Makes me smile. I was born in a house with no gas, no electricity and no running water (we had a pump). The temperature you talk about would have been dreams. My grandad lived with us too,. We had a range in the room. Upstairs was a matter of moving very fast and get into bed with lots of covers. My grandad lived to 88 and he'd lived there 60 years so don't worry too much about being a bit nippy.
Ice on the inside of the windows. You left out walking or cycling to school, no school runs. No colour tv, no Internet.All said I think we were better educated,even if that was at a more lowly level. We certainly had more respect for authority, the rule of law and taking personal responsibility! Post war and particularly the 1960s free for all did few favours. WITH FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND BEHAVIOUR, COME HUGE REPONSIBILTIES. WHO PAYS THE PRICE FOR NOT TAKING THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES SERIOUSLY, ? YOU GUESSED IT , EVERY MAN , WOMAN AND CHILD ON THE PLANET PAYS; GET REAL IT'S NOT SOMEONE ELSE'S PROBLEM!!! GOD BLESS OUR DEPARTED QUEEN AND MAY WE ALL STRIVE TO FOLLOW HERE EXAMPLES!
I was brought up in home with only an open fire in the lounge. Winter was a nightmare and when you got up out of that nice warm cosy bed to a cold room where the condensation from you breathing during the night froze on the single pane of glass... Eventually we got a parafin heater in the backroom/kitchen. Hot water came from an emersion heater which got condemned after a few years but we couldnt afford a replacement so we just hoped it carried on working and it did for about 10yrs. I only ever knew CH when i met my now missus and we got our first home..
@@antsmith8588 I was born in 1949 and brought up with bath time once a week in a small galvanised bath, don't know where the hot water came from, but we had something called a Copper! Been in plumbing since a lad, so I've seen the progression. All these plumbing and heating innovations have got us to where we are today. Easy for the kids today to take so much for granted, we probably did something similar, but we never had a warm bed to get into in the winter. Yes, I hear the yawns, but once upon a time Thomas Crapper walked to London from up north and developed the flushing WC. You plumbers out there be proud of your heritage, sing your own praises and remind lesser mortals of your elevated position in society!!!
@@johnward5006 ih i remember as a kid rolling up newspaper and knotting it for the fire at home and at my grandparents. Then in the evening before we went bed we used to back up the fire with tattie peelings(potato). My grandparents had a backboiler in the early days. There was a metal hoop at the back and you pulled it to open it so you got hot water or closed it etc..... I could on but im not as owd as thee are not yet anyway...
@@johnward5006 well said....allow please to ask if you are the famous John Ward (electrician). If yes my best regards, if not again my best regards sir.
I'm guessing you are an expert, can I invest through you? or do you have an expert you could refer me to? Cause I keep seeing on videos Disclaimer that is does not constitute investment advice
Draughtproof house (watch out for damp) Range rate boiler output. Insulate if possible Adjust boiler flow to maximise condensing( watch out if you have a cylinder). Needs to be enough to heat the water! Adjust hot water temperature lower to avoid mixing with cold and using excessive gas Turn thermostat down or put a jumper on. Powerflush system if sluggish Check for air in rads. Make sure your stat is running on opentherm or other manafacteur specific coding and is doing what it should be doing for plus £200 thermostat. Don’t block the radiators Upgrade the sizes of radiators so they can run at lower temperatures Balance the system. Have your boiler serviced and make sure it’s running efficiently as it can. Replace boiler if it’s a non condensing (pre 2005) Replace cylinder if not lagged properly ect potentially fit combi of cylinder not needed. Turn pre heat off it’s crap!
No1... Insulation and draughtproofing. Set back temperature very important, but unless consumers have UFH or air source,it's a difficult one to get across to consumers. A simple energy saving tip with radiators is , if you wear thicker socks and keep your feet off the floor you'll feel warmer. It's a fact that your feet and head play a major role in how people determine their comfort levels. It may seem obvious, but if you wear a jumper outside, don't take it off indoors! You could take it to the extreme and keep your overcoat on, this might be necessary for many people this winter, so not funny. Currently working hard on a project looking into hot water consumption and temperatures and possible savings. With luck can do the same with heating. In the meantime Derek. Great effort!
Hot-water bottles. My doc told me off for having such a cold house but I create this toastie warm little enclave with just fleece throws and an HWB. I don't even have socks on, it gets that hot in my huddle (there:s only me in my house so nur, can do what I want!) I can live without heating but take away my hwb and death will be instant. Mostly from astonishment followed by outrage.
Appreciate you’re help in educating us to get the most out of our heating in our time of need & wonders why CH specific info not in the user guides that come with the boiler?
My thermostat is on a wall at the bottom of the stairs near the front door in the coldest part of the house, I have a thermometer in the kitchen which is always 3-4 degrees higher than the thermostat by the front door
My house is now set to 18 degrees... BTW - Did an experiment, and ran my heating for one hour at 100% (increasing temp from 18.5 -> 19.5 degrees). My smart meter told me that was £1.20!!!
A small point I want to add to point 10 My combi boiler (intergas combi compact hre) has a "on demand preheat" setting. This allows you to pulse a hot water tap and have the boiler heat up the heat exchanger to hot water temperature with the tap off. You can set the number of minutes it will stay hot, until it goes back to eco mode. This saves you both gas and water.
Totally agree, Intergas preheat reprogrammes every 36 hrs or so, therefore does not heat up all night long like our inherited Worcester !! NOT a lazy option. It's how people interpret these measures.
@@kevinschoales844 Intergas preheat facility has options for off, continuous and learning modes. Would suggest it's a question of how much water is used with and without pre heat against gas consumption. In the heating season, consider the gain from that side of the heat exchanger and then see if preheat is an advantage.
