Programmable Room stat in Summer

[JohnD]

I have a Danfoss programmable stat I put in this winter, very happy with it. However now we have sunny weather, I no longer need it to come on early and heat the house up, the sun will do that anyway. Also I don't need the house so warm in the evening and daytime.

As the stat has about 6 settings per day, and I am using 7 days, it seems a real drag to change them all. It was really easy to just twist down the old mechanical stat.

Also as the new one has a rechargable battery, which seems a bit weak, putting the boiler programmer to "CH off" will let the battery run down and it will perhaps lose its settings.

Any handy tips?

 

[bengasman]

I use the frost protection setting as the low comfort temp.

 

[JohnD]

'mmmm

I have frost prot set at 8C. I am often away so this avoids making the house too comfortable when empty in Holiday mode. But I would prefer a "not too chilly" setting of say 16C when I am at home, morning and evening. It's just such a chore having to reprog the thing. Maybe I will set it to 24-hour rather than 7-day (there's a switch on the back I think) just for ease of reprogramming.

I remember now why I got my old mum one of those mechanical programmers with the rotating clock.

 

[DP]

Fail to see why you need to 'switch off' the programmer.

The function of the programmer is to raise the winter temperature of the room that the programmer is fitted in, to comfortable level that it will be at during summer. Therefore, summer or winter, it is on line to kick in the heating system when the room temperature dips. If the room is an oven during winter, then can see the need to open the doors and windows in summer or switch off the programmer.

Programmer fitted in hall would be programmed for nominal 18 degrees C. During summer the hall will almost always be at 18 or over so heating stays off. If one morning there is a nip in the air, heating runs for 5 or 10 minutes to raise the hall temperature to 18 and the heating switches off.

My programmable roomstats are set to plus 2 degrees in the morning for extra comfort when I get up in the morning. When I get out of bed at 6.30, temperature drops to 18.
20 minutes before departure, temperature drops to 14. Coming home, temperature is set for 16 degrees C twenty minutes before I get home. At telly time, it is 18 again. When I will be having sweet dreams, it is set for frost protection of 12 degrees.

Never is the stat set for 30 degrees. There is no calling to switch a heating system off- the ambient temperature does that. In fact, if room temperatures are set correctly, heating system should only kick in when it starts to feel cold.

Mrs DP was threatening to call in a heating engineer for two weeks after I installed two progstats on the two zones. Now she is acclimatised to the correct temperatures and hardly goes near the controls to raise the temperature.

 

[JohnD]

Wow, you have a great imagination!

My programmable thermostat is currently set to keep the house at a comfortable temperature during a cold winter such as we've just had. So 16C during the night, 20C in the morning, back down to 16C while we're out, back up to 20C in the early evening, up to 22C in the late evening when it seems to feel colder.

Now that we have sunny weather, I don't feel the need to warm the house so much or so long, and it feels more comfortable than a thermometer might suggest. In the mornings, the house comes up to temp by solar gain, so I don't need to put the heating up early to warm the house. It will also feel more comfortable as sun will be coming in through the windows and the walls will be warmer. Neither do I need to heat it when unoccupied in warm weather, as it will not be uncomfortably cold or damp when I get in.

"Fail to see why you need to 'switch off' the programmer." Setting the boiler programmer to "CH Off" is what I said. This would be one way to prevent the room stat turning the heat up if there was a brief cool spell, especially if we were out and did not need the heat.

Your idea of "can see the need to open the doors and windows in summer" is crazy. Why spend money creating heat and then let it out the windows?

"Programmer fitted in hall would be programmed for nominal 18 degrees C" This is the 21st century. My room stat is in the main living room and is set to the temperature I want that room to be. The other rooms have TRVs. The room stat is not in the hall like people used to do in the 1960's

"Never is the stat set for 30 degrees" Where did you get that idea from?

Where I live we get a lot of this thing, so conditions may be different where you are.

View media item 5710

 

[ajrobb]

The couple of programmable room 'stats I have experience with both support a manual setting. In warmer weather you can just turn up the temperature on demand when chilly...

 

[ianniann]

It was really easy to just twist down the old mechanical stat.

Sometimes electronics are a step backwards. People are not thermometers and they can feel warm at an air temperature of 16C one day and cold at an air temperature of 20C on another day. Any controller that fails to recognise this is a nightmare. The Danfoss controllers seem to be more stubborn than most and assume that you are a museum exhibit that must have the temperature maintained by microchip or the world will implode.

 

[DP]

JohnD, can you tell me what the design temperatures are for different rooms?

In the mornings, the house comes up to temp by solar gain

What do you think happens to ambient temperature in the house during calm winters day when the sun comes out?

This is the 21st century. My room stat is in the main living room and is set to the temperature I want that room to be

Just because your room thermostat is in the living room does not mean that is the correct place to have it. One of my roomstats is in the hall and other in the bedroom. I do not have mine in the living room as I have a fire there

JohnD, if you want to discuss pros and cons, suggest this discussion move to combustion chamber where it can be bisected and disected. While you prefer to use your stat to elevate the room temperatures higher than design figures, I prefer mine (both the progstats) to control the ambient temperature which will be the same figure regardless of time of the year. You may see what I write flight of fancy, I see what you advocate tad silly as I see you room temperatures overly high

 

[JohnD]

JohnD, can you tell me what the design temperatures are for different rooms?

The temperatures I like are the ones I feel comfortable at.

In the mornings, the house comes up to temp by solar gain

What do you think happens to ambient temperature in the house during calm winters day when the sun comes out?

At this time of year, my house reaches a comfortable temperature by getting-up time, without the heating needing to come on. Therefore I do not need the stat to turn the heating on, even though I have set it to do that during the colder weather. On a cold winters day, solar gain alone is not enough to bring my house to a comfortable temperature.

This is the 21st century. My room stat is in the main living room and is set to the temperature I want that room to be

Just because your room thermostat is in the living room does not mean that is the correct place to have it. One of my roomstats is in the hall and other in the bedroom. I do not have mine in the living room as I have a fire there

Well I haven't

JohnD, if you want to discuss pros and cons, suggest this discussion move to combustion chamber where it can be bisected and disected.

This is a DIY forum, and I am writing in the DIY section. Can you see a clue there?

While you prefer to use your stat to elevate the room temperatures higher than design figures,

No, I set mine to temperatures I find comfortable. It's my house, what do you expect?

I prefer mine (both the progstats) to control the ambient temperature which will be the same figure regardless of time of the year. You may see what I write flight of fancy, I see what you advocate tad silly as I see you room temperatures overly high

My room temperature is set to what I find comfortable. Obviously.

I gather you don't put any credence in my statement that in sunny weather "it feels more comfortable than a thermometer might suggest."

From what you say I suspect you live in a part of the UK that is farther from the equator, and maybe you are still using your heating most days. Conditions are different here. See my earlier weathermap.