How to make one CH radiator come on and off at set times? Ideally, I guess I'd like a TRV with a built-in timer - but I guess that might be unlikely..
So what is the cheapest, simplest way to do it? It's for a bathroom rad, which I only need on for a couple of hours in the morning.
Thank you
Frank
Hi Frank,
A motorised valve run from a separate timer switch would do the job. The valve would be fitted to the pipe supplying that one rad' and be connected to a nearby power supply. You'd only need to use the motor supply and leave out the micro-switch connections.
I can see how such an arrangement could turn the rad OFF when everything else was working, but .... What about the boiler controls? And are you expecting this one radiator to have its own individual circuit complete with pump from the boiler? Doesn't sound very practical ...
Then you've answered the original question perfectly. :-)
In message , Frank Watson writes
what's wrong with just turning said radiator on/off by hand when you need it? or is your bathroom so large that it takes a long time to warm up? - if so getting a wall-mounted electric fan heater would be simpler
the bathroom radiator is often used as a by-pass circuit ( I think that's the right term but if not someone will correct me) for the boiler
- if it is on your system then AIUI you shouldn't set a valve to block it off at all.
To achieve this in a perfectly general way you would need to divide your system into zones - with each zone being controlled by a motorised valve, and with each valve being controlled by a programmable thermostat for the zone. The *valve open* contacts from all zone valves would need to be connected in parallel and would need to switch the boiler and pump on whenever one or more zones required heat. Within this scheme, your bathroom radiator would need to have a zone all to itself.
Alternatively, if you want to achieve something more specific, there may be other solutions. For example, I like my bathroom and en-suite radiators to get hot for a short period each day - even in the summer - to warm the towels. I have arranged my system so that these two radiators can be made to get hot whenever the hot water is being heated (but can revert to being
*normal* radiators in the winter). If this is what you want, come back and I will make some suggestions about how to achieve it.Roger
Why not? You can turn a radiator off manually, so it must be equally feasable to turn it off osing a motorised valve, no?
Why would a raditor need it's own individual cirquit before it can be turned on and off?
Frank
Many bathroom towl/rads come with elcctric heaters (as well as being centrally heated). Perhaps you could retro fit your rad with one of these and have and have a timer included. Neil
It all comes down to *exactly* what you want to achieve. In your original post you said that you wanted to make one radiator come ON and OFF at set times. This implied that there may be times when you want ONLY this radiator on without any others being on. In such a case, you clearly need to make the boiler and pump come on at the same time!
If what you *actually* want to do is just to turn this radiator OFF when all the others are on, and NEVER to run it on its own, you can achieve this with a motorised valve controlled by a timer.
However, before doing this, make sure that there are no circumstances where this radiator is the only path between the boiler flow and return. Depending on system design, you may need to install a separate by-pass circuit.
Roger
No, I cannot envisage such a situation - except if all the TRVs in the system had shut off their respective rads - which is possible, but unlikely to be a problem since they are not likely to remain off for long - unless the outside temperatuire had warmed up enough to prevent the main thermostat from switching the boiler on.
I installed the system myself, several years ago. It's a combi-boiler system. AI am fairly sure there is no need to have any rad permanently on, serving to keep the cirquit flowing in case all others are turned off, since I seem to remember the boiler has its own built-in pressure-operated by-pass, bypassing the whole rad cirquit in that eventuality.
Thanks also to the other respondees.
Frank
Thanks for the input. Yes, the electrical accessories-in-bathrooms is a problem, but even more of a problem is the added clutter. in what is a small uncluttered bathroom. I was really hoping that someone plumbing-supplies company might offer a TRV with a built-in battery-operated timer; something that simply replaces a standard TRV. What a nice, neat solution that would be!
Frank
It's only a small bathroom - actually a shower-room. From experience, I know that turning the rad on by hand when I enter the room to take a shower, the room will not be comfortably warm by the time one has finished one's shower. Fitting a larger-than-necessary radiator would speed up the warming of the room. If all else fails, I might have to resort to that idea. I'm not keen on the idea of an electric fan heater ( I sense danger, breached safety regulations, and high running cost) but thanks for the suggestion.
Good comment - but my boiler does have a built-in pressure-operated by-pass.
Frank
Sorry; in retrospect it was *Mike* who made the comments in question.
Frank
I really like having a fan-heater in the bathroom, and several people who have visited me have liked it so much they've gone home and fitted their own too. A properly fitted bathroom fan heater is not going to be dangerous, and you only need it on whilst you are in the room (and possibly only once you come out of the shower), so running cost is going to be tiny. Mine is high up on the wall above a mirror, so you can stand under it, effectively using it as a hairdrier, and a whole body drier too.
I hear what you are saying, and thankx for the suggestion. However, I'm keen to utilise the radiator as the heat source - not the least because it is directly under the towel rail... (Nothing like a nice hot, dry towel when you step out of the shower - one of life's special pleasures, ranking in second place to the shower itself, and each, better than sex IMO) :)
Frank
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