[meldrewreborn]

This morning I shut down the central heating, turned off the power to it and then swapped out the central heating pump head (left the body in situ) and installed the new pump head. 90 minutes work, and as straightforward as I had hoped for.

No more knocking from the pump (the old one was very elderly) and power setting now @ 50w, lower than before.

Might save a bit on the electricity as a result, not a lot, but every little helps.

[retrotecchie]

@meldrewreborn

Not just the energy saving, but likely a quieter system too. Double winner.

I had an ancient old Wilo pump on the central heating back at the old homestead back in Surrey. I'm sure from the temperature of the pump body when it was running, it possibly imparted almost as much heat to the water as the boiler did! A new more efficient pump made the world of difference 👍

[Mailman]

@meldrewreborn

I had my annual boiler service last Friday.

During the service the gas valve was adjusted (to recommended settings) and since then kWh used each day has been noticeably less. Still felt cold in our lounge in the morning (at 14C as no overnight heating on) but has been taking less boiler time to get up CH up to desired morning temperature (17.5C). Too early to say if this is the boiler or just a slightly higher ambient temperature outside although wind has been stronger.

Getting an annual service has been something I've done for a many years now but this is the first time I've noticed an immediate difference - confirmed due to recording daily records (in kWh) of gas used.

January's target was 1147kWh total (target/day @ 37kWh) and due to the last week, now looking to be 1140 kWh for the month (last year was 1323 kWh so another decent saving).

[meldrewreborn]

@retrotecchie

This was a grundfos. in separating the head from the base the head part came off in two parts, the outer case with electrical windings and an inner part water sealed with the spinning bits. The bearings were undoubtedly worn, and the sound had an ability to penetrate nearly the whole house. Been waiting for a milder day to carry out the job, as you never quite know what will prove difficult (and thus time consuming) till its underway. As you say quieter, energy saving, and satisfying that the Chronologically gifted still have the ability to do such jobs.

Pity to read today that over 50's don't feel valued in the workplace. Skills need continual updating though.

[meldrewreborn]

@Mailman

I'm not a great believer in annual servicing of gas appliances. Now I can recognise that a car with all those moving parts, metal against metal wear, drive belts, tyres, brakes, hydraulics etc means that an annual service is highly desirable. Gas appliances very much less so. there are hardly any moving parts, and little in the way of preventative maintenance that can be carried out. There are the more unusual situations where long flues are inside properties and leakage could be dangerous, but for the normal balanced flue boiler, hanging on the inside of an outside wall, I don't see the benefit.

Boilers come with inbuilt safety devices, Carbon Monoxide leakage is near impossible nowadays due to boilers working at negative pressure, and in home detectors act as a long stop. Where I do see a role for functioning smart meters is in detecting tampering with gas supplies. Although we haven't seen a spike in house explosions recently I would expect that cost of living pressures will lead to some taking extreme measures to cut costs through a by-pass of the meter with potentially catastrophic effects.

Presumably, the pressure after the gas valve was too high leading to inefficient combustion for you.

I also don't work to targets for energy consumption. I like to keep an eye on consumption because that drives costs, but I prefer to have set levels of comfort - I can't control the weather.

[Mailman]

@meldrewreborn

Just to add that many boilers require proof of an annual service to maintain guarantees/warranty especially if they are the longer ones that some manufacturers provide (Worcester Bosch and Viessman etc).

As to whether these longer guarantee/extended warranties are worth it is another matter.

The point I was trying to make about energy usage is all the monitoring I do is based around kWh rather than reading the £ used on my IHD and waiting for tariff updates. As I pay for energy monthly I keep track on it (in kWh) daily to see where the likely bill is going to end up at for the DD variable amount. Obviously it firms up as the month goes along. kWh Targets I set are always based on what I consumed 12 months ago and the same kind of comfort levels we had last year (this evening for example in the lounge we were both comfortable at 18C with a heated throw same as last winter). 🥂

[meldrewreborn]

@Mailman

We’re very much on the same page on this. @retrotecchie, I and others here promote monitoring in kWh rather than costs.

But we’re all different and 17 is my minimum overnight temperature, while 19 rising to 20 are the daytime settings, supplemented by a gas fire in the lounge if the wind is in the wrong direction. There are many alternative approaches and no right or wrong answers to how we choose to live our lives.

[retrotecchie]

@meldrewreborn

Indeed. Different strokes for different folks, but at the end of the day, knowing the consumption is key. The kilowatt hour never changes. The price you pay for it does. Easier to track the constants than the variables.

I ran my numbers just before I had my bill issued. I was out by a penny over a month's usage. The kWh were spot on. The penny difference was likely due to a rounding error on my unit price in the third decimal place. As it happened, E.On Next billed me a penny less than I calculated, so I'm still a winner!

[Mailman]

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

I ran my numbers just before I had my bill issued. I was out by a penny over a month's usage.

Not really good enough is it? 🤣

[retrotecchie]

Ah, but the penny was in my favour....