turning off the central heating.. please help

[J]

Hello,

I want to turn off my central heating for the summer... I've adjusted the electronic timer unit next to the boiler (an 'Ideal Classic') upstairs so that it doesn't come on any more, but I am wondering if I have to turn of the electronic pump, or turn off either of the two faucets/valves/knobs next to the pump, that are downstairs next to the large cylinder urn shaped thing. I know that sounds vague but I'm new to the UK so not sure of the terminology.

If anyone could help, I'd greatly appreciate. I'm concerned about the cost of the water so want to minimise it.

thanks for any help, John

[Kalico]

Hi John and welcome to the UK.

The central heating will not 'use' and water so the cost of that is not an issue. The cost of heating it for the radiators would be, but as you have switched it off, no problems there either.

If your system is to be used to heat water for the hot water storage cylinder (think that might be what you are referring to) then you must definitely not turn off the valves at either side of that pump. It will still be needed to circulate water from the boiler to the cylinder to heat your hot water.

From what you say, I would think that making sure the timer is off for central heating will be sufficient. The control for hot water will be up to you, if you want it timed so that you have hot water when you need it.

Hope that helps. Rob

[Alan]

In message , J wrote

The central heating is a closed loop system - the same water gets heated by the boiler gets pumped to the radiators and then get returned to the boiler to be re-heated. The central heating will consume no water during the summer. If fact on a perfect system it will consume no extra water during the winter.

Just turn off the heating via the electronic controller and that's it.

Depending on which heating system you have, the pump may be used when heating water so under no circumstances turn off any valves.

If the pump is only used for the central heating it is advisable just to run the heating for a few minutes every couple of months just to get the pump working. A plumber friend of mine gets a lot of calls on the first cold day of the autumn/winter when people start up their heating systems only to find the pump has seized because it hasn't been used for the previous 6 to 8 months.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Some central heating boilers run the pump for a minute or so if there hasn't been any call for its use in the last 24 hours, specifically to avoid it sticking. I was thinking of adding a similar program to my home automation (which controls the central heating and hot water) to excercise the mid-position valve too if if hasn't been moved in the last 24 hours.

[Dave Stanton]

What are you using to run that then Andrew ? PC, micro controller ?

Dave