Central heating thermostats.

[muddyjames]

I am trying to find ways to be greener and money saving and I have had this wacky idea which I think may work.

How difficult would it be to wire in another wall thermostat in parallel to my existing one?

Reasons for this.

I spent 99% of my time at home in my bedroom and it is only little me who lives here. SO, If I were to wire in another stat I would only need to heat up my bed room (which is directly above the exisiting stat) At the moment I am heating the whole house up as the stat is downstairs by the kitchen, lounge and hall way. This seems mad to me that I am heating the whole house up. I could turn the radiators off but then the downstairs would never warm up and the boiler will be on for as long as it is on, on the timer. If I have 2 stats then I can have my bedroom heat up and kick the boiler off and existing stat on low just to keep the chill off downstairs as not to freeze up. I can turn all the rads off except my bedroom and 1 small rad in hall way downstairs.

When guests come round I can then use exisitng stat to heat whole house up and turn a couple more rads on around the house to warm the place up.

the heating was installed after the house was built in 1995 so there is some cable casing runing up the wall and into the ceiling / my bedroom floor. So hopefully a couple of floor boards up and I will find the wires for the stat.

I thought about moving the stat into my room but then when friends come round I have to run up and down the stairs to tweek it on or off. This is what I am doing now when my bedroom becomes warm enough.

Is this a barmy idea or one that is do-able? 2nd question is, is it a VERY simple diy electrical thing or would I need a boff into do it?

My money situation is near brasik / buy what I need, so sooner I get this done the better and on the cheap the better and sooner I save money the better!! :lol:

[TDi90]

see i have this amazing theory... SOD heating... put another layer of clothes on, and light one of the wood burners.
R

[muddyjames]

I do do that too. I can only get so many layers on though before I cant touch the keyboard to type replies on MC!!! As for wood burners  :?  I have no chimney!!!

[TDi90]

get one built. or fabricate a pipe outta one of the walls or something...
gloves? lol

[V8MoneyPit]

As for wood burners  :?  I have no chimney!!!

You don't need one if you have a position for a stove by an outside wall. You just run a flue through the wall and up the side of the house. However, it ain't cheap!

[muddyjames]

Is my idea of another thermostat cheaper than installing a woodburner in my bedroom?

[Thrasher]

Ours has 2 stats, one in the house, 1 in the garage. The one in the garage is to get the boiler to run if the external temp is too low - thus preventing icing up....

So I assume you could do the same ... but I'm no electrician!

[TDi90]

not in the long run, cos you will be paying for heating...

[TechnoTurkey]

Thermostatic radiator values are they best way, then you can easily control each room.  In the rooms I don't use I have the temp right down.

Two thermostats would in theory work, but you would need to wire them in series not parallel so that as soon as one goes off, the whole circuit is cut.  if you put them in parallel then both rooms would need to be up to temperature - however this isnt gospel as I'm no electrician either....

[V8MoneyPit]

Is my idea of another thermostat cheaper than installing a woodburner in my bedroom?

The wood burner is the relatively cheap bit. It's the flue pipe that adds up. My wife sells these things (got about 2000 stoves in stock at present!), so sadly, I know all about them  :roll:

Expect to pay around £200 for a small stove. Depending on the lengths of vitreous and twin wall flue, you could easily spend £400 extra on pipework.

You need to have the stove at least 18" from any combustable material (doors, studwork walls, etc) and 6" from any other wall IIRC. The smallest of stoves kick out loads of heat though. We have an 11Kw one and it heats the whole 3 bedroom house without any problem at all. We have been known to have to open the windows because it gets too hot!

[muddyjames]

surely in series if i have my room stat after the original. say O = original and new is N

O at 15C and N is at 20c. N will never be engadged as O will always be off.

if O is at 20 and N is at 20 then I am back to how I am now.

Have I got this right?

