IS YOUR HEATING UNDER CONTROL?
When it comes to heating your home efficiently – wasting as little fuel and heat as possible – then a full set of heating controls is just as essential as the right kind of boiler…
Using heating controls correctly is the easiest way to keep your rooms at a comfortable temperature. And in doing so, they’ll help to reduce your household’s fuel bills and CO2 emissions, too.
In fact, fitting the correct heating controls could save you up to 17 per cent of your heating bill. What’s more, fitting a condensing boiler with a full set of heating controls could save up to 40 per cent of your fuel bill: around £190 to £230 a year off the average bill.
As their name implies, heating controls allow you to choose when the heating is on, how warm it is, and where you want the warmth. They will also make sure that the boiler is only turned on when it needs to be.
What makes a full set of heating controls?
A properly controlled heating system should typically have:
- A time programmer.
- A room thermostat.
OR:
- A combined programmable room thermostat – instead of a separate programmer and room thermostat.
PLUS:
- A cylinder thermostat – if your home has a regular condensing boiler with a hot water cylinder.
- Thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs).
Hot Tip
Programmable thermostats, room thermostats and TRVs all need a free flow of air to be able to sense and measure the temperature around them. So, they must never be covered by curtains or blocked by furniture. Nearby electric fires, televisions and wall or table lamps could also stop them working properly.
Are you making the most of your heating controls?
You may already have a full set of heating controls in your home – but are you getting the best from them?
Take a little time to find out what each control does using our quick guide, and you could save money and valuable energy. If you do have any of these controls already, refer to the instruction manuals that came with them, for specific advice on your particular make(s) and model(s).
If you don’t have any manuals to hand, copies can usually be downloaded from manufacturers’ websites.
What is a programmer?
Programmers allow you to set when the heating and hot water come on and go off again. By installing a programmer, and heating your home and hot water only as and when necessary, you will save energy and money.
What is a room thermostat?
A room thermostat constantly measures the air temperature of a space and can be set to whatever temperature suits you best. They are usually installed in hall, stairs or landing areas to sense the average temperature of a home’s main living spaces. When the temperature falls below the setting, the thermostat switches on the central heating; once the room reaches the set temperature, the thermostat switches the heating off. Please note that the heating needs to be switched on for the thermostat to work.
What is a programmable room thermostat?
A programmable room thermostat lets you choose the times you want your home to be heated and the temperature you want it to reach. In other words, it allows you to heat rooms or the whole house to different temperatures at appropriate times of the day and week. And again, by heating your home and hot water only as and when necessary, it can save energy and money too.
What is a cylinder thermostat?
A cylinder thermostat keeps a constant check on the temperature of the water in a hot water cylinder. It switches the heat supply from the boiler on and off as necessary to keep the water at a set temperature. Installing a cylinder thermostat could save you up to £15 and 80kg of CO2 a year.
Hot Advice
- Close your curtains at dusk to reduce the amount of heat escaping through your windows.
- Set your thermostat at the lowest comfortable temperature – typically between 18°C and 21°C. Lowering your thermostat by just 1°C could save you around £40 a year.
- Your hot water cylinder thermostat should be set at 60°C or 140°F. Any higher is a waste of energy and any lower and there may be risks of legionella.
- ‘Bleed’ radiators from time to time to remove unwanted air from your heating system and keep your radiators working at their maximum output. Close the valve again once the hissing stops.
- If your tank is not insulated, fit a BS Kitemarked insulating jacket, 175mm or three inches thick, around your hot water tank. It will save you around £20 a year – and as it will only cost around £12 to buy, will pay for itself in well under a year.
- You can also put a second hot water jacket on your tank if the current jacket is below the recommended thickness.
- Insulate your central heating and hot water pipes – especially those between your boiler and hot water cylinder – to save an extra £10 a year. This is best done when you have access to pipes – for example when pipes are exposed during renovation work.
What are thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs)?
TRVs sense the air temperature around them and regulate the flow of hot water entering the radiators to keep a set temperature in a room. They can help you save money and energy – by allowing you to set lower temperatures in some rooms than in others, and to turn off the heating in rooms that aren’t used. By installing TRVs, you could save up to £10 a year and around 90kg of CO2 a year. In the majority of cases TRVs can not turn the boiler off when the whole house has reached the right temperature(s). To do that, you will need a room thermostat as well. Radiators in the space containing the room thermostat should not normally have TRVs. But if they do, you should keep the TRVs on their highest possible settings, and set the room thermostat to the required temperature instead
For more information visit
energysavingtrust.org.uk
or call freephone 0800 512 012
Source: energysavingtrust.org.uk
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