Will running just one Radiator be cheaper?

[@stevethorndale231]

Good info again Al, thanks, my setup is a combination of boiler with 4 rads upstairs with TRV’s and two large rads downstairs in the main living rooms without TRV’s. I use NEST to control the heating which is in one of the living rooms. I’ve recently fitted Hive TRV’s to my upstairs rads because I can be bothered to keep turning the Drayton TRV’s up and down. So daytime I don’t heat the upstairs rooms beyond 16c. So often the upstairs rads are all off but the downstairs ones are all open so providing bypass for the pump. Incidentally I keep the whole place above 16c all the time to prevent mould growth as it’s a solid walled Victorian house that is prone to damp. I use a Meaco 25Ltr Dehumidifier to keep the damp at bay. I only run my living rooms at 18c which is very comfortable as the place is now so dry. We found in the past that if it was damp at 18c it felt cold.

[@dereton33]

thanks Steve some good advice.

[@garnhamr]

have you considered diesel heaters? they can be quite cost effective if you use cheap kerosene and are quite good at dehumidifying too

[@stevethorndale231]

I couldn’t contemplate diesel heating, I’ve nowhere to place them on the outside and they’re noisy too so not practical in my situation. I’m very happy with my current setup and confident that I’m heating as cheaply as I can

[@Woodkin007]

Is that true about 16c for no mold growth?

[@WatfordWobble]

My father-in-law turned off all radiators in the bedrooms except one in which he slept. The bedrooms were cold and felt damp and I kept telling him to have the rads. on low. The fabric of the house was struggling in winter but he took no notice. It got worse when he had a smart meter and Nest control. He would sit in front of the readout switching on and off the boiler.

[@dereton33]

O dear.

[@PeterWTaylor]

It must save energy to switch off radiators in unused rooms since the boiler doesn't have to work so hard to maintain temperature in used rooms. Having said that many people make insufficient use of the thermostats on individual rads. In my case its because rad thermostats don't show temperature but just numbers and I dont know what those numbers represent. Maybe you could do a little vid to explain this.

[@dereton33]

Ok pete.

[@JackieKay11]

Thanks Al. Suppose that’s where thermostatic radiator valves come in for those rooms you don’t use but want to keep them from getting too cold. That’s what I do anyway, in the bedrooms. I don’t want ice on the inside of the windows like we had back in the day when all we had was one coal fire downstairs 😬

[@dereton33]

Thanks Jackie, hope you are keeping well.

[@JackieKay11]

@ Cheers Al ☺️

[@chrishart5153]

Al, Thanks for explaining about the bypass radiator. Fortunately, mine is a little 50cm one in the hall. I've abandoned the bedroom for the winter and sleep on a futon in the sitting room, which is the only room I heat except for having the bathroom radiator on the frost setting. Did a dehumidifying exercise on the bedroom today, got the RH down to 50% and was surprised at how little water was in the dehumidifier's tank. Much of the humidity in a bedroom, with the windows closed during the winter, comes from the people sleeping in it. Keeping an energy diary and reading the meters regularly, helps to evaluate energy saving experiments. My daily gas consumption costs are down from an average £1.97 per day for the 3rd 10 days of Dec. 2023, to £1.04 per day for the same period this year. So this one room stunt can yield significant savings.

[@dereton33]

Thanks Chris.

[@iancraig]

I turn the thermostatic valves down in bedrooms and slightly lower in the kitchen so most heat is in the front room (where the general thermostat is) so the front room is controlled and the others are slightly lower due to the valves. Not sure how much kerosene I save by doing this though tbh.

[@dereton33]

Thanks Ian.

[@chrissy212e]

I've been doing this for years, but the radiator in the hallway is the bypass one so it cant be switched off. I normally have the living room on or the bedroom to heat it up before i go to bed. I do leave the other radiators on number 1 as the heating engineer was shocked the unused radiators were on 0 lol.

[@dereton33]

Thanks Chrissy.

