Heating on at night.

from_atozinc

Hello

I live in a house which has oil fired central heating. Big enough house so hard to heat.

The wife announced she wants to put the heating on at night from an hour from 2am-3am.

My thinking is it a bit of a waste, we are already wrapped up in bed under the duvet and not walking up at night shivering, so is it a bit pointless turning it on for this hour when we are fast asleep.

Granted it is very cold the last couple of days.

Sleeper12

I know people who leave the heating on all night once its below freezing. Me, I love a cold bedroom and a feather duvet.

Spanish Eyes

Cool room, warm bed. Electric blanket. Best. Thing. Ever.

Never have rads on in the bedroom.

Rest of house ok. But it has sorted out sinus, colds and such over the years not having a heated bedroom.

Just me obv!

Wearb

If you have enough control to only have that rad on, it won't cost very much. Give it a go, she may conclude that it's not benificial.

allthedoyles

2-3 sounds unusual time depending on what time it switches earlier .
Why not go with it but pick a different hour to switch off

from_atozinc

Thing is we have 2 children aged 1 and 2.

The room where the 18 month old sleeps in was 14 degrees this morning at 6am. Is this too low ?

Or do most rooms drop very low at night in very cold weather

Borzoi

I think they recommend 18c for kids rooms. I know it's far from that that I was reared but it's the modern thinking

Big Nasty

from_atozinc wrote: »

Thing is we have 2 children aged 1 and 2.

The room where the 18 month old sleeps in was 14 degrees this morning at 6am. Is this too low ?

Or do most rooms drop very low at night in very cold weather

Yes, it is WAY to low.

I really don't think a lot of people understand how their thermostat works. Leave the heating powered on all night, turn your stat down to 18c. The heating will not kick in unless the temp goes below this. Once the temp is brought back up above 18c the heating will knock itself off.

GingerLily

from_atozinc wrote: »

Thing is we have 2 children aged 1 and 2.

The room where the 18 month old sleeps in was 14 degrees this morning at 6am. Is this too low ?

Or do most rooms drop very low at night in very cold weather

In that case maybe an hour at night wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Peregrinus

GingerLily wrote: »

In that case maybe an hour at night wouldn't be such a bad thing.

On the other hand, it might not be much use. It all depends on how well insulated the space is. If it's poorly insulated and cools rapidly once the heating goes off, putting the heating on again at 2 am for just an hour isn't going to do much; the place will cool again after 3 am, and you'll still have a room that's too cold, most of the time.

I said

We leave the heating on all night with the thermostat to control it at 18c upstairs have two under three like to keep thier rooms warm.
Starting it for an hour is not efficient at all it's like boiling a kettle from cold puts the boiler under strain leave it on all night more efficient and better for the boiler

Peregrinus

Boiling a kettle from cold does not "put the boiler under strain". It runs the boiler for longer, obviously, as does boiling more water than you actually require, so it will cost more. But there is no "strain" involved.

Keeping the house warm all night takes more energy, and so costs more money, than letting it cool and then heating it up again. It may not cost much more money; it depends on the efficiency of your heating plant and the quality of the insulation in your home. But it will always cost some more money. You can't escape the laws of physics.

hatevodafone

Wonder would it be cheaper to plug in a dimplex heater in their rooms instead of heating the whole house

Stoolbend

Some houses don't have stats. Just a timer.

porcupine3

I bought an Extech RHT10 which is a temperature/humidity data logger with a USB connector at the end. You just set it up, press the button to start logging, and when you're ready to view the data just plug it into your PC/laptop. Fantastic little device. I think it cost about €80. You can set it up in any room and watch how the room warms up and cools down in response to the heating system going on/off. It presents the data in graph format, and it also plots the dew point (condensation) I presume as a function of the temperature/humidity. It has changed my opinion of Thermostatic radiator valves (at least the ones I have) for starters.
It might be of some use to you. If nothing else it's a cool little gadget :-)

seamus

Kids' rooms should be 16-20 degrees, 18 optimal.