[Jimbo]

Thermostatic radiator values are they best way, then you can easily control each room.  In the rooms I don't use I have the temp right down.

Two thermostats would in theory work, but you would need to wire them in series not parallel so that as soon as one goes off, the whole circuit is cut.  if you put them in parallel then both rooms would need to be up to temperature - however this isnt gospel as I'm no electrician either....

I'd agree with the above - TRV's (thermostatic rad valves) are by far the best way to go, you can set each rad to a different setting (we have the spare bedroom one turned down way low), and we don't have a main thermostat.

The 2 wall-mounted stats needs a bit of thinking........and my brain aint working too well right now. Can you not just turn the rads down low in the rooms you don't currrently use, then turn them up when peeps come visiting ?

[V8MoneyPit]

I take it they are water radiators? If so, why don't you fit radiator thermostats? The ones that fit in the inlet water pipe.

Edit.....
Just been beaten to it!!

[muddyjames]

You need to have the stove at least 18" from any combustable material (doors, studwork walls, etc) and 6" from any other wall IIRC. The smallest of stoves kick out loads of heat though. We have an 11Kw one and it heats the whole 3 bedroom house without any problem at all. We have been known to have to open the windows because it gets too hot!

Erm well there is my first problem!! I only have a diddy house and no spare wall space that big.

I think I will stick to looking into central heating ideas!

[V8MoneyPit]

You need to have the stove at least 18" from any combustable material (doors, studwork walls, etc) and 6" from any other wall IIRC. The smallest of stoves kick out loads of heat though. We have an 11Kw one and it heats the whole 3 bedroom house without any problem at all. We have been known to have to open the windows because it gets too hot!

Erm well there is my first problem!! I only have a diddy house and no spare wall space that big.

I think I will stick to looking into central heating ideas!

Damn! No sale!   :lol:

[muddyjames]

I take it they are water radiators? If so, why don't you fit radiator thermostats? The ones that fit in the inlet water pipe.

Edit.....
Just been beaten to it!!

They are water rads. Surely though if I fit stats on the rads then the boiler will still be on as none of the down stairs rads will make the stat turn off as all the rad stats will be turned to 10c

[V8MoneyPit]

They are water rads. Surely though if I fit stats on the rads then the boiler will still be on as none of the down stairs rads will make the stat turn off as all the rad stats will be turned to 10c

I see what you are saying. I don't know how the boiler works in these systems! We only have rad thermostats and the oil fired boiler kicks in and out as needed. No doubt someone will be able to explain.

[muddyjames]

I am sure there must be a plumber somewhere amongst the midths of MC!!!

But in my head it seems to all work!

[Jimbo]

They are water rads. Surely though if I fit stats on the rads then the boiler will still be on as none of the down stairs rads will make the stat turn off as all the rad stats will be turned to 10c

The boiler should not be running all the time - if you have a pumped system, the pump will circulate water around the whole system (including hot water tank if you have one), the boiler will be set to fire up when the water being pumped through it drops in temperature. Our boiler has a control on the front panel - a bit like a volume knob, we have it set mid-way - well, the plumber that fitted (and services) it set it there when he set the system up.

[V8MoneyPit]

So I guess if you turn the boiler down it would be on more often to maintain temperature? But if your radiators are also turned down, they wouldn't release as much of the heat that the boiler puts into the water. So the boiler kicks in less. Is that right?

[muddyjames]

I have a combi boiler. When I turn the hot tap on the boler fires up to give me hot water (no hot water tank) and as far as I can work out the boiler only turns off when the house is up to temp, hence why i say it is on all the time as downstairs never gets to temp due to the rads would be off in a dream world. silly heating whole house for me in my bedroom!

[Jimbo]

I have a combi boiler. When I turn the hot tap on the boler fires up to give me hot water (no hot water tank) and as far as I can work out the boiler only turns off when the house is up to temp, hence why i say it is on all the time as downstairs never gets to temp due to the rads would be off in a dream world. silly heating whole house for me in my bedroom!

