Expert Plumbing advice for Your Home

Several companies offer more advanced control systems for domestic central heating, generally known as smart heating controls. They allow you to manage your heating controls remotely from a computer, tablet or smart phone, and many incorporate other advanced features to control your heating in more sophisticated way. Some can learn from your previous choices and make adjustments for you, while others use automation and optimisation features to help determine exactly when to turn the heating on. One clear advantage of a smart heating control system is that you can make changes remotely if your plans change – for example, you can change the time that your heating comes on if it turns out you will be home sooner or later than you thought.

Whether a smart controller will save you money, and whether it is right for you, will depend on your lifestyle, how you currently control your heating and whether you prefer using an app to using a traditional controller.

Benefits of a Smart Control System

What are Smart Controls?

These thermostats can be referred to remote control thermostats, as they are controlled off your phone, like a remote control. The system is fitted to your boiler, a room in your home and then the third component is an app on your phone or tablet.

Each part of the system communicates with each other, controlling the temperature and the heating system through the internet, meaning you can control the heating of your property from anywhere, ensuring that the app is connected.

 The right heating controls will let you keep your home at a comfortable temperature without wasting fuel or heat.

Hot Water Thermostats

If your hot water is stored in a cylinder, the thermostat will prevent it becoming hotter than it needs to. Once the water has reached the temperature you have set, the heat supply from the boiler will be turned off. Turning the thermostat higher will not make the water heat up any faster, and the water heating will not come on if a time switch or programmer has switched it off.
Cylinder thermostats

Usually fitted between one quarter and one third of the way up the cylinder. They have temperature scales marked; you should set them at between 60 and 65 degrees. This is hot enough to kill harmful bacteria in the water, but it’s also hot enough to scald. For extra safety consider installing a thermostatic mixing valve which will automatically ensure that hot water is at a safe temperature. 

If you have a combi boiler then you won’t have a cylinder, but there will probably be a hot water thermostat on the boiler itself. This is often a dial with a picture of a tap on it.

Boiler Interlock

This is not a control but a system of wiring that turns the boiler off when neither the room thermostat nor the cylinder thermostat needs it. Without this, the boiler can continue to ‘cycle’ and waste energy.

Boiler Thermostat

Your boiler will usually have a dial on it, marked in numbers or from Min to Max. This sets the temperature of the water that will be pumped from the boiler through the radiators. The higher this is set, the quicker it will heat your home. In fact, if it is not set high enough, when it is very cold outside your home may not reach the desired temperature. However, condensing boilers work more efficiently when the water returning to the boiler is below 55 degrees, so it can be better not to set the temperature too high.

If you have a regular boiler with separate hot water cylinder, your boiler thermostat should always be set to a higher temperature than the cylinder thermostat, otherwise the hot water cylinder will never get up to temperature. If you have a combi boiler you will probably have two dials – the one with a radiator symbol controls the output to the radiators and you can set this at the best point for your heating without it affecting the hot water temperature.

These prevent your home from getting warmer than necessary. They turn the heating on until the room reaches the temperature you have set, and then off until the temperature drops. Room thermostats need a free flow of air to sense the temperature, so they must not be blocked by curtains or furniture, or put near heat sources. Your room thermostat should be set to the lowest comfortable temperature, typically between 18 and 21 degrees.
You don’t need to turn your thermostat up when it is colder outside; the house will heat up to the set temperature regardless. It may take a little longer on colder days, so you might want to set your heating to come on earlier in the winter.
A programmable room thermostat combines time and temperature controls and allows you to set different temperatures for different times of the day. You can have different temperatures in individual rooms by installing thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) on individual radiators. 

 Thermostatic radiator valves do not control the boiler; they reduce the flow of water through the radiator which they are fitted to when the temperature goes above a certain setting. Set them to the level you want for the room; a lower setting uses less energy and so will save you money.
We do not recommend using radiator covers because TRVs sense the air temperature around them and control the flow rate depending on what level they’re set at. Having a cover over the radiator means the TRV is enclosed, which is likely to make it think that the room temperature is higher than it actually is.
If you already have a radiator cover that cannot be removed, then it is still worth using TRVs to control the temperature as much as possible. If you feel the room is not hot enough at a particular setting, you can turn up the TRV. 

The Benefits of Installing Heating Control Systems

Whether in a new-build or an older home, energy efficiency is achievable – with even traditional heating methods open to accessible adaptations, such as heating control systems. A clear strategy is needed during the design process to ensure that zones are both efficient and, more importantly, compatible to the surrounding environment.

You’ll reduce your carbon dioxide emissions.

You could save money on your heating bills by installing and using your controls efficiently.

You can schedule your heating and hot water to go on and off when needed.

You can select areas of your home to heat and the required temperature for each room, rather than heating a whole house at the same temperature.