OMO: Central heating/boiler questions

Evening all,
I've recently had to take a more active approach to my home and as such I've got lots of uninformed questions

We've got a Worcester Danesmoor 15/19 oil fired boiler which has a bit of a dated (and a little inflexible) digital timer on it:
(this is apparently an upgrade already) but typically I'd like more.

I can set it to do certain hours and I can set a general temperature dial (which I've just learned from an online manual, controls the temperature of the water in the radiators(perhaps the hot water too?)) but this all seems rather limited. Each of the radiators has a dial to control how hot it gets (not thermostat controlled) just the usual 1-5 rating.

My question I guess is, can I put a room thermostat (wall mounted jobby) in place for the main room? and if so does it have to be a "compatible" one or are they all the same in essence?

After a quick google it appears I know little of what I'm talking about, my terms are all off but what I want is better control of the temperatures in different areas of the house and ideally some more flexibility with the main temperature (preferably with an iphone app or remote control ability if I'm honest) Does this mean new boiler or is it just the control mechanisms I need?

Any help greatly appreciated, teach me oh mighty org!

I work for a commercial boiler company (Broag-Remeha Commercial Ltd), this sort of set up is commonly found in commercial buildings/Schools etc where you have zoned heating, which is as it sounds really different zones at different temperatures. However it is a relatively complicated system as you would need a controller capable of multi zone heating as well as 2/3/4 port valves all over you system to open/shut off the various zones.

In short it is possible but I am unsure if there is anything available on the domestic market. Unless you live in a mansion I would say it prob not worth it.

Most domestic boiler controls have a built in room stat which will monitor the temperature in one room (I.e the lounge) and will bring the heating on/off depending on the temperature in that room. You can get weather compensating controller which will take into account the outside air temperature.

I would suggest getting in touch with a heating controls specialist and see what they can recommend, as I say I only really know about commercial applications.

Cool, thanks for the answer, I wondered if I was expecting a little much for a home and your point about it not being worth it is probably valid but getting a room controller sounds like the way to go. I'll see what I can find.

Thanks for the reply!

Following on from that I remembered about a smarter valve for radiators that I'd seen at the gadget show live:
http://www.saveonheatingbills.co.uk/index.html
lets you "program" each radiator to make better use of it. Could be an option perhaps. Will look into it more

[Sir Trev]

Rad valves only work well if you can "isolate" the room or area of your house. If you have females living in your house you're stuffed as they are incapable of ever closing doors behind them... I have normal adjustable valves on my rads but leave them all on full as it's a waste of time in my house!

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by Sir Trev

If you have females living in your house you're stuffed as they are incapable of ever closing doors behind them... !

You've know my teenage daughter then.

I thought about buying some of those door closing things

[timwilky]

Worse still he knows my wife and daughters.

Them - It is cold in here, put the heating on. It now too warm, open a window.

Me - It is cold in here, put a jumper on and move about. I am now too warm, take the jumper off.

Her, when I suggest closing the door. You sound just like my father. Me, so you want me to fit self closures to all the doors like your dad did then.

[jambo]

As above.
Generally for a domestic system you have 1 thermostat in your house that controls when the boiler is on / off. My new boiler has a wireless one of these so you can move it around the house to the best reference point, which is kind of nice.

You now need to balance the central heating system so all the radiators heat up at roughly the same rate. This prevents your heating cutting out before some of the system is up to temperature, and is done by opening all the adjustable rad valves wide open and, starting from about 2/3 open, adjusting the valve on the other side until you get a fairly consistent temperature rise from cold for all radiators.

Following that you can turn some radiators down using the main controllers if some rooms are getting too hot when compared to your reference room. Thermostatic valves do a good job here as they allow a good flow rate until you're at the temperature you want.

This means you are aiming the system to get a consistent temperature across the house.

I hope some of the above helps with the thought process, I've recently had all this explained when the new boiler went in and a few people took pitty on me. It's possible I've mangled some of the information

Jambo

[dirtydog]

Originally Posted by Brettus

Following on from that I remembered about a smarter valve for radiators that I'd seen at the gadget show live:
http://www.saveonheatingbills.co.uk/index.html
lets you "program" each radiator to make better use of it. Could be an option perhaps. Will look into it more

Don't bother they're a load of carp!

I've fitted a few of theses in different properties for different people and then gone back a few months later to replace them with normal TRVs

Thanks DD, I'd wondered about their effectiveness, hadn't got to googling reviews yet but the cost of buying outweighed any saving for quite some time.

Think I need to follow Jambo's post and get things settled properly, bleed them all and pay attention to it, also a thermostat would be good somewhere in the house so will research what one I can use.

Thanks to everyone for the help, it is greatly appreciated!