Heating Controls

Whether you heat your home and hot water using gas, oil, LPG or electricity, the right heating controls and knowing how to set them correctly will help you get the best from your system. An appropriate set of heating controls make it easy to keep your home at a comfortable temperature. They’ll help you to waste less fuel and heat, too – keeping your heating bills and CO2 emissions down.

Timer and programmer

A timer or programmer will make sure that your boiler isn’t running when your home is empty – during the day, for example, when everyone is at work or at school. You can set a timer to turn your heating and hot water on and off automatically – as and when required, and usually independently of one another.

Tips on using a timer/programmer correctly

The timer’s programmer can have as many as six different settings, which can be set separately for hot water and heating. These settings work as follows:

• Auto or Twice – allows the heating and hot water to come on and off twice a day, at times that you set. You can set start and stop times for a morning programme and an evening programme, for example.
• Off – turns heating or hot water off.
• On – allows your heating or hot water to be on constantly. Remember: your boiler is working all the time that this programme is switched on (although if you have a room thermostat the boiler will switch on and off periodically to maintain the correct temperature).
• Once – switches on your heating or hot water at the set start time of your morning programme, and won’t switch off again until the end time of your evening programme.
• Advance (Adv) or Override – overrides the timing programme. If the heating system is off, press this button to switch it on immediately. It will then stay on until the end of the next programme. If the heating system is on, pressing this button will switch it off until the start of the next programme. Afterwards, the timer/programmer will revert to your normal morning and evening settings.
• +1 hr or Boost – adds an extra amount of time (typically one hour) to the current programme so that it goes off an hour later. This is a temporary action and will not be saved as a regular setting.

Room thermostat

A room thermostat is one of the most important heating controls that a house can have. When set, it will keep your home at a constant but fully adjustable temperature. Best located near the main living area, for example in your hallway or living room, a room thermostat senses the temperature of the air around it and controls the operation of your heating system by turning it on or off when it reaches the set temperature, or drops below it. In other words, if the air around it is cooler than the temperature it’s set to, it will send a signal to the boiler to pump more hot water around the radiator system. Then, when the set temperature is reached, it automatically tells the boiler to stop heating and pumping more water.

Remember: a room thermostat will only sense the temperature of the air around it – and cannot control the temperature of other rooms in the house that are too hot or too cool. This is where thermostatic radiator valves come in.

There are two types of room thermostat: mechanical and digital. Mechanical room thermostats are fixed in one place and wired into the boiler. Digital room thermostats may also be fixed in place but many are wireless, beaming signals to the boiler via a receiver. Some can be taken from room to room, within a certain distance of the boiler, but not all are suitable for this functionality. This can be useful if you spend a lot of time at home away from the main living area. But again, thermostatic radiator valves are the best way to control the temperature of individual rooms.

Thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs)

TRVs control the output of individual radiators in individual rooms around the house. They sense the temperature of the air around them and regulate how much water flows into the radiator – and therefore how much heat it gives out. TRVs should not be fitted in the room where your room thermostat is located, as this is likely to interfere with the operation of your heating system, however they can be fitted to all other radiators in the home. If your system already has a TRV on the radiator near your room thermostat, turn it up to the maximum setting.

Tips on using TRVs correctly

TRVs are a great way to control the temperature of a room – independently of the room thermostat. The setting of each TRV can be adjusted by turning the valve between a minimum or maximum setting – typically between 1 and 5. You can also use TRVs to turn off radiators completely: useful for rooms you don’t use very often, such as a spare room, but make sure you close the door to the room so that warmth doesn’t spread from the rest of the house.

Hot water cylinder thermostat

A hot water cylinder thermostat keeps a constant check on the temperature of the water in your hot water cylinder. It switches the heat supply from the boiler on and off as necessary to keep the water at a set temperature.

Tips on using a hot water cylinder thermostat correctly

If your hot water cylinder is covered in insulating foam, the thermostat should be touching the metal cylinder rather than resting on the insulation. This way, it will get an accurate temperature reading. If you can’t see a thermostat on the cylinder, it may be that it is obscured by the insulation.

Ideally, the thermostat should be placed around a third of the way up on the outside of your cylinder and it should be set at 60 degrees. The boiler thermostat controlling the hot water supply to your cylinder needs to be set a bit higher than the cylinder thermostat.

How to get the best from your timer/programmer

Before you set your timer/programmer, it’s a good idea to work out your home’s heating up time and cooling down time.

The heating up time is how long it takes for your house to warm up to your preferred temperature – typically 18˚C to 21˚C but as low as possible while still maintaining a comfortable living environment – when you switch on the heating on an average winter day.

Some homes, in particular those with solid walls, can take a long time to heat up and if you don’t allow your heating to come on soon enough, it may feel uncomfortably cold at the set temperature because the cold walls aren’t radiating as much heat. If you give your heating system enough time to warm up the house you will be able to set a lower temperature on your room thermostat.

The cooling down time is how long it takes to cool right down again after the heating has been switched off. A poorly insulated house can have a short cooling down time but a well insulated house can retain a comfortable temperature for quite a long time.