If you don't have a thermostat, then get one. Get a modern one like a Nest that will bring on the heating at the best times, day or night. It also means that if you get up at 7am, the house will be warm at 7am rather than just beginning to warm up.

If it's a big house, then make an effort to reduce the number of rads you need on. If there are some rooms (spare rooms, utility rooms, offices, etc) that you use relatively infrequently, then turn off the rads in those rooms and keep their doors closed.

I said

Peregrinus wrote: »

Boiling a kettle from cold does not "put the boiler under strain". It runs the boiler for longer, obviously, as does boiling more water than you actually require, so it will cost more. But there is no "strain" involved.

Keeping the house warm all night takes more energy, and so costs more money, than letting it cool and then heating it up again. It may not cost much more money; it depends on the efficiency of your heating plant and the quality of the insulation in your home. But it will always cost some more money. You can't escape the laws of physics.

Strain wrong word by stopping and starting the boiler like that allows condensation built up which causes the problems.
Why do ya think all the old Stanley solid fuel ranges last so long once lit they were hardly ever not on during the winter months.
No built up of condensation no probs

from_atozinc

seamus wrote: »

Kids' rooms should be 16-20 degrees, 18 optimal.

If you don't have a thermostat, then get one. Get a modern one like a Nest that will bring on the heating at the best times, day or night. It also means that if you get up at 7am, the house will be warm at 7am rather than just beginning to warm up.

If it's a big house, then make an effort to reduce the number of rads you need on. If there are some rooms (spare rooms, utility rooms, offices, etc) that you use relatively infrequently, then turn off the rads in those rooms and keep their doors closed.

I do not own the house, its rented.
Boiler only has a very basic thermostat, that is it really, no other controls around the house.

from_atozinc

seamus wrote: »

Kids' rooms should be 16-20 degrees, 18 optimal.

If you don't have a thermostat, then get one. Get a modern one like a Nest that will bring on the heating at the best times, day or night. It also means that if you get up at 7am, the house will be warm at 7am rather than just beginning to warm up.

If it's a big house, then make an effort to reduce the number of rads you need on. If there are some rooms (spare rooms, utility rooms, offices, etc) that you use relatively infrequently, then turn off the rads in those rooms and keep their doors closed.

I'm in a rented house with a boiler that's about 15 years old. There is a twisty knob on it that I assume is the thermostat (it does not have any numbers or markings on it to say what is what )

The rooms do not have thermostats in them. so all I have is this one control from the boiler.......which I think is the thermostat.

from_atozinc

Im at home today and house is gone cold.

Ill switch the heating on, normally I leave it on for an hour.
Is this a silly way of doing it, like is it a waste just putting it on for an hour OR is it the case once its on, it should stay on for at least 2 hours.

Sorry for the silly q's, I just do not honestly know the best way of doing it.

Wearb

from_atozinc wrote: »

Im at home today and house is gone cold.

Ill switch the heating on, normally I leave it on for an hour.
Is this a silly way of doing it, like is it a waste just putting it on for an hour OR is it the case once its on, it should stay on for at least 2 hours.

Sorry for the silly q's, I just do not honestly know the best way of doing it.

Best you can do in the absence of a room thermostat is to simulate one by turning on your heat until the room/rooms you need are warm enough. Then turn it off, and then back on again as you notice it getting cool.
Only heat the rooms you need to at the times you need them. That is about as good as you can do with no other controls.

from_atozinc

Wearb wrote: »

Best you can do in the absence of a room thermostat is to simulate one by turning on your heat until the room/rooms you need are warm enough. Then turn it off, and then back on again as you notice it getting cool.
Only heat the rooms you need to at the times you need them. That is about as good as you can do with no other controls.

Thanks. But in general is putting on the heat for only 1 hour at a time a smart thing to do?

Big Nasty

from_atozinc wrote: »

Thanks. But in general is putting on the heat for only 1 hour at a time a smart thing to do?