Oh  :oops: , I see. We have a conventional boiler, I know jack about combi's.....other than my sis-in-law has one, and me and the father-in-law argued for hours over several beers about how best to set it up, in the end she got a plumber in  :oops:

[muddyjames]

So I guess if you turn the boiler down it would be on more often to maintain temperature? But if your radiators are also turned down, they wouldn't release as much of the heat that the boiler puts into the water. So the boiler kicks in less. Is that right?

there is a knob I can turn and to be honest it seems to do square root of nothing! I think it is just a water temp thing?

I dont 100% understand ur question to be honest mate.

If I turn down rads then little to no heat comes out so downstairs is always cold so boiler on all the time. turn rads up and still on all the time as stat is right by my stairwell so all the heat whizzes upstairs and my hall never gets warm so boiler still stays on  :twisted:

[V8MoneyPit]

Sorry, it wasn't aimed at you! I think it only applies to 'proper' boilers if you excuse the term!

I suspect yours needs an electric thermostat. But I'm nowhere near qualified to say for sure!


Of course, you shouldn't do any of this yourself. Current rules mean you should have a qualified (certified?!) person carry out the work. Damn stupid if you ask me. There are plenty of people more than capable of carrying out perfectly safe work on their own houses.

[muddyjames]

Do you not need a Corgi person for just fiddling around in the boiler itself? Surely a few wires under me floor boards doesnt need a goo roo to do?

I also want a towel rail rad put in, in my bathroom so I can have a; warm towels b; my towel by the shower instead of hanging it on the door handle and c; the rad heats the room rather than burn me leg when on the loo or back of door if i forget to shut the door!!! :lol: But thats another story!

[V8MoneyPit]

I don't think you are meant to touch any of the electrics in the house either  :roll:

http://www.thediyworld.co.uk/home_electrics.html

The red bit in the middle is the relevant part.

[muddyjames]

I don't think you are meant to touch any of the electrics in the house either  :roll:

Prob not supposed to breathe either without a greenhouse gas co2 emission certificate :lol:

[V8MoneyPit]

I don't think you are meant to touch any of the electrics in the house either  :roll:

Prob not supposed to breathe either without a greenhouse gas co2 emission certificate :lol:

 :lol:  :lol: And then there's the fart, sorry, 'passing wind' tax.....

The problem only really occurs when you come to sell the house. With these new certificates you have to produce to demonstrate all the systems in the house are installed correctly and professionally.

And it might affect your insurance should you ever have to claim following a fire started by an electrical fault  :lol:

[Evilgoat]

Thermostatic rad valves!

The heating system (if its modern closed loop) will have a bypass near the futrthest rad. The boiler will shut off when the system water reaches the set temp as the water will still circulate through the bypass.

TYou can wire stats in parralelle but no stat can overrride another. When one calls for heat it wont be inhibited by the other. If you want this to happen they need to be in series.

System in the flat doesnt have a single stat and thrmostatic valves. The bypass loop ins in the ceiling above the main bedroom rad.

[Lyndsey731]

Go on then I'll have a go :lol:

Firstly I'm a spark not a plumber, but as far as i am aware if you want a stat up and down you will need a heating loop up and down. The boiler can only do as it's told, it wont matter if the stats are wired in parallel or series. In series when one switches off for reaching temperature i.e. the lowest setting (downstairs) the circuit is broken so the boiler turns off. In parallel when the downstairs stat switches off the upstairs is still in circuit so the boiler stays on continuing to heat both up and down. A zone valve is required to isolate which ever loop has reached temperature.

My solution, keep the stat on low to heat the areas that you want background heat in, turn off the rads where you don't want heating and spend £50 on an electric panel rad with integral stat to sit in your bedroom.

As for your towel rail you can get electric ones but to the letter of the law it will be subject to Part P of building regs  

Good luck

Gav