Very basic: How does my system work? (With pictures!)

[Izzard]

Hi folks. I know very little about heating systems and I've just moved house so I'm trying to understand how the heating/hot water works so I can operate it in the most efficient way. I've included photos and I'd appreciate the guidance of anyone who knows more than me (that's everyone). Thanks!

Here's the boiler in the kitchen - a Thorn 'Olympic'. Reading around, I guess it's about 20 years old or more:

It bangs and thumps for a while after hot water is used. Here's the one user control I see:

Here's the programmer, which is next to it:

Upstairs in the airing cupboard is the cylinder:

Finally in the loft we have these two tanks. Bit of a mess:

The big tank was uncovered so I've moved that sheet of plastic back over it. The little tank is still uncovered:

The guy from the letting agency told me the following as he gave me the keys to the property:

"Leave the boiler on 24/7; that's the most efficient way to run it. Leave it turned up to maximum on the boiler. To adjust the water temperature, adjust the thermostat on the cylinder upstairs."

So here are my questions:

1) Is that true? I don't think we'll use much hot water at all: the shower is a power shower and I was under the impression the dishwasher and washing machine can heat their own water. We don't run baths, so in my mind we can manage without hot water. Since we don't need the heating at all until the weather gets cold, can I just shut the boiler down to save money? I may be naive though!

2) The tanks in the loft/attic are slimey and full of spiders webs, bird droppings and probably various dead animals too. Okay, I'm exagerating but they're not exactly clean and the (very dusty) cover was half off the big tank. Is this a problem? I mean, we're not drinking that water right? But am I showering in it? (I did say I don't know anything, didn't I?)

Many thanks. Sorry if these are very basic: I have tried to read around the topic a bit but plumbing seems very complex to me and I'm just an end-user.

 

[gas4you]

Firstly due to the age of the boiler I would not run it at max. Try it around 3.5 or 4. This may help with the banging. The system you have got is designed to have time periods set when the heating and hot water come on.

Your programmer has a common time base for heating and hot water. During the warm months you can swith the ch to off. If you say you do not use loads of hot water switch this to timed. Even though the red light may be on indicating that the hot water is on, it will only come on when the cylinder thermostat registers that the stored hot water temp has dropped as in when running a bath or shower etc.

basically the letting agent is talking a load of sh**e

 

[bobthebender]

you have Fully pumped system.
On the end of the pipe to the right of the cylinder is a small brass fitting which you could gently unscrew and let any air out,
I would put the H/W on when you need it either using the clock or manually.
Put decent covers on tanks in loft and if you pull off the knob on boiler and slide out the lower tray you will see two philips screws which will then allow you to remove the cover and you can service the boiler

 

[Izzard]

Brilliant

The FAQs here suggest that the boiler is 'kettling' because water is flowing too slowly. Turning the thermostat down sounds logical: I'll give it a go!

Thanks for your help. Any opinion on those grubby tanks in the attic?

 

[JohnD]

measure the plastic tanks, you can probably get lids to fit in your DIY shed.

When you have a lid on the big one (that you clean your teeth from) you can clean it out if you like.

If you expect to stay in the house more than a few months, you can bale out the mud from the little one to reduce the risk of losing heat during the winter.

In both cases, you tie up the ball valve to prevent refilling while you are cleaning them.

Those plastic containers look like Sentinel cleaning and inhibiting chemicals, which (if they look clean enough not to have been up there 20 years) will help stop the system getting worse.

p.s. the cooler the boiler runs, the less it will bang, and the less heat you will lose from those unlagged piopes. The fewer hours a day you run it (subject to meeting your needs for heating and hot water) the less gas it will use. I usually run mine for an hour before getting up or getting home; and timed to go off when we leave the house or go to bed. That cylinder will keep plenty of water hot enough for 24 hours for washing up, but may not stay hot enough for a bath or shower.

 

[Izzard]

That's also very useful information, thanks. I'll try setting it for a couple of hours a day and see how I get on.

I guess this confirms what I feared: we're drinking the water from that grotty tank. Maybe I should buy bottled water for drinking etc. I'll try giving them a clean anyway. I've had my head in the clouds - I always thought it was fine to drink water from the tap.

 

[gas4you]

The big tank will only supply cold water to the bathroom normally as well as all the hot taps. Kitchen cold tap will be fresh cold mains water. You can test this yourself by turning off the cold mains stop cock and seeing what cold taps still work, if any.

 

[Izzard]

The answer is that both the bathroom and kitchen taps stopped when I shut off the valve under the sink. Yay!

Thanks for all your help. I feel much better informed now.