New house doesn't have any radiator thermostatic valves

[Taybz]

Hi all,

We've just moved into our new property and noticed that the radiators do not have any control valves. They're all on and there's no way to switch them off - pretty frustrating given the cost of energy!

Any ideas on how to control them? Are there standard valves we can buy?

Just get some thermostatic valves fitted.

Yeah ok to fit yourself if competent and quick without a drain down and watch some vids. Else get a plumber in to drain down and switch for you. I'd do that if it's all of them tbh

we got a plumber to do ours. Check your radiator pipes. we didn’t know this until the plumber turned up and told us our radiators had really old and skinny pipes so all the TRV’s we’d bought to be fitted didn’t fit. I had to run out to get some new ones asap

Don’t do them yourself, it takes longer than you’d think and full house means full drain down. I changed mine but I know what I’m doing. Also, you might start and the discover your pipes are old and thin, eg not the right diameter and then you’d need the plumber anyway. It’s not a big job for a plumber to do. You just want standard Drayton trvs

Yoy didn’t neen to replace the trvs you bought, you can buy a reducer valve ! Most good trv sets are also 8-15mm and already come with reducers 😉

When was the house built? Regs changed in June 2022 to make TRVs a requirement.

Depending on the usage of rooms you might want to consider "smart" valves (EG Hive etc), then you can schedule them.

For example, I only use my office 3 days a week, so I only schedule it for M/T/F between 9:00 and 17:00 Likewise our bedroom is off between 9:00 and 21:00

They are more expensive, but the labour will be the same, and depending on your room layout could save you quite a bit.

I have also found having a smart controller for the heating has saved a significant amount, as we're more likely to shout at it, than get off the sofa to adjust a thermostat.