[@jackburns5269]

When I looked into condensing boilers, the explanation given for how they work and achieve greater efficiency was that you need the return water to have given out all its heat, it can then condense, so in that scenario you need the correct amount radiator panels matched to the boiler's output. But to my thinking if you are trying to limit your gas usage, then shutting rads would help you achieve that, 1 or 2 warmer rooms that you inhabit more often might be better healthwise than 4-5 lukewarm ones. Atm I have my central gas heating on 15c on the hall thermostat, then supplement that with a portable electric fan heater. Costs about 30p an hr, so not cheap but you feel the warmth more directly. Another tip is heating up socks or slippers with a hairdryer for a few mins...just poke the nozzle in and be careful not to trigger any overheat cutout, lovely and toasty!

[@dereton33]

Thanks Jack.

[@JamesHowe-ci5vt]

I've got the bypass system you explained with the rad in the hall and when I switch heating off the boiler runs on to direct the heat to that rad.

[@dereton33]

That will be correct.

[@bobs4738]

Excellent video Al, well explained.

[@dereton33]

Glad it was helpful! Cheers Bob

[@richardparkin4930]

Nothing to do with content but you are my age and a wonderful t shirt, we had Lambo’s, six of us, what a time to be young in. Sorry, no help but it brought back such fabulous memories.

[@dereton33]

No problem great times.

[@kamrankhan-ud5vd]

Ive got a baxi wall heater in living room and that just stays on, boiler on 1 in morning and 1 at night before bed heated blanket on all night

[@dereton33]

Thanks.

[@volt8684]

I live in 4 bed detached and I leave my heating on 18 permanently in winter and turn it up in the evening if I am cold. I use a dehumidifier in the lounge where I dry my clothes. My boiler is a back fitted 3 yrs ago non combo with hot water tank. My gas and electric is £120 a month which seems good compared to my friends and colleagues. I also bought this house with outright owned solar which gives me £65 a month income. I used to time the heating but now despite living alone I just leave on 18. The house is always comfortable and zero mould

[@dereton33]

Thanks

[@NodrogMacphee]

I must admit my F&E system didnt have a bypass valve , which probably explains why the pump nearly caught fire once . I have since put one in , and also have a one of those fancy back pressure dc pumps.

[@dereton33]

Great stuff.

[@psychoadam3089]

Id be more compelled to leave it on low in all rooms unless in very certain/extreme circumstances because if you heat one room in the centre of your house the room will just sap heat into the others unless your draft insulating everything and thats not good for the house or yourself. Second I think people's high bills are more likely to be cause by blockages or poor condition systems speaking from how much was in my system and a bottle of inhibitor would get them further in the long run rather than shutting everything off my boiler went from not barely heating at 75 degrees to staying around 55-60 and you can feel more heat than before

[@dereton33]

Thanks.

[@NodrogMacphee]

If only they were shaped liked seats then you could stay nice and toasty .

[@dereton33]

Now there `s a good idea.

[@tomelliott90]

I turned my towel rads off when i moved into my new build and it caused a hammer knocking effect on some of the other house rads when the boiler turned off. Only later did i realise the solution to this was to have the towel rads on to release pressure from the boiler.

[@dereton33]

The boiler bypass rad.

[@tomelliott90]

@dereton33 exactly that mate

[@jablot5054]

Some systems are set up to shunt excess heat through the towel radiators, so keep them on and your towels dry.

[@stewartfooter3580]

I am learning so much so thankyou

[@dereton33]

No problem Stewert.

[@chucky2316]

I got a leak from a central heating tank small one. Does it mean i need a new ball float

[@dereton33]

No usually the valve.

[@garyhodge7861]

As others have said its best to turn the TRVs down. In a typical 2 or 3 bed house the heat will 'leak' from the heated areas to the other rooms anyway. If you happen to have a mansion there may be savings if sealing off a wing for winter.

[@dereton33]

Thanks Gary.

[@Ciara.Higgins-xz9im]

We have heating set at 20 the lounge radiator on 5 and all others set at 2. If go for shower turn up then turn back to 2 same with other rooms if go in for a while turn up, I think it's good for the structure of house toheat to some extent.

