Heating not hot enough

[Suzanna]

Hi, I hope someone can throw some light on this: our central heating is working but the radiators are not getting hot enough. The boiler (3 years old) is turned to maximum and the thermostat is turned up to 23 degrees. The heating is fine until the thermostat reaches 17 degrees, the rads then turn off and it is very cold in the house! When the thermostat registers 16 degrees it kicks in again but turns off once again when it reaches 17. We are therefore only obtaining a small amount of heat. Does anyone know if theres anything we can do to try to rectify this before calling out a heating engineer? Thanks!

 

[Diyisfun]

t/stat could be faulty.
Boiler maybe turning off as its to hot
Could be pump fault
..
Im not a plumber, but the plumbers will ask for boiler make etc.

 

[jackthom]

I'd start by checking out the room thermostat. It depends on the type but you should be able to hear a click as it switches ON/OFF when you change the temperature selected UP/DOWN.

If it clicks OK when the room is colder but not when the boiler has warmed things up slightly (and gone off at ~17C), the room thermostat will probably need replacing.

 

[Suzanna]

Thank you for your replies. Unfortunately, our thermostat is wireless with digital numbers and it's therefore not possible to see if it 'clicks' in and out of action. I put the thermostat in the fridge for a short while and the temp number decreased to 15 degrees, I then put it in the warm airing cupboard and the number increased to 20 degrees. Not sure what use that experiment was other than to prove the temp number can go higher than 17 degrees!
I think I will have to call someone out; but thanks so much for your responses.

 

[gavinda]

before calling anyone out.... change the batteries. i know the stat has a battery warning but in my experience it nver cut on before problems show themselves. 4 aa's and i reckon you'll be fine.

 

[Suzanna]

Thank you Gavinda, sounds like that's worth a try. I will buy batteries tomorrow and cross my fingers!