Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Oh all these headaches we're now getting with super efficient heating systems.

sadly no more of "it's a bit chilly love, shove another lump of coal on the fire"

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Ah, the "good old days’…

We had things then we don’t have now - you know, like Diptheria, rickets, smog…

https://www.history.co.uk/articles/g...lled-thousands

Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be… ;)

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

well that's how it works here, i have a sold fuel stove [does great roasted chestnuts]

my neighbour has a wood burner, he fuels it with scrap wood he picks up here and there for free, i think he was burning some wood he got from the fish dock last night as it smelt like he was smoking kippers

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

You're right Hugh, things we had then that we don't have now . .

Crap Politicians
Union Strikes
Football Hooligans
Regular public transport (unless striking)
Industry
-
-
Dentists :D

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Sounds like it's working correctly now with the temperature.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Yes. The electrician said do you want it set to how it is now after he removed the old kit. I said no thinking it'll get too hot but that's not the case. I've since gone up one to 22c on the thermostat.

My boiler is behaving differently with this new kit. It's running a lot more efficiently and is condensing more. My previous kit would fire up the boiler and let it reach max temperature levels set at the boiler. This new kit is only reaching temperatures in the 40's which what the installer of the boiler 10 years ago told me, 'let the boiler run on constant in the 40's' for low bills and comfortable temperatures. The thermostat obviously dictates the off and on temperatures. Impressive thus far.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

The heating was busier last night, coolest night since before summer.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

BREAKING NEWS: My heating went on today. Over ruled it and switched it off, it was being over dramatic.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

make sure you wake up with both testicles in the morning;)

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

The room thermostat is one in a chain of switches that need to be "closed" for the system to burn gas.

With the Boiler Controller timer set to "on", by being set to "constant" or "timed On":

Gas pressure OK
Water pressure OK
Flame lit and stable
Air pump OK

It will run the circulation pump without burning gas if the water is hot enough and the thermostat is closed.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

I appreciate the breakdown :tu: you say thermostat closed twice to do two different actions though.

SnoopZ, 22c is perfect thanks :tu:

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

2 situations: burning gas, and not burning gas.

The latter can cause confusion, as people think that flames will erupt as soon as the room thermostat trips on. That won't happen until the boiler internal thermostat detects outgoing water under the set temperature and with the circulation pump running.

If you listen carefully, you will hear the circulation pump start to run before the boiler even tries to burn gas. It's one of the many safety features.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Sign of the times Taf, everything should happen instantly or it's thought of as broken :D

Us old uns remember turning the TV or Radio on and waiting 5 minutes for the valves to warm up :LOL:

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Am I the only person who thinks Mr K is an extremely unfunny miserable human?

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Yes :D

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

you think he's human:shrug:

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

There are plenty of other things I could have said but didn't want to get banned. :D

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Do you have the DT4 installer menu breakdown please? The gas man said they are programmed to work out the box. I'm just curious what everything does or means :)

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Our earliest valve TV had 2 switches: the first turned on the heating elements to warm the valves, the second, operated a couple of minutes later, turned on the HT (High Tension voltages). This was to prevent cathode-stripping which ruined thermionic valves very quickly.

As I joined the RAF, thermionic valves were starting to be replaced by discrete transistors. A few years later we were up to our eyes in Integrated Circuits and logic boards.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Wow! That takes me back to the RA17s we used at RAF Digby in the mid-70s…

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

I think hes a troll, but I also thought that post (of his) was rather amusing. :)

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

RA17s were one of the bits of kit I looked after during that period. Also ILS, CADF, mincomms. BUHF...

Then I moved onto DCN in Cyprus, then Speedrace in Scotland, SHF relay in NATO, and finally kit to make comms with the Nimrods in Cornwall.

---------- Post added at 20:03 ---------- Previous post was at 18:15 ----------

Incidentally, one huge drawback with thermionic valves was the thermy bit. They produced masses of heat.

No need of central heating in an equipment room, in fact many required shorts and t-shirts as standard wear all year round.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Think how we felt at Digby - underground with over 100 operators each with 2 RA17s…

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Our building was above ground at Pitreavie Castle, but I often had to go down, down, down behind the blast doors to do repairs.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Keep yer eyes peeled lads (and lasses) I think we have a mole in here selling stories to the BBC . . . It'll be 'what media did you last buy' next :D

The best time to turn on the heating – according to you

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgqly9ynnd4o

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Well it's definitely not the Grim Reaper(Mr K)! :D

It's definitely colder this weekend when my heating triggers at 6am it's on alot longer before it gets to 19c and then doesn't turn off as it ramps up to 21c until later in the morning. I may have to review my temperature settings.