If you had a stat it might only kick in for 10 mins at a time to maintain the set temp giving a constant ambient temperature as opposed to going from cold > hot > cold. To put it another way in terms of fuel useage you're essentially doing city driving as opposed to motorway driving. I'd be asking your landlord to install a thermostat.

from_atozinc

Big Nasty wrote: »

If you had a stat it might only kick in for 10 mins at a time to maintain the set temp giving a constant ambient temperature as opposed to going from cold > hot > cold. To put it another way in terms of fuel useage you're essentially doing city driving as opposed to motorway driving. I'd be asking your landlord to install a thermostat.

Thanks.

I think there is a thermostat on the boiler itself. See attached and highlighted knob.....anyone know if this is a thermostat?

Big Nasty

from_atozinc wrote: »

Thanks.

I think there is a thermostat on the boiler itself. See attached and highlighted knob.....anyone know if this is a thermostat?

Without even looking at the pic I'm gonna say it's for adjusting the water temperature on the boiler.

from_atozinc

Big Nasty wrote: »

Without even looking at the pic I'm gonna say it's for adjusting the water temperature on the boiler.

right, and is this linked to the radiator temperature. i.e it cuts in and out when the water reaches a certain temp.

listermint

Thermostats are not a god send by any means.

Avocation of just relying on them to fix a problem is not very accurate in reality.

It can depend on where the thermostat is placed (better insulated room for example) quality of thermostat. Outside temps.

They are a tricky tricky beast to outmaneuver and can often be very tough to have adequate heating in the rooms that are most impacted by cold. Bedrooms etc without spending a fortune on fuel.

Big Nasty

from_atozinc wrote: »

right, and is this linked to the radiator temperature. i.e it cuts in and out when the water reaches a certain temp.

It maintains the water temperature at whatever it's set at but as long as you have the heating switched on the rads will stay on at that temp. Using it to control your heating is not really an option. As I said, ask your landlord to install a thermostat.

texas star

I'm just curious after reading posts.Is insulating the attic an option?Thinking of doing this myself?

maximum12

Big Nasty wrote: »

It maintains the water temperature at whatever it's set at but as long as you have the heating switched on the rads will stay on at that temp. Using it to control your heating is not really an option. As I said, ask your landlord to install a thermostat.

You sure about that ? I'd expect the radiators to be hotter the more that knob is turned up.

from_atozinc

Big Nasty wrote: »

It maintains the water temperature at whatever it's set at but as long as you have the heating switched on the rads will stay on at that temp. Using it to control your heating is not really an option. As I said, ask your landlord to install a thermostat.

right and how does the thermostat link in to all this?

Where would it be installed and how is it linked to the boiler / radiators etc ? (is it wired back to the boiler etc )

from_atozinc

maximum12 wrote: »

You sure about that ? I'd expect the radiators to be hotter the more that knob is turned up.

I thought the same too

maximum12

from_atozinc wrote: »

I thought the same too

The more I think about it the more sure I am.

That looks like a pretty old boiler so I'd say the chances of hot water being zoned separately are almost nil.

If it's inside the house make sure you have a carbon monoxide alarm as I doubt landlords worry about getting them serviced.



Edit: So that knob is your very rough thermostat. If the house is too cold turn it up, too warm turn it down. For night time your wife's suggestion is probably the best.

from_atozinc

maximum12 wrote: »

The more I think about it the more sure I am.

That looks like a pretty old boiler so I'd say the chances of hot water being zoned separately are almost nil.

If it's inside the house make sure you have a carbon monoxide alarm as I doubt landlords worry about getting them serviced.

its probably about 15 years old. and yes its inside the house in the utility room.
Have a carbon monoxide alarm, had it serviced a while back.

However, im confused and need to go back to basics.

So I have this boiler, which has a knob on it which controls the temperature of the water. This water flows through the radiators.
When this water reaches a certain temperature, I presume the boiler will turn off and therefore the boiler will stop working and using kerosene........until the water goes below the temperature again and then boiler kicks in again. Is this correct or am I all wrong?

