Plumbing advice needed.... Cant heat water without heating radiators also

wolfman

I cannot figure this out. Please help
The oil boiler is downstairs and is run just from a timer switch. No thermostats or anything.

Every time the heat is on, the circulating pump is also on, so if I want to heat water on a hot day, all the rads are on fire before I have hot water. I isolated the circulating pump, so it can be switched on and off seperately, thinking this would do the job

The cylinder is upstairs by the way.

Anyway, gave this a shot and the oil boiler cut out and the water got slightly warm, but that was it. When the boiler cut back in again, it boiled the water and cut out, but the water in the cylinder isnt heating. Also, the overheat thermostat knocked off on the boiler, so I had to let it cool down and reset it


Anybody??? Do you have any advice please?

pipers

Turn off the radiators individually

wolfman

been through that!
its such a pain remembering to turn them back on when its cool again etc

sirlinux

This might not be possible depending on your setup, but you need to seperate the rad feed and hot tank feed usuing a zone valve.

wolfman

what exactly is this or where would it be?
its rented accom, so not sure on layout

sirlinux

It's an electric valve that shuts down the flow of hot water to the radiator circuits, it's normally connected to either a thermostat or the hot water only switch on the boiler or timer unit.

wolfman

ah right
well there isnt one of those anyway, because i've been looking for something like that.
thanks for the feedback anyway

Pataman

Unless you have two seperate feeds you will have to turn off the rads. I dont think turning off the pump is a great idea. The other alternative is to install thermostatic rad valves

flocker

There could be a gate valve or lever valve (usually in the hot press) that would isolate the radiators but give you hot water. This valve would be instead of the motorized valve zone valve Sirlinux mentioned.

sirlinux

Just to point out there should be lots of valves in the hot tank, so be careful since it's rented accomodation, there will also be valves for hot/cold water and refill for the header tank for the heating (unless it's a closed system any funny looking globes anywhere on the system?)

Expierencedhand

hi wolf you may or may not have gotten the problem fixed i'd say not since it may need to be re-plumbed to sort the problem, but from what i have read your system of heating in the house if installed after '97 is illegal or at least doesnt conform to the latest building reg's each Zone in the house( ZONE 1 rads up stairs -- ZONE 2 rads down stairs --- ZONE 3 hot water) should have its own motorized valve ( the minimum number of zones is 2 heating and hot water).
The only way to sort your problem (not being smart) is to call in a plumber to see what needs to be changed or if there is any manual control on the system

JIMMYBOND007

turn off the rads!!turn off the trvs!!ha ha ha .they do work but as the last lad said zones is the proper answer.you need a full boiler interlock system which means motorised valves,room stats and cylinder stat,and programmer.motorised valves seperated rads upstair ,and downstair n also hot water cylinder .this system could save you €150 a year on bills,inform your landlord he should have it up to standard! ring a heating engineer (rgi)as most of these have bee trained to do the wiring as well as the pipe work.you do not want the price of job growing plumber and electrican$$$$$$$

JamesM

I don't think that he has been around for a few years - got fed up turning off rads

PeteHeat

Hi,

Your landlord might be interested if you tell him about the grants available to upgrade the heating system, it could also help him get a higher energy rating which he will need for the next tennant.


http://www.sei.ie/Grants/Home_Energy_Saving_Scheme/

Regards,

JamesM

The Wolf is extinct in Ireland - will someone look at the date :rolleyes:

Interesting101

I have the same issue as Wolf.

If i close the value manullay just to try heat the water in my house then the rads upstairs will still heat.

I had a fella out the out night as part of the insulation scheme. I was going to get the heating control upgrade done. He said that if i did that i would still have the same problem with the rads upstairs because all they would would install is an electric switch that would do the same job as manually closing the value.
He said a re-plumbing job would be required costing a few k.

As a work around im just going to get an immersion switch fitted to heat the water. Not sure Wolf if you already have one (i dont).

Would people think this would be the best/cheapest option?

JIMMYBOND007

full boiler interlock controls cost more to get done but is cheaper in the long run,your imersion heater uses more enegy than your boiler,if that was the case they would be given grants to people to make sure your imersion heater works ok.you might have a plumbing problem or closing wrong valve.:)

Interesting101

JIMMYBOND007 wrote: »

full boiler interlock controls cost more to get done but is cheaper in the long run,your imersion heater uses more enegy than your boiler,if that was the case they would be given grants to people to make sure your imersion heater works ok.you might have a plumbing problem or closing wrong valve.:)

Well in my case im just saying that i do have a plumbing problem. It wasnt done right, so instead of spending a few k to get the pipes relayed im just looking for a cheaper solution for the next couple of years.

An immersion will allow me heat the water without having the rads on and only a fraction of the cost.