---------- Post added at 09:22 ---------- Previous post was at 08:15 ----------

I wanted to know whether it was more energy efficient to heat my hot water tank at the same time as my radiators, my thinking was use the same gas to heat both means I save money, but it looks like that's not the case, anyway this is an interesting read, whether it's accurate is anyone's guess.

House Hold Energy Myths.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

I've worked this out scientifically bellow is my working out


when you're cold hope this helps, have a nice day and stay warm

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

MORE BREAKING NEWS: the heatings come on again ! I allowed it for 10 mins as it seemed keen.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Unheard of in this day and age . . man solves question using common sense :D

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

I was OK wearing a sweatshirt around the house, but the twins and missus said it was time to put the heating on.

So I tripped it on.... and only the circulation pump is running. I can frig it to start burning gas, but that only lasts for about 10 seconds.

Time to call a fixer.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Atleast it's not -5c outside like it was late December last year, I returned from Christmas at parents putting the heating on 12hrs before I got home, it went off at 10pm as expected but never came on again so the house was 9c when i arrived!!! Even Mr K would moan at that.

Because of the time of year I had to wait several days before the fault was diagnosed and eventually fixed, in my case the fan had seized in my antique boiler. This pushed me to get the boiler replaced 5 months later in warmer weather.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

I had to replace the fan three times in my very old boiler . . the first time it happened I watched the gas fitter do it, did it myself after that.

I wouldn't touch the new combi type thing I have now . . just like cars, they've got too clever to play with yourself

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Is it manslaughter if something fatal were to occur ?

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Yeah probably.

We're all classed as useless now aren't we :D

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

It was really cool overnight (last night) which kept the heating busy again.
In fact it almost triggered my systems "Winter mode" (sets Hive 0.5ºC higher).

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

No :Yikes:

In other news my heating came on for the first time this morning. Sky and the BBC news sites have been informed that it may now be a bit cooler outside :D

My flat cap and big coat might be needed outside.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

The fitter pulled the main fuse, waited 10 seconds, then put it back in. The actuator slid into action, and the heating started to run. 7 months of non-use had made it hang up.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

just lit the stove

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

not envious at all . . not me . . nope . . honest . . not at all . . really . . :sulk:

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Loving my new heating, I can't believe how bad it was before.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Candles are the best way to warm the house. If you use ear wax, it's free. Top tip.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

What do you tight arses do with your money if you're not turning the heating on ?

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Loose women and beer. Much better vfm.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Mr K finally revealed. :D

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/atta...1&d=1762116770

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Stoves on and it's like an oven in here

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

This morning was the first time this season that the pipework "clinking" woke me when the heating tripped on.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

My house got down to 17c last night, my heating turns off at 10pm and on again at 19c at 6.30am.

What do you have your thermostat set to if it has only just triggered?

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

When it drops to below 14 then it goes on.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

The timer switches it off at 11pm, and back on at 7am. The olde worlde thermostat in the downstairs corridor is set for 17.5c, but it actually gets the hall to around 20c, and allows all the other rooms with TRVs to linger around 20c too.

As colder nights appear, 13.5tog quilts keep us warm, and any early riser (normally just me) gets to burn brown fat

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Are you an Eskimo ?

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

That's not good for your health unless you're sleeping.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

My DT4 is out of this world, I love it. I can't believe how bad the dial thermostat was. This new set up set on continuous at 22c is lovely and comfortable. I haven't touched the whole system since close to installation when I was figuring out the perfect temperature. the dial was unbearable, too hot or too cold never hit the sweet spot rendering it not fit for purpose.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Continuous at 22c 24/7 must cost you a fortune.

My new boiler is working great with the hive and heating set between 19-21 5.30am-10pm.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Projected costs are near government calculation of a typical household. But given prices have gone up I suspect you're right. For the last month it was around £100 for gas, times that by 12 + electric I'm looking to pay around £2000 for the year.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Moving into the 21st century can mean quantum leaps in improvements to life.

I was the same moving to solid state memory instead of mechanical hard drives on my PC.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Patience taf, you're too excited ;)

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Alot cheaper for me in my 2 bed, but I guess you do work from home, when I leave for work my gas is off for heating, my November bill is £54 Gas and £53 Electricity.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

I guess it depends on what you think is a fortune.

My house is kept above 22, and in this current really cold weather its using the most (Dec was just over £110, Jan will be higher with the cold/freezing spell).
As we get towards spring, it starts to fall off a lot, to about £85 in March and £60 in April - this does include the water heating and standing charge which is constant all year (at about £20 a month). Our house is occupied 24/7 and there is only a small 1-2 hour window when no one is up and about.

My electric use is surprisingly steady over the year. One small bedroom has no radiator in it, so its got an electric [oil] radiator instead, as a result my electric use is a little higher when its cold (by about £5 a week).

