What temp to set dial on Central Heating Boiler?

Johnny Storm

What temp should I set the dial to on my Gas Central Heating Boiler? Any help appreciated.

ardara1

Johnny Storm wrote:

What temp should I set the dial to on my Gas Central Heating Boiler? Any help appreciated.

Assessing energy ratings are based on 2 different temperature for a typical dwelling - 21 for living areas (normaly 18-25%)_ and 21 for all other areas - but depends on what your control are like - can you set temps in different area (including hot water demand?)

Other wise - take it a cool as you can stick it! - wear an extra jumper!

Johnny Storm

Sorry, man, I didn't ask the question properly. My system has thermostatic valves on the radiators which I set as needed in each room. But it also has a dial on the actual boiler which I belive contols at what temperature the boiler fires itself up. I'm wondering is there an optimum economical level to set that dial for.
Thanks for the reply.
PS I have two jumpers on

JamesM

Johnny Storm wrote:

Sorry, man, I didn't ask the question properly. My system has thermostatic valves on the radiators which I set as needed in each room. But it also has a dial on the actual boiler which I belive contols at what temperature the boiler fires itself up. I'm wondering is there an optimum economical level to set that dial for.
Thanks for the reply.
PS I have two jumpers on

If there are numbers on the dial, I would suggest that you start at 60c and go up from that if you feel that you need it in colder weather. Most people would not go above 80c.
Jim.

Johnny Storm

JamesM wrote:

If there are numbers on the dial, I would suggest that you start at 60c and go up from that if you feel that you need it in colder weather. Most people would not go above 80c.
Jim.

Thanks. What way would you have it set in the current weather? Or does that depend too much on the details of each individual house?
Reason I ask is that my last Gas bill was frighteningly high.

JamesM

Johnny Storm wrote:

Thanks. What way would you have it set in the current weather? Or does that depend too much on the details of each individual house?
Reason I ask is that my last Gas bill was frighteningly high.

It really does depend on yourself, the house etc.
Keep the timer off as long as you can, and the boiler stat and the rad valves as low as possible - that will keep your gas consumption down.
Keep wearing the sweaters
Jim.

311

Johnny ,what costs the most in a gas central heating system is initial heating up.
So if your heating system goes cold ,your boiler burns a lot more gas just to get back up to temperature.The exact same as a car moving.
Have your heating as low as you can ,but try not to let it go completely cold.

The same goes for your hot water ,always try and leave a tiny bit of heat in the cylinder .You'd be amazed the difference a small bit of warmth makes when heating up things, they tend to heat up a lot ,lot quicker.

Hope this help ,
Brian.

JamesM

_Brian_ wrote:

Johnny ,what costs the most in a gas central heating system is initial heating up.
So if your heating system goes cold ,your boiler burns a lot more gas just to get back up to temperature.The exact same as a car moving.
Have your heating as low as you can ,but try not to let it go completely cold.

The same goes for your hot water ,always try and leave a tiny bit of heat in the cylinder .You'd be amazed the difference a small bit of warmth makes when heating up things, they tend to heat up a lot ,lot quicker.

Hope this help ,
Brian.

While I would not agree with turning off the heat for a short time (like an hour or so) just to save gas, I certainly would not leave it on for most of the day (or at night) if it is not needed.(If you are out at work etc.).
Of course you may be able to turn some of the newer condensing boilers way down low, when you do not need much heat.
Jim.

311

JamesM wrote:

Keep the timer off as long as you can, and the boiler stat and the rad valves as low as possible - that will keep your gas consumption down.
Keep wearing the sweaters
Jim.

Sorry james ,I thought you meant to try and leave the heating turned off as much as possible .I didn't realise you meant not to let the heating go cold while your in the house.
I don't think there are many people anywhere in ireland that have there heating on when they are not in the house,if it is very cold outside.

It takes me a while sometimes to balance peoples heating systems ,sometimes it can take an hour or more. And the difference can be quite noticable afterwards.
Modulating gas valve boilers are best suited to a system with therm. rad valves..

antoinolachtnai

I wouldn't set the 'stat as high as suggested, especially if the system is used to heat water, and especially if there are children in the house. I would be thinking of keeping it below 55, maybe even below 45, but I'm no expert.

The reason is that the hot water will be heated to the point where it is scalding.

Also, having the boiler is running so hot will contribute to wear and tear on the boiler. The heat exchanger won't last as long if the temperature is so high. In the case of an oil boiler, you could damage the burner by putting the stat up too high (I have that t-shirt).

Economy-wise, the optimum level is going to be as low as you can have it so that it still heats the house reasonably quickly.

I agree that balancing the system is important (so that the difference between the incoming and outgoing pipe is not too large).

I'm not sure that the initial heating up of a gas system is really all that wasteful but maybe I am wrong. It is certainly true that we in Ireland like to have our heating start up extremely quickly, not surprising given that the weather is pretty variable.

JamesM

antoinolachtnai wrote:

I wouldn't set the 'stat as high as suggested, especially if the system is used to heat water, and especially if there are children in the house. I would be thinking of keeping it below 55, maybe even below 45, but I'm no expert.

The reason is that the hot water will be heated to the point where it is scalding.

Also, having the boiler is running so hot will contribute to wear and tear on the boiler. The heat exchanger won't last as long if the temperature is so high. In the case of an oil boiler, you could damage the burner by putting the stat up too high (I have that t-shirt).

Economy-wise, the optimum level is going to be as low as you can have it so that it still heats the house reasonably quickly.

I agree that balancing the system is important (so that the difference between the incoming and outgoing pipe is not too large).

I'm not sure that the initial heating up of a gas system is really all that wasteful but maybe I am wrong. It is certainly true that we in Ireland like to have our heating start up extremely quickly, not surprising given that the weather is pretty variable.

I am not an expert on gas boilers.
If you run an oil boiler below 55c (60c to be safe) the gasses may condense in the boiler and cause corrosion. As I mentioned above, this is OK in a condensing boiler, which uses stainless steel, but not recommended for a standard boiler. Running an oil boiler at 60c or 70c will not contribute to wear and tear. A lower temperature very likely will.
You will not damage an oil burner by running it at 60c or 70c - or even 80c. You will damage an oil burner by not having it serviced regularly, using a nozzle that is too large for the boiler, having the oil pressure too high, or just incorrect adjustment.
If you run a boiler at 60c, the water in the hotwater cylinder cannot rise above that temperature. It may get quite hot, but not scalding.
Jim.

311

Just a quick note about exchangers on gas boilers ,I've never ever heard of an exchanger giving trouble because of excessive use.
I've seen many exchanger fall apart from lack of servicing ,where the corosion had ate the exchanger away.
Part of servicing ,is to make sure the exchanger is clean and that any build up is removed ,that would cause long term damage.

Kettling of gas boilers is becoming more common ,as housing estates move into hard water areas. I'd advice anyone living in a hard water area to have there heating system checked and treated with a sentinel product.
Kettling is the scaling of the exchanger ,causes a kettling sound as the internal baffles get smaller .

Sorry about all that ,but it might help.:o

antoinolachtnai

That's all great advice. Thanks.

What about the risk of scalding?

311

antoinolachtnai wrote:

What about the risk of scalding?

You can install or get installed a thermostat on your hot water.
They can be got without the need for a power source (manual).

We always install them with new cylinders now.