I deemed myself competent to service my Worcester-Bosch 30CDi which hadn't been touched for maybe 8 years. After cleaning the heat-exchanger fins using the Worcester-Bosch rasp and brush, it's been notably more efficient. I also turned off water pre-heat (eco mode) and set the CH output to 60% of the maximum capacity via the technicians menu. Then set the hot water temp so it doesn't need cold mixed to shower; I always use the dishwasher so don't need piping hot water for dishes Then set the flow temp down to 2 on dial and will check if the rads can get the house to temp once it get's cold. Room valves are smart TRVs with 5+2 temp profiles (not in lounge) and I use a Drayton Digistat 3+RF in the lounge, again with 5+2 profiles, which fires the combi via the receiver unit.
To be deemed competent you need to understand combustion, testing and analysing (with in date calibrated equipment) and examined both on theory and practical tasks in an approved ACS centre. Sorry to say but deeming yourself competent is stupidity and illegal (go read GSIUR - if you're competent you'll know what it stands for 😜)
We are not here to police but discuss energy savings, however you cant deem yourself competent. So well done on other issues apart from the gas servicing.
@@davideyres955 That’s OK - British Gas break the law - send a gas safe engineer round to con you into think they are doing a service when they don’t, it’s called FRAUD.
How about turning down the water pressure on the domestic supply (hot tap water) so that the boiler fires up OK but because the water is at a lower pressure it will heat up faster. Also if you take a meter reading how about adding on some extra units so you pay for the gas at today's price so as you build up some credit for the future.
I noticed I have at least one radiator where the upper part heats up before the lower part, that's when I checked straight after switching the boiler on. When I checked later, after 15 minutes or more, then the whole radiator is warm. Should the lower part start getting warm first? And if not is that a sign of sludge? Thanks
The general rule is cold at the top = air and cold at the bottom = sludge. If the entire rad is essentially the same temp after fifteen minutes you should be good. The cold patches stay cold, or at least noticeably colder, if you have air or sludge. Your rad won't heat up evenly cos physics, but as long as it's even once its all got going, you should be good. That's the most basic of basic, which is all I know, but hopefully helps 🤗
Lower you're power output and pump speed of you're boiler and balance you're radiators. The lower they burn the more efficient And with lower pump speed the water gets more time to give of heat and lowers you're return temperature so you're condensing boiler is condensing and efficiency is going up . Lowering you're temperature could be not so good for the boiler if it is going on and off all the time. Heat exchanger will break down fast . Went from 18kwh to 6.5 kWh . Don't even hear it burn I saved 50%
Well done and congrats on your successful savings. So many good examples of energy saving ways, BUT the general public don't grasp it generally, its double dutch. We do get to manage some features into customers homes after things go wrong !
My combi boiler constantly switches off and on and is quite noisy (i.e. running high). What could be the cause of this? (I have my one and only room stat in the hall which is constantly set at 22 degrees). Also, can you please explain how you balance radiators? Thanks in advance.
@@c.marmion8430 balancing is allowing each and every radiator to warm up as each other by reducing the flow on the nearest radiator lockshield valve or get Drayton TRV4 Auto balancing thermostatic valves. Regards cycling on & off get boiler output reduced, get a smart Wiser control by Wiser, save at least 30% commonly much more.
@@kevinschoales844 you have to be a little technical to understand it but it is no rocket science. but not all people do indeed. if read the comments 🤯
Just to add. You would not believe how drafty a vent from a cooker hood is. Mine is on a pretty wind free side of the house and still blows like a gud un! Looking for a gauze or something to combat it. Any ideas anyone?
Ditto. Kitchen cooker hoods do not have whats called "backdraught shutters", whereas most bathroom wall/ceiling extractor fans have backdraught shutters integrated into the motor housing. There are 2 ways that you could tackle this issue, depending on your setup: 1. Retrofit a backdraught shutter inline into the cooker hood ducting. You will have to see if you can find a point that you can fit it inline. 2. Change your exterior extractor outlet to have shutters. For me, it is not possible to change my exterior extractor outlet and so I spoke to i-sells (look them up) and they told me about retrofitting backdraught shutters (I hadn't heard of them before). As my cooker hood duct is initially a tumble dryer type flexi hose with jubilee clips, I can fit it inline and this should be relatively easy to do (I haven't done it yet!). When I did some research on backdraught shutters, the ones without springs are much better as the springs can fail. The Kair one I bought from i-sells doesn't have any springs. In either case, you will need to know the diameter of the ducting. i-sells are very helpful and can advise you further.
My room stat is in the hallway, which is a very small hallway with 1 radiator without a TRV, should I I turn the room stat up so that the heating doesn't turn off before the TRV's in the other rooms turn the rads off?
No, as that would waste more energy and be counter intuitive. Your heating installer has: a) correctly installed the radiator in your hallway without a TRV because your thermostat is placed there. b) presumably sized the radiator in the hallway correctly. So because you have a small hallway, presumably you have a small radiator there, appropriate for the size of the room etc. You will also get heat from adjacent rooms that come off from the hallway too. In short, everything has been designed appropriately by your heating installer and you should set your thermostat to a sensible comfortable temperature (21 degrees or lower) and leave it to do its job.
@@ifallelsefails2 I have the same setup in my (small) hallway as the person above, but my hall rad has a TRV. What should I have it set to for the best efficiency?
@@c.marmion8430 Set it to the maximum it will go to, eg. 5 or 6 and leave it there. Never adjust it. Then, when your heating next comes on, make sure that the radiator is hot (so you are confirming that the TRV is functioning and is fully open). If you have children/renters that you think will play with the TRV, then consider removing the controlling head to prevent tampering. However, this will leave a blunt spike behind, so you then might need something like a bottle cork sellotaped on to keep it safe from children. Let me know if you need help with doing that.
