, isn't the wallstat is an essential component of a modern heating system - without one being in communication with the boiler it would keep running until manually switched off. I've noticed in your previous posts on this subject  that you say the wallstat is not needed and it's always puzzled me.

[The Builder]

Miser: Controllers do two separate things. Control heating temperature... and heating timing.

Yes of course you're right. We need to control the on/off timings. But we don't need to control overall rad circuit temp.

A simple timer yes, but my argument is against central temp setting by a stat in the hall. I'm sorry I didn't explain that at all well. 🙂

 

[barry1010]

Is the cost for me about right?  See post at 15:07

[miser]

The Builder, well that passed some time on a rainy aftrernoon.

[The Builder]

Barry... considering you're cooking and heating water with gas, then I reckon those figures are not at all bad. 

Compares pretty well with my own usage:  all electric with air source heat pump and underfloor heating. Mainly because elec costs three times more that gas per unit. Don't get me started on that  😫

[barry1010]

I have an electric hob and cooker. 

Thanks again, everyone, I know a lot more now than I did before

[The Builder]

Haha............  You're right there Miser.  It's a hell of a minefield. Rope any number of plumbers/heating fellas together and you'll get the most confusing array of opinion and downright prejudice.

No two agree. 🤣

[The Builder]

Good fun Barry. Now you know why Norway heats overwhelmingly with wood and heat pumps, even in the frozen North.

It's swimming in gas, but chooses to just sell it to the rest of the world and let them argue about boilers.   😄