I got to the job for eight in the morning so I could see what was actually happening as the heating was set to come on at 730. I looked around the radiators downstairs and only one of the small radiators downstairs was significantly hot. The others were just lukewarm except one which was stone cold. I looked around the radiators upstairs and they were all nice and hot as expected.
Looking in the airing cupboard where the programmer was located I could see that the heating and hot water were both set to be on. I checked the motorised valve and it was in the mid position, 'M'. Being a Drayton MA1 valve there is a sticker on the side which an indicator points to show the position the valve is in. The cylinder thermostat was set to 60°C and so I turned it down and the valve moved to the 'H', central heating position.
I waited for a few minutes and gradually the radiators began to heat up downstairs including the radiator that was completely cold. It appears that the water is going through the cylinder in preference to going round the radiators downstairs. When the hot water was set to be on at the same time as the heating and the cylinder thermostat was demanding hot water the radiators wouldn't heat properly downstairs until the hot water thermostat was satisfied. I checked the settings in the programmer and could see that both the heating and hot water where set to be on from 7am until 10am but in the afternoon the hot water was set to be on 3-5pm and the heating 5-10pm. I asked the lady if she noticed that the problem had only been occurring in the morning which she said it had, but"'assumed the downstairs radiators where working because they had got up to temperature in the morning".
I set the hot water so that it would come on from 6-7am which should be enough as she lives alone and will heat quicker than if on with the central heating. If that wasn't enough on some days the timer could always be put on for an extra hour. The system is fairly old and could most definitely benefit from a powerflush. Unfortunately this is something which she cannot afford at the moment but will probably have done in the summer. It would also be prudent to fit a gate valve to the hot water cylinder return to help balance the system.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI was experiencing the same problem and the issue was that on the lower floor the pressure was not enough, because of a poor gaskets. Very useful!
George
Central Heating Bexhill
If you have radiator problems that the radiator is getting too hot where other are ok, then it is most like that the balance of the radiators is pointing to the radiator that is getting to hot, this can be solved by either turning the TRV down or if the thermostatic radiator valve is non existent, to may be a good idea to have a TRV fitted.
ReplyDeleteGas Central Heating Company
TRVs react to the temperature in a room so on a system that is unbalanced the problem above will still exist until the hot water is satisfied.
DeleteThe balancing valves on the radiator and hot water system should be used to control the balance of the system whether there are TRVs or not.
However, TRVs are a good addition to the system to make it more efficient and allow a higher degree of temperature control in each room.
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ReplyDeletecentral heating
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