Heating on?

[robgul]

I have just given in . . .  switched on the heating through the Hive controls . . . and remembered to switch off the bathroom towel rail electric elements that only get used in the summer, opening the valves so water flows.  Just got to make sure the rooms unused during the day have the doors kept shut (they have their own timed valves)

BUT still planing to ride in shorts tomorrow, and probably through most of the winter.

One small benefit is that B Gas have us on a "half-price electricity from 1100 - 1600 on Sundays until 31 December" deal - so washer, dryer, batch-cooking was going on today.

[Jayjay]

No heating up to now, haven't got central, but SWMBO was shivering so I started sawing up the old fence wood and she has had a fire going in the living room today. I had the saw and a bench out to put the last of the replacement fence in place so it was convenient to make a few buckets full of warm as well.
All the activity kept me from getting cold 
Plus donning a pullover, and socks.
Our loft header tank froze the first winter we moved in. Some twit had insulated the loft (minimally by present standards) and included the ceiling bit under the tank, instead of over it.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Not yet but cast-iron bathtubs don’t 'arf cool the hot water quickly when the bathroom is a bit nippy.

(Closes bathroom window)

On bath night as a child, I was lucky not to be youngest of three brothers. Youngest's bath was run first and warmed the bath tub nicely before the next bath was run.

[Wowbagger]

Sheer luxury! One bath full for umpteen kids in my household.

[rafletcher]

-1.6C right now. Heating on to “All Day” as my wife’s going to be home. Next weekend will see the duvet change from 4.5tog to 9. If I ever retire I won’t miss scraping the car of a morning.

[robgul]

-1.6C right now. Heating on to “All Day” as my wife’s going to be home. Next weekend will see the duvet change from 4.5tog to 9. If I ever retire I won’t miss scraping the car of a morning.

I've just been informed by Mrs robgul that the seasonal duvet change will occur here later today.

[Regulator]

I want to turn the heating on...

...but Mr R decided that everything should be wirelessly linked to and managed by Hive.  Which is all very well but the Hive thermostat has died and there appears to be no way to bypass it now and manually kick on the heating.

And it's OK for Mr R - he's sat in a nice warm holiday cottage on Anglesey, whilst I'm freezing my nut off sat at a desk at home.   

[robgul]

I want to turn the heating on...

...but Mr R decided that everything should be wirelessly linked to and managed by Hive.  Which is all very well but the Hive thermostat has died and there appears to be no way to bypass it now and manually kick on the heating.

And it's OK for Mr R - he's sat in a nice warm holiday cottage on Anglesey, whilst I'm freezing my nut off sat at a desk at home.   

. . . are you sure it's not just the batteries in the Hive thermostat - ours seems to be variable on battery life/duration

[Regulator]

I want to turn the heating on...

...but Mr R decided that everything should be wirelessly linked to and managed by Hive.  Which is all very well but the Hive thermostat has died and there appears to be no way to bypass it now and manually kick on the heating.

And it's OK for Mr R - he's sat in a nice warm holiday cottage on Anglesey, whilst I'm freezing my nut off sat at a desk at home.   

. . . are you sure it's not just the batteries in the Hive thermostat - ours seems to be variable on battery life/duration

Yep.  The batteries in the thermostat sensor are fine.  It's the separate thermostat controller that has died on us.

[chrisbainbridge]

Not uncommon. I had to replace ours. There is a guy on eBay who will repair it and the you can sell it on

[robgul]

Not uncommon. I had to replace ours. There is a guy on eBay who will repair it and the you can sell it on

Presumably you mean the bit that is next to the boiler?    Replacement is dead simple if you take a photograph of the wiring before you start.

[MattH]

And if it is just replacing a failed "receiver" (as they call it - the bit by the boiler) then a like-for-like replacement is just turn off the power, undo the two screws holding it in place, flip it up to pull it off the back plate, plugging a new one onto the old back plate, screw it up and power back on then sync it to your thermostat and hub. No touching wiring at all, that's screwed to the back plate that you aren't doing anything to.

[Regulator]

Well, the thermostat has come back to life - apparently it has an internal battery that needed to charge up.

