Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Cost of living

Stretching your budget? Share tips and advice to discuss budgeting and energy saving here. For the latest deals and discounts, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

Is a thermostatic radiator valve worth adding and do i already have one

12 replies

Dumdidums · 19/01/2023 01:17

I am just looking at ways to reduce my gas bill which seems to have shot up and is upsetting me. I am reading that adding a thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) to radiators should help by not wasting energy heating some rooms. Is this true ??

My second perhaps stupid and embarrassing question is do my radiators already have a TRV . Please see attached pictures. I have never thought about turning the knobs on the radiators to see what happens 😔

Is a thermostatic radiator valve worth adding and do i already have one
Is a thermostatic radiator valve worth adding and do i already have one
Is a thermostatic radiator valve worth adding and do i already have one
OP posts:
starpatch · 19/01/2023 02:44

Hi, I have just been looking into this myself. No I don't think you already have one. I am getting it done its quite expensive a few hundred because they have to drain the system. In my case its often only 14.7 downstairs in my house and I have a non TRV in my hallway so that radiator is on all the time when the boiler is on and only heats the stairs. Also I needed to get a bigger radiator in my extension as the single one was just insufficient for the size room. So I decided it was worth the money and have booked in the work- but not sure really if it is worth it for me!
I guess for you it depends whether your main living room is slow to heat up? Are there rooms you don't use?

Scramble1805 · 19/01/2023 10:23

They are not thermostatic valves but they can be used to turn the radiator off completely in unused rooms. Warning though, only do this if you know what your doing, we turned off 3 of ours this way and 2 of them started leaking because of the age of the valves, just weren't up to being moved. (But husband managed to fix them after a lot of swearing and muttering that they should have been left alone 🙄)

Original poster
Dumdidums · 19/01/2023 10:47

Hello, Thanks for the replies. Is it cheaper to change to a TRV valve or to change the whole radiator to something newer and to what i assume will be a more energy efficient system.
There is one room which isn't used that much but the issue is also that when i go away eg over Christmas I would like to not turn the boiler off but to keep a low level of heat flowing through the radiators so i am hoping that adding a TRV will help with this as well.

OP posts:
GasPanic · 19/01/2023 11:03

Your system looks like it has seen some action.

If you are going to change to TRV yes it probably makes sense to change the radiator at the same time because the cost of them is relatively cheap, it's normally the labour and actually getting someone to do the work that is the cost.

I doubt whether a TRV will help you that much. I would be more inclined to turn the radiator off in the room you are not using...that said fiddling around with the knobs after they haven't been touched for 20 years might lead to some problems with the valves/maintenance requirement. I took one of my TRVs off the other day and gave it a good squirt of WD40 to loosen it all up first.

If you want to lower your gas bill probably insulation is the first place I would look. It tends to be the most cost effective way of saving energy.

Original poster
Dumdidums · 19/01/2023 21:36

GasPanic · 19/01/2023 11:03

Your system looks like it has seen some action.

If you are going to change to TRV yes it probably makes sense to change the radiator at the same time because the cost of them is relatively cheap, it's normally the labour and actually getting someone to do the work that is the cost.

I doubt whether a TRV will help you that much. I would be more inclined to turn the radiator off in the room you are not using...that said fiddling around with the knobs after they haven't been touched for 20 years might lead to some problems with the valves/maintenance requirement. I took one of my TRVs off the other day and gave it a good squirt of WD40 to loosen it all up first.

If you want to lower your gas bill probably insulation is the first place I would look. It tends to be the most cost effective way of saving energy.

Thank you for the advice, i wouldnt mind new radiators but im always a bit concerned about having workmen in for too long

OP posts:
Pradapopsyloulou · 19/01/2023 22:15

We bought a Honeywell system. Needs an electrician to install it. All works on wifi via phone. All rads controlled independently so for the rooms unused we turn them down to say 16. Other rooms programmed depending on use e..g. conservatory kitchen in use from 7.00 a.m programmed to 22 for an hour then goes off until An hour before dinner. Bedroom rad comes on for an hour before bed, and 30 minutes before we get up. Really easy to use and saves on bills. Re your rads - when system was changed over, our plumber came and disconnected the rads and flushed them all through and added some sort of inhibitor to the system to keep them running properly. It’s never worked so well. There is an upfront cost of controller and rad valves are c£70 each plus batteries so not cheap but well worth it to us as we save on fuel so it will eventually cover its own cost and we are contributing a bit less to emissions as boiler not working so hard!

JamMakingWannaBe · 19/01/2023 22:30

The grey coloured larger knobbly knob should control how hot/cold your radiator is depending on how far you open/close, ie turn, it.

Modern ones have numbers and, usually, a frost setting. You will just have to experiment with turning yours.

You may well be able to replace it with a modern one from Screwfix etc. This is a fairly simple DIY job. Have a look at YouTube videos.

FatAgainItsLettuceTime · 19/01/2023 22:37

@Dumdidums we had 8 radiators switched in 1 day, it's a pretty quick job.

BorgQueen · 20/01/2023 13:40

Unless you use a heating engineer who knows how to properly balance the flow of your central heating, trvs are probably a waste of money.

Turn your flow temperature down to 50° on your boiler and if the house is warm enough, great, if not then turn it up by 2° increments until it’s good. Mine is fine at 55° when it’s below freezing outside.
It might take a bit longer to get the house warm at first but it will stay warm for longer and your boiler will use up to 20% less gas 😉

starpatch · 27/01/2023 19:42

I just want to report back on the work I had done today. Slightly off topic as I had a radiator replaced which I decided was too small in my kitchen diner, as well as getting valves changed over so now the fixed one is in my living room and the thermostatic one is in my hallway which I am just going to keep turned off. Its made an amazing difference- I am feeling very smug! Previously it has seldom got above 15C since late November, has been usually about 13.7 downstairs today only an hour after turning boiler back on it reached 18c! Its 4C outside here today. It was more involved than planned though as when they tried to refill the system they couldn't because a part was not working- fortunately they were heating engineers and easily sorted it. Am on a fairly low income so it was significant spending for me to get it done.

BorgQueen · 28/01/2023 10:53

Yes a bigger modern radiator with a high btu rating works wonders, I’m getting a full height ladder style one for my bathroom, the current one isn’t even 1000 btus, the new one will be 2700, it will make a huge difference and will dry towels faster than hanging them over the bannister. It’s got to wait though as DH only drained and cleaned the CH in October so doesn’t want to waste £30 worth of inhibitor that he put in.

starpatch · 28/01/2023 18:40

:-) enjoy your new radiator when you get it

New posts on this thread. Refresh page