TRV thermostatic radiator valves

Just The One

How will trvs save me money and how much.
Do they reduce the amount of oil burned?

ART6

TRVs only sense the temperature close to the radiator, so how much they can save you depends on what setting you put them to. Obviously they can help by turning off the rad when it reaches the set point temperature, but a room stat would be better.

copper12

In a typical house there are some benefits’ of having thermostatic controlled radiator valve .
They operate better with closed systems than with open systems
If you want trouble free operation from them then the system needs to be clean i.e. no sludge
Sludge remover and inhibiter to be used if retrofitting
You have to think carefully on witch rad’s you fit these valves
Rad,s that have furniture i.e. big armchairs beds curtains in front of them will not work properly and will shut off the radiator before the room heats up .
Kitchen and front room and maybe bedrooms provided the radiators is not blocked would benefit

DublinDilbert

ART6 wrote: »

TRVs only sense the temperature close to the radiator, so how much they can save you depends on what setting you put them to. Obviously they can help by turning off the rad when it reaches the set point temperature, but a room stat would be better.

Most of them can be mounted with the "knob" part upright, or going out horizontal away from the radiator. I've been wondering recently if it makes a difference to the operation of the valve, if the knob part is further away from the rad, if you know what i mean.... Anyone know?

10-10-20

There is more to a TRV than the above!
They have a complex relationship with the boiler feed and return loops...

Firstly, they reduce the chance that any one radiator acts as bypass between the feed and return, such that a high rate of flow passes through a single radiator, causing starvation on the end-of line radiators.
Secondly, they provide cooler return-water than a radiator would otherwise, allowing boilers (especially condensing boilers) to operate well within their efficiency range. Typically a condensing boiler only operates efficiently when the return temperature is less than 50 degrees C, so an 'open' radiator will allow for higher return temperatures.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensing_boiler#Efficiency

So, yes, they should be beneficial on all systems.

copper12

10-10-20 wrote: »

Firstly, they reduce the chance that any one radiator acts as bypass between the feed and return, such that a high rate of flow passes through a single radiator, causing starvation on the end-of line radiators..

Question are you saying that the system dosent need to be balanced

10-10-20 wrote: »

Secondly, they provide cooler return-water than a radiator would otherwise, .

How do they accomplish this

MickLimk

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Most of them can be mounted with the "knob" part upright, or going out horizontal away from the radiator. I've been wondering recently if it makes a difference to the operation of the valve, if the knob part is further away from the rad, if you know what i mean.... Anyone know?

From memory, the instructions on the Myson TRV2's say that you can mount them either way when using on a single panel radiator but when using on a double rad, they should be mounted with the actual head ('knob'!) part horizontal. I guess this is to minimise the effect of the localised head of the rad causing the TRV to shut off prematurely.

I'll see if I can dig up a set of instructions somewhere, I had lots of them...

cantgetright

copper12 wrote: »

In a typical house there are some benefits’ of having thermostatic controlled radiator valve .
They operate better with closed systems than with open systems
If you want trouble free operation from them then the system needs to be clean i.e. no sludge
Sludge remover and inhibiter to be used if retrofitting
You have to think carefully on witch rad’s you fit these valves
Rad,s that have furniture i.e. big armchairs beds curtains in front of them will not work properly and will shut off the radiator before the room heats up .
Kitchen and front room and maybe bedrooms provided the radiators is not blocked would benefit

you probley know, do therm valvs go on flow or return?

youtheman

I mounted my TRVs horizontally so that the head was as far away from the radiator as possible. This is to ensure that it senses the room temp rather than the radiator temp.

For the same reason I mounted them on the radiator end nearest the centre of the room, so on some of my radiators then are on the supply, and on others the return.