@@ifallelsefails2 Thanks for your reply Alan. There's no children here, so no problem re tampering with the TRV. I've set it to the highest setting now so that should be better. If I may ask you another question...? As mentioned, my room thermostat (Honeywell) is in my hall, and I have it set at 22 degrees, however when it reaches 20 on the thermostat the boiler (in my kitchen),:which is only 4 years old) switches off (fires down). Yet at other times it reaches 22 on the thermostat but the boiler doesn't switch off, when I would have expected it to. I've spoken to the boiler makers (Vaillant) about this and they said that the thermostat isn't so finally tuned (or words to that effect) and that a couple of degrees either side of the set temp is considered acceptable. This doesn't make any sense to me, what's your view on this?
@@c.marmion8430 Sorry for the delay in replying. I have verified with other thermometers across different Honeywell thermostats that Honeywell thermostats are very accurate to within the .5 degree that you can set them to and when placed in the coldest point in the house (eg. the hallway), that they work well to maintain the whole house at that temperature. This is due to the "software" in them (ie. the way that they work - they are not just a digital replacement for the old fashioned analogue thermostat, which is what Vaillant are thinking of). A few years back, I spoke to Vaillant technical. Unfortunately, they didn't understand the underlying workings of how Honeywell thermostats operate because Vaillant's operate an entirely different way and so they obviously hadn't received training on them. It is sadly a poor reflection on Vaillant, given that Honeywell are widespread and the concept they use is not unique to them. So, you can ignore what Vaillant have told you. Honeywell thermostats operate using what is called "TPI". If you google for "TPI functionality explained - Honeywell you learn", hopefully it will bring up an FAQ document explaining all about how your thermostat works. TPI (when implemented well) is an excellent, energy saving methodology and in my opinion, and having tried an alternative branded thermostat, Honeywell's do this superbly. So, once you have read that document, you will understand that a) your thermostat is very accurate and b) yes, I do expect your boiler to turn off at 20 degrees, at first. However, it will then monitor the temperature, wait for 10 minutes and then fire the boiler again for a few minutes to raise the temperature slightly. It will then wait again for 10 minutes, monitor any raise in temperature and then fire the boiler again for a few minutes to try and raise the temperature again (it calculates how long it needs to fire the boiler for, depending on how much it has raised the temperature previously, the current temperature and your target/setpoint of 22 degrees). It keeps doing this 6 times in an hour, every 10 minutes, to edge closer and closer gradually to your target/setpoint of 22 degrees, but with the aim of never/barely overshooting it. I have never seen any of my Honeywell's overshooting the target temperature, even when set to .5 of a degree - TPI is that good. What you need to look for is the flame symbol on the Honeywell thermostat, this indicates that the thermostat has determined that it requires heat from the boiler and has signalled the boiler. So again, in your example, this should appear when the temperature is at 20 degrees. However, it does not follow that the boiler will always fire up instantly that the flame symbol appears. It can sometimes take a minute or two. You can then see on the visual display of your boiler that the radiator symbol is showing and this shows that the boiler is delivering heat to your radiators. When the thermostat gets to 22 degrees, the flame symbol should disappear on the thermostat and the radiator symbol on the boiler should also go off. (tip for troubleshooting: if the flame symbol is on the thermostat and it has been 15 minutes and nothing has happened on the boiler, then you know you have a problem with your boiler or the thermostat receiver). That's an explanation of how it all works.
God. I'm such a tightarse - I run the heating for an hour twice a day to 16deg. And walk around like some mad bag lady with hot-water bottles on a string round my neck and fifty-six blankies. I'm staggered that people usually have it at 21deg , I think that'd kill me!
@Tokaisho Hiya, and thank you for the advice. I actually have a Neuro condition which is affected by warmer temps but you're absolutely right. I needed an emergency doc visit one year and he told me it was far too cold but now have a new boiler and digital thermostat which I can move very precisely in half-degree increments so I'm working up gradually. It's staggering how much difference a compensating digital thermo makes. From rough calculations I reckon the old one was always give-or-take a couple of degrees either way but now it's incredibly precise. Not giving up my hot-water-bottles tho. Those are going to my grave with me!
@Tokaisho Thank you so much for the advice - afraid I'm like most women, it's just big-thing-on-wall-that-makes-hot and if it stops, I go and wail at someone. I do keep it on constant heat when it's very cold for that exact reason, but not that high. But I am extremely lucky, I live in the usually mild South East, my house only has one external wall cos of the design and it's modern, insulated, double-glazed. I did go through a phase of living with no heating at all when I first left home and hopefully, never again. I feel so desperately sorry for those who are really struggling because so many British houses are so expensive to heat and they're often inhabited by those who can least afford to make the capital outlay. Really appreciate the advice, thank you. You take care...and keep warm!
How is it better to heat water at 45 than at 60 for showers? You will use less water from the hot pipes, therefore more heat is generated but the same gas is used to heat a smaller amount of water. Right?
You use the same amount of water for a shower and heat that amount of water less Or if you're referring to filling your bath with overly hot water and then needing to cool it down to desired temperature by adding cold water, then in this instance the efficiency loss in the effort to heat it kicks in. No system in science has a 100% efficiency, so to overheat water and then add cold water to cool it down will cost more than to merely heat the same total amount of water to the desired temperature in the first instance.
