Are you using more gas in your home on heating and hot water than you need to?

Welcome to our website and my blog.

I hope to pass on some tips and advice to our customers past, present and future.

I am going to start with a subject that is most topical and that is ‘efficiency’.

So, are you using more gas in your home on heating and hot water than you need to?

The answer is probably ‘yes’.

Depending on what type of system and controls you have and how old the boiler is can make a huge difference.

So the first thing to know is what is available as regards controls. I think the most valuable control is the thermostatic radiator valve (TRV). I could not possibly have a central heating system without TRVs. However, although I think that they are good for saving energy I also think that they are the most misused control on a central heating system.

How do they work?

There are mainly two types of control head on a TRV. One has a spring which expands and contracts with temperature. The other has a liquid which also expands and contracts. The spring type are usually cheaper and not as good.

The spring or the liquid when it expands pushes on a valve and restricts the flow of hot water into and out of the radiator. Therefore, as the room warms up the radiator should modulate the temperature.

If a TRV is set on maximum it does nothing at all and you may as well not have it.

So how is the best way to use the TRV?

Set the valve at about halfway, then monitor the temperature in the area of that radiator. If it is not hot enough turn it up half an increment and leave for 24 hours. If it is too hot turn it down half an increment and leave for 24 hours. Do this with all the TRVs on the system and after a few days you should find the best position for each TRV.

The biggest mistake with using TRVs is over adjustment, either turning it right up or right down. This means that you will always be adjusting the TRVs which are designed to adjust themselves.

If you haven’t got TRVs then you can usually only have the radiators turned on or off.

Remember that radiators are sized too make it over 20 degrees inside when it is colder than freezing outside.

This is my first blog. I hope you found this information useful and I will be posting more blogs with further advice on efficiency.

If you haven’t got TRVs we can provide you with a free estimate to install them onto your system. Even very old radiators can have TRVs fitted.

Till next time.

Kind Regards

Barry