TRV's - No Thermostat, do I need one?

[djarthur78]

Hi,

I have recently moved house and here I have TRV's in every room, with the exception of the bathroom towel rads.

There is no thermostat in any of the rooms.

My question is, do I need one?
I guess I can just adjust each room to the desired level on the TRV and that should do it?

Also, I noticed that in our lounge room when we have several people over the room gets really hot but the rest of the house is normal.

Should I adjust the TRV when I'm going to have people over?
Or is this something a theromostat would help with?

Finally, I know there are a few different questions in here, but thought I would add this as well... Should I be shutting the doors in our house?
I always shut the door of the rooms which we don't use very oftern (as I have the TRV's set to 1.5 in these rooms).

Thanks

 

[simond]

Are you bored?

Modern installations should have an electric interlock to the boiler.....in other words, a room stat.

If your system was put in years ago, it didn't need one to comply, but this was still a penny pinching way to specify a system.

When you replace the boiler, a room stat will be mandatory.

NB: There are one or two exceptions where a boiler has an internal flow switch, but these are rare.

 

[djarthur78]

Thanks for the quick reply..

I'm not bored, just very new to the UK and confused with these types of systems.

So, it sounds like it is in my interest to get a thermostat installed??
The previous owner told me he was advised against it as each room had TRV's.

 

[moggridgeplumbing]

Get a room stat installed. The previous owner didn't know what he was talking about and probably spent a lot of unnecessary money on his gas bill because of it.

 

[D_Hailsham]

I have recently moved house and here I have TRV's in every room, with the exception of the bathroom towel rads. There is no thermostat in any of the rooms.

My question is, do I need one?

Yes, but the room where it is located should not have a TRV. However you can get round this by setting the TRV in the room to Max and then locking it (if possible).

I guess I can just adjust each room to the desired level on the TRV and that should do it?

But the boiler will still carry on burning fuel, even when the rooms are up to temperature. Which is a waste of your money.

I noticed that in our lounge room when we have several people over the room gets really hot but the rest of the house is normal. Should I adjust the TRV when I'm going to have people over?

Adjusting the TRVs when the room is full of people should not be necessary as the TRV should react automatically to the additional body heat and close down so the correct room temperature is maintained.

However, if the radiators have not been correctly balanced, the TRVs may not work correctly. See How to balance a CH system.

Should I be shutting the doors in our house? I always shut the door of the rooms which we don't use very often (as I have the TRV's set to 1.5 in these rooms).

If you leave doors open all rooms eventually settle down to approximately the same temperature, even if a room's TRV is set to a lower temperature. This is because of the air circulating and rising throughout the house. If you want some rooms at a lower temperature, it is a good idea to close the doors of those rooms.

 

[djarthur78]

Thanks for everyones help!

Which wireless thermostat would people recommend?

And I guess the best place it to place this in the hallway, as I have been reading.

 

[D_Hailsham]

Which wireless thermostat would people recommend?

Honeywell.

You haven't said which make/model boiler you have. You may find a programmable thermostat more useful.

And I guess the best place it to place this in the hallway, as I have been reading.

Some advocate putting the thermostat in the living room. If it's wireless you can easily do some tests and see which gives the best results.

 

[djarthur78]

It is a Potterton Suprima 100L.


There is a Honeywell control on the wall already to program when the hot water and central heating comes on/off.

It's not as customizable as i would like though as I can only have two times set and then either water or central heating set to once or both. So, I can't have the hot water on for a bit longer than the central heating for instance.

Would that remain, along with a new wireless thermostat?

Thanks again

 

[JohnD]

A programmable room stat allows you to set the heating on or off, for different temperatures of your choosing, typically for 6 periods in a day, each day the same or different at your whim.

you can continue using your existing programmer to set the HW times. If you have a 100 litre hot water cylinder that is well insulated, the cost of heating it will not vary much. Insulate the pipes as well.