@@TheVicar all boilers have a minimum flow rate for it to start heating. As long as your hot water flow rate is achieved, you will use less energy to heat less water. Also, it does not matter if you just use the hot water tap or mix it with cold water, you just need to achieve that minimum flow rate on the hot water pipes. This also allows for more taps to be used without losing heat. This also allows for more total water flow, as typically you can achieve a bigger flow with the cold water pipes. This is how you might waste energy, as you might end up with more water necessarily just to not scald yourself. But if it is the same water flow, it's the same energy (gas used). The efficiency, or lack of, happens at the same rate no matter the temperature. It's hot water, not central heating (no condensing and no water tank, I'm talking about a combi boiler). You haven't said anything to demonstrate otherwise. You don't add cool water to cool it down, you add less hot water to begin with. If you have cold water at 10ºC and you want to heat it to 30ºC: You can heat 10 litres at 30ºC, or heat 4 litres at 60ºC to mix with 6 litres at 10ºC. Both require 0.23kwh.
@@globalist1990 "You don't add cool water to cool it down, you add less hot water to begin with." That's exactly what I'm saying and what the video refers to, but because no system is 100% efficient, which is what you are suggesting, then your figures are incorrect. It will take more energy to heat said ratio of water to a higher temperature and mix it back down to desired temperature with cold water, compared to heating the total amount of water to the desired temperature.
@@TheVicar no, hot water for baths/showers don't take advantage of condensation. Like central heating does with lower temperatures on mild winter days or good insulated houses. I provided the kwh usage in two cases. Feel free to check yourself.
@@globalist1990 You're dodging the issue. The type of boiler or heating method is irrelevant. When converting the energy from burning gas to heat water there will be an energy loss. Heating a smaller amount of water to a higher temp and then cooling it to desired temp with cold water you will lose more energy than heating the total amount of water to the desired temp in one go. You are stating a basic calculation based on a system that is 100% efficient in transferring the energy. Such a system does not exist. If you think it does then you would win a Nobel Prize.
I think you mean CO levels, not CO2. If your boiler is room sealed then the CO risk is very low as the boiler does not share the air you breathe. It takes its air from outside. If you have an open flue boiler then the correct amount of unblockable fresh air ventilation is very important for your safety and that of all occupants as the boiler takes its combustion air from the room. If you are not sure which type of boiler you have then ask a Gas Safe Registered engineer to call and advise you. You must check how much they will charge, so it may be best to combine the call with a boiler service.
@@timhancock6626 No Tim he or she means CO2! Your right about the different between room sealed and open flues but I'm sure this is to do with the CO2 we breath out NOT CO being breathed in! CO2 levels will increase moisture content in the air along with boiling kettles, cooking, showers and baths. This will increase risk of damp, mould and possibly risk to health. Some ventilation or other means of controlling humidity is extremely important, but will come at a cost! Perhaps Derek can put a video together on the importance of this and economical ways to control it?
@@tonyadams380 CO2 level in the open air is around 420 ppm. 2000 ppm is considered already unhealthy. When I close door , window and ventilation grill in my bedroom, 2000 ppm is reached less than in a hour.
@@tonyadams380 Actually the things are very simple. Human consumes oxygen and produces CO2. I even didn't mention other VOC gases produced by human body. So we need fresh air supply. In other case we end up in warm but lack of oxygen environment. So then headache, bad feeling, health problems. Is that correct way to keep the room warm and lower energy bill? I think no.
Wait what? Tip #1 is "don't turn the heating on." Not turn the stat down! 21 degrees though? That's way above T shirt level, mines at 17°C, ready for when the heating gets turned on maybe in January. ;)
So how are we supposed to dry the washing in winter if using radiators, causes mould..please don't say tumble dryer, as all the savings I've just learned, will be lost to the tumble dryer costs
Don't shower every day. "Unless you work out, or work outdoors or for some reasion come into intimate contact with huge amounts of filth and garbage every day, you don't need to shower. All you have to do is wash the 4 kay areas. Armpits, asshole, crotch and teeth. Got that!? Armpits, asshole, crotch and teeth. in fact, you can save a whole lotta time and energy, by using the same brush on all 4 areas!" - George Carlin I've had beer. 😥
@@johnward5006 bet your washing smells lovely in the winter, whilst waiting for an opportunity day when your washing will dry..That's fine if your at home all day when you can keep running outside to bring washing in when it rains..
Makes me smile. I was born in a house with no gas, no electricity and no running water (we had a pump). The temperature you talk about would have been dreams. My grandad lived with us too,. We had a range in the room. Upstairs was a matter of moving very fast and get into bed with lots of covers. My grandad lived to 88 and he'd lived there 60 years so don't worry too much about being a bit nippy.
Ice on the inside of the windows.
You left out walking or cycling to school, no school runs. No colour tv, no Internet.All said I think we were better educated,even if that was at a more lowly level.
We certainly had more respect for authority, the rule of law and taking personal responsibility!
Post war and particularly the 1960s free for all did few favours.
WITH FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND BEHAVIOUR, COME HUGE REPONSIBILTIES. WHO PAYS THE PRICE FOR NOT TAKING THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES SERIOUSLY, ? YOU GUESSED IT , EVERY MAN , WOMAN AND CHILD ON THE PLANET PAYS; GET REAL IT'S NOT SOMEONE ELSE'S PROBLEM!!!
GOD BLESS OUR DEPARTED QUEEN AND MAY WE ALL STRIVE TO FOLLOW HERE EXAMPLES!
I was brought up in home with only an open fire in the lounge.
Winter was a nightmare and when you got up out of that nice warm cosy bed to a cold room where the condensation from you breathing during the night froze on the single pane of glass...
Eventually we got a parafin heater in the backroom/kitchen.
Hot water came from an emersion heater which got condemned after a few years but we couldnt afford a replacement so we just hoped it carried on working and it did for about 10yrs.
I only ever knew CH when i met my now missus and we got our first home..
@@antsmith8588 I was born in 1949 and brought up with bath time once a week in a small galvanised bath, don't know where the hot water came from, but we had something called a Copper!