I dont consider this to be a fortune, I do consider being warm and comfortable a reasonable use of my money. :)

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Very true it's not a fortune, bad choice of words from me, but as Thenry works from home and has it on 22c at night when I have mine off because I'm sleeping it's understandable. If I was retired or worked from home mine would be on during the day constantly like it is on the weekends.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

To some it is indeed a fortune because they choose to do other things with the money they could use to stay toasty.

My calculations were whack . Give or take from less demanding months vice versa. Octopus estimate £1000 gas and £800 electric. Roughly near £2000 I reckon for the year.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Mine set at 18 , 24/7

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Had to turn mine off an hour ago, set at 18C and the house was roasting :shocked:

I think I must live in a localised 'hot spot' . . it still hasn't snowed here yet :D

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

18c is considered chilly, mines currently set to 20c and Ive had to put a jumper on.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Shorts and t shirt 365 here in out shake it all about :D

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Are you from New Zealand? My neighbour opposite does the same just before he leaves to spend 6 months there.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

No but I love kits (cats) :D I can't do flip flops neither, the toe part makes me cringe eww.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Never found this. Shorts and t shirt is order of the day. However the thermostat is in the "coldest" location in the house. So guess most parts are greater than that .

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

So in the end the council took care of it all. I did try a tradesmen for better kit but it wasn't happening. I was always under the illusion that like for like changes are permitted. New internal doors in place of old cardboard like doors. :shrug:

My boiler now takes some time to reach temperature. An engineer came out and said it might be the fan on its way out or main board but both held it's own while testing. I guess I'm not going to know now until winter kicks in. Normally it would boost but that's not been happening recently.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Stupid question is it set to economy?

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

There is no eco setting only the ability to keep water hot so it's near instant at the tap which I have off. I don't know of the engineers menu.

Combi boiler is a vaillant ecotec pro 28

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Can't be bothered to google, but wouldn't the name 'ecotec' suggest either an eco setting . . or possibly it's only operating parameter :shrug:

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

From past experience get a second or even a third. opinion Before I have mine ripped out completely, I had a combi. It had a leak only small but a clear leak , had contact with BG to look after it. Engineer one " fixed" the the leak after about an hour. Next day it was leaking again. Engineer 2 said it was water caught on the pipes dried it well that took 10 mins . Next day it's still leaking. Engineer 3 came out. Took one quick look , went outside went on his phone, body language said he was not a happy guy. He was here for nearly 4 hours had 2 other people come to see him . The boiler was basically taken apart and rebuilt. He told me in the end that the problem was ******* obvious, and that any one that had a clue would d have clearly seen it. Shown the part with clear water marks , on it. boss came round apologize and gave my wife a bouquet of flowers for all the problems caused . Said the others had been sacked . Who knows if that was true. That's when I had had enough, and had it all replaced.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

We were part of a group of council homes that were moved from Baxi back boilers in the living room gas fire hearth to Baxi wall-mounted combi-boilers.

They all suffered problems, from minor to major and dangerous, with ours having every part, apart from the case and wall plate, swapped for new.

So the council changed to a single Worcester model which was overpowered for our home but just adequate for most.

All OK for a year or so, then drips and auto shutdowns started. It was always the same component that failed, a pressure bladder that developed pinhole leaks. Once their initial stock of spare bladders had been used up, the new ones all worked perfectly.

Our was installed as "on-demand" only on the downstairs loo wall, 6 feet from the kitchen tap and directly below the bath, so there are no long runs of pipe to lose heat when the boiler kicks into life when a hot tap is opened. We lost the attic cold tank and airing cupboard hot water tank, but a neighbour had the boiler fitted into the airing cupboard, feeding a pressurised hot water tank. They soon learnt not to leave the system keeping tank water hot 24/7! Their system is on a waiting list to be moved into their downstairs loo, losing the hot water tank and reducing their gas consumption significantly.

Moving the boiler into the downstairs loo is also a precursor to a heat pump being installed at some point, "when costs drop to an affordable level." A couple of test systems were fitted in the summer of 2023, using the existing 15mm pipe and radiators. The tenants complained that the pumps ran almost 24/7 during the colder months, achieving only 17.5c around the house and not providing enough water even for a shallow bath. And then there were the higher costs, as electricity is about 5 times higher than mains gas. And their neighbours were constantly complaining about the incessant noise.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

I’ve been following heat pump developments for around 20 years now, as when we moved to our previous house we were off mains gas and didn’t even have heating oil like most of the neighbours - the house still had an open coal fire with back boiler. Back then, air-source heat pumps just weren’t an option unless you lived in a small, hermetically sealed and super-insulated chalet of the sort common in Scandinavia but non-existent in the UK. They were returning an efficiency of 3:1 if you were very lucky. Ground source heat pumps on the other hand were 4:1 or maybe a little better.

We went some way down the road of planning just such an installation but the problems began to multiply. The first problem was, back then, the established big companies were only set up to design and install large commercial projects. In response to that there were a few cottage industries popping up trying to serve domestic customers, but largely they were trying to profit off knowledge they had initially gained doing an entirely DIY installation of their own. They were interested in selling equipment but less interested in end to end design and project management. So our ground source project went from horizontal loops to collect the heat, then a vertical borehole (once it became clear we didn’t have nearly enough garden to lay the amount of horizontal collector pipe we’d need), then two vertical boreholes, at which point the whole thing was prohibitively expensive. Had the company we’d been talking to been prepared to take the entire project on and begin with a heat loss assessment of the house a lot of time and effort could have been saved.

In the end we went with wood pellets and installed a very pretty Italian burner which lived happily in the hearth formerly occupied by a Rayburn stove, but like all things Italian it was fiery yet temperamental. And getting spare parts was a nightmare because the manufacturer had given sole distributor rights to a small company way up in the northern highlands. We had a ridiculous situation a couple of times where we had to have our repairer talk to them, to get them to order something from Italy, which would be onwards delivered twice within Scotland before someone brought it to the house. More than a fortnight with no heating on two occasions (thankfully, living in a rural community, it’s easy to borrow loads of electric radiators).

These days I see all the talk of life-expired gas boilers being replaced by air source heat pumps and I just know the next national scandal is going to be the noise nuisance caused by entire streets worth of the things all kicking in at the same time on winter evenings. Even the best-made ones are far from silent, and like all things that have fans that move on bearings, the older they get the noisier they get. If it came to it and I had to have one, despite the cost and the disruption I would probably still want to turn a third of my garage over to a ground-source machine with the largest heat reservoir I could afford, and feed it from a single borehole in the back lawn. Though I still think we are going to see a government u-turn on the phasing out of gas, and a move to mixing green hydrogen into the public gas supply, probably about 5 years after the first complaints about noise and electrical overload start hitting the headlines.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

It's been a year since I got my new system boiler installed and I've had no problems with it so far, it heats the house very quickly compared to the old heap of junk, I didnt even need to wear a jumper in the colder months like I used to.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Friends in North Sweden and Southwest Norway both have ground and airsource heatpumps. The former is a 4-storey block of flats, built with insulation in mind 30 years ago, but recently had to have extra internal and external cladding added to reach the MINIMUM insulation levels required to get them warm enough in winter. But that minimum is 18c with the pumps running 24/7. And no hot water! The latter had to move into a new-build bungalow when their old place was condemned, as it was unable to be insulated sufficiently. Both still have to add extra heat using electricity in the dark winters.

Apart from feeling chilly in their homes, often under 18c, noise is their biggest bugbear. The pumps have to be a minimum distance from homes and often sit behind baffle walls to reduce the noise and under roofing to protect them from snowfall. A noisy fan is liable to have something poked through the grill to stop the fan if a repairman is not on site ASAP! My friend in Sweden could not believe how they are installed in the UK. She called them "naked" with no cover and minimal insulation of the pipework.

The "latest innovation" dropped onto them "for Green reasons" was heat pump tumble dryers. Sure they use less electricity, but the heat source is the air from the room they are in! And I was told that they take AGES longer to dry the clothes.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

We have a heat pump dryer which is pretty efficient and doesn’t take noticeably longer to dry anything - I guess it may depend what you have. We bought all Bosch gear new when we moved house, and it’s a universe apart from the Indesit Group crap we’d always bought before.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

I'm cold even though my home thermostat is showing 22 :( I've set it to 24

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

I would say put on more clothing rather than put the heating on at silly high temp.

My house says 21.9c I'm sitting here in jeans and T-shirt and the heating has only come on for 7mins today and that was at 8.45am.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

I'm tucked up in bed. Heating fired up warming up the place which feels much better now. Thermostat says 22.5 it's off now. 24 would be silly.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Hope you're not ill.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

I think I'm just tired. I dragged myself out of bed at 12:30pm I could have slept a lot longer but football starts at 1pm. I fell asleep for the boxing main event last night too. :(

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Mine still pops on for periods overnight when it gets cooler, but hasnt really triggered much in the daytime for the last 2-3 weeks.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

Put ours on a quick boost this morning. It was a pretty cool 18.4 in the kitchen.

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

I woke up to 18.5 reading on the thermostat this morning :shocked: I've had the heating on ever since the cold discovery :(

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

i've got my dressing gown on,warm n comfy and cost nowt to run

Re: When does your Heating usually go on?
 

:Yes: easy to keep warm with a wooly jumper and a 'smoking jacket' :D