Gas fired central heating question.

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Hi all,

I have a gas Boiler at home attached to a 3 zone timer which controlls motorized valves for downstairs/upstairs/water.

My way of thinking has always been that if the boiler is on i may aswell heat everything, ie open all three valves. But the last shocking Gas bill has gotten me thinking. If i were to set only the upstairs heating to come on, would it take less effort to heat the water and therefore save gas?
Could i also take that one step further and turn off radiators in rooms i wasnt using, making less water for the system to heat?

Its a year old baxi boiler if that makes any difference.

Thanks

P

311

First off nailer ,the less stuff you have on the less gas you use.
Second ,your water will heat much quicker on it's own.

Your boiler has a thermostat built in ,when the water in the pipes is hot enough the boiler knocks off.
Basically when you heat your water ,your only heating pipe. When you have radiators on ,your heating 30 times or more amount of water.

copper12

Here’s my tupense worth
If you have a 3 zone timer and want to run your system as cheaply as possibly then give this a try
This depends on of coerce on how you rum your system everyone has a differently life style
This is the advise I offer when asked
Typical family everyone out of the house before nine o clock return to the house around tree or six depending weather it’s from school or work everyone in bed at eleven
When ever the heating is timed to come on for the heating either upstairs or down stairs the hot water is timed as well the boiler is never timed just to heat hot water
Heating is timed to come on for one hour in the morning between seven and eight this will give you a warm house to wake up to and hot water
In the evening up stairs is timed to come on half hour before bed time for an hour
Downstairs will be timed to come on half an hour before you return home constant until betimes the wall thermostat controlling the temperature of the downstairs

JuliusCaesar

I've never heard of zoned heating before, and I can't set the temperature on my GFCH boiler as it's an old one with just a dial you can set to 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. Either the heating is on or it's off.

Now I do want to replace some of the radiators which are not very efficient and am wondering reading this thread if I should replace the boiler and timer control too, and get it zoned as well, because the last bill was 350 and that was before the cold really set in.

Any idea how much this would cost?

MicktheMan

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

I've never heard of zoned heating before, and I can't set the temperature on my GFCH boiler as it's an old one with just a dial you can set to 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. Either the heating is on or it's off.

Now I do want to replace some of the radiators which are not very efficient and am wondering reading this thread if I should replace the boiler and timer control too, and get it zoned as well, because the last bill was 350 and that was before the cold really set in.

Any idea how much this would cost?

If I were you I would get good professional advice before you change your system. How well is the house currently insulated, airtight? Get these investigated and upgraded first and then look at replacing you system. This approach should substantially reduce your heating bills and make your home more comfortable.

Traditional

If the gas boiler is working ok there is no need to change it , how old are your radiators ? i have a boiler 30 years old , but they dont make them as good now as they did , they rust inside and build up sludge which stops the circulation of water through .

Traditional

i have my rads zoned , upstairs and down manually as otherwise you are on a timer , its only a matter of fitting 2 lever valves !

DublinWriter

I'm no plumber, but I'm presuming you'd have to have three different pipe circuits for what you're describing?

Our gas boiler packed in last Monday, but when working it used to back-heat the upstairs rads (cylinder in hot press on the landing) when we just had it switched for hot water only, so I usually would have to lock the rads off in summer.

Traditional

Well you have a flow and return pipe to boiler , and upstairs flow and a downstairs flow , so obviously turn off upstairs so it heats downstairs only and vice versa saves a good bit on the gas , and you can also get thermostatic valves fitted for more savings , makes sense , any more heating inquires ?

cgc5483

Traditional wrote: »

Well you have a flow and return pipe to boiler , and upstairs flow and a downstairs flow , so obviously turn off upstairs so it heats downstairs only and vice versa saves a good bit on the gas , and you can also get thermostatic valves fitted for more savings , makes sense , any more heating inquires ?

Since you asked I have a question . I've gas central heating which is on 3-4 hours a day. My new bill which is based on actual readings (both previous and present) was €275! Now my boiler is old ~1991 when it was installed (Glow-worm with gas fire to front). What I've noticed is that its continuously burning all the time. I've it set to low on burner. I didn't think this was normal as in the lasy place I lived the boiler was firing and then would stop. Is there anything i can do. I can't find any other controls anywhere.

Traditional

it should not be burning all the time , ar the rads very hot ? the gas bills are gone mad everybody got big bills after Christmas, the other thing is this is the highest time of the year that you need plenty of heat , unless the thermostat has gone on the boiler , have u a small tank in attic or a large red clyinder in hot press ? just tell me how many rads and have you got it serviced lately ?
as i need some imformation on system .

Traditional

Yes you could turn off any rads not required as you can almost count radiators like boiling kettles ! and you know how much electricty they use , thermostatic valves are good for control.

cgc5483

Traditional wrote: »

it should not be burning all the time , ar the rads very hot ? the gas bills are gone mad everybody got big bills after Christmas, the other thing is this is the highest time of the year that you need plenty of heat , unless the thermostat has gone on the boiler , have u a small tank in attic or a large red clyinder in hot press ? just tell me how many rads and have you got it serviced lately ?
as i need some imformation on system .

Thanks for reply. The house has 9 radiators running off the boiler and all of them are probably required really. The system is fed from a small tank in the attic.I added a cleanser to the system a couple of weeks ago as some of the radiators were not heating properly and this did seem to work on the ones that was cold in patches. One of the radiators was til cold but that seemed to be a balancing problem as all the others had the lock shield valve fully open. I adjusted these (without thermometer as couldn't find one in woodies etc) and this got the last radiator heating. I will put on some TRVs but the only ones I could find were €30 each. The boiler was serviced before we bought the place and moved in, there is a card with May 08 stamped and left with the manual so pretty sure it was actually serviced and wasn't used until Sept/Oct. I realise the gas bills would be high with the time of year but just felt it wasn't right that it is continuously burning (it's in the sitting room so can hear it)

Kitty28

I too have gas heating and just got a big gas bill €200 for a 2bed apt!! I was wondering if it's ok to turn off your boiler at the swicth during the day? Mine seems to fire up of its own accord, like has come on twice in the last few minutes even tho I turned off the heat an hour ago. Surely this shouldn't be happening?

is it safe just to turn off the on/off switch when you leave in the morning and turn it back on when you get home and want to turn on the heat? I'm not talking about the switch for the thermostat heating control, I mean the one on the front of the boiler. It's an Ideal Classic bolier, and tends to feel roasting hot any time you touch it.....

Any advice would be great! Cos my bills just keep growing.....

Traditional

yes turn off the main switch to boiler , there may be a fault with the timer or thermostat . i know someone who can check it if required .

Kitty28, It's better to switch the boiler off from the boiler on/off switch or by turning the stat to the lowest position, if you turn the main power switch off, you lose any frost protection for the boiler and in this climate the frost protection may be the reason for your boiler firing.

cgc5483, next time your back boiler is having a service, ask the engineer to confirm the burner pressures are correct and the gas working pressure is correct, back boilers tend not to have a large output and if the gas gets down rated, it is possible for the boiler to stay on and not switch off, this is different from a defective boiler stat which would have your rads hoping, steam in your F/E tank in the loft and banging from the boiler, if the heating is staying on and none of the above are happening then i wouldn't worry, unless the place is to hot then your wasting money:eek:, one last thing as you have a back boiler and it's cold out, please don't block the vents and keep it serviced, they have the potential to be dangerous if not looked after, Gary