Been in plumbing since a lad, so I've seen the progression.
All these plumbing and heating innovations have got us to where we are today. Easy for the kids today to take so much for granted, we probably did something similar, but we never had a warm bed to get into in the winter. Yes, I hear the yawns, but once upon a time Thomas Crapper walked to London from up north and developed the flushing WC. You plumbers out there be proud of your heritage, sing your own praises and remind lesser mortals of your elevated position in society!!!
@@johnward5006 ih i remember as a kid rolling up newspaper and knotting it for the fire at home and at my grandparents.
Then in the evening before we went bed we used to back up the fire with tattie peelings(potato).
My grandparents had a backboiler in the early days.
There was a metal hoop at the back and you pulled it to open it so you got hot water or closed it etc.....
I could on but im not as owd as thee are not yet anyway...
@@johnward5006 well said....allow please to ask if you are the famous John Ward (electrician). If yes my best regards, if not again my best regards sir.
The sooner you start saving money, the better later life is.
Investing You mean?
Exactly! You can’t save your way to wealth.
I prefer Investing to Saving!!!
What> I think you need is a financial advisor< who can help you see the difference between saving and investing
I'm guessing you are an expert, can I invest through you? or do you have an expert you could refer me to? Cause I keep seeing on videos Disclaimer that is does not constitute investment advice
Thanks for taking the time out to try and help everyone Derek. As Tesco says, every little helps!
Draughtproof house (watch out for damp)
Range rate boiler output.
Insulate if possible
Adjust boiler flow to maximise condensing( watch out if you have a cylinder). Needs to be enough to heat the water!
Adjust hot water temperature lower to avoid mixing with cold and using excessive gas
Turn thermostat down or put a jumper on.
Powerflush system if sluggish
Check for air in rads.
Make sure your stat is running on opentherm or other manafacteur specific coding and is doing what it should be doing for plus £200 thermostat.
Don’t block the radiators
Upgrade the sizes of radiators so they can run at lower temperatures
Balance the system.
Have your boiler serviced and make sure it’s running efficiently as it can.
Replace boiler if it’s a non condensing (pre 2005)
Replace cylinder if not lagged properly ect potentially fit combi of cylinder not needed.
Turn pre heat off it’s crap!
Our cat likes a cosy 22C at all times
Get your cat a heated electric blanket?
Great video, thanks a lot!
No1... Insulation and draughtproofing.
Set back temperature very important, but unless consumers have UFH or air source,it's a difficult one to get across to consumers.
A simple energy saving tip with radiators is , if you wear thicker socks and keep your feet off the floor you'll feel warmer. It's a fact that your feet and head play a major role in how people determine their comfort levels.
It may seem obvious, but if you wear a jumper outside, don't take it off indoors! You could take it to the extreme and keep your overcoat on, this might be necessary for many people this winter, so not funny.
Currently working hard on a project looking into hot water consumption and temperatures and possible savings.
With luck can do the same with heating. In the meantime Derek. Great effort!
Hot-water bottles. My doc told me off for having such a cold house but I create this toastie warm little enclave with just fleece throws and an HWB. I don't even have socks on, it gets that hot in my huddle (there:s only me in my house so nur, can do what I want!)
I can live without heating but take away my hwb and death will be instant. Mostly from astonishment followed by outrage.
Good effort thanks for your time 🤗
Really informative, thank you.
Thank you.
Appreciate you’re help in educating us to get the most out of our heating in our time of need & wonders why CH specific info not in the user guides that come with the boiler?
My thermostat is on a wall at the bottom of the stairs near the front door in the coldest part of the house, I have a thermometer in the kitchen which is always 3-4 degrees higher than the thermostat by the front door
We have lowered our TRVs to 3 and adjusted the hot water and heating temp on the condensing boiler as stated......
My house is now set to 18 degrees...
BTW - Did an experiment, and ran my heating for one hour at 100% (increasing temp from 18.5 -> 19.5 degrees). My smart meter told me that was £1.20!!!
Thanks Derek great video 👍 I feel famous 😎 😀
👍👍👍
But to balance radiators 12 deg flow/return is recommended how does that fit in with 20 deg delta t?
A small point I want to add to point 10
My combi boiler (intergas combi compact hre) has a "on demand preheat" setting.
This allows you to pulse a hot water tap and have the boiler heat up the heat exchanger to hot water temperature with the tap off.
You can set the number of minutes it will stay hot, until it goes back to eco mode.
This saves you both gas and water.
I've had a Rapid 32 for five years and don't use the preheat options, a lazy feature.
Totally agree, Intergas preheat reprogrammes every 36 hrs or so, therefore does not heat up all night long like our inherited Worcester !!
NOT a lazy option.
It's how people interpret these measures.
@@kevinschoales844 Intergas preheat facility has options for off, continuous and learning modes.
Would suggest it's a question of how much water is used with and without pre heat against gas consumption.
In the heating season, consider the gain from that side of the heat exchanger and then see if preheat is an advantage.
Wouldn't lowering flow temperatures increase the radiant effect of radiators?
👍👍
🤘😎🤘
I deemed myself competent to service my Worcester-Bosch 30CDi which hadn't been touched for maybe 8 years. After cleaning the heat-exchanger fins using the Worcester-Bosch rasp and brush, it's been notably more efficient.
I also turned off water pre-heat (eco mode) and set the CH output to 60% of the maximum capacity via the technicians menu. Then set the hot water temp so it doesn't need cold mixed to shower; I always use the dishwasher so don't need piping hot water for dishes
Then set the flow temp down to 2 on dial and will check if the rads can get the house to temp once it get's cold. Room valves are smart TRVs with 5+2 temp profiles (not in lounge) and I use a Drayton Digistat 3+RF in the lounge, again with 5+2 profiles, which fires the combi via the receiver unit.
