Purpose of valve in the hot press

JKub

Hi. Please see picture attached. There is a picture of my hot press. Pipes 3 and 1 are of heating system. I presume pipe 3 is inflow into the hot water cylinder (HWC) because it is warmer than pipe 1, and pipe 1 is therefore outflow from the HWC. Pipe 5 is going up to the attic and ends with a pressure vessel. Pipe 2 goes up and ends with a manometer which shows 1 bar. Pipes 6,7 and 8 are for water supply system. Pipe 4 is for charging the heating system with water.
Now, there is a red valve on the picture as you can see. This valve is now half-opened (or half-closed, as you like). I understand that my heating system has just one circuit/zone. Because I do not see any motorized valves, there is just one timer/programmer for the heating system. And when my oil boiler is switched on, the HWC heats together with radiators all the time.
So the question is what is going to happen if I fully open this red valve and what is going to happen if I fully close this valve?

Just enter in your browser a DRОPВОХ.СОМ (enter, not copy-paste!) then add this to address to see a picture:
/s/jnocpz7hyiltqtq/Valve.jpg?dl=0

Calahonda52

You can't post pictures or full web links without having, I think 50 posts.
So post the picture on some site and put gaps in the link and someone will post it for you
eg www milf images com

The first question of course is if its not broken why the question?

My guess is that it is a boiler bypass valve of some description which should be never fully shut or never fully open.
ps See KF below

JKub

I am just trying to understand how the system works. If this is the valve you are talking about, WHY it cannot be fully closed or opened. What happens then?

K.Flyer

JKub wrote: »

Hi
[...]
there is a red valve on the picture as you can see. This valve is now half-opened (or half-closed, as you like).
[...]
So the question is what is going to happen if I fully open this red valve and what is going to happen if I fully close this valve?
[...]
I am just trying to understand how the system works. If this is the valve you are talking about, WHY it cannot be fully closed or opened. What happens then?

Simple explanation. ..
That valve is your central heating balancing valve.
It is not meant to be fully open or fully closed.
If you completely close it you will not produce any hot water when the central heating system is on.
If you open it fully, most likely you will find that your radiators will take longer to heat, or some may not heat at all due to the flow of water in the circuit following the path of least resistance.
On average it is opened approx 1 full turn - 1 and 1/4 turn.

JKub

Thank you K.Flyer! I am thinking of installing some kind of smart heating control system. If you say that closing this valve will lead to heating radiators only, not a HWC, does this mean that, potentially, there should be some kind of smart heating control system where this valve could be replaced with similar automatic valve and when I need to heat just radiators (without heating hot water cylinder) it will be possible?
I was looking at some of smart heating control systems, and some of them are able to heat hot water without radiators (I bear in mind identical heating systems to mine). But I can not find any system that would also be able to heat only radiators without HWC.
Any ideas?

K.Flyer

First off, regardless of which control system you have, you should still have a balancing valve, so even with the best upgrade, it is retained.
What exactly are you looking for?
Would you like to have a system where you can control both the Hot Water and Central Heating separately and independent from each other?
Or, are you just looking for a way whereby if the cylinder is full of hot water the flow to it stops and the boiler continues to heat the radiators which are controlled by you turning them on or off by the radiator valve?

JKub

"Would you like to have a system where you can control both the Hot Water and Central Heating separately and independent from each other?"
Yes, this is exactly what I want. But is it possible bearing in mind that my current heating system is just one big zone?

K.Flyer

JKub wrote: »

Yes, this is exactly what I want. But is it possible bearing in mind that my current heating system is just one big zone?

Anything is possible, it comes down to practicality and affordability.
It all depends on the existing pipework and what alterations are necessary to make it work.
That, unfortunately, cannot be fully determined without a site visit.
But if you did have a manual valve to switch off the Radiator circuit already in place, then you would be off to a good start.
Other alternatives you could consider are wireless controlled Thermostatic Radiator Valves etc.

JKub

I understand what you mean. But unfortunately I do not have any valves/switches in place for zoning, just one circuit for everything (rads+HWC).
I was thinking too of wireless controlled TRVs, but as far as I understand, if I equip each radiator with them, this will allow me to heat radiators+water or just water without radiators, but no possibility to heat just radiators? For example, in the summer, TRVs will close automatically because of warm weather and when the boiler switches on, only the HWC will be heated, that is ok. But in the winter, for example, some (or all) TRVs will be in open position for most of the time due to low temperatures, the boiler will be working for much longer time, but!!! as far as I understand, the water will be heated together with rads, but I do not need so much hot water!
I presume that everything is possible to achieve as you say, but my situation is that I have renovated the house just recently and I cannot afford to break the walls/floors to make some new plumbing like a second circuit or anything else. I was hoping to achieve that with some kind of controls only, or with just some small plumbing without braking walls/floors. But perhaps it is not real?
Perhaps I should go with TRVs and what I described anyway, cause it would be the easiest way and will indeed give me much better control than I have now, but, unfortunately, not a 100% control?
Have you heard of a Heat Genius system? Will it be the best option for me in this situation?

K.Flyer

JKub wrote: »

[...]
Have you heard of a Heat Genius system? Will it be the best option for me in this situation?

I have heard of it, it sounds very good and may very well be the answer to your problems.
Not sure of the cost though, you would need to make enquiries.

JKub

Thank you very much K.Flyer!