[@dereton33]

Thanks Ciara.

[@ronnie8752]

Al, I have an F&E system and have on it what appears to be a gate valve near the pump possibly for balancing the system. I have run the system with this valve open fully and closed fully and the system appears to run without a problem so a question for you if you know what the valve is and how should it be set please. Also I don't have any TRVs if that makes a difference to the setting of this valve. Many thanks

[@dereton33]

No TRVs no problem. I would though leave that valve cracked open at least one full turn.

[@ronnie8752]

@@dereton33 Ok thanks Al

[@bamboozooka-yk7qn]

its pumping hot water around the system anyway it might as well go thro all raidators

[@dereton33]

Thanks

[@NickTub3]

Some boilers, unfortunately mine always run max power and there is no way of turning it down Bosch 8000. 35KW. Also, by heating just 1 rad - will the boiler go into condensing mode? I guess its unlikely the return temp will be low enough with one radiator?

[@dereton33]

Me niether.

[@nigelsmith6413]

Could you do a video on pipe sizes? For example I’ve been told my downstairs rads are on 15 mm pipes but should be 22 mm. I’d be interested to know more and then how does this link to micro bore pipes?

[@dereton33]

Ok I see see what I can do

[@Chimp_No_1]

That would be awesome !

[@jablot5054]

Don't have micro bore , especially in hard water areas ! 22mm flow reducing to15mm to rads is the best requirement in most properties. Then returns at 22mm . No need for a video. Simple enough to do with 15 to 22 reducers.

[@nigelsmith6413]

@@jablot5054he is looking for ideas for new videos to generate income. In my opinion this is a suggestion that I haven’t seen done before.

[@jablot5054]

All this depends on your property , do you have a one bed internal flat on Jersey or a twenty three bed casle in the highlands? There isn't a one solution fits all answer to this. Of course you are going to save money on heating if you dont turn it all on. Thats like saying i can save money on petrol if i only go halfway to my destination then walk the rest! If you can afford it , keep all rooms to 16 degrees and main living room to 18 or comfortable for you ,excect at night then just use the frost stat. If you cant afford it then just heat the main living areas, simple.

[@dereton33]

Thanks.

[@paulcooper9011]

Having looked into this as my new-build's boiler is massively over-sized. Heat Geek is the channel to visit. Simply though. Boilers have a minimum as well as a maximum output with which to achieve its set flow temperature. If one radiator cannot remove enough heat for the minimum boiler output then the boiler will hit its thermal cut-out and cycle. This will mean the boiler takes longer to heat the room, all the while it is firing it is giving its minimum output and costing more money. Enough radiators need to be active above a boiler's minimum power output. Ideally enough radiators need to be active in order to allow the flow temperature to be low enough so the boiler runs in condensing mode.

[@dereton33]

Thanks Paul.

[@zenithnine]

of course it saves money . For every rad shut off you are not heating the x Litres of water stored in them. Because gas is still 225% of pre war levels I now do this. Upstairs rads are set to off on each TV. The downstairs hallway rad where the thermSt is is also switched off. I only heat the rads in the 2 reception rooms as the kitchen does not have a rad. I let the 18 year old Worcest B do its own modulation. I set the flow output at 53 and turn the thermSt up to 20 which it will never reach but it switches on the boiler . The boiler then uses .345 mcubed of gas to prime the system up to modulation point , taking 30 mins and costing about 28p. Then it runs at 0.265 mcubed use for an hour , costing 19p , which can get both rooms up to about 15 degrees , ( having started from 11 ) but never more . For the rooms that are unheated then , that's too bad, I don't plan to spend time in them. Even the bedroom , I just go in to get under the covers .

[@dereton33]

Thanks.

[@68000Mark]

Is this an old video re-released or have you changed your camera. YT will only let me view it at 720p but other videos of yours are 1440p.

[@dereton33]

I am having probs with the camera so a lower setting this time Mark. Need a new sd card that is on order.