Is the heat exchanger in the combustion area? If so you may well have broken the law.
@@davideyres955 Luckily the police have real crimes to worry about
To be deemed competent you need to understand combustion, testing and analysing (with in date calibrated equipment) and examined both on theory and practical tasks in an approved ACS centre. Sorry to say but deeming yourself competent is stupidity and illegal (go read GSIUR - if you're competent you'll know what it stands for 😜)
We are not here to police but discuss energy savings, however you cant deem yourself competent.
So well done on other issues apart from the gas servicing.
@@davideyres955 That’s OK - British Gas break the law - send a gas safe engineer round to con you into think they are doing a service when they don’t, it’s called FRAUD.
How about turning down the water pressure on the domestic supply (hot tap water) so that the boiler fires up OK but because the water is at a lower pressure it will heat up faster.
Also if you take a meter reading how about adding on some extra units so you pay for the gas at today's price so as you build up some credit for the future.
It is fraudulent to give false meter readings (look it up if you don't believe me).
Ventilation requirements pipework void and ducts can you do a video on this
On the to do list
I noticed I have at least one radiator where the upper part heats up before the lower part, that's when I checked straight after switching the boiler on. When I checked later, after 15 minutes or more, then the whole radiator is warm. Should the lower part start getting warm first? And if not is that a sign of sludge? Thanks
Heat rises!
The general rule is cold at the top = air and cold at the bottom = sludge.
If the entire rad is essentially the same temp after fifteen minutes you should be good. The cold patches stay cold, or at least noticeably colder, if you have air or sludge. Your rad won't heat up evenly cos physics, but as long as it's even once its all got going, you should be good.
That's the most basic of basic, which is all I know, but hopefully helps 🤗
What about trickle vents? Open or closed?
Depends on how air tight your house is
Marcin Masalski 👍
Mine won't be on this winter at all
I have valves labelled from 0 to 6. What would be the conversion into Celsius in that case?
See if you can find the manufacturer's manual for the TRV's online.
I found a manual for a TRV that is frost, then 1 to 6. The temperatures (in Celsius) are: frost: 6, 1: 11, 2: 14, 3: 17, 4: 20, 5: 23, 6: 26.
Get a cheap room thermostat and check what actual room temperature is achieved and adjust to suit.
Get a cheap room thermostat and check what actual room temperature is achieved and adjust to suit.
Lower you're power output and pump speed of you're boiler and balance you're radiators.
The lower they burn the more efficient
And with lower pump speed the water gets more time to give of heat and lowers you're return temperature so you're condensing boiler is condensing and efficiency is going up .
Lowering you're temperature could be not so good for the boiler if it is going on and off all the time.
Heat exchanger will break down fast .
Went from 18kwh to 6.5 kWh .
Don't even hear it burn
I saved 50%
Well done and congrats on your successful savings. So many good examples of energy saving ways, BUT the general public don't grasp it generally, its double dutch. We do get to manage some features into customers homes after things go wrong !
My combi boiler constantly switches off and on and is quite noisy (i.e. running high). What could be the cause of this? (I have my one and only room stat in the hall which is constantly set at 22 degrees).
Also, can you please explain how you balance radiators? Thanks in advance.
@@c.marmion8430 balancing is allowing each and every radiator to warm up as each other by reducing the flow on the nearest radiator lockshield valve or get Drayton TRV4 Auto balancing thermostatic valves. Regards cycling on & off get boiler output reduced, get a smart Wiser control by Wiser, save at least 30% commonly much more.
@@kevinschoales844 Thanks for that. It went way over my head 🙂 but I'll show it to the man when he comes to service my boiler.
@@kevinschoales844 you have to be a little technical to understand it but it is no rocket science.
but not all people do indeed.
if read the comments 🤯
Just to add. You would not believe how drafty a vent from a cooker hood is. Mine is on a pretty wind free side of the house and still blows like a gud un! Looking for a gauze or something to combat it. Any ideas anyone?
Ditto. Kitchen cooker hoods do not have whats called "backdraught shutters", whereas most bathroom wall/ceiling extractor fans have backdraught shutters integrated into the motor housing. There are 2 ways that you could tackle this issue, depending on your setup:
1. Retrofit a backdraught shutter inline into the cooker hood ducting. You will have to see if you can find a point that you can fit it inline.
2. Change your exterior extractor outlet to have shutters.
For me, it is not possible to change my exterior extractor outlet and so I spoke to i-sells (look them up) and they told me about retrofitting backdraught shutters (I hadn't heard of them before). As my cooker hood duct is initially a tumble dryer type flexi hose with jubilee clips, I can fit it inline and this should be relatively easy to do (I haven't done it yet!). When I did some research on backdraught shutters, the ones without springs are much better as the springs can fail. The Kair one I bought from i-sells doesn't have any springs.
In either case, you will need to know the diameter of the ducting. i-sells are very helpful and can advise you further.
Derek you’re a good man. I’m looking for the video where your Turing round a meter ha ha
My room stat is in the hallway, which is a very small hallway with 1 radiator without a TRV, should I I turn the room stat up so that the heating doesn't turn off before the TRV's in the other rooms turn the rads off?
No, as that would waste more energy and be counter intuitive. Your heating installer has:
a) correctly installed the radiator in your hallway without a TRV because your thermostat is placed there.
b) presumably sized the radiator in the hallway correctly. So because you have a small hallway, presumably you have a small radiator there, appropriate for the size of the room etc. You will also get heat from adjacent rooms that come off from the hallway too.
