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Original poster

new house heating system mind boggling

59 replies

stevalnamechanger · 05/12/2022 20:36

Is there some kind of service to pay for someone to come round and explain how everything works ?! And set it up

I am in a right mess .

We have a boiler and an immersion tank .

Turned the tank off as this is what it said online to due to costs however now the boiler is only giving limited amounts of hot water ... enough for one shower .. not a full bath full

Any bright ideas anyone?!

OP posts:
iknowimcoming · 05/12/2022 23:14

It's worth knowing that your boiler can't heat the radiators and the water at the same time so if you were 'blasting' the thermostat up to warm the house at the same time as you ran the bath, the boiler couldn't replenish the hot water iyswim?

You're best off using the timer to heat your water (at times when the heating isn't running) maybe try like an hour in the morning and evening and reduce/increase the time it's on as necessary, likewise with the heating - select what temp you want the house to be and leave the stat alone, then run the heating at the times you would normally be blasting it and adjust as required.

iknowimcoming · 05/12/2022 23:16

And you shouldn't need to be doing stuff in the loft - it's all controlled with the timer and the stat!

WhatWouldTheDoctorDo · 06/12/2022 07:58

If you've just moved in, it might be worth paying for a service to make sure everything is working as it should, and also to understand the most energy efficient way to use your system, particularly given the cost of fuel.

We live in a new build and just had ours serviced - turned out the settings chosen by the builders were using far more energy than required. The heating engineer explained what everything was and how to use (we had moved from combi boiler only to boiler plus cylinder).

Original poster
stevalnamechanger · 06/12/2022 10:21

iknowimcoming · 05/12/2022 23:14

It's worth knowing that your boiler can't heat the radiators and the water at the same time so if you were 'blasting' the thermostat up to warm the house at the same time as you ran the bath, the boiler couldn't replenish the hot water iyswim?

You're best off using the timer to heat your water (at times when the heating isn't running) maybe try like an hour in the morning and evening and reduce/increase the time it's on as necessary, likewise with the heating - select what temp you want the house to be and leave the stat alone, then run the heating at the times you would normally be blasting it and adjust as required.

Thanks ! Very helpful !

Sorry this all sounds so stupid but totally new to me

OP posts:
F4chrissakes · 06/12/2022 11:03

Our system does let you heat the hot water and radiators at the same time or separately as well if we want. For example, we have both water and heat on on the morning, but heat only in the evening. Your manual will tell you how to set it up to suit your lifestyle.

dementedpixie · 06/12/2022 12:16

It's worth knowing that your boiler can't heat the radiators and the water at the same time so if you were 'blasting' the thermostat up to warm the house at the same time as you ran the bath, the boiler couldn't replenish the hot water iyswim?

I dint think this is true. Some systems don't let you have the hot water on unless you have the heating on at the same time

My hot water is on for 1 hour in the morning and the heating goes on at the same time but is on for longer.

F4chrissakes · 06/12/2022 13:02

Our system lets us heat hot water only (as in independent of the central heating )but the bathroom radiator comes on too, it's some sort of overflow thing for the hot water only system. So when it's too hot to want the bathroom radiator on (like in Summer) we turn the boiler off altogether and rely on the immersion for hot water. We can also, if we want, have heating only, independent of the hot water. We sometimes use this if going away to prevent the house getting too cold and to avoid frozen pipes.

atsusnaiboyz · 06/12/2022 13:08

I've a four pipe system and I can heat water and heating at the same time?

ApolloandDaphne · 06/12/2022 13:12

All the heating systems I have had allow you to heat water and radiators at the same time.

mewkins · 06/12/2022 13:53

My old boiler meant that I could only heat the hot water and radiators together. That meant that in the summer I still had to have the master radiator on in the hallway if I wanted hot water. Life is so different with a combi!

iknowimcoming · 06/12/2022 17:31

ApolloandDaphne · 06/12/2022 13:12

All the heating systems I have had allow you to heat water and radiators at the same time.

Lol, apologies if I've confused anyone, I'm not a heating engineer and obviously there's plenty of different systems around, but all the houses I've lived in prior to my current one had the system where the boiler would only do one thing at a time (new builds approx 25 and 20 and 15 years ago if that makes a difference). You could have your timer set to have both heating and hot water on at the same time but the boiler couldn't actually run them together iyswim. I only found this out when the valve that switches between heating and h/w stuck and the engineer explained it to me, he also told me that (again maybe this was just my particular system) the boiler would always prioritise h/w over heating if both were turned on at the same time. So it was true in my old houses but perhaps not in everyone's Wink

PigletJohn · 06/12/2022 21:39

What colour is your hot-water cylinder?
(This is not a joke)
And what size?

Do you know how old the boiler is? Does it have a pressure gauge and a temperature display? What temperature is it?

stevalnamechanger · 06/12/2022 23:26

This reply has been withdrawn

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

PigletJohn · 07/12/2022 00:01

Then it is extremely unlikely to need a gravity setting.

As it is quite big, it will need the boiler on HW for around an hour to fully heat it from cold. You may as well heat it every day on the timer, starting shortly before regular bath/shower time.

