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!

Oh no, definitely worth having a fiddle & getting times to suit. I notice that the manual pixie linked says you can set different times for weekdays & weekends & that's always a useful thing to have

(My 14.29 post meant to say 'To stop your heating coming on at 7.40 tomorrow' )

Hello helpful lovely people (hic) - isn't this a very civilised time to be in by! Pleased to report that there is no heating activity (which is excellent as bubbles make my own thermostat slightly higher!) and for you doubting Thomases, I did set my new time! Even worked out that optometrists is @ 10.50 so working backwards, 9.00 until 10.00 is a reasonable heating on time - I will update in the morning as to whether this was a success. @cotton your mention of wiring was very worrying (especially when you said you did it yourself!) - I need a life skill! I feel like a new woman (might be said bubbles!)

I know, I shocked myself doing wiring. But it was Christmas eve, we were about to go away for a week and it looked simple as a direct replacement. I turned off at mains first!

Update from me - bad news is my right eye has poorer vision (!), good news is that auto on the wall panel and 20 on the thermostat seems to be working, and heating came on @ 9.00 AM (& went off at 10.00 AM) as programmed. I did hear the pipes whine though at about 08.25 AM (both in bed so no heating or water on), and just now when I was unloading the car (yes, you can hear it outside too!) - DP says he did not run the water or put the heating on, so that's still an unsolved mystery...I should buy a temperature thingy - that way I could see if it is all working - so there is no heat on at the moment, so the house must be warmer than 20 (I'm certainly not cold and neither is DP)

Ooh and also, if it gets to summer, can I just do 'manual off'? I don't need it on auto then as we won't want the heating to come on...I know I am ahead of myself but this has really been so helpful - people don't seem to get it when I try and explain in real life!

now you have a thermostat you can use that to override the timer whenever you need to, so in the summer turn it right down to 10.

if you go away in cold weather, turn it down to 15 or so, & that way it'll fire up occasionally, prevent any freezes, & mean the house isn't too cold when you get back.

Great news that you've sorted it, well done! (Don't understand about eyes though?)

Thanks @finest - so 10 in summer, 15 if we go away in the cold weather. Got it! No well done all you great people! Oh yes, the eyes - had an eye test (random non related off piste story - I tend to do that !

I do feel a little chilly here now though (have my blanket round me) - but it must be above 20 in the house as no heating on.

if you are not in the same room as the thermostat, the temperature might not be 20C. Also if the stat is close to a radiator.

Radiators can (should) be adjusted so that the room with the stat warms up slowest, that way you have a good chance that heating will stay on until all rooms are warm. If you have TRVs in the other rooms, they will not overheat. Rooms with relatively small radiators for that room size tend to warm slower than rooms with larger radiators.

It will be useful to put a thermometer in the room where the stat is, and compare it to temperature in other rooms. 20C is quite warm.

I am not convinced the thermostat is working - it's got to be under 20 I am sure - especially in the hall where the stat is as that is where the loft hatch is and it's always chillier there...I can manually put on the heating though, but this is why I am finding the whole stat system a waste of time - surely the heating should be on gently to keep it an ambient temperature? I am going to print out the instructions tomorrow (at work, tee hee!) and get up to scratch on this...I don't have a techy bone in my body and it really seems quite complex - I just want on and off and ensuring it never drops too low. I bet if I put it to 30 now it won't come on as the heating panel has it on auto and off until tomorrow morning - maybe the stat and the panel aren't connected up right together? Sigh!

Why is it off until tomorrow morning on the timer? Has it got a

if the timer is "off" then the heating will not come on.

Both the timer and the stat have to be calling for heat to turn it on.

Don't put the stat to 30. No point.

So for today, if you want it on, you need to either change the time settings (& leave it on auto) or turn it to manual on temporarily.

If the timer is set for it to be off then turning the thermostat up will not do anything as it isn't due to be on. For the heaters to heat up you would need the timer to be in a period of being on plus the thermostat at the temperature you want.