[@ertaszorlu4756]

Great video 🎉🎉💥💥

[@dereton33]

Thank you 😁

[@johncowley8882]

I personally would not turn radiators completely off in very cold weather. You really do not want to get pneumonia and end up in a corridor in your local hospital, putting more pressure on the NHS. If you have to, turn your radiators down in the rooms you are not using but do not turn them off.

[@dereton33]

Thanks john

[@robertlamont9455]

A lovely old Navy Lark line came to mind, "Any ship can be a minesweeper.....once..." With rads on an older condensing boiler running typically a 50/30 arrangement with a 20c room, they are running effectively as D20 rads, that's 30% of the stated D50 power output If the minimum power output of the boiler is 10kW, it needs to have 10kW of D20 rad capacity to dump heat to, or 33kW for the D50 values to avoid shutting down in self-protect mode. Ever seen a 33kW single rad in a house ? Modern fully modulating boilers may be better able to cope, but even they have limits. You really wouldn't do yourself any favours anyway as the heat would be getting sucked by the unheated rooms and run the risk of damage to the fabric - If it's a classic brick house, ie high thermal mass, it'll take more energy to recharge the mass than maintaining it at a steady state, so a false economy... It's why I don't do nighttime setback, counter intuitively it's less efficient for a high thermal mass, all the rooms are better maintained 24/7 at their own set temps... My low thermal mass upstairs is unoccupied so temps are turned down but not off as a greater differential would only pull more heat through the downstairs ceiling....

[@jablot5054]

Hurrah, someone with common sense. Well explained.

[@dereton33]

thanks good advice.

[@robertlamont9455]

@@jablot5054 Thanks for the compliment, but I had to learn all this to understand the mistakes I made in arriving where I am now. I'm a retired Engineer but no experience of domestic heating technicalities or the gobbledigook. The D20 value is not really a problem when you're looking at what might be termed average England winters of -3 with reasonably good insulation, but we don't live in average anything across England before venturing into 'thar be dragons' territory further north or west. The way I explain to my neighbours in fractured Romanian how my heating now works uses the D values as they are easiest to convey , as follows - My 19.4kW of D50 rads are running at D10 right down to -5c, that's 2.38kW in total at D10, nice and stable room temps at constant circulation. To get to D15 that's 4kW, a 68% power increase To get to D20 that's 5.8kW, a 143% power increase. Heat losses from -3 to -15 are IIRC ca +43% IIRC, so I've got plenty of headroom - BUT if I hadn't added extra insulation to bring my gas use down to ca 25% of the original build, none of what I'm referring to would have been viable. I'm a bit like a stuck record on this one, but sod the WFA, start screaming blue murder about HMG funding a national insulation campaign, then watch Ministerial sphincters shrink, both denominations of purple.

[@johnloughran8566]

Oh imm lost already

[@dereton33]

It happens.

[@hannible1002]

Just do what I used to do. Get your own meter!

[@dereton33]

One that does not register your use preferably ha ha.

[@hannible1002]

@@dereton33 Exactly.

[@Bungle2010]

To achieve what?

[@celinethomas4229]

👍

[@dereton33]

Thanks Celine.

[@Allegedly2right]

Can I pick your brain how do you do an offset 60mm on 22mm is it even possible Arnold Schwarzenegger might pull one but.Haha nowhere on KZbin are they going anywhere near it none of them all 15mm even the Yanks throw it a body swerve,you are the man.

[@dereton33]

I can do one. you have to use your feet against the machine to get enough leverage to bend it or else some pieces of steel pipe to sleeve over the arm pulls.

[@Allegedly2right]

@ Haha it kinked 60mm not possible in Rothenberger not very good them for the money them.Where can I find the specs for 22mm shortest offset I used 45fittings just it was a challenge in a vice aswell failed

[@tooslow125cc3]

Use a pp heater set up one room keep it 22°c Just heat 1 room 22⁰c works for cost 89p day no gas cost £2.90 day lot Heat uesd convector heater with timer and thermostat cost me £12.99 Save money works

[@dereton33]

Thanks good advice.

[@kiddcapri1711]

No it's not cheaper... It'll cause condensation in unheated rooms for a start

[@dereton33]

Thanks