Water John

You could use a Heatmiser PRT-W, which is a remote wireless thermostat.
It has four time zones for the day and you can set a diff temp for each.
The receiver is wired to the on/off switch of the boiler.

maximum12

from_atozinc wrote: »

When this water reaches a certain temperature, I presume the boiler will turn off and therefore the boiler will stop working and using kerosene........until the water goes below the temperature again and then boiler kicks in again. Is this correct or am I all wrong?

That's exactly it.

zulutango

There's a difference between a boiler stat and a room stat.

The boiler stat sets the temperature of the water coming from the boiler (approximately 80 degrees Celsius). The room stat sets the temperature of the room (18C for a bedroom typically). When the room temp drops below 18 it sends a signal to the boiler to turn on. The boiler will stay on until the room is 18C. The boiler will keep firing so long as the room isn't 18C and so long as the water temperature in the boiler hasn't reached 80C. Hope that makes sense.

from_atozinc

zulutango wrote: »

There's a difference between a boiler stat and a room stat.

The boiler stat sets the temperature of the water coming from the boiler (approximately 80 degrees Celsius). The room stat sets the temperature of the room (18C for a bedroom typically). When the room temp drops below 18 it sends a signal to the boiler to turn on. The boiler will stay on until the room is 18C. The boiler will keep firing so long as the room isn't 18C and so long as the water temperature in the boiler hasn't reached 80C. Hope that makes sense.

Yeah Kinda. And how does the thermostat tell the boiler to stop firing. Is it hard wired back to the boiler?

maximum12

from_atozinc wrote: »

Yeah Kinda. And how does the thermostat tell the boiler to stop firing. Is it hard wired back to the boiler?

Yes, or to valves in the case of a zoned system.

from_atozinc

maximum12 wrote: »

Yes, or to valves in the case of a zoned system.

how much roughly would a thermostat cost to install ?

In a normal sized 2 storey house, how many thermostats would there normally be ? 1 per floor is it ?

from_atozinc

Another silly q.

So let's say I wanted to install 2 thermostats - one downstairs and one upstairs. Which one would the boiler work from ?

RJF

from_atozinc wrote: »

Another silly q.

So let's say I wanted to install 2 thermostats - one downstairs and one upstairs. Which one would the boiler work from ?

Both. The boiler needs to be "permanently on" and the stats turn it on and off to maintain the required "set temp" in each zone.

Dardania

from_atozinc wrote: »

Another silly q.

So let's say I wanted to install 2 thermostats - one downstairs and one upstairs. Which one would the boiler work from ?

RJF wrote: »

from_atozinc wrote: »

Another silly q.

So let's say I wanted to install 2 thermostats - one downstairs and one upstairs. Which one would the boiler work from ?

Both. The boiler needs to be "permanently on" and the stats turn it on and off to maintain the required "set temp" in each zone.

just note that in this case, you would need motorised valves to switch on/off the boiler water flow to upstairs and downstairs.

You mention it's a rented house. would the landlord have any interest in doing a controls upgrade for the heating? it would be summer time job...
there are grants available

GreenFolder2

from_atozinc wrote: »

I'm in a rented house with a boiler that's about 15 years old. There is a twisty knob on it that I assume is the thermostat (it does not have any numbers or markings on it to say what is what )

The rooms do not have thermostats in them. so all I have is this one control from the boiler.......which I think is the thermostat.

That's the thermostat for the water in the radiators, not the house air temperature.

enfant terrible

from_atozinc wrote: »

how much roughly would a thermostat cost to install ?

In a normal sized 2 storey house, how many thermostats would there normally be ? 1 per floor is it ?

I installed a smart thermostat myself, replacing the old mechanical timer on my boiler.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Netatmo-NTH01-EN-EU-Thermostat-for-Smartphone/dp/B00GWKW8SY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480169619&sr=8-2&keywords=netatmo

Simple job just check your boiler is compatible on their website.