Some people think it is costly to keep the cylinder hot, but it is very well insulated, so keeping it hot will not cost much in lost energy. It will lose somewhere between 1kWh and 1.5kWh per day, which, using gas, costs around 6pence. The electric immersion heater will cost more, so turn it off unless the boiler breaks down.

You still have to pay for the hot water you use, of course, but HW is not expensive, if heated by gas

PigletJohn · 07/12/2022 00:15

I estimate that it is around 6ft tall and 2ft wide. I expect it holds around 300 litres which is a popular size for a larger house.

OOI, a bath uses around 100 litres of water, and a shower around half that (varies with time). Many householders only need to heat tbe cylinder once a day.

I see several unlagged pipes. You should insulate them. Better flooring would also be safer.

Original poster
stevalnamechanger · 07/12/2022 11:30

Yes will get those done .

It's on the list to have the whole loft Re insulated and the pipes , and the flooring .

Thanks so much super helpful

OP posts:
Original poster
stevalnamechanger · 07/12/2022 11:31

PigletJohn · 07/12/2022 00:15

I estimate that it is around 6ft tall and 2ft wide. I expect it holds around 300 litres which is a popular size for a larger house.

OOI, a bath uses around 100 litres of water, and a shower around half that (varies with time). Many householders only need to heat tbe cylinder once a day.

I see several unlagged pipes. You should insulate them. Better flooring would also be safer.

Also I currently have HW "off" on the device but hot water does come through the taps - is that just heated by the boiler ??

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 07/12/2022 15:12

The hot water stored in the cylinder will be feeding your hot taps. You will get hot water from the cylinder after the boiler finishes heating the water and until you use it all up. We only heat our water for 1 hour per day now and haven't run out so far although we have a dishwasher and washing machine that are cold fill and our showers are electric so they heat their own water

PigletJohn · 08/12/2022 00:32

stevalnamechanger · 07/12/2022 11:31

Also I currently have HW "off" on the device but hot water does come through the taps - is that just heated by the boiler ??

Show quote history

What device?

I hope you have the immersion heater off

and the boiler on, for at least part of each day.

Original poster
stevalnamechanger · 08/12/2022 02:22

dementedpixie · 07/12/2022 15:12

The hot water stored in the cylinder will be feeding your hot taps. You will get hot water from the cylinder after the boiler finishes heating the water and until you use it all up. We only heat our water for 1 hour per day now and haven't run out so far although we have a dishwasher and washing machine that are cold fill and our showers are electric so they heat their own water

How do I check if my dishwasher and washing machine are cold fill?

So I just have the immersion fully off, and the boiler on hot water 1 hour a day at night .. but still seem to get some hot water in taps at random times in the day

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 08/12/2022 03:06

stevalnamechanger · 08/12/2022 02:22

How do I check if my dishwasher and washing machine are cold fill?

So I just have the immersion fully off, and the boiler on hot water 1 hour a day at night .. but still seem to get some hot water in taps at random times in the day

Show quote history

Once the cylinder has been heated, the water will remain hot for several days, until it has all been used up by running the taps.

If you have lost the instructions for your washing machine, see if it has two water supply hoses, or one. Older machines had a red hot water hose and a blue cold water hose. The hot was used for the initial hot wash, and cold for rinsing.

It is improbable that you have a hot-fill dishwasher.

PigletJohn · 08/12/2022 03:09

dementedpixie · 07/12/2022 15:12

The hot water stored in the cylinder will be feeding your hot taps. You will get hot water from the cylinder after the boiler finishes heating the water and until you use it all up. We only heat our water for 1 hour per day now and haven't run out so far although we have a dishwasher and washing machine that are cold fill and our showers are electric so they heat their own water

It is useful to remember that ten gallons of water heated by electricity cost about four times as much as ten gallons of water heated by gas.

sashh · 08/12/2022 04:23

I think the thermostat with the dial might not be connected to anything, it looks quite old.

I recently had a new boiler and they removed the thermostat like that and put a plastic cover, but it could have just been disconnected.

My new boiler is a combi but my old one the boiler heated the radiators and the hot water in the water tank. I also had an electric immersion heater in the water talk which I never used, but was there.

You need to find out what temperature your boiler is running at.

wardgas.co.uk/hot-water-cylinders/

If you use the link there is a simple diagram of how the two work. The Calorifier is basically a pipe that takes hot water from the boiler and spirals through the hot water tank. It's possible that it only coils around part of the tank so it takes longer to warm the entire tank.

dementedpixie · 08/12/2022 08:07

I have an old dial thermostat for my heating - it will be over 20 years old now!

Cold fill appliances only have one inlet hose running from the Cold supply whereas older machines will have 2 (one hot and one cold). All newer appliances are cold fill i think.

dementedpixie · 08/12/2022 08:10

PigletJohn · 08/12/2022 03:09

It is useful to remember that ten gallons of water heated by electricity cost about four times as much as ten gallons of water heated by gas.

Show quote history

That's why my electricity bills are high! The showers for 4 people and the washing machine