We have a system with pumped storage tank hot water and separate heating controlled by a valve.
When the water is on the radiator in the airing cupboard is on but none of the others.
Is there any reason why I can't shut off this radiator ?
TIA
I don't know the history of your installation. I assume the hot water tank is not in the airing cupboard, which is heated only by the radiator in question.
It is quite possible that this radiator was deliberately put on the water heating loop so that the airing cupboard would be warmed whenever hot water was demanded, not simply during the room heating season. This would then give similar conditions in the airing cupboard as you would have had if the storage tank had been in there.
You don't mention if there is a thermostatic or lockshield valve on this radiator, but unless there is a bypass loop, restricting the flow would probably not be a good idea.
Chris
It is being used as a bypass for the boiler probably - i.e. to dump heat when the thermostats for HW and CH both indicate satisfied and the boiler happens to be in full flight. This stops the water in the boiler from, well, boiling.
YOu could put an automatic bypass valve in series with this radiator if you wanted. These open under pressure when the motorised valve(s) close.
Alternatively, it may be that the radiator could be replaced with just a short length of pipe and similar valve or just a radiator lockshield valve. This should be checked with the boiler manufacturer, however.
Thanks for the reply
Tank is in the airing cupboard
No TRV but there is a lockshield
It depends on why it is there, and how it is connected - which I cannot deduce from your brief description.
When you say you have separate heating, is this provided by the *same* boiler and pump as the HW - simply using one or more valves to direct the water either to the tank or to the radiators or both? If this is the case, how many valves are there, and what type are they - 2-port or 3-port? [There will likely be either one 3-port valve (one input and two outputs) or two
2-port valves (one for HW and one for CH)]. Which configuration have you got?If you've got two 2-port valves (S-Plan), there's a distinct possibility that the radiator to which you refer acts as a by-pass. If your boiler requires pump over-run (i.e. needs the pump to carry on for a bit after the boiler stops firing, in order to carry away the residual heat) the water has to have somewhere to go - requiring a by-pass circuit to provide a flow path even when both zone valves are closed.
If the radiator in the airing cupboard is simply connected in parallel with the coil in the HW cylinder so as to to get hot *only* while the HW is being heated, it probably does not provide any other function, and can be turned off.
If you need any more help, please supply a more detailed description of your system.
A picture . . . .
It is not intended that the user should be able to turn it off casually because that could cause the boiler to boil IYSWIM.
Options are in my first post, if you want to do anything about it.
outlet and the return to the boiler, by-passing both the HW and CH circuits.
I presume from the drawing that the valve is a 3-port jobby, and the outlet on the right goes to the CH radiators? In that case, you may not actually
*need* a by-pass unless you have TRVs on all your radiators because - unlike 2-port valves - a 3-port valve is never closed, but always provides at least one flow path.If you wish to play safe, and maintain a by-pass circuit, replacing the airing cupboard radiator with an automatic by-pass valve would be the best bet. It may even improve the performance of the CH and HW systems because it would only open when needed rather than wasting some of the flow - which the radiator currently does.
Depends how it's plumbed. Since it's probably the only one on the hot water heating loop - so the airing cupboard is warm all year round - it might well be simply inserted in that loop rather than the flow and return way, so turning it off would also turn off the hot water heating loop.
Thanks for the reply
Have now established that the Honeywell valve is a Y plan -
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