For example my timer is set to have the heating on from 6-10 am, off from 10am-5pm and then on again from 5-10pm. It doesn't matter what I put the thermostat to between 10am-5pm, the heating won't come on as it is in the 'off' period on the timer. If I want heating in those hours I will press the boost button and it will override the timer and the heating will come on.

Sorry, I may have taken a small nap (I was cold!) I must have got it wrong - the heating panel is on auto with a timing setting of coming on again tomorrow morning (we keep different hours during the week and don't need an evening auto on as we are happy to go freestyle then), I thought that meant it would come on at the set time BUT that it would also kick in IF the temp dropped below the stat dial number (duly set to 20)? This is not the case though. This is why I don't get the need for the stat - what mode does the panel need to be in for it and the stat to work in harmony? I do promise to look at the instructions tomorrow on paper (& maybe get DP to swot up as well). Ok, sorry, doing this on phone (iPad in use for online gaming, sigh!) @finest you say I have to turn it to manual on if I want to override? Ok, that's good, can do that...I've obviously gotten confused...the boiler occasionally whining is also not helping - I would have thought that meant it was trying to come on? DF was outside earlier with me and said it wasn't supposed to do that.

I had an idea to see what the temp is - the floor heating panel for the bathroom tell you the air temp (it's next to the stat) - says its 24.5 (not sure it's accurate but perhaps I need to be more of an optimist!)

If you want to work all day and come on and off when the temperature drops below 20 degrees then it needs to be on 'once'

'Once' means it comes on at the time you have set in the morning and goes off at the latest time you have set to go off in the evening and ignores any on and off times in between those 2 times. 'Auto' means it would go on and off at all the times you have programmed. I think maybe you want the once setting if you want it controlled by thermostat all day.

If you want to boost the heating when it is off and you are cold press 'advance' and the heating will come on straight away and then go off at the time you have set it to go off again

Thank you @dementedpixie - I do hope you haven't lost complete patience with me! That makes sense - I am armed with knowledge now!

For the heating to come on first the programmer (to the right of your pictures) would gave to be switched on and the thermostat would have to be set high enough (warmer than the current room temperature) to bring the boiler on.

As you switch the heating on at the programmer, power is sent along to the thermostat. If the thermostat is up it will then send power back to the boiler.

It appears as if the heating is coming on when switched off. The audible click of the this model of thermostat can only be heard when it has power. In the correct scenario this would only occur if the programmer is switched on.

In order to check the wiring I would suggest turning the programmer to off and then turn the thermostat from minimum to maximum. Any audible click would suggest incorrect wiring.

Hi @spanglecrab - I knew something wasn't right - I have just turned the panel to off and then went and switched the stat up and down, and it does click. Damned thing! So I have a hole in my wall (well, a couple where it was channelled in) and creaky sounds at all hours because of this! I am loathe to get friends DH to sort this (even though he should) as I want someone else to - I know I'm one to talk, but I don't believe it's that hard! Would it be a big job (i.e. expensive, do you know)? Slightly annoyed at British Gas as well - admittedly I didn't mention the groaning (& it was in July, so no actual heating came on), but surely they should have checked that as well for £90? Maybe I expect too much - it's really frustrating when you have no DIY skills and not that I am flush with cash, but I would pay for jobs to be done, and properly, but no one is interested in helping. Sorry, shouldn't be woe is me, this has been so helpful (just wish I didn't have to wear ear plugs at night!) - oh there it goes whining again, arrggh!

I think even removing the stat would be for the best now - I'll already have to decorate, what's a few more holes to fill in?!

My old manual stat (similar to yours) used to click, & it was connected & worked fine, so I'm not sure what that's about I liked it because I could tell immediately whether or not the boiler would be coming on!

With that one the roomstat was downstairs & the electronic timer was upstairs next to the boiler.

When the new boiler was fitted the plumber uninstalled the electronic timer & manual stat, & replaced them with a combined manual timer/stat downstairs, which I wasn't consulted about. The new one didn't click & the new boiler didn't ignite with a whoosh like the old one so I used to have to go upstairs to check if it was on or not.

Don't give up on your room stat yet, jeffrey. Get it all checked out. I always preferred being able to override the timer with the room stat when necessary