Central heating help - digistat rf+ & glow worm boiler

[mase001]

hi there, i've just moved into my new (and first) home. the boiler is in the loft along with the timer switch, and the thermostat is a wireless digistat unit. so at the moment we have the heating set to timer so obviously it comes on and off when we want to. but after reading and re-reading the instructions for the thermostat, i cannot work out if it is possible to: manually turn on the heating, for example it's perfectly ok to not be on during the week when we are at work, but if it's nippy at the weekend or if someones at home during the day - it would be nice to be able to turn it on without having to clamber into the loft to turn it on then go back up to switch to timer again. Also, although not so important, if we can control the temperature of the heating without again going up and down and doing it via the boiler?

If anyone could shed some light for me, i'd be very grateful.. and toasty.

cheers!

 

[jackthom]

Where is the thermostat located in the house? It should just be a case of turning up the temperature to something comfortable, say 20C, when you want the heating on and turning it down to perhaps 15C or lower when you don't need it on.

 

[mase001]

thermostat lives in the living room with us, directly below the boiler and wireless unit. the dial on stat only seems to be used to set what temp we want the heating to come on at. so if we have it set at 25 then it will come on if the thermostat temperature thinks it is colder than 25.

and because its set to timer at the actual boiler, even if we turn it to suggest the heating to come on via thermostat- it wont. but if we have it set to 'on' a the boiler, means we cant then have it timed to come on in advance of us getting up in the morning and for when we get home. catch 22 situation.

 

[jackthom]

Can you post the make and model number of the thermostat? Sounds like it may not be a programmable one which is what you really want.
I'm guessing it's a Drayton digistat1 rf.

 

[mase001]

yeah it is a Drayton RF601.

 

[jackthom]

Yes it's just a basic digital thermostat. Here's a video to show how you can set up a programmable thermostat like a Drayton Digistat 2 for example. There's an rf version of that and to complicate things even more there's also a Digistat 3.

TBH I don't know if you would be able to upgrade the thermostat unit without also needing a new receiver at the boiler. I suspect you'd need both or very likely buying the thermostat by itself would cost almost as much as the complete pair.