But now the thermostat is working, there's an issue with the water pressure.  The heating won't kick in as the pressure is too high.  I've tried bleeding the radiators but to no avail.  The pressure drops and then goes straight back up again.  The hot water supply is fine but the heating simply won't work.

We have a ridiculously complicated heating system.  The developers decided to stick in both a combi boiler system and an immersion system.  They are linked together and it seems if one goes down it affects the other.

I'm going to have to get the heating guys in (the boiler could do with a service anyway).  Hopefully Perry will be available - so at least I'll have someone to lust over whilst my wallet is emptied...

[perpetual dan]

Has the filling loop been left open, or is the pressure going up as it heats?

Our heating went on yesterday evening, as it was cold and Miss Dan the Elder was feeling ill.

[Regulator]

Has the filling loop been left open

I have no idea.  I can just about cope with bleeding a radiator...

, or is the pressure going up as it heats?

This as far as I can tell.  As soon as the boiler kicks on the pressure starts to rise.

[Ruthie]

It seems cold mornings and generalized inflammatory pain go together so the heating was on ALL day since it’s my day off. This could be a long, expensive winter.

Why is it so bloody cold all of a sudden  completely unacceptable 

[Basil]

Mrs B arrived home this afternoon after a week away.  Central heating is now nailed on.

[Tim Hall]

Has the filling loop been left open

I have no idea.  I can just about cope with bleeding a radiator...

, or is the pressure going up as it heats?

This as far as I can tell.  As soon as the boiler kicks on the pressure starts to rise.

Expansion vessel sounds b0rked. It should accommodate the change in pressure due to temperature rise as the boiler runs. All of which is a bit academic I suspect as it sounds like fixing it isn't in your skill set.

[Regulator]

Has the filling loop been left open

I have no idea.  I can just about cope with bleeding a radiator...

, or is the pressure going up as it heats?

This as far as I can tell.  As soon as the boiler kicks on the pressure starts to rise.

Expansion vessel sounds b0rked. It should accommodate the change in pressure due to temperature rise as the boiler runs. All of which is a bit academic I suspect as it sounds like fixing it isn't in your skill set.

I’ve managed to sort the pressure out.  Mr R had knocked a tap/valve putting something away. 

The radiators still aren’t heating up though.  Time to get the heating chap in. 

[andrewc]

No heating yet,  but the fleece trousers & top have been donned. 

[mrcharly-YHT]

MrsC is away, so I'm not running the heating as much as normal (we have it set to heat to 17C in evenings).

The dog is absolutely miserable. It's just under 15C downstairs and he's acting like he's been tortured and kicked.

[Wowbagger]

Ours is set to come on at 14°C overnight, and 18°C during the day. It was 19°C according to the thermostat this morning. Minimum outside temperature last night: 14.4°C, so still very warm.

[Wowbagger]

I've been up in the loft again this morning to check the tank. I took the precaution of taking 5 4-pint bottles of water up with me. It turned out there's still lots of water in the tank, but of course the heating has hardly come on because it has been so warm. I'm hoping there is no leak: the day we had the new boiler fitted, in January, there was loads of water in the tank, with a layer of ice on it. There had been no leak at that point. But of course the system was drained so that the boiler could be fitted, and it has had limited use since. Our system is full of potential airlocks and a couple of the upstairs radiators seem to need bleeding, but there doesn't seem to be much pressure from the loft tank. That implies to me that there is either an airlock or a sold blockage somewhere. All the ground floor radiators are full of water.

Today I have bumped the thermostat up to male sure the boiler stays on for longer, and forces the water to circulate. I'll keep on checking the radiators.

[JefO]

It is possible for the header pipe to block. I have known two systems that this happened on. First, my own system where I currently live. Second an accommodation block at Basildon Hospital, where I was a heating engineer. The silt was so thick in both that the length of the pipe had to be replaced. Both had header tanks made from galvanised steel. The symptom was that the upstairs radiators would bleed for a couple of seconds, and then the air would stop coming out. As a temporary measure (until the systems could be conveniently taken out of use for complete drain down), I was able to use the expansion pipe to fill the system. Tricky though!

[Afasoas]

Relented this morning and put the heating on, despite the management committee decreeing we wouldn't turn it on until January