Thermostatically controlled heating - how to keep room temperature constant ?

D

Daphne

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We recently renovated our house and had the entire gas central heating system replaced with a zoned thermostatically controlled system. It works great for the most part but we have a minor problem which probably wouldn't bother most but is making life difficult at present.

We have a new baby who is currently sleeping in our room. Room thermostat is set to 18 degrees and baby is dressed and blanketed accordingly. Problem is that heating system seems to work as follows:

Once temp drops to 17 degrees the heating comes on. It will then heat up fairly fast to over 20 degrees before switching off. Once temp goes above 20 degrees baby gets too hot and wakes up. Given the current weather this happens several times a night and I am about to go nuts from the sleep deprivation !

Has anyone any solutions to make the temperature cycle stay more constant eg a slower 'heat-up' so that temp stays closer to 18 degrees ? I am reluctant to turn the heat off given presence of baby in the room. We have radiator set to its highest setting; would turning it down help in any way ?

Also - related query - thermostat seems to run off the master bedroom temp ie only comes on if master bedroom is cold. Is there any way to adjust the workings so that the bathroom radiator will come on even if master bedroom heat is off ? My toes are freezing these mornings !
 
I was listening to Marian Finucane's Radio 1 program on Sat 14th Nov and she had Duncan Stewart on and he suggesteed having individual thermostats on each radiator. They woud need to be removed first though and a job for a plumber but it may be something to think of. You could listen to a podcast of the program on www.rte.ie .
 
You could get a plumber to fit thermostatic radiator valves (trv) to each of the individual radiators. These valves will give a certain amount of control to each of the radiators. Make sure though that these valves are not fitted in draughty areas or behind curtains as this will affect the performance of the sensor in the valve. Note: These valves are known to stick in the closed position after a number of years.
 
Turn the thermostat control on the boiler to a lower setting so the heat running around isn't overpowering in the first place, Gary.
 
Anything below 60c and legionnaires would be a problem also the low temperature would effect the performance of the hot water cylinder (assuming it's not a combi boiler) 65c would be normally OK which is a lot cooler than a max of 82c+, with a room stat fitted the boiler stat works like a throttle, the higher you have the boiler stat set the quicker the house gets up to the temperature set on the room stat, sometimes if it's to high on the boiler stat then by the time the zone valve closes more heat than you wanted can be pushed in to the system, if the boiler is running cooler than the max it's less likely to happen, Gary.
 
Excellent point Gary... I'm just in the process of a renovating project and have to place stats about the house also.. I was going to put one in the master bed to regulate upstairs.. But I'm not too sure of where to place a stat for regulating the down stairs heat.. Any suggestions ?
 
Hi coner, i think having the system balanced is one of the major basic requirements overlooked with heating systems in Ireland, if a system is not balanced the area controlled by the stat can have varying temperatures and then the bloody room stat is blamed, if the system is balanced and you keep any heat/cold source from the stat then the positioning is less of a issue. There is no perfect place but i like hallways(but not if upstairs is on a different zone) and sitting rooms(where you would spend most of your time), wherever you fit it you will soon adapt to it unless of course you fit it above a rad(very common), beside the front door(very,very common), beside a fridge or my favorite hidden between the books of a book case with the door shut ahhhhhhhhhhh. Gary.
 
Firstly I live in a 2006 standard of insulation house and if occupied the temp would not generally drop to 17 during the night after the heating is turned off at say 11. Check for draughts in attic door/other doors/fit chimney balloon or chimney closer device as the temperature should not really drop like that during the night unless it was very cold (minus degrees outside).
Secondly if you have a setback temp of 17 you can normally adjust that to 16. Also you may wish to consider if there is an output delay on the thermostat. What’s the model of thermostat you have to control the zones.
 
Hallway is prob colder than the room, leave the doors to the other rooms open. Consider moving the stat to your room.
 
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