Heating/thermostat confusion - please help

[unbelievablejeffrey]

After years of having no thermostat and thinking it was a great idea to get one, I got one installed and now the heating is all over the place. It is a dial that you can move from 10 (lowest) to 30 (highest). Operation was not explained, and now heating comes on all the time whether it is at 10 or 30. It overrides the timer (which is actually all I wanted to work, no one was willing to show me how - believe me I tried over a few winters!) I think I want it removed (thermostat) - can this be done? I now know how to use the timer (typical). To explain, the thermostat dial is in the hall, the heating panel is in the kitchen and the boiler in the loft (not sure if this is relevant, but to provide details). The CH 'whines' when it kicks in - I actually used to find this reassuring, but now it comes on of its own accord, it's actually quite irritating/worrying. You may have guessed I am not a DIY person!

[dementedpixie]

Our thermostat is in the hall and the timer is in the kitchen. The timer turns the heating on when required and the thermostat determines whether the heaters heat up (if it is cold enough to trigger the heaters to heat up) and how hot the rooms get (once the area at the thermostat reaches the required temperature the heating will go off again until the temperature drops enough to trigger it to go on again).

[dementedpixie]

Our thermostat is set around 19/20 degrees and the heating is set to come on for a few hours in the morning and evening. I can also boost it during the day if I am cold

[unbelievablejeffrey]

Thanks @dementedpixie (sorry, don't know how to highlight names!) Maybe I should try 20 degrees (it's in the middle after all!) - I'm not worried about the evening as we both often work late and it quickly heats up when it is on - I am just confused as to why it comes on all the time now (& will it bankrupt me?!) - I had a service on the boiler (British Gas) in August and they said all was fine - pressure dropped a couple of times (apparently quite normal in combis?), I have been keeping my eye on it and it's been over a month and it hasn't dropped (i.e. no hot water until I re pressurise) which is good...my DP is not a DIY person either...happy to pay for someone to come and look, but just like the decorating job I need doing, no one seems interested - trust me, if I knew a local handyman, he would get his money's worth out of me!

[PigletJohn]

Please post a photo of your thermostat and timer.

[unbelievablejeffrey]

Please ignore hole in wall (don't ask!)

[FinestGrundyTurkey]

You appear to have it set at 30???

That's why it's on all the time! It's trying to make your house as hot as North Africa!

Turn it to 20 & see how it goes then

[PigletJohn]

If the knob is turned to 10, the heating should not come on unless the temperature in that room drops to 10 degrees C. It should normally be set to about 20.

Unless it has been incorrectly connected, it should not override the timer. The heating should only come on if the timer is on and the thermostat is also calling for heat.

[FinestGrundyTurkey]

Although it shouldn't be on when the times say it should be off. There'll probably be ON OFF AUTO settings on the timer - you want AUTO to make the timer work. (If it's set at ON that'll be 24/7)

[unbelievablejeffrey]

Thanks @Finest - yes, I was going for a desert feel! So what happend the other day is we knocked the dial down to ten (accidentally - I tend not to touch things if I can help it!), and I could hear a ticking sound coming from the spare room. Heating light was not on (I presumed, which I now know not to be true, that heating is only on when light is on the kitchen panel). DP came in and we are up in the loft. Nothing. Then he feels the pipes in the spare room - boiling hot! Two of the rads (hall and kitchen which are coldest rooms), were on low. I couldn't stand the ticking so I whacked it back to 30 and all the rads went off, which to me goes against thermostat logic - Surely they should be on all the time if the heating goes under 30? I'm now going to put it on 20.

[unbelievablejeffrey]

@Piglet - yes, and what house goes under 10? I would have thought if I put it on 10, it would never auto come on (feel free to correct me if I am getting this all wrong - trust me, have been on the web and canvassed real life opinions - no one seems to know - knew mumsnet would )

[dementedpixie]

Maybe it's been installed incorrectly and that's why it's working at the wrong times/ the wrong heat level

[dementedpixie]

Yes if it is set to 10 and the temperature doesn't drop below that level then the heaters shouldn't heat up

[unbelievablejeffrey]

So what I am going to do now is set thermostat to 20 and put on 'auto' as per the advice - options on timer I have are 'auto', 'once' 'manual on' and 'manual off (no confusion there then!) - I always have it on 'manual off' (but then with the heating to set to come on in the weekday mornings). In the evening, if I'm chilly, we pop it on the '+' button which allows 1, 2 or 3 hours heat (which you can then turn off when it gets toasty by pressing the same button again.

[unbelievablejeffrey]

I do suspect dodge installation (see hole in wall) - all a bit unfortunate, friends DH did it (not mates rates I hasten to add!) - all I wanted was someone to show me how the heating works on timer! I know I must sound like an incredibly rubbish person on all this, but the timer never made sense - what you have to do is set it to 'once' but then you have to input the time you want it on and the time you want it off in. Perfect, that's is the idiots heating panel. But no, you have to put these times in twice! Makes no sense. I should just buy lots of wooly jumpers, shouldn't I?!

[dementedpixie]

w3.siemens.co.uk/buildingtechnologies/uk/en/building-automation/residential-controls/documentation/Documents/rwb27_i.pdf - should be the instructions for the heating controls

[dementedpixie]

You need it on auto to switch on and off at preset times during the day

[dementedpixie]

'Once' basically means it's on all day

[unbelievablejeffrey]

Thank you so much - I'm out for the rest of the day now but will be in watching like a hawk tomorrow! The only slight issue is now it says 'auto' and says heating off until 07.40 AM - I don't want the heating to come on then, I'll hopefully be in a prosecco induced sleep! Still, as long as I sort it out before the summer when I don't need it at all, all will be well. Thanks so much for the help, really appreciate it a lot.

[FinestGrundyTurkey]

To stop your heating coming on at 7.40, try turning the thermostat down to about 15 overnight.

Means the house will be cooler when you get up but that's probably better than stuffy

[dementedpixie]

Or change the timings so that it goes on and off when you want it to

[Sallyingforth]

Or change the timings so that it goes on and off when you want it to

Just that!

[FinestGrundyTurkey]

I somehow doubt that OP will be up to changing the times when she comes in from a good night out

[dementedpixie]

Suppose not

[Sallyingforth]

No reason not to set it tomorrow though.

[CottonSock]

I'm sure you will get the hang of it, timer to have on during morning and evening. Thermostat set around 20. If I'm home all day I set to once, or even better press 'advance'. We did once have a boiler that started turning itself on (despite being off). In the end I had to replace it, kept waking me up every (in august) night stupid thing.. Another time thermostat failed and heating was set to 30. I managed to replace myself as bought identical unit and copied wiring.