In short, everything has been designed appropriately by your heating installer and you should set your thermostat to a sensible comfortable temperature (21 degrees or lower) and leave it to do its job.
@@ifallelsefails2 I have the same setup in my (small) hallway as the person above, but my hall rad has a TRV. What should I have it set to for the best efficiency?
@@c.marmion8430 Set it to the maximum it will go to, eg. 5 or 6 and leave it there. Never adjust it. Then, when your heating next comes on, make sure that the radiator is hot (so you are confirming that the TRV is functioning and is fully open). If you have children/renters that you think will play with the TRV, then consider removing the controlling head to prevent tampering. However, this will leave a blunt spike behind, so you then might need something like a bottle cork sellotaped on to keep it safe from children. Let me know if you need help with doing that.
@@ifallelsefails2 Thanks for your reply Alan. There's no children here, so no problem re tampering with the TRV. I've set it to the highest setting now so that should be better.
If I may ask you another question...? As mentioned, my room thermostat (Honeywell) is in my hall, and I have it set at 22 degrees, however when it reaches 20 on the thermostat the boiler (in my kitchen),:which is only 4 years old) switches off (fires down). Yet at other times it reaches 22 on the thermostat but the boiler doesn't switch off, when I would have expected it to.
I've spoken to the boiler makers (Vaillant) about this and they said that the thermostat isn't so finally tuned (or words to that effect) and that a couple of degrees either side of the set temp is considered acceptable. This doesn't make any sense to me, what's your view on this?
@@c.marmion8430 Sorry for the delay in replying. I have verified with other thermometers across different Honeywell thermostats that Honeywell thermostats are very accurate to within the .5 degree that you can set them to and when placed in the coldest point in the house (eg. the hallway), that they work well to maintain the whole house at that temperature. This is due to the "software" in them (ie. the way that they work - they are not just a digital replacement for the old fashioned analogue thermostat, which is what Vaillant are thinking of). A few years back, I spoke to Vaillant technical. Unfortunately, they didn't understand the underlying workings of how Honeywell thermostats operate because Vaillant's operate an entirely different way and so they obviously hadn't received training on them. It is sadly a poor reflection on Vaillant, given that Honeywell are widespread and the concept they use is not unique to them. So, you can ignore what Vaillant have told you.
Honeywell thermostats operate using what is called "TPI". If you google for "TPI functionality explained - Honeywell you learn", hopefully it will bring up an FAQ document explaining all about how your thermostat works. TPI (when implemented well) is an excellent, energy saving methodology and in my opinion, and having tried an alternative branded thermostat, Honeywell's do this superbly.
So, once you have read that document, you will understand that a) your thermostat is very accurate and b) yes, I do expect your boiler to turn off at 20 degrees, at first. However, it will then monitor the temperature, wait for 10 minutes and then fire the boiler again for a few minutes to raise the temperature slightly. It will then wait again for 10 minutes, monitor any raise in temperature and then fire the boiler again for a few minutes to try and raise the temperature again (it calculates how long it needs to fire the boiler for, depending on how much it has raised the temperature previously, the current temperature and your target/setpoint of 22 degrees). It keeps doing this 6 times in an hour, every 10 minutes, to edge closer and closer gradually to your target/setpoint of 22 degrees, but with the aim of never/barely overshooting it. I have never seen any of my Honeywell's overshooting the target temperature, even when set to .5 of a degree - TPI is that good.
What you need to look for is the flame symbol on the Honeywell thermostat, this indicates that the thermostat has determined that it requires heat from the boiler and has signalled the boiler. So again, in your example, this should appear when the temperature is at 20 degrees. However, it does not follow that the boiler will always fire up instantly that the flame symbol appears. It can sometimes take a minute or two. You can then see on the visual display of your boiler that the radiator symbol is showing and this shows that the boiler is delivering heat to your radiators. When the thermostat gets to 22 degrees, the flame symbol should disappear on the thermostat and the radiator symbol on the boiler should also go off.
(tip for troubleshooting: if the flame symbol is on the thermostat and it has been 15 minutes and nothing has happened on the boiler, then you know you have a problem with your boiler or the thermostat receiver).
That's an explanation of how it all works.
God. I'm such a tightarse - I run the heating for an hour twice a day to 16deg. And walk around like some mad bag lady with hot-water bottles on a string round my neck and fifty-six blankies. I'm staggered that people usually have it at 21deg , I think that'd kill me!
I recommend 18 for health reasons, so bump it up a couple of degrees only
@Tokaisho
Hiya, and thank you for the advice. I actually have a Neuro condition which is affected by warmer temps but you're absolutely right. I needed an emergency doc visit one year and he told me it was far too cold but now have a new boiler and digital thermostat which I can move very precisely in half-degree increments so I'm working up gradually.
It's staggering how much difference a compensating digital thermo makes. From rough calculations I reckon the old one was always give-or-take a couple of degrees either way but now it's incredibly precise.
Not giving up my hot-water-bottles tho. Those are going to my grave with me!
@Tokaisho
Thank you so much for the advice - afraid I'm like most women, it's just big-thing-on-wall-that-makes-hot and if it stops, I go and wail at someone.
I do keep it on constant heat when it's very cold for that exact reason, but not that high. But I am extremely lucky, I live in the usually mild South East, my house only has one external wall cos of the design and it's modern, insulated, double-glazed. I did go through a phase of living with no heating at all when I first left home and hopefully, never again. I feel so desperately sorry for those who are really struggling because so many British houses are so expensive to heat and they're often inhabited by those who can least afford to make the capital outlay.
Really appreciate the advice, thank you. You take care...and keep warm!
How is it better to heat water at 45 than at 60 for showers? You will use less water from the hot pipes, therefore more heat is generated but the same gas is used to heat a smaller amount of water. Right?
