TRVS save money on fuel bills?? / Domestic Heating Comp. G..

[jacobball]

Is the Domestic Heating Compliance Guide as strong as the Building Regs Part L1 for heating systems/design? Or is it like British Standards, like a guidance?

I was looking for some info on the DOmestic Heating Compliance Guide (as I believe it is a new thing), as I am interested in what it says.

I was reading also that having TRVs can save you fuel costs, ie Gas Bills, etc.

How is this though.... as they only stop the flow to individual radiators, they do not shut the boiler and pump off as a room stat does through Boiler Interlock..

Any help/info much appreictaed

 

[Agile]

TRVs turn down the heat input to the rads! That consumes less heat which comes from burning gas!

You have to have a room stat as well as TRVs.

Tony

 

[jacobball]

Hi

Yes I know they turn the heat to the rad down!!!!!!! but the room stat will turn off the boiler when the room temp is reached,not the TRV. so the boiler will continue to fire no matter if some rads with TRVs are off!

I suppose a modulating modern boiler would ... but a normal boiler i can't see how it will save costs really! maybe i am being dumb.... one of those days .... !

 

[Hellcat]

The idea is you have one room (hallway perhaps) with the roomstat and no TRV. Rad is turned down so that room heats up last and when it does get upto temp it shuts down the boiler.

I'm working on an expencive but foolproof system of individual circuits controlled by roomstats.

 

[D_Hailsham]

Is the Domestic Heating Compliance Guide as strong as the Building Regs Part L1 for heating systems/design? Or is it like British Standards, like a guidance?

That's opening a can of worms! I can envisage some stalwarts sharpening their quills in readiness.

The Building Regulations, on their own, are very broad and vague:

L1 Reasonable provision shall be made for the conservation of fuel and power in buildings by—

(a) limiting heat gains and losses—
(i) through thermal elements and other parts of the building fabric; and
(ii) from pipes, ducts and vessels used for space heating, space cooling and hot water services;

(b) providing fixed building services which—
(i) are energy efficient;
(ii) have effective controls; and
(iii) are commissioned by testing and adjusting as necessary to ensure they use no more fuel and power than is reasonable in the circumstances; and”

(c) providing to the owner sufficient information about the building, the fixed building services and their maintenance requirements so that the building can be operated in such a manner as to use no more fuel and power than is reasonable in the circumstances."

However "the Secretary of State is empowered by the Building Act 1984 to approve and issue documents containing practical guidance with respect to the requirements contained in these Regulations." These are the Approved Documents. In the case of heating systems, it is Approved Document L: Conservation of Fuel and Power, which is split into four parts: L1A, L1B, for dwellings, and L2A and L2B, for other places.

Much of the Approved Document is concerned with construction - U values, heat loss, pressure testing etc. Heating Systems comes under the heading of Controlled Services which, paraphrasing, says that Reasonable Provision would be to comply with the Domestic Heating Compliance Guide.

So, it's not a case of the Building Regs being "stronger" than the DHCG, but that the DHCG tells you what to do to comply with the Building Regs.

There are of course other advisory documents, such as CheSS, published by the Energy Savings Trust, which give even more detailed guidance on boiler selection, controls etc.

Having said all that, the DHCG is, in some ways, similar to a British Standard. Non-compliance with the Guide would probably mean that the local Council's Building Control department would not approve the system.

 

[D_Hailsham]

the room stat will turn off the boiler when the room temp is reached,not the TRV. so the boiler will continue to fire no matter if some rads with TRVs are off!

But, as radiators are turned off by their TRVs, there will be less heat being removed from the water. So the return temperature will be higher and consequently the boiler will not have to run for so long to bring the water back up to temperature. So the boiler will run in shorter cycles and therefore gas will be saved.

With a modulating boiler, the boiler would just be turned down to reduce the flow and return temperatures, while keeping the boiler firing for as long as possible.

 

[Richard C]

I upgraded our ageing oil fired heating system this year, replacing some of the pipe work, fitting new rads. & TRV’s; except the hall where the room stat. is & a new H/W cylinder (the boiler is only 3 years old). I then spent some time balancing the system properly with a couple of digital thermometers & setting the TRV’s as required in each room. I regularly monitor our oil consumption for ordering purposes & I reakon oil consumption is at least 15% down on the same period last year; it's worth doing & setting it all up properly!

 

[bengasman]

to put it simply; the boiler will be on less, if there are fewer radiators (on)