Free & impartial energy advice for anyone in Fife

Using your heating controls (gas)

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Using your heating controls can make a signficant difference to your energy bills whilst ensuring you can stay warm at home. Most homes with gas central heating will have similar heating controls that work together to keep the home at a comfortable temperature.

 

Heating regimes

A heating regime is a technical term for what is simply;

  • When you turn your heating on and off
  • How long it’s on for
  • To what temperature do you heat your home

Before setting your heating controls you should consider who is living in your home and how it is occupied. For example, if you’re up early in the morning for work or school you may want the heating to come on in advance of this so it’s already warm when you get out of bed.

 

Using your heating controls efficiently

The majority of households have four different heating controls. They all complement each other, and by using them all together, you can effectively regulate your home’s temperature – saving energy and money while maintaining a comfortable level of warmth. Let’s take a look at each of them.

 

Room thermostat

A room thermostat stops your home from getting warmer than necessary. It will turn the heating on until it reaches the desired target temperature. Once your home reaches that temperature, it’ll turn the heating off until the temperature drops.

You should set your room thermostat for the lowest comfortable temperature. By reducing it by just 1°C you can save around 10% on your heating costs.

We would recommend a comfortable temperature of between 18 and 21°C. Remember, this is the temperature for the overall home. You may want to vary your heating slightly between rooms, that’s where our next heating control comes in handy!

 

Thermostatic radiator valve

Thermostatic radiator valves or TRVs for short, are probably our favourite and most under-appreciated heating control. It’s a common mistake to assume they control the temperature of the radiator (this job belongs to the boiler thermostat we’ll get onto shortly).

The TRVs job is to regulate the flow of water into the radiator, controlling the temperature of the room. They’re numbered to help you decide how warm you’d like your room to be.

Frost protection or * 5°c
I 10°c
II 15°c
III 20°c
IV 25°c
V 30°c

 

In rooms you use regularly, we recommend setting your TRVs to III. This will keep the room at around 20°C. You can adjust them up or down slightly to find the most comfortable temperature for you. If you have rooms you don’t use regularly, turn your TRVs down to II.

When the room reaches the desired temperature, there is a small valve that closes to restrict the flow of new hot water into the radiator until the temperature drops low enough. The less new hot water that is needed in the system means less gas being used, which means you save money.

 

Programmer

Your programmer tells your heating when it is allowed to come on. They come in a variety of sizes, shapes and designs and unfortunately, some are much harder to use than others.

Programmers work great if you want to set your heating for specific times, for example, when you get up in the morning or come home from work.

Only set the programmer to come on when you know the heating is going to be needed. Remember, you’re wasting money if you’re heating your home when it’s unoccupied.

If you’re struggling to understand how to use your programmer, find it’s make and model and search this on YouTube, you’ll likely be able to find several demonstration videos.

 

Boiler thermostat

 

Your boiler thermostat allows you to set the desired temperature of both your heating and hot water. There is usually a min and a max setting. For your heating, the higher you set the temperature, the more quickly your home will heat up, but it will cost you more. Most boilers have an eco-setting around 55-60°c which we recommend using. If you have a modern condensing combi boiler, this temperature is the most ideal.

If you have a hot water tank, this may have a separate thermostat which should be set to no less than 60°C. In this case, you’ll want to have your boiler temperature slightly higher.

 

Support from Cosy Kingdom

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