[TheDodds]

Hello all,

We live in a 3 bed end terrace housing association property and have an combi old boiler with a timer and a temporature dial, but we have no room thermostat aside so although we can set the time for our heating to go on and off, and know approximately how 'warm' the radiators feel, we have no real way of controlling the temps more effectively (that we know of).

Additionally, our lounge and font bedroom has two double glazed large windows one of which is a bay and is again old and not sealed very well. We get lots of condensation even with the trickle vents open fully and all the time.

We haven't had any cavity wall insulation in the 10 years we have been here.

The house is very draughty but the HA refused to sort anything and are not scheduled to fit new boilers for the foreseeable, so we need to know what we can to try and monitor our use more effectively and utilise residual heat etc.

At the moment we are using draught excluders, have bought lined heavy curtains, are setting the timer to come on for 5 hours on an evening only at a moderate temp on the dial (around 3/4 high), and have turned off the radiators in the rooms we are not using. We shower rather than bath and our cooker and hob are electric. Our bill is still approx. £16 a day!


Please can anyone help because we really are at a loss - what else could we do?

Thanks,

Colleen

[meldrewreborn]

@TheDodds

Usually if there is no main thermostat each radiator has a thermostatic valve to control the temperature in each room. What is the model of the combi, as there may be settings to make it more efficient?

usually condensation is caused by a lack of ventilation - cooking, laundry, drying, bathing and breathing all add moisture to the air which if not ventilated to the outside builds up. Black mould then proliferates. So use absorbent materials to soak up the condensation and wring the out in the bathroom - windows should be open when showering and bathing.

more rarely condensation stems from damp penetration - if so report that to you housing association for priority repair.

[Mailman]

A few things that might help any advice given.

Can you look at the boiler and let the forum know the brand and model of your combi? I suspect that the 'temp dial' is a way of describing the 'boiler flow temperature'. Without knowing what the boiler model is this actual temperature is an unknown ATM.

OK without thermostats you might want to invest in some basic digital thermometers to dot around your home so that you really know how hot/cold your home is. Comfort is an individual thing for you to decide and how much you want to spend or are able to spend. It would be helpful to know what your heating consumption is in kWh. Yesterday I suspect the heating in my bungalow was on for about 4-5 hours total with the temperature remaining between 16.5-17.5 for most of the day after the initial warming from a low start of 12C and my gas consumption yesterday was 52.85kWh (costing £5.66). My flow temperarture is about 55C and the radiators were balanced recently. FYI, my electricity consumption yesterday was 8.76 kWh (cost £3.29 - 2 loaves and JP cooked in oven) so both utilities yesterday were higher than average so far this month to give you some context .

Other things that mitigate a low temperature inside our house is the use of an electric throw (just heats the two of us) during the day, an electric blanket on for 45 mins before retiring to bed and a hot water bottle thrown in for good measure.

If you are with your housing association, have you asked them about any obligation they might have to install a thermostat to control the boiler?

Finally is your figure of £16 the total of gas and electric or just gas?

[TheDodds]

Thank you both so much for your replies and advice - particularly the digital thermometers and meter advice. I have responded to both your questions and points.

The make and model of the boiler is: Vokera Linea 28

Throughout the day we are all out of the house and on a weekend we tend to use throws and a low cost electric heater to take the chill out of one room in the house, so we use the heating only on an evening, or if it is really cold we may put it on for a couple of hours in the morning just before we get up and get ready for work but this is rare - perhaps one or two days a month.

When we use the shower/cook the windows are open, we also only hang clothes in one room of the house which has the window open to remove any condensation. Luckily we have few issues with mould but we do use a window vac, and have two Unibond Aero 360 dehumidifiers in the worse windows.

The housing association refuse to help in any way because we are not 'at-risk', elderly or disabled.

The figure is for just gas.

Thanks,

Colleen

[Plantagenet]

Originally Posted by TheDodds

Thank you both so much for your replies and advice - particularly the digital thermometers and meter advice. I have responded to both your questions and points.

The make and model of the boiler is: Vokera Linea 28

Throughout the day we are all out of the house and on a weekend we tend to use throws and a low cost electric heater to take the chill out of one room in the house, so we use the heating only on an evening, or if it is really cold we may put it on for a couple of hours in the morning just before we get up and get ready for work but this is rare - perhaps one or two days a month.

When we use the shower/cook the windows are open, we also only hang clothes in one room of the house which has the window open to remove any condensation. Luckily we have few issues with mould but we do use a window vac, and have two Unibond Aero 360 dehumidifiers in the worse windows.

The housing association refuse to help in any way because we are not 'at-risk', elderly or disabled.

The figure is for just gas.

Thanks,

Colleen

From memory your boiler is a non condensing appliance about 77% efficient and manufactured between the late 1990's early 2000s.

[meldrewreborn]

@TheDodds

The traditional way to control room temperatures was with the valves at each end of the radiator. One is left fully open, the other, usually on the exit end, is closed more and more till you get to a level that is comfortable. This takes ages with out a pipe thrmometer. It would normally be done by working out the room size, its heat losses, the radiator output and then adjusting accordingly.

Draughts can you be more specific about these - are they from floors (floorboard, skirtings), doors, windows, around frames?

[meldrewreborn]

@TheDodds electricity is over 3 times that of electricity. So using the CH might be better financially although difficult to limit to one room I have a flu less gas fire which is 100% efficient to top up our main room.

when you are out the heating should go off. The warmer the home the more heat it loses which has to be replaced at huge cost today.

[TheDodds]

@meldrewreborn

The biggest draughts come from the bay windows and the loft hatch, although the loft is insulated and there are no obvious issues with the roof, it rattles a little when it is windy. If you move to the area where the windows are it feels much colder than anywhere else in the room.

[TheDodds]

@meldrewreborn we always switch off the heating if we leave. We simply cannot afford to be heating an empty home

[meldrewreborn]

@TheDodds

Good you are doing the right things. The loft hatch should sealed with a foam or similar strip. Depending on the size of the gap you could use some protective tape on important surfaces and the use an expanding foam to make a good seal.

even double glazing is less insulating than walls, so they will always be colder. Again a foam self adhesive strip could be used to reduce the draughts.

you can’t as a tenant do anything about the walls. Paying via Direct Debit gets you the cheapest prices. But the fundamental point is prices are very high at present, and scheduled to go higher in April before perhaps falling in July and thereafter. But heating costs will fall when we move out of winter.