You use the same amount of water for a shower and heat that amount of water less
Or if you're referring to filling your bath with overly hot water and then needing to cool it down to desired temperature by adding cold water, then in this instance the efficiency loss in the effort to heat it kicks in. No system in science has a 100% efficiency, so to overheat water and then add cold water to cool it down will cost more than to merely heat the same total amount of water to the desired temperature in the first instance.
@@TheVicar all boilers have a minimum flow rate for it to start heating. As long as your hot water flow rate is achieved, you will use less energy to heat less water. Also, it does not matter if you just use the hot water tap or mix it with cold water, you just need to achieve that minimum flow rate on the hot water pipes. This also allows for more taps to be used without losing heat. This also allows for more total water flow, as typically you can achieve a bigger flow with the cold water pipes. This is how you might waste energy, as you might end up with more water necessarily just to not scald yourself. But if it is the same water flow, it's the same energy (gas used). The efficiency, or lack of, happens at the same rate no matter the temperature. It's hot water, not central heating (no condensing and no water tank, I'm talking about a combi boiler).
You haven't said anything to demonstrate otherwise. You don't add cool water to cool it down, you add less hot water to begin with.
If you have cold water at 10ºC and you want to heat it to 30ºC: You can heat 10 litres at 30ºC, or heat 4 litres at 60ºC to mix with 6 litres at 10ºC. Both require 0.23kwh.
@@globalist1990 "You don't add cool water to cool it down, you add less hot water to begin with."
That's exactly what I'm saying and what the video refers to, but because no system is 100% efficient, which is what you are suggesting, then your figures are incorrect. It will take more energy to heat said ratio of water to a higher temperature and mix it back down to desired temperature with cold water, compared to heating the total amount of water to the desired temperature.
@@TheVicar no, hot water for baths/showers don't take advantage of condensation. Like central heating does with lower temperatures on mild winter days or good insulated houses. I provided the kwh usage in two cases. Feel free to check yourself.
@@globalist1990 You're dodging the issue. The type of boiler or heating method is irrelevant. When converting the energy from burning gas to heat water there will be an energy loss. Heating a smaller amount of water to a higher temp and then cooling it to desired temp with cold water you will lose more energy than heating the total amount of water to the desired temp in one go.
You are stating a basic calculation based on a system that is 100% efficient in transferring the energy. Such a system does not exist.
If you think it does then you would win a Nobel Prize.
Am from the caribbean and 21degree C is definitely not warn for me.
Derek is a Northerner 🥶
That’s summer heat 70 f
21?????????????? in the netherlands we alr wurk 20 years with 19
When you've got sealed all windows and doors ideally, I'm afraid CO2 level will be very high. Why don't you take this into account at all?
I think you mean CO levels, not CO2. If your boiler is room sealed then the CO risk is very low as the boiler does not share the air you breathe. It takes its air from outside. If you have an open flue boiler then the correct amount of unblockable fresh air ventilation is very important for your safety and that of all occupants as the boiler takes its combustion air from the room. If you are not sure which type of boiler you have then ask a Gas Safe Registered engineer to call and advise you. You must check how much they will charge, so it may be best to combine the call with a boiler service.
@@timhancock6626
No Tim he or she means CO2! Your right about the different between room sealed and open flues but I'm sure this is to do with the CO2 we breath out NOT CO being breathed in! CO2 levels will increase moisture content in the air along with boiling kettles, cooking, showers and baths. This will increase risk of damp, mould and possibly risk to health. Some ventilation or other means of controlling humidity is extremely important, but will come at a cost! Perhaps Derek can put a video together on the importance of this and economical ways to control it?
@@timhancock6626 No I meant exactly CO2. Whe you breath in the sealed room, oxygen is decreasing rapidly and CO2 is increasing.
@@tonyadams380 CO2 level in the open air is around 420 ppm. 2000 ppm is considered already unhealthy. When I close door , window and ventilation grill in my bedroom, 2000 ppm is reached less than in a hour.
@@tonyadams380 Actually the things are very simple. Human consumes oxygen and produces CO2. I even didn't mention other VOC gases produced by human body. So we need fresh air supply. In other case we end up in warm but lack of oxygen environment. So then headache, bad feeling, health problems. Is that correct way to keep the room warm and lower energy bill? I think no.
You will save on gas but you won't save on cash...
Why not? Less use of gas will surely result in lower bills...
Wait what? Tip #1 is "don't turn the heating on." Not turn the stat down!
21 degrees though? That's way above T shirt level, mines at 17°C, ready for when the heating gets turned on maybe in January. ;)
So how are we supposed to dry the washing in winter if using radiators, causes mould..please don't say tumble dryer, as all the savings I've just learned, will be lost to the tumble dryer costs
Don’t wash ya clothes
@@kevinjackson6387 haha, I'll get straight on it ..
Just what my mother did, watch the weather and dry them outside,simple!!
Don't shower every day. "Unless you work out, or work outdoors or for some reasion come into intimate contact with huge amounts of filth and garbage every day, you don't need to shower. All you have to do is wash the 4 kay areas. Armpits, asshole, crotch and teeth. Got that!? Armpits, asshole, crotch and teeth. in fact, you can save a whole lotta time and energy, by using the same brush on all 4 areas!" - George Carlin
I've had beer.
😥
@@johnward5006 bet your washing smells lovely in the winter, whilst waiting for an opportunity day when your washing will dry..That's fine if your at home all day when you can keep running outside to bring washing in when it rains..
Horseshit all it will do is take your house to warm up slower therefore causing you to leave it on for longer
Oldest man on RUclips
What about farting in a jar?
You know how to 'Save Gas' Dont use it! Simple. Be nice not to be talked to like a 5 year old!
Click bait
You are wrong