What's the best way to run my central heating?

[Zak33]

thermostat set to 22 (below that it doesn't come on)

buy a new one and you will save lots more money

if you want a reliable old style thermostat.. Honeywell

http://www.screwfix.com/p/honeywell-...ermostat/26159

[DanceswithUnix]

buy a new one and you will save lots more money

if you want a reliable old style thermostat.. Honeywell

http://www.screwfix.com/p/honeywell-...ermostat/26159

I wonder if these days the analogue dial in those things is just an input to a PIC chip that does the control in software, so avoiding all the iffy nature of a bimetallic strip and a heating bias resistor. Would be much more reliable

This is the one I bought:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003DTK0SM

[scaryjim]

I notice you can get radio linked ones now, so you can have the 'stat in a different room to where the muppet that did such wiring originally put it.

The best ever 'stat we've had in a rented house was a digital, radio linked one. That was a great system (until the 'stat died and the landlord sent a complete numpty round to try to fix it - midle of winter and at one point he said "oh, you can't use the boiler" and tried to walk out ). Since we rent we pretty much end up with whatever's already there though. Rarely worth the investment to change it.

[Gerrard]

I am in a very similar situation, so this information is really useful. My situation is: -

- new build 2-bed coach-house; so single storey but has garages underneath.
- digital thermostat with some sort of predictive alogrithm; positioned in the hallway
- combi boiler
- TRV on all radiators except in the hallway

I moved from a 10 year old top floor flat that had a more traditional heating system (mechanical thermostat and hot water tank). I appreciate the combi boiler with regards to hot water as I only use hot water for my morning shower and washing up in the evening. So in my case, the combi boiler is massively more efficient.

However, it seems much more inefficient for heating; almost certainly due to the nature of the building. I currently program the thermostat at 12 for night and during the day on weekdays, with it picking up slightly in the morning for an hour and then up to 16 for the evening. Since I don't know when exactly I'll be back from work, this is just as a base temp and I turn it up manually to 20 when I get in. A Hive/Nest solution would probably help me here but I'm not particularly keen on networking it to the web. When I away for more than a couple of days, I switch the thermostat to a permanent 10 (it has a separate mode for this; anti-freezing or something. It defaults to 5 but I raise it to 10 to make sure).

For the radiators, I set the living room to max and the rest to midway. However, since it started to get cold, I am finding the boiler is on quite a lot, so I have tried experimenting by keeping the thermostat at 16 to warm the house and using an electric heater for the living room (set to low). I imagine this is probably worse, but I only need heat in the living room really. Also, I am a bit concerned on how the whole system works when up to temperature. The thermostat triggers the boiler every five minutes or so to stop this over shooting problem mentioned above, but I am wondering what this will do for the reliability of the boiler over a period of time with it being cycled so often? Plus, it only actually heats for a minute at a time and then seems to run the pump for another 2-3 minutes before shutting down.

[peterb]

This is the room stat I have (very slow website!)
http://www.heatingcontrolsonline.co....tat-p-395.html

[DanceswithUnix]

The thermostat triggers the boiler every five minutes or so to stop this over shooting problem mentioned above, but I am wondering what this will do for the reliability of the boiler over a period of time with it being cycled so often? Plus, it only actually heats for a minute at a time and then seems to run the pump for another 2-3 minutes before shutting down.

I asked the plumber about that, but mainly because my boiler is ancient. He said it should be fine. I was mainly worried that running an old boiler for short bursts would soot it up, but he said it was really clean and looked in good condition.

I got the impression that this sort of duty cycle system of running the boiler for a short time but very often is the modern accepted norm, and by avoiding going hotter than the desired temperature is more efficient. If that is the modern way, then I would hope that modern boilers are designed for it.

I have certainly been told in the past that running a boiler at high output will considerably shorten its life, so I keep my boiler thermostat fairly low.

Do remember for your electric heater that electricity is something like 3 or 4 times the cost per unit compared to gas.

[wasabi]

Surprised so many of you leave them on 24/7. I find it easier to sleep when the room gets properly cold - the window stays slightly ajar every night too, to let fresh air in. In the summer we run a ceiling fan.