Absense of thermostat/regulations

[Jane]

I just moved into a rented house. It is a conversion, which was done about 2 years ago. No attic space, so no tank or emersion heater - just a combi boiler (Firebird, Combi 70). It has an integrated timer on the front panel, for the hot water and heating. It also has a temperature adjuster for regulating heating, but this has no actual temperature markings on it in degrees, just lines getting thicker to show the hotter settings. There is no thermostat installed in any room, which I am accustomed to. I am having big trouble trying to get the house at a tolerable temperature - it's either too hot or too cold and is driving me mad. As there are frequent power cuts here, too, the timer is always wrong. As winter sets in I'm anxious to get this sorted so I don't freeze or get extortionate energy bills, and so that my dog doesn't freeze or bake when I'm out!

Someone told me that it is against regulations these days NOT to have a room thermostat. Thus, I have a couple of questions:

1. Is that true? If so, does my landlord HAVE to install one?

1. If he does, is that going to mean ripping out parts of the kitchen (tiled walls, fitted cupboards) to wire one up? I could really do without the hassle as I moved here for some peace!

2. Could a wireless thermostat be the answer? Do they work with any type of boiler and are they a pain to set up?

Just trying to find the best solution. For the rent I pay I took it for granted that the house would have been fitted with all the usual kit, especially as the conversion is only two years old.

Any advice so I can know how to approach my (difficult) landlord would be very much appreciated. The guy who did the installation is insisting that there is a thermostat here, which is absolutely not the case. The landlord is intimating that my partner and I are too stupid to have found it, that it is there, and that is that. (Mind you, when the boiler went wrong recently he suggested we put the emersion heater on in the airing cupboard. There isn't an airing cupboard either!).

Many thanks in advance for any help on this.

Regards, Jane.

[Handy]

Have the radiators got thermostatic regulator valves (TRVs) in place of the usual manual control valves? If so, they should be adjusted individually to your preferred room temperature and a room thermostat isn't really necessary. If your radiators only have manual control valves to regulate the heat output from each radiator then a room thermostat is advisable although I am not aware that they are required by the regulations. If you only have manual control valves, and the installer and landlord are insisting that you have thermostat, they should come and show you where it is and how it works. A manual or wireless thermostat would need to be fitted by a heating engineer/electrician if you are not familiar with installing boiler electrics and heating controls.

[Jane]

Many thanks for your reply.

No, the rads only have manual control valves, which is why I want a thermostatic control. What I really need to know is how much disruption it would cause to fit a room thermostat now, so that I can decide whether I want to pursue it or not with the landlord. Is it a major job? The boiler is in the kitchen and, as I said, it's tiled and is fully fitted, so it would cause a lot of mess to pull everything out.

[Handy]

Either a cable would need to run from the boiler to a thermostat mounted in the hall, probably from the boiler upwards into the kitchen ceiling, so depending where the hall is in relation to the kitchen the worst disruption would involve lifting some floorboards upstairs and the main mess would be caused by cutting channels in the wall plaster to conceal the cable, if this was necessary. If the kitchen and hall are next to each other the cable might go straight through the wall, or just need a short run in the ceiling. Or a wireless thermostat would need fixing in the hall and the receiver unit would need fixing to the boiler, which would not cause any mess or disruption.

[Neil - Usenet]

whats the tx freq of the wireless uk spec stats?

[Handy]

418MHz and 433MHz in the UK.

[ARWadsworth]

There is of course no immersion heater if you have a combi. The landlord is a lying bastard.

Part L of the building regulations does not allow the temperature to be controlled by only TRVs. A room stat is required in one room for the boiler interlock

The landlord should pay for this.

Adam

[Handy]

Maybe the building control officer could take this up with the landlord.

[Jane]

Or just a bit of an idiot if he doesn't know what has and has not been installed in his own property.

Yes, that's what I read somewhere. Thing is, I've only just moved here from my late brother's house where I've had to deal with woodworm in the beams, heatings problems, damp etc. etc. after he sadly died in the middle of renovating his cottage. So my partner and I had to finish it. I need to chill out a bit now. :-) The boiler is installed in the kitchen and there is tiling above and fitting cupboards/plumbing etc. all around. You say a thermostat is required in one room, but is it a lot of work? If I decide just not to bother with it, is the installation dangerous? I'd appreciate any thoughts as this will probably make us decide whether to stay here or not.

Many thanks to all for your time and advice.

Jane

[ARWadsworth]

You say a thermostat is required in one room, but is it a

It would be easy enought to fit a wireless room stat.

No, it is not dangerous it is just less energy efficient.(you may have problems if the system needed a bypass and all the rads had TRVs and closed off). You would getter a better return on your money by putting TRVs on some of